Rihanna Found and Photographed in Mexico

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Rihanna has resurfaced. After being shuttled to various locations over the past two weeks to protect her privacy, the 21-year-old star was photographed this weekend on the beach in Punta Mita, Mexico. She previously logged short stints in Los Angeles and her native Barbados.

Photos of her south-of-the-border sojourn first ran in today's print edition of the New York Daily News and were later obtained by E! News. She does not appear to show any of the bruising that was so clearly visible in her leaked police photo.

The images were reportedly snapped at a private villa on Saturday, a day after she celebrated her milestone birthday in L.A. Aside from a few backseat shots, it's the first time Rihanna's been photographed in public since the Feb. 8 altercation with Chris Brown that left her hospitalized.

Yesterday the L.A. district attorney's office said the investigation was still open and no decision on charges has been made.

Obama sets Aug. 2010 as Iraq end date

AP – President Barack Obama speaks during a visit to Camp Lejeune, N.C., Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. Obama moved …

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – President Barack Obama consigned the Iraq war to history Friday, declaring he will end combat operations within 18 months and open a new era of diplomacy in the Middle East. "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama told Marines who are about to deploy by the thousands to the other war front, Afghanistan.

The potential size of that remaining force doesn't please leaders of Obama's own Democratic Party, who had envisioned a fuller withdrawal. Obama personally briefed House and Senate members of both parties about his intentions behind closed doors Thursday.

Republican Sen. John McCain, who lost the presidential election to Obama, offered his support for the plan Friday by stating "I think the plan is significantly different than the plan Obama had during the campaign," said McCain, referring to Obama's campaign pledge to pull combat troops out of Iraq within 16 months of taking office if possible.

he president who voted against the war as senator and ran against in his upstart White House bid said the Iraq conflict is one huge, painful lesson.

Admonishing the Bush era, Obama said the United States must no longer go to war without clearly defined goals. He said it must communicate the costs of war clearly, use diplomacy as well as military might, not go it alone in security.

Said Obama to the men and women in uniform before him: "I promise you that I will only send you into harm's way when it is absolutely necessary."

A T T I T U D E

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes."

John Legend has weighed in on the N.Y. Post cartoon

R&B superstar John Legend has weighed in on the N.Y. Post cartoon controversy with an open letter to the editor, in which he promises a personal boycott and urges readers and advertisers to join him.. Here is the full text: Dear Editor: I’m trying to understand what possible motivation you may have had for publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the chimpanzee that went crazy. I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest that whomever was responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation must have the intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and should be shot to protect the larger community. Really? Did it occur to you that this suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama and the deranged chimpanzee? Did it occur to you that our President has been receiving death threats since early in his candidacy? Did it occur to you that blacks have historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist insult and mockery? Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you printed the cartoon? If that is not what you intended, then it was stupid and willfully ignorant of you not to connect these easily connect able dots. If it is what you intended, then you obviously wanted to be grossly provocative, racist and offensive to the sensibilities of most reasonable Americans. Either way, you should not have printed this cartoon, and the fact that you did is truly reprehensible. I can’t imagine what possible justification you have for this. I’ve read your lame statement in response to the outrage you provoked. Shame on you for dodging the real issue and then using the letter as an opportunity to attack Rev. Sharp ton. This is not about Rev. Sharp ton. It’s about the cartoon being blatantly racist and offensive. I believe in freedom of speech, and you have every right to print what you want. But freedom of speech still comes with responsibilities and consequences. You are responsible for printing this cartoon, and I hope you experience some real consequences for it. I’m personally boycotting your paper and won’t do any interviews with any of your reporters, and I encourage all of my colleagues in the entertainment business to do so as well. I implore your advertisers to seriously reconsider their business relationships with you as well. You should print an apology in your paper acknowledging that this cartoon was ignorant, offensive and racist and should not have been printed. I’m well aware of our country’s history of racism and violence, but I truly believe we are better than this filth. As we attempt to rise above our difficult past and look toward a better future, we don’t need the New York Post to resurrect the images of Jim Crow to deride the new administration and put black folks in our place. Please feel free to criticize and honestly evaluate our new President, but do so without the incendiary images and rhetoric. Sincerely, John Legend