Please Don't Let Those Foreign-Owned Corporations Destroy Local Radio...

Want to win a complicated issue in Washington?  Then simplify, vilify, terrify, and make sure to take care of your supporters.  Which is exactly what the powerful National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is doing — not only in Washington, but places like Wyoming.      

That's the home state of Republican Senator John Barrasso, the latest to throw his weight behind the 'Local Radio Freedom Act'.  As a thank you, the NAB is now running this ad in the Casper Star Tribune.   The Act, if passed into law, would keep the status quo, and keep traditional radio royalty-free, at least as it relates to recordings.

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Lady Gaga 'Fake Rolex' Thailand Tweet Draws Local Backlash

Lady Gaga wants to go shopping in Bangkok - for a fake Rolex.

The singer made the comment to her 24 million Twitter followers, sparking an online uproar Thursday in Thailand where some fans called it offensive, insulting and bad for the country's image.

It's the latest publicity-making turn of events as "The Born This Way Ball" travels through Asia.

Lady Gaga's provocative lyrics and costumes have angered Christian groups in South Korea and the Philippines and Islamists in Indonesia, where the show may be banned.

Now she is stirring nationalist fervor in Thailand, where people tend to get upset when the country's seedy underworld is highlighted by outsiders.

"We are more civilized than you think," tweeted Thai DJ Surahit Siamwalla, who has a ticket to Friday's show in Bangkok but said he plans to boycott.

"She came to our home, but instead of admiring us she insulted us," said a commentator on popular Thai web board pantip.com.

Lady Gaga posted her tweet shortly after her private jet arrived Wednesday night: "I just landed in Bangkok baby! Ready for 50,000 screaming Thai monsters. I wanna get lost in a lady market and buy fake Rolex."

It is unclear what a "lady market" is but some Thai fans assumed she meant the popular outdoor Ladies Market in Hong Kong, where she already toured - and also eyed the luxury knockoffs.

"I love this city," she tweeted April 30 after taking a Hong Kong spin class. "You can work out & buy a fake Birkin on the same street."

Not all Thai fans objected to the off-color comment. A screaming mob greeted Lady Gaga at the airport. Crowds thronged her 5-star hotel, where she signed autographs and hugged one female fan who left in tears. People have camped outside Rajamangala stadium for days, hoping to be first inside and win the prize of meeting the pop star in person.

If Lady Gaga does have time to shop in Bangkok, she'll see that the city has more to offer than just fake watches, Thai fan Nont Armarttasn sarcastically noted on his Facebook page.

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

"Welcome to the land of counterfeit products, love," he said. "I'm sure there are plenty of fake Gaga CDs, too."

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