Corporation.
Tabloid Archives...
 | September 2005 Archives [Some Source Links May Unexpectedly Drop] Return to TabloidColumn.com Return to Tabloid Archives Sitemap |
Friday, September 30, 2005
· Bennett: Black Abortions Would Lower Crime. William Bennett, on his radio show, "Morning in America," was answering a caller's question when he took issue with the hypothesis put forth in a recent book that one reason crime is down is that abortion is up. "But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down," said Bennett. 
» Ted kennedy: 'Bennett is a racist.' In a chorus of reponses, Ted Kennedy called Bill Bennett a "racist," and demands for an apology came from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Bennett fired back, "I'll not take instruction from Teddy Kennedy," he said. "A young woman likely drowned because of his negligence. I'll take no moral instruction with him. That's much worse than legal gambling what Teddy Kennedy did. He should make no judgments at all about people. He shouldn't be in the Senate."
· Georgia man sets girlfriend on fire after breakup. Police in Macon arrested a man who they say doused his girlfriend with gasoline and set her on fire after she broke off their engagement. Jomekia Pope, a 29-year-old who has a history of domestic abuse, faces charges of aggravated assault and arson.
· Peter Jennings left $50 million to family. Peter Jennings left a fortune worth more than $50 million to his wife and two children, according to the ABC News anchor's will.
She can sing?
· Cops getting trickier with radar units in trash bins. Photo radar units are being installed in roadside "wheelie bins" that appear to be ordinary trash cans or recycle bins.
· Fugitive goes on date with policeman. A fugitive who escaped from prison in Hungary was caught when he unwittingly went out on a date with a policeman. The unidentified man, sentenced for robbery and fraud, had posted an ad with his own photo in an online dating website.
· Rachel Ray gets married. Food Network hostess Rachael Ray has tied the knot in Montalcino, Italy, it was reported Wednesday. The cooking show maven, who hosts "30 Minute Meals," "$40 a Day" and "Tasty Travels!" married longtime boyfriend John Cusimano.
· FDNY chaplain resigns after 9/11 conspiracy remarks. The fire department's new Muslim chaplain abruptly resigned Friday after saying in a published interview that he believes something other than al-Qaida hijackers brought down the World Trade Center. "It became clear to him that he would have difficulty functioning as an FDNY chaplain," Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told reporters an hour before Imam Intikab Habib was to be officially sworn in. Habib told Newsday in an interview "Was it 19 hijackers who brought it down, or was it a conspiracy?"
· Greenville Tech administrator appeals firing over "yard apes" remark. The Greenville Technical College administrator who was forced to resign after she referred to children of hurricane evacuees as "yard apes" wants her job back. Renee Holcombe, a former associate vice president at the school, said she was unaware the term was offensive in an appeal filed yesterday.
· Kids and their credit. Since teenagers typically don't have much money beyond the cash in their wallets and a few bucks in a savings account, the notion of money management often seem surreal to them. People age 25 to 34 account for the second-fastest growing percentage of those filing for bankruptcy, and 22% of teenagers do not even know that if they take out a loan, they have to pay it back with interest.
· Pentagon revokes clearance of 'Able Danger' officer. An officer who has claimed that a classified military unit identified four Sept. 11 hijackers before the 2001 attacks is facing Pentagon accusations of breaking numerous rules, allegations his lawyer suggests are aimed at undermining his credibility. The alleged infractions by Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, 42, include obtaining a service medal under false pretenses, improperly flashing military identification while drunk and stealing pens, according to military paperwork shown by his attorney to The Associated Press.
· Unwed, pregnant teacher sues over dismissal. A case is set to begin in federal court next month for a woman who is suing a Christian school that fired her after administrators learned she was unmarried and pregnant.
· Rep. Mary Bono, Husband to Divorce. Rep. Mary Bono and her husband, businessman Glenn Baxley, plan to divorce, her office said Thursday. Bono, the widow of pop star-turned-politician Sonny Bono, married Baxley in November 2001.
· Leno's Autographed Bike Raises $500,000. It looks like Jay Leno's celebrity-autographed motorcycle has raised nearly a half-million dollars for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Bidding for the bike closed on the eBay auction Web site at 5 p.m. Thursday, and Leno announced during the taping of Thursday's "Tonight Show" that the winning bid was $505,100.
· Teen With Camcorder Captures His Own Killing On Tape. Seth Hammes was filming in the woods when his camcorder recorded the crack of gunshots, the 17-year-old's screams and the voice of the alleged shooter, promising help that never came. Authorities say they might never have learned what happened to Hammes, who later died in the woods. "But right next to him was the videotape," Monroe County Sheriff Pete Quirin said.
· Schwarzenegger Terminates California Same-Sex Marriage Bill. As promised, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed California's same-sex marriage bill on Thursday. Explaining his action — which came on a day in which he rejected 51 other bills as well — Schwarzenegger wrote that he believed gay couples were entitled to "full protection under the law and should not be discriminated against," but that he believed the bill would have reversed a 2000 ballot measure that declared that only a marriage between a man and a woman is legal in California.
· Prosecutor has 'strong evidence' against dead pervert priest. A prosecutor says he has "strong evidence" that a Catholic priest killed a funeral home director and an intern more than three years ago, after being approached about another crime involving a child. The priest was later found hanged.
· New York prostitute busted for having big mouth. A $2,000 an hour prostitute known as New York's No. 1 Escort pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges of money laundering and prostitution that stemmed from her bragging in the media about her work, including posing provocatively for the cover of New York Magazine under the headline "NY's #1 Escort Reveals All." In that interview, she told the magazine she generated revenues of $1.5 million annually and kept 45 percent of that sum in return for having sex with high-roller clients.
· Studio sees no humor in 'Muslim.' Comedian Albert Brooks says a very unfunny thing happened on his way to making a new film called "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" - the studio panicked over the title. Brooks says the studio - Sony - got so worried the comedy's title, with its use of the word Muslim, might bring reprisals that it decided not to release the picture.
· MADD enters 25th year with change on its mind. It's not that people oppose parents or support drunken drivers. But Mothers Against Drunk Driving didn't achieve the kind of success it will announce today without making a few enemies and attracting critics along the way. For example, MADD's money-raising efforts have been questioned for years, and has one of the worse records with up to 58% of the money MADD raises going toward fundraising and management, the American Institute for Philanthropy says.
· Rodney King Arrested for Alleged Threats. Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by Los Angeles police led to deadly riots in 1992, was arrested after he allegedly threatened his daughter and ex-girlfriend, police said. King, 40, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of making criminal threats. He was being held on $25,000 bail.
· Dean remains a young rebel. The 50th anniversary of screen rebel James Dean's death is being marked by fans on Friday. Dean was only 24 when he suffered fatal injuries in a smash between his Porsche and another car on a Californian highway on September 30, 1955.
· O.J. Simpson celebrates 10th anniversary signing autographs. O.J. Simpson plans to mark the 10th anniversary of his acquittal on double murder charges by signing autographs at a Los Angeles area comic convention.
· Science sinks the myth of a slow death in quicksand. It is a staple scene of B-movies and Westerns: the cowboy stumbles into a patch of quicksand and is sucked under until only his stetson remains on top, or sinks up to his neck until hauled out by his sidekick. Both scenarios have now been proved to fly in the face of physics. Research has shown that it is impossible for people to sink into quicksand much beyond the waist — but it is equally impossible to pull someone out once they are stuck.
· Kevorkian, in Prison Interview, Says He Won't Assist in Suicides if Paroled. If released from prison, former doctor Jack Kevorkian says he'll still campaign to legalize assisted suicide but won't resume helping people to die that way. Kevorkian, 77, is serving a 10- to 25-year sentence for second-degree murder for giving a fatal injection of drugs to a patient with Lou Gehrig's disease in 1998. Kevorkian, who has said he assisted in at least 130 deaths, is not eligible for parole until 2007.
· Blake Testifies in Wrongful Death Suit. Robert Blake took center stage during his first day of testimony in a wrongful death lawsuit, jousting verbally with the opposition lawyer and eliciting complaints from the judge for his aggressive style.
· Theron Gets Hollywood Walk of Fame Star. Oscar winner Charlize Theron's career came full circle Thursday when she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame only blocks from where she was first "discovered."
· Deceased killer Jackson linked to murder of 11-year-old girl. The story of Charles "Junior" Jackson keeps getting worse, even though he's been dead for 3 1/2 years.
· Martha Stewart Gives Up Fur. Martha Stewart, who says she's given up fur, has made a video for PETA. "I used to wear fur, but like many others, I had a change of heart when I learned what actually happens to the animals," Stewart says in the video.
· Jailed reporter reaches deal in CIA leak probe. After spending 12 weeks behind bars protecting a confidential source, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was released from jail after receiving permission from her source to provide evidence to a federal grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's name.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
· Texas judge orders teen barred from sex. A state district judge has ordered a 17-year-old drug offender barred from sex as a condition of her probation. Judge Lauri Blake made the ruling that bars the girl from having sex as long as she is living with her parents and attending school. She has also prohibited tattoos, body piercings, earrings and clothing "associated with the drug culture" for those on probation.
· Fla. Wal-Mart workers unite — without union. It's not a union, but some Wal-Mart workers say it might be the next best thing. Searching for a voice in their work lives, employees of some central Florida Wal-Mart stores have formed a workers group to collectively air complaints about what they claim is shoddy treatment by the retail giant. "Management seems like they don't really respect the associates," said Carl Jones, acting chairman of the new group, who makes $9.40 an hour as the lead cart-pusher at a store outside Orlando.
· 60 Percent of National Guard and Reserve Female Veterans Say They Were Sexually Harassed. Six in 10 women who have served in the National Guard and Reserves said they were sexually harassed or assaulted, but less than a quarter reported it and many who did were encouraged to drop the complaint, according to a survey released Thursday.
· Madonna Sings About Kabbalah Founder. Madonna likes to think of herself as being on the cutting edge, so she probably thinks a song called "Isaac" on her new album, about the founder of modern Kabbalah, is just the ticket.
· Big shoe sale. The Philippine government is considering auctioning off former first lady Imelda Marcos' vast $10 million collection of shoes and gowns, an official said Thursday.
· Chip Helps Electric Outlet Go Broadband. The common electric socket will serve as your home's connection to broadband with a new chip developed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. - doing away with all the Ethernet cables or the hassle of hooking up to a wireless network device.
· Man Sinks $200,000 Yacht Rather Than Lose It In Divorce. A British man sunk his $200,000 yacht in southwest England Wednesday rather than let his estranged wife sell it for a knockdown price after the couple decided to break up. The final straw in the couple's bitter break up came when his wife advertised the yacht in a local newspaper last week, saying she wanted a quick sale and was prepared to let the yacht go for $72,000.
· Cash-strapped Detroit wants to buy a tank. It's a huge tank with a huge price tag. The Detroit Police department is ready to make a big purchase on a crime-fighting vehicle despite laying off dozens of officers. It's an armored urban assault vehicle that would be used in drug raids and will cost the department $743,000.
· FedEx discrimination suit moves ahead. The suit contends the delivery service paid thousands of current and former minority employees less than their white counterparts. James Finberg, an attorney representing the class action case said "FedEx knows that black and Hispanics fail at a much higher rate, but yet has not changed the test."
· U.S. Won't Let U.N. Take Control Of Internet. A senior U.S. official rejected calls on Thursday for a U.N. body to take over control of the main computers that direct traffic on the Internet, reiterating U.S. intentions to keep its historical role as the medium's principal overseer.
· Reports: Moss Checks Into Rehab Clinic. Two British newspapers reported Thursday that Kate Moss has checked into a rehabilitation clinic in Arizona. Friends of the 31-year-old supermodel who was photographed apparently snorting cocaine told The Times that Moss flew to The Meadows clinic, where she will spend a month in "medical treatment and therapy."
· Handwritten Lennon Lyrics Fail to Sell. A set of Beatles lyrics handwritten by John Lennon on the back of a phone bill failed to sell at auction Wednesday. The 17-line draft of "I'm Only Sleeping" had been expected to sell for at least $350,000, but failed to reach its reserve price at Christie's auction house.
· Florida Police Charge Darryl Strawberry. Former baseball star Darryl Strawberry was charged with filing a false police report after investigators watching a gas station surveillance video saw him drive off in a different sport utility vehicle than the one he reported stolen, The Palm Beach Post reported on its Web site Thursday.
· Searching for Stern Subs Difficult. Executives at Viacom-owned Infinity Broadcasting have deemed Stern "not replaceable" and are opting to try out multiple radio personalities in different soon-to-be former Stern markets.
· Chill out at new bar. It is surely Britain's most chilled venue: a new bar in central London has been fashioned entirely from ice. The furniture, decorations - even the glasses - have all been carved from huge blocks of frozen water.
· Do-Not-Call Lists Under Fire. Two years after the National Do Not Call Registry took effect - and with more than 100 million numbers enrolled - dinner-time conversations are still being interrupted by telemarketing calls. Regulators say the system is working, but a recent random survey found that 51% of registered consumers say they're still getting calls they think the list is supposed to block.
· Apple admits problem with iPod nano. Apple Computer Inc., responding to complaints that the screen on its sleek, recently introduced iPod cracks too easily, said on Wednesday it will replace any defective units.
· Bush Pardons Coal Mine Bomber, 13 Others. President Bush granted pardons Wednesday to 14 people, including a member of the mineworkers union who was convicted for his role in bombings at a West Virginia coal mine, a counterfeiter and a bootlegger. Bush has issued 60 pardons, while his father, former President George H.W. Bush, issued 77 pardons during his single term, and former President Clinton granted clemency to 456 people during his eight years in office.
· Flight Attendants Say Boycott 'Flightplan.' Three groups representing flight attendants are calling for a boycott of the box-office hit "Flightplan." In the Jodie Foster thriller about a mother looking for her missing daughter aboard a plane, a flight attendant colludes with an air marshal as part of a plot to extort a ransom from the airline.
· $10K Reward Offered After Candy Stolen From Trailer. A trucking company is offering a $10,000 reward for the return of over 36,000 pounds of candy and gum stolen last month from a trailer parked at an east-central Indiana truck stop. The 53-foot-long trailer belonging to McCain Transport was loaded with 30 pallets of Bazooka gum, jelly beans and assorted candy when it was stolen.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
· Workers Gave Elderly Patients Laxatives To Prank Next Shift. What is being described as a "prank" that occurred last year has resulted in serious accusations against two former nursing home employees from Irvine. Lisa Kilburn, 27, and Kim Congleton, 30, were both certified nursing assistants at Irvine Health and Rehabilitation Center. They're accused of giving laxatives to patients who did not need them, including older and medically fragile people. The patients suffered pain and rectal bleeding.
· Al Jazeera's newest journalist is an ex-US Marine. Josh Rushing, former Marine captain and an accidental star of the movie Control Room made news of his own last week when he signed on to become the American face of the controversial Arab news network Al Jazeera-International. Top U.S. officials, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, have repeatedly complained that Al Jazeera's coverage is unfair or untrue. Yesterday, Rushing sat down with TIME for his first interview on why he took the job and what the new network will cover.
· Scientists perfect sandcastle recipe. A lesson learned by centuries of beachcombers has been distilled to a physicist's formula: to make the perfect sandcastle, use eight parts sand to one part water. The physicists' study, released before publication in the journal Nature Physics, is entitled, rather grandly, "Maximum angle of stability of a wet granular pile."
· Treasure hunters demand part of robot's find. A debate is raging in Chile over who has the rights to a mythic treasure trove supposedly found by a robot metal detector on the islands that inspired the novel about castaway Robinson Crusoe. The 300-year-old booty worth up to $10 billion hasn't even been dug up, so nobody knows whether it's really been found, but the Chilean treasure hunters say they won't reveal its hiding place unless the government guarantees them the right to half of it.
· Man Falls Asleep Stealing Gasoline. If you're going to steal gas, you might want to stay awake. Police in Muncie reported they found a man who fell asleep while siphoning gasoline into a 55-gallon tank in the back of his van. The manager of a Swifty Gas station noticed the white van when he got to work Tuesday morning and called the cops.
· FEMA Under Fire Again for Rita Effort. Saying they were caught off-guard by the number of people in need, FEMA officials closed a relief center early on Wednesday after some of the hundreds of hurricane victims in line began fainting in triple-digit heat.
· Younger and fatter Mick Jagger imposter gets free drinks and women. A Mick Jagger lookalike got the VIP treatment at a club in New York until club officials got a better look at him. A spokeswoman for Spirit says the imposter spent 90 minutes at the club getting free drinks and a lot attention from women.
· DeLay Indicted in Texas Fundraising Probe. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted Wednesday by a Texas grand jury on a charge of conspiring to violate political fundraising laws, making him the highest-ranking member of Congress ever to face criminal indictment and forcing him to temporarily step aside from his GOP post.
· 19-year-old faces jail for copying movies. A 19-year-old movie theater cashier from Missouri faces eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty in San Jose to copying first-run movies and uploading them onto the Internet, the U.S. attorney's office said.
· 'Peace Mom' calls John McCain a "Warmonger." Cindy Sheehan didn't change her opposition to the war in Iraq after meeting Tuesday with one of its supporters, Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam veteran whom she called "a warmonger." "He tried to tell us what George Bush would have said," Sheehan said. McCain, R-Ariz., also seemed disappointed in the meeting, which he said had been misrepresented as including some of his constituents.
· Wendy's rewards $100,000 for info in finger case. Wendy's International Inc. confirmed on Tuesday it would pay the $100,000 reward it promised for information that helped establish the origin of a piece of human finger a woman claimed she had found in a bowl of the burger chain's chili.
· Bernadette Peters' husband dies in helicopter crash. Michael Wittenberg, husband of Broadway musical-theater star Bernadette Peters, died Monday in a helicopter crash. He was 43.
· Number of millionaires hits record. Households with a net worth of at least $1 million excluding primary residences rose 8 percent to a record high 8.9 million. This was 700,000 more than last year.
· Man arrested 30 years after murder pleads guilty. A man was sentenced Tuesday to three years in jail for shooting a civilian police employee in a dispute over a stolen can of Spam more than 30 years ago.
· ABC, CBS Lead First Week of New TV Season. Viewers flocked to old favorites "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Desperate Housewives" and tried out new fare "My Name is Earl" and "Everybody Hates Chris" in the first week of television's new season. The season began like the old one left off: ABC is hot, NBC is not and CBS remains the nation's most popular network.
· Is Air America crumbling? Air America, the liberal radio answer to Rush Limbaugh, is now asking its listeners to send in money, leading some analysts to say the network is "crumbling." The network, featuring voices including Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo, has developed a program where people become "associate" members by contributing cash to the radio station.
· Treasury Set to Unveil Redesigned $10 Bill. The $10 bill is set to become the latest currency denomination to feature a splash of colors to complement the greenback's traditional green.
· Oklahoma 71-year-old wins homecoming crown. She wants to be known as an advocate for the elderly, but students at Northeastern State University know 71-year-old Muriel Saunders as their homecoming queen.
· Mouse grounds plane for 13 hours. A mouse upset the best-laid plans of an airline and nearly 250 passengers in the Philippines, grounding a plane for 13 hours while engineers tried to smoke out the rodent.
· Iraq's First Female Suicide Bomber Kills 6. A woman disguised in a man's robes and headdress slipped into a line of army recruits Wednesday and detonated explosives strapped to her body, killing at least six recruits and wounding 35 — the first known suicide attack by a woman in Iraq's insurgency.
· Police warned of multiple Taser hits. Nearly three months before the death of a 21-year-old Nashville man who was shocked up to 19 times with police Tasers, the devices' maker sent a bulletin to police departments — including Metro — warning them of the potentially deadly consequences of repeatedly shooting suspects with the stun guns.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
· Ohio executes man involved in $40 robbery. The state of Ohio executed a 32-year-old man on Tuesday who admitted killing another man in a $40 robbery nine years ago and had waived most of his appeals, saying he deserved to die.
· Woman Ticketed For Sitting On Park Bench Without Kids. It's an 'only in New York' story. A woman was given a ticket for sitting on a park bench because she doesn't have children. Sandra Catena, 47, said she didn't see the sign at the park prohibiting adults without kids when she sat down to wait for an arts festival to start. Two cops asked her if she was with a child. When she said no, they gave her a ticket that could bring a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.
· Ashton and Demi: Real or Punk'd? As most have already heard, People Magazine reported that Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher tied the knot last Saturday night. Now, Access Hollywood is on the case to find out if it was for real or are we all getting “Punk’d?” Access Hollywood was forwarded an email, allegedly written by “Punk’d” executive producer Jason Goldberg to the show’s producers and writers, which stated “preparations for the ceremony are in full swing, and it’s actually more hell than preparing for a real wedding, if that’s possible.”
· Postal Service will post huge deficit in '06. Even with a planned postage rate increase, the Postal Service expects to go nearly $2 billion in the red next year. The agency plans a 5.4 percent rate increase in January, which would raise the cost of sending a first-class letter by two cents — to 39 cents.
· Police chief: 249 New Orleans officers left posts without permission during Katrina. Nearly 250 police officers - roughly 15 percent of the force - could face a special tribunal because they left their posts without permission during Hurricane Katrina and the storm's chaotic aftermath, the police chief said.
· Anna Nicole's Case Heads to High Court. Former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith is going to the Supreme Court. Justices said Tuesday they would consider Smith's appeal over the fortune of her 90-year-old late husband. The stripper-turned-reality television star stands to win as much as $474 million that a bankruptcy judge initially said she was entitled to.
· Lawmaker uses centuries-old law as DUI defense. Although state Rep. David Graves was charged with drunken driving for a second time, he says his position as lawmaker means he cannot break the law while the Legislature is at work. Graves, a Republican from Macon, Ga., is citing a centuries-old provision in the state constitution to argue that he should not be prosecuted for a DUI he received in Cobb County in February.
· "GoodFella" Gets 180 Days for Drug Charges. Former mobster-turned-chef Henry Hill, whose experiences inspired the 1990 gangland movie "GoodFellas," has been sentenced to 180 days in jail for attempted possession of methamphetamine.
· War protesters preplanned arrests. The day before yesterday's arrest of Cindy Sheehan and dozens of other protesters, a press release announced that: "Cindy Sheehan to Join Nonviolent Civil Disobedience at the White House on Monday, Sept. 26," and "Hundreds will be arrested as they express their opposition to the Iraq War."
· Hospital suspends transplants after allegations. One of California’s largest organ transplant centers has suspended its liver program after determining that doctors improperly arranged a liver transplant for a Saudi man not among the highest-priority patients, and where the Saudi Arabia Embassy paid $339,000 for the operation. The suspension of the liver program at St. Vincent means that lifesaving transplants could be delayed for 75 patients who are on the center’s liver waiting list.
· Donald Trump, Wife Expecting Child. Donald Trump is about to get a new apprentice. The mogul's third wife, Melania Knauss, is pregnant with his fifth child.
· Law school posts student social security numbers on the Internet. Social Security numbers and other sensitive information belonging to more than 300 CUNY Law School students were accidentally posted on the Internet this month until an alert law student stumbled upon her own files.
· Stuntman Describes Several Murder Scenarios in Robert Blake Civil Trial. A Hollywood stuntman testified Monday in a wrongful death lawsuit against Robert Blake that the actor described several scenarios in which his wife could be killed.
· Comedian Kathy Griffin Files for Divorce. Comedian Kathy Griffin has filed for divorce after 4 1/2 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences, court documents show.
· Manual Transmission Foils Carjacker. A would-be carjacker got away with nothing more than the keys Monday after he apparently was thwarted by the vehicle's manual transmission. The thief was armed with a shotgun when he ordered a 26-year-old man out of his Chevrolet Camaro in a suburban Kansas City parking lot. The driver complied, but when the robber got into the car he was unable to manage the stick shift.
· That "new car" smell is harmful. One of the best things about having a new car could be bad for you. New research finds that much loved "new car" smell is produced by harmful chemicals. According to a recent study, that pleasurable scent has been linked to harmful chemicals - volatile organic compound or VOC - which releases chemicals from glues, paints, and vinyl.
· Kidman: Psychiatry Is Worthwhile Field. Nicole Kidman says she didn't have to go far to research her role as a psychiatrist for the upcoming movie, "The Visiting." "I have a father who is a psychologist, so my life has been research," the Oscar-winning actress told AP Radio in a recent interview.
· City of San Jose proclaims "Church of Scientology Week." Over 3,800 people joined city officials, Police Chief Rob Davis and San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP President Rick Callender Sunday, in opening the new home of the Church of Scientology, where Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez presented a City of San Jose Proclamation to the Church, designating August 28th — September 3rd "Church of Scientology Week."
· Boys Rip Classmates' Clothes Off, Snap Photos. Four Central Florida middle school students were arrested Monday for allegedly ripping off the clothes off classmates and then snapping photos with their cell phones.
· Leather-clad revelers hot, sweaty in S.F. Despite sweltering morning heat, leather-clad minions mixed with fully nude street revelers as an estimated 400,000 people flocked to Folsom Street on Sunday for the 22nd annual Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. Dominants and submissives came from all over the globe, including London, Paris, Canada, New Zealand and Australia to experience the "granddaddy of leather" extravaganzas, according to Darryl Flick, president of Folsom Street Events.
· Found on eBay: A larger-than-life Stallone statue. Looking for a truly unique lawn ornament? How about a 10-foot-tall bronze statue of Sylvester Stallone? It was originally erected near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, at the top of the steps made famous by the original "Rocky." Bidding starts at $1 million.
· `Squeaky' Fromme unrepentant, still devoted to Manson. On a September morning 30 years ago, Lynette Alice Fromme pointed a loaded pistol at Gerald Ford in a park outside the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The gun didn't fire, but she was sentenced to life in prison for her crime.
· Dunst Confirms 'Spidey 3' Villain Identities. Although the Internet has been abuzz with the supposed identities of the two "Spider-Man 3" villains to be played by Thomas Haden Church and Topher Grace, Sony and Marvel have kept the names under wraps. Now Mary Jane herself has confirmed Spidey's latest nemeses.
· Brown serving as consultant to FEMA. A congressional panel on Tuesday is expected to scrutinize the decision to keep ousted Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown on the federal payroll. Brown said he wished he had pushed more forcefully - and earlier - for federal troops to be brought in to restore order in New Orleans.
· Piranha Bites Manila Airport Inspector. A routine check of a shipment at Manila airport turned bloody when a piranha sprung up and bit one of the inspectors. "I was checking one of the boxes when suddenly, something leaped out of it and bit me," fisheries quarantine inspector Mario Trio told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a report published Tuesday.
Monday, September 26, 2005
· Eleven Pervert Priests in Chicago Area Removed. Eleven priests suspected of sexual misconduct with minors more than 20 years ago have been barred from clerical work, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago said Monday.
· Don Adams of 'Get Smart' Dies at 82. Don Adams, the wry-voiced comedian who starred as the fumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart in the 1960s television spoof of James Bond movies, "Get Smart," has died. Adams died of a lung infection late Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
· Sentencing Delayed For 'Cool Mom' Who Held Teen Sex Parties. A Colorado woman who admitted to giving drugs and sex to teenage boys because she wanted to be a "cool mom" was to find out Monday what her sentence would be, but her sentencing was delayed after she was in a serious car accident that involved four adolescents.
· Yankees star Derek Jeter gets hate mail. New York Yankees star Derek Jeter is the latest athlete to receive a threatening letter warning him to stop dating white women. The letter was mailed to the all star shortstop at Yankee Stadium and called him a "traitor to his race."
· Teflon John II released from jail. A judge on Monday agreed to free the son of late mob boss John Gotti on $7 million bond secured by four properties, including his sister Victoria's home.
· Update: No Charges in Shooting of Robber With Water Nozzle. A liquor store owner will not be charged after fatally shooting a robber who was holding a pistol-grip water nozzle, the district attorney announced Monday.
· Wal-Mart Reportedly Wants To Buy Tommy Hilfiger. Women's Wear Daily is reporting on its Web site that the world's largest retailer is believed to have initiated the idea of a buyout, and will start conducting due diligence as early as this week. According to Women's Wear Daily, the asking price for Tommy Hilfiger is at least $1.82 billion, but could go as high as $2.16 billion.
· Sheehan Arrested During Anti-War Protest. Cindy Sheehan, the California woman who has used her son's death in Iraq to spur the anti-war movement, was arrested Monday while protesting outside the White House. Sheehan and several dozen other protesters sat down on the sidewalk, after police warned them three times that they were breaking the law.
· Drug Bust Dopiness. Members of a minority student group at Boston College say use of the term "drug bust" in a story about the arrest of three black Resident Directors caught smoking dope was insensitive and racist. They insisted that the term would not have been used had the perpetrators been white.
· Sopranos Actor Pastore to Plead Guilty. Vincent Pastore, who played gangster Salvatore Bonpensiero on HBO's "The Sopranos," has agreed to plead guilty to a charge that he attempted to assault a former girlfriend last spring.
· Man Takes Citizenship Oath, Wins Lottery. A man who immigrated from Kenya to the United States found prosperity beyond his expectations on the day he became a U.S. citizen. Shortly after Moses Bittok, of West Des Moines, took the oath of citizenship on Friday, he discovered he had a $1.89 million winning ticket from the Iowa Lottery's Hot Lotto game.
· Army private convicted in Abu Ghraib case. Army Pfc. Lynndie England, whose smiling poses in photos of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib made her the face of the scandal, was convicted Monday by a military jury on all but one of the seven counts she faced.
· Rita's death toll climbs with discovery of five dead in Beaumont. The death toll climbed to seven when the bodies of five people were discovered in a Beaumont apartment. The five - a man, a woman and three children - apparently were overcome by carbon monoxide from a generator they were using after the hurricane knocked out the electricity over the weekend, authorities said.
· Credit card companies can keep data ID theft secret. Credit card companies don't have to notify customers their personal information has been stolen, a California Judge ruled. The Rothken law firm in Marin County, Ca had brought a class action suit on behalf of cardholders and merchants against CardSystems Solutions, Visa and MasterCard following a high profile data ID heist in June.
· Afghanistan urged to fast-track legalisation of opium crop. Afghanistan urgently needs to legalise its massive opium crop, which supplies most of the world's heroin, to avoid becoming a narco-state and to fund reconstruction, a think-tank said here.
· The Lawsuit That Sank New Orleans. After Hurricane Betsy swamped New Orleans in 1965, the Army Corps of Engineers designed a Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane Barrier to shield the city with flood gates like those that protect the Netherlands from the North Sea. Congress provided funding and construction began. But work stopped in 1977 when a federal judge ruled, in a suit brought by Save Our Wetlands, that the Corps' environmental impact statement was deficient.
· New developments in Behl investigation. After days with little news in the search for missing VCU freshman Taylor Behl, the story began to unfold again Friday as a "person of interest" was taken into police custody and the university announced a $20,000 reward in addition to the $11,000 offered by Behl's family for anyone with information that leads to Behl's location and return.
· 'NY Times' Public Editor Backs Geraldo in Dispute. In an unusually harsh column, Byron Calame, public editor at The New York Times, has criticized the paper’s refusal to offer a correction to Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera in a now-famous episode during the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. He singled out Bill Keller, executive editor, for special fault. In Calame’s mind, it’s a slam-dunk: “I have been involved in scores of correction disputes over the years at another newspaper, but this one is unusual in that there is very little to argue about.”
· La. politician slams Russert for tragedy 'nitpicking.' The Louisiana official who broke America's heart when he wept on TV about the failure to rescue a colleague's mother in a New Orleans nursing home went back on "Meet the Press" yesterday to face questions about discrepancies in his story. "Man, get out of my face," Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard told host Tim Russert, who had pointed out that Broussard got dates and details of the death wrong.
· Eva overexposed? While the "Desperate Housewives" stars have stayed busy during hiatus, no one's made more headlines than the youngest, foxiest housewife, Eva Longoria, who plays campy, trampy Gabrielle. And it's not necessarily a good thing. Longoria is very close to becoming the latest victim of ADD - that's Attention-demanding Diva Disorder - the same disease that's felled such star-struck TV hotties in the past as Suzanne Somers and Farrah Fawcett.
· Aruba suspect denies responsibility. A suspect in the case of an Alabama teenager missing in Aruba admits he lied about the last time he saw her on the night she vanished, but he insists she was fine, according to a television interview.
· Left-handed women may face higher cancer risk. Left-handed women are more than twice as likely as right-handers to suffer from breast cancer before reaching menopause, Dutch scientists said on Monday. More than a million women are diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide each year. 75% of cases occur after menopause, which usually begins around the age of 50.
· Update: New inquiry may expose events that led to Pat Tillman’s death. The battle between a grieving family and the U.S. military justice system is on display in thousands of pages of documents strewn across Mary Tillman’s dining room table in suburban San Jose.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
· Suspended pervert priest says contact was consensual. A suspended Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting a mentally disabled 19-year-old told police the contact was consensual, according to court records obtained before a judge issued a gag order in the case. The victim functions at the level of a 9-year-old.
· It's a 'new era' of hurricanes. Don't rush to blame it on global warming, experts warn. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, told a Senate subcommittee this week that we're in a period of heightened hurricane activity that could last another decade or two. "The increased activity since 1995 is due to natural fluctuations (and) cycles of hurricane activity driven by the Atlantic Ocean itself along with the atmosphere above it and not enhanced substantially by global warming," he testified.
· Producer accused of $5 million 'TV scam.' A Hollywood producer has been charged after allegedly taking $5.5 million from investors for a TV drama he said was backed by president George Bush. The U.S. attorney's office alleges Joseph Medawar, 43, collected money from investors for two years but spent the majority of it on himself. It said Mr. Medawar had falsely claimed the White House had endorsed the proposed series, called DHS.
· Hotels are one of few industries benefiting from Katrina. Hurricane Katrina may be blamed for rising gas prices, squeezing airlines' bottom lines and agriculture shipping delays, but it has been a boon for one industry: the nation's hotel sector.
· Louisiana’s governor seeks $20 billion for levee repairs. Areas of the city newly flooded by Hurricane Rita could be pumped dry again within a week after levee damage is repaired, far sooner than initially predicted, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman said Sunday as Louisiana’s governor said she would request $20.2 billion in funding for levees.
· Fox News Channel's Smith Buoys Reputation. Much like a youthful Dan Rather made a name for himself with stellar coverage of a Gulf Coast hurricane two generations ago, Fox News Channel's Shepard Smith is opening some eyes with his work, amid some controversy. Sean Hannity opened his show with images of the National Guard arriving in New Orleans, bringing hope and authority to a lawless town. Smith's reporting was far different. "Over there, there's hope," Smith said. "Over there, there's electricity. Over there, there is food and water. But you cannot go from there to there. The government will not allow you to do it. It's a fact." "All right, Shep," Hannity said. "I want to get some perspective here, because earlier today..." Smith interrupted him. "That is perspective!" he said.
· It's official: Jews control Hollywood. Ben Stein was asked by a 60 Minutes producer if Hollywood was run by Jews. Doing the math, Stein quickly determined that while Hollywood was not really "run" by anyone (it's far too chaotic for that, according to Stein), if Jews were about 2.5 percent of the U.S. population and about 60 percent of Hollywood was headed up by Jews, then the answer is obvious.
· Thumbtack presents potential threat to president. A high school student's class project consisted of a photograph of Bush fastened to a wall with a thumbtack. Over the picture of Bush is a "thumbs-down" sign. The thumbtack in the photo was apparently placed somewhere on Bush's head. Concerned that the thumbtack might represent a potential threat to the president, the company that developed the student's film notified the Secret Service.
· Foster's 'Flightplan' Propels Box Office. Jodie Foster piloted "Flightplan" to a No. 1 debut, her airborne thriller taking in $24.6 million to land ahead of "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," the runner-up with $20.1 million.
· Oklahoma girl, alleged abductor found dead. A teenager who was abducted as she left school last week was found shot to death Saturday along with a man her mother had once dated. Authorities said it appeared to be a murder-suicide.
· Testing slimming powers of tequila. Scientists from Mexico's tequila producing region say juice extracted from the blue agave plant, best known when distilled into the fiery spirit, may help dieters shed pounds and cut cholesterol.
· 'Little Rascals' Actor Thomas Bond Dies. Thomas Ross Bond, who played Butch the bully in the "Our Gang" and "The Little Rascals" serials of the 1930s, has died. He was 79.
· Woman arrested over Menezes leak. A woman has been arrested over the leak of findings about the fatal police shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes on the Tube.
· Scout leader gets probation for photos of nude girl. A longtime Boy Scout leader from Annapolis was given probation and a suspended prison sentence after admitting he took nude pictures of a 9-year-old girl in his minivan in June. Police said Stanley Taylor admitted taking seven pictures of the girl, but told them he didn't know taking nude pictures of a 9-year-old was illegal. He gave officers the girl's phone number and wrote a letter of apology to her mother.
· UCF Officer Fatally Shot By Orlando Police. A University of Central Florida police officer was fatally shot by another officer outside the Citrus Bowl before a football game on Saturday. Witnesses said that an undercover officer broke up a gathering of students, who resisted his efforts. The officer then fired three shots into the air for help. Another officer saw a gunman and shot him several times. The gunman was the undercover officer.
· Mary and Jim to the end. Before Jim Morrison became famous with the Doors, he and Mary Werbelow were soul mates. In the never-ending procession of Morrison biographies, she is mentioned briefly but never quoted. Google her, and not a single photo appears. She has never spoken publicly about their three years together - until now.
· Sharapova quits during semifinal. Top seed Maria Sharapova had to retire during her China Open semifinal in Beijing, allowing fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko to move into the final against Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Sharapova's pullout, because of a damaged pectoral muscle, is a worrying development for the former Wimbledon champion.
· Man Commits Murder, Rents Backhoe To Bury Body. Police say they have arrested a man in Ohio who killed a Fort Lauderdale man and then rented a backhoe to bury him in his back yard.
· Even the jail was full of laughs in the great town of Mayberry. From the very outset, "The Andy Griffith Show" enjoyed a following that crossed all lines, all ages, all tastes. Some were inclined to dismiss the Griffith show, back then, as an exercise in knee-slapping Southern-rube humor.
» The Andy Griffith Show & The Real Mayberry. Interesting facts about The Andy Griffith Show you probably didn't know.
· For the person that has everything - including flys. Neiman Marcus is offering a monogrammed fly swatter, that, for $50 bucks, will "swat away annoying critters in your own signature style."
· Teen arrested for attacking principal. A high school student was arrested on Friday for attacking her principal after he told her to stop talking on her cell phone. Tearsa Gaddy, 16, was sent to Principal Anthony Clement's office for disrupting class, police said. When Clement told her to stop talking on her cell phone, Gaddy threw it at his head then kicked him, police said.
Saturday, September 24, 2005