Mar 22 - NASCAR embraces unlikely sponsors

Kevin Conway is a walking billboard for — how can we say this delicately? — better performance in the bedroom. "That's kind of the elephant in the room," he says with a mischievous grin, wearing a race suit with the word "ExtenZe" around his neck, across his chest and back, and down the sides of both legs. All giggling aside, the sponsorship deal for the No. 37 car shows how teams must look beyond conventional sponsors in these tough economic times.

This is a sport that requires more than just a fast car and a talented driver; someone's got to be willing to foot the bill with a lot of zeros on the check. Which brings us to Conway, a 30-year-old, college-educated rookie who knew he'd need more than just a heavy right foot to break into the Sprint Cup series. Like anyone who's had trouble sleeping, he'd seen one of those bawdy ExtenZe infomercials sandwiched between pitches for stay-at-home jobs that will turn you into an instant millionaire and video collections for long-ago television shows. Hmmm, he thought, wonder if ExtenZe would be willing to sponsor a stock car?
posted by Photography By Glenn

Mar 22 - Donors conference raises $850 million for Darfur

An international donors conference on Sunday raised $850 million for projects intended to ensure the safe return of nearly 3 million people displaced during the war in Darfur. The one-day conference in Cairo was organized by the 57-nation Organization of The Islamic Conference and included representatives from the U.S., European nations, U.N. agencies and aid groups. Host Egypt said the conference highlighted the importance of development in achieving peace and stability in Darfur. It said many participants made unspecified aid pledges on top of the dlrs 850 million raised.

"The large participation and the pledges made reflect the wide extent of the international commitment and wish in supporting peace and stability in Darfur," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, reading from the meeting's final communique. "Development in Darfur is the real guarantee to help refugees back to their homes," Aboul Gheit said. The biggest donors Sunday were Brazil, The Islamic Bank for Development, Qatar and Turkey. Others pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to finance development projects. The fighting in Darfur, which began with a 2003 rebellion by groups accusing the government of neglecting the western province, has died down over the past year and peace talks are under way in the Gulf state of Qatar.
posted by Photography By Glenn

Mar 22 - House sends health care bill to Obama's desk

After well over a year of negotiations, setbacks, and political wrangling, the House has approved President Barack Obama’s top domestic policy initiative, sending a bill to massively overhaul the nation’s health insurance system to his desk to be signed and enacted into law. The climactic chapter in a century-long quest for near universal coverage concludes with the House's 219-212 approval of a bill to extend coverage to 32 million Americans who lack it, ban insurers from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions and cut deficits by an estimated $138 billion over a decade.

Republicans voted unanimously against the bill, which they say constitutes a government takeover of the health care system, financed by a trillion dollars in higher taxes and Medicare cuts combined. "We will be joining those who established Social Security, Medicare and now, tonight, health care for all Americans," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as the vote neared. We have failed to listen to Americans," said Minority Leader John Boehner during a fiery speech on the Senate floor before the vote. "And we failed to reflect the will of our constituents."
posted by Photography By Glenn

Mar 22 - A Jag Fit For The Queen Could Be Yours!

London Reuters reports: At first sight it seems just another second-hand luxury car for sale but this Jaguar included some special extras in its day such as emergency convoy lights and a direct radio link to the British Prime Minister.

That's because the green Daimler V8 was formerly owned and driven by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II between 2001 and 2004.

Delivered to the royal family with 2,000 test miles, the queen added 12,000 more miles to the clock traveling to and from Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

It was specifically built for the British monarch and designed to satisfy all her needs.

It has a special armrest to accommodate the queen's handbag and the original registration used by her is still in the vehicle, the Independent newspaper reported.

The car, which has a list price of 65,000 pounds ($99,310), was in secure storage at the Jaguar factory until Peter Radcliffe, a specialist memorabilia dealer, bought it.

He is now offering it for sale on the website www.hmthequeensdaimler.com.

"It is in truly immaculate as new condition and has all original paperwork, service book, spare keys and photographs of the queen driving the car," Radcliffe said on the website. posted by Mobaygirl

Mar 22 - Schwarzenegger's Rating At An All Time Low

A new survey by the Field Poll shows California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's public opinion rating has slumped to a new low.

Results from a survey released Sunday show that only 23 percent of people asked approved of the job the governor is doing, while 71 percent disapproved.

Poll officials say Sunday's assessment is the lowest approval rating the governor has received since he took office.

It also is statistically equivalent to the all-time record low job appraisal that voters gave to Democrat Gray Davis shortly before he was recalled from office in 2003.

The Field Poll found only 13 percent of the voters asked approved of the job the state Legislature is doing, while 78 percent disapproved.

The latest Field Poll was conducted during a telephone survey of 503 registered voters across the state. posted by Mobaygirl

Mar 21 - Jennifer Aniston Wants a Family

Sexy Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston (pictured) is talking family again - at the same time as she is shooting down rumors that she is dating her Bounty Hunter co-star Gerard Butler.

The couple star together as a divorced couple in the new romantic comedy and have been linked together off screen, too. But while Aniston insists they are just friends, she is taking time to reveal that she is ready to settle down and have kids. 

She told UK Star magazine: "I've had some wonderful experiences. I hope I've reached a point where I'm ready to enjoy being with a great man and having a family together. "That's always been my dream."

Jennifer has dated several high-profile stars since she split from her ex-husband Brad Pitt in 2005, including John Mayer, Vince Vaughn and Paul Sculfor but has always said she wanted to have kids.

She added: "We're all a lot more complicated. We've also become more wary and more demanding, maybe."

"Men and women are developing higher expectations and sometimes that creates too much pressure because your partner is not always going to be everything you want."
posted by Melissa Ilievski

Mar 22 - Demi Moore saves life of would-be teen suicide on Twitter

The teen, an 18-year-old youth in Florida, reportedly posted a tweet on Moore's Twitter page, which said he had messed up his life and was "thinking about killing myself".

Twitter-happy Demi Moore saved the life of a would-be teen suicide, according to US reports.

The teen, an 18-year-old youth in Florida, reportedly posted a tweet on Moore's Twitter page, which said he had messed up his life and was "thinking about killing myself".

The AFP reported he posted that he was about to "go hang myself from a tree outside my house and end my life. I have no reason to live anymore. I am going to send a live feed of me hanging myself. No one cares if I die or not".

Moore responded, asking him if he needed help – to which the poster replied "Yes".

A second celebrity actress, Nia Vardalos, saw the posting and called a suicide prevention facility in Los Angeles, which contacted police in the Florida county where the man lived.

According to the report, a police officer went to the man's home in Casselberry in the early hours of last Friday only to find him sitting at his computer desk crying.

The man, whose mother said he suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder, was placed in protective custody. Moore, who is married to Ashton Kutcher and appears on Twitter under the handle mrskutcher, later tweeted: "Thank you Twitterverse for your help supporting someone in pain last night."
posted by catherine.st-pierre

Mar 21 - Heidi Montag wants even bigger boobs

The Hills beauty, 23, showed off her ample assets in a daring black cutaway mini-dress on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.  Plastic surgery-obsessed Heidi Montag says she wants even bigger boobs - but can't because of legal size limits.

The Hills beauty, 23, showed off her ample assets in a daring black cutaway mini-dress on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.

Leno asked whether there was truth in allegations that she is "addicted" to surgery, after she admitted to undergoing 10 cosmetic procedures in just one day.

"When you're addicted to something, you have to do it every day," she said. "And thank God I don't do it every day. I like to do it all in one day. I like to knock it out. Some of them are little things, some of them you wouldn't even know unless I told you."

Grabbing her eye-popping cleavage, she added: "Two are big, two are very noticeable! I would get these bigger but legally I can't right now. There's a limit - 800ccs and I have 700ccs, so 100ccs wouldn't really make a difference."
posted by catherine.st-pierre

Mar 21 - Two French heli-skiers killed in third B.C. avalanche

A third avalanche to hit B.C. in a week has claimed the lives of two French heli-skiers, police say.  According to a news release issued by the Valemount RCMP, the avalanche in Wells Gray Provincial Park, near MacAndrew Lake, buried three skiers around 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

One skier was pulled from the snow uninjured, while the other two were found unconscious. The two men, aged 19 and 65, could not be resuscitated.

RCMP say they have notified the skiers' next of kin, who have asked that their names not be released.

Authorities say the avalanche occurred as a licenced heli-ski operator had 10 skiers and two guides descending a run in the Azure River Drainage area of the Cariboo Mountain range.

The avalanche, which measured between 300 and 400 metres wide, occurred at an elevation of 2,300 metres and ran for a distance between 700 and 800 metres. It was categorized as a class 3 to 3.5 avalanche. According to the Canadian Avalanche Association, a class 3 slide can bury and destroy a car, destroy a small building or break trees.

RCMP investigators will assist the B.C. Coroners Office in its investigation of the incident.

The avalanche is the third slide to occur in the province in the last week. On Friday, Kelly Reitenbach, a 30-year-old snowmobiler from Calgary, was killed in an avalanche on Eagle Pass Mountain. A second snowmobiler from Saskatchewan sustained minor injuries.

Last weekend, an avalanche at Boulder Mountain killed two Alberta men and injured 31 people attending an unsanctioned snowmobiling event known as the Big Iron Shoot-Out.

Both slides were blamed on snowmobilers engaged in an activity known as high marking.

RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said Saturday that criminal charges may be pursued in relation to the Boulder Mountain slide. Moskaluk would only say that officers were "questioning" some of the people who attended the event.
posted by catherine.st-pierre

Mar 21 - Woods frets about return to Masters during chat

Tiger Woods admits that he's a little nervous about his return next month to the game that made him a superstar.  "It would be nice to hear a couple claps here and there," he told ESPN in an interview Sunday night.

Speaking in his first one-on-one interview since November, Woods also spoke about the sex scandal that got him off his game.

Still, while Woods answered many questions during the terse, five-minute chat, he left many more unanswered.

"I've done some pretty bad things in my life, and it all came to a head," Woods said at one point during the interview.

But when pressed on specifics, such as the nature of his stint at a Mississippi clinic two months ago, Woods demurred and said it was private.

He also declined to talk specifically about what occurred at his Florida residence on November 27, when officials were called to his home after an apparent automobile incident.

Nonetheless, the world's best golfer said that he has worked hard to get his life back on course.

"I was living a life of a lie, I really was," said Woods. "And I was doing a lot of things, like I said, that hurt a lot of people. And stripping away denial and rationalization you start coming to the truth of who you really are, and that can be very ugly."

"It was really tough to look at yourself in a light you never want to look at yourself, that's pretty brutal," he said.

Woods hasn't played in a PGA Tour game since Sept. 28, 2009. When the Masters begins on April 8, Woods will have spent 144 days away from pro golf.

Obviously, he said that getting back onto the tour was a source of great strength and excitement for him.

"I'm excited to get back and play, I'm excited to get to see the guys again," he said.

"I really miss a lot of my friends out there. I miss competing. But still, I still have a lot more treatment to do, and just because I'm playing, doesn't mean I'm [going to] stop going to treatment."
posted by catherine.st-pierre

Mar 21 - Volunteer day would honor Mister Rogers

Mister Rogers cared deeply about his neighbors and his neighborhood, both in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and in real life.  Friends of Fred Rogers want to honor his legacy with a national day of volunteering on his birthday. Rogers, who died in 2003 after battling stomach cancer, would have been 82 on Saturday.

David Newell, who played Mr. McFeely on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," said volunteering meant a lot to Rogers.

As a boy, Rogers volunteered at a hospital in Latrobe, Pa., rolling bandages for soldiers during WWII.

The volunteer day is beginning this year in partnership with the United Way of Allegheny County, the county in which Pittsburgh is located and where the show was made.

"We're trying to establish this as a national event, but you've got to start small," Newell said. "It's really what Fred would want to happen.”

Suggested volunteer ideas; lending an ear to someone, offering to return a shopping cart or volunteering at a senior center.

While there are opportunities to volunteer, a dedicated day helps reinvigorate volunteerism. The United Way also sees Won't You Be My Neighbor? Day as a way of recognizing people who volunteer. posted by SMMurphy PhotoArt

Mar 21 - Police Called to Sandra Bullock and Jesse James' Home

Sandra Bullock is still MIA but that doesn't mean the drama at her home with Jesse James has slowed a bit.

Cops were called to their block with reports of "someone yelling in a vehicle," the Orange County Sheriff's Department tells E! News.

Alas, the chaos wasn't caused by James or his tattoo-covered supposed mistress, Michelle "Bombshell" McGee . Authorities on the scene claim they "discovered members of the media" as the source of the trouble, but "cleared the area" with no arrests.

Turns out James' oldest daughter Chandler, as well as a neighbor, were to the ones who called the police.

But that wasn't the only action in Jesse's life today...

The Monster Garage star was seen driving his black pickup truck more than 90 mph down the Pacific Coast Highway earlier today in an attempt to lose the paparazzi following closely behind him. He was so detemined, he even gave up on pavement!

"At one point, he went off road into the dirt and made this huge dust bowl," an eyewitness tells E! News. "It was crazy."

Life isn't any smoother at James' workplace. West Coast Choppers' headquarters are swarming with paps, fans and haters alike all trying to get a piece of the guy tarnishing Oscar's glow.

"They're camping outside the gate trying to look in and see him," the witness says.

After an even dustier trip home, James and his dog stepped out of the house and told the crowd, "Get the f--k off my property!

At least, wherever Sandy is, her surroundings are a bit less dramatic.
posted by SMMurphy PhotoArt

Mar 21 - Heidi Klum Talks Marital Bliss

Project Runway, Victoria's Secret and Germany's Next Top Model maven Heidi Klum is partnering with Diet Coke and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in a national heart health awareness campaign called The Heart Truth. On Friday morning we got Klum on the phone, where she confessed that she drinks more water than Diet Coke, but believes strongly in the cause that Coca-Cola is promoting.

And speaking of diets, we asked her how she stays in shape five months after having her fourth child, daughter Lou Samuel, with husband Seal.

Klum: My secret is my husband. I have a good husband and he keeps me motivated. I want to look good for my husband, I want to be healthy for my children. Sometimes [Seal and I] work out together, sometimes we go to the gym together and run next to each other for 30 minutes straight. It's exhausting, and he loves it when I do it with him.

HP: What are your tips for maintaining marital bliss?

Klum: We're happy, we're in love, and we're having a great time. We love family life, we love to travel and experience things together and make memories together. We appreciate each other, we respect each other, he understands what I do, and I understand what he does. And I also think it's about having fun and doing silly things.
posted by Melanie

Mar 21 - Volcano In Iceland Erupts

Authorities evacuated hundreds of people after a volcano erupted beneath a glacier in southern Iceland, Iceland's civil protection agency said Sunday.

The eruption occurred around 11:30 p.m. Saturday (1930 EDT) beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, the fifth largest glacier in Iceland.The volcano is covered by an ice cap.

Fearing flooding from the glacier melt, authorities evacuated some 400 people in the area 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of the capital, Reykjavik, as a precaution but no damage or injuries have been reported, said Vidir Reynisson, the department manager for the Icelandic Civil Protection Department.

A state of emergency has been declared in communities near the 100 square mile (160 kilometers) glacier.

"We do not at this moment know the full extent of the eruption but a team is flying over the site now to evaluate the situation," said Reynisson.

A European volcanic island in the North Atlantic, Iceland is largely an arctic desert with mountains, glaciers and volcanoes and agricultural areas in the lowlands close to the coastline.

The last time the volcano erupted was in the 1820s. posted by Mobaygirl

Mar 21 - Former President Clinton Shows Sense of Humor

Former President Bill Clinton poked fun at Republicans, Democrats, his own health and his audience of reporters Saturday night, telling the Gridiron Club's annual dinner he was there because "I really didn't have anything much better to do tonight."

Clinton, who stood in for President Barack Obama, said Democrats are going to pass health care.  "It may not happen in my lifetime, or Dick Cheney's, but hopefully by Easter," he said referring to his and the former to vice president's heart ailments.

Obama, who's preparing for Sunday's probable House vote on health care reform, spoke to the dinner via videotape, saying that when he called Clinton to stand in for him, the former president said, "Let me clear my schedule for the next three years."

The dinner marked the 125th annual gathering of the Gridiron Club, whose members include Washington based reporters.

In another reference to his health, Clinton said his favorite cocktail now was "Lipitor on the rocks," referring to the widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering medicine.

He said that when Obama appeared recently on Fox News the president was "keeping his word about meeting with hostile leaders without preconditions."

In a poke at Obama's combative chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, the former president said, "I found Rahm. I created him. I made him what he is today. I am so sorry."

In the 1990s, Emanuel worked in Clinton's White House. posted by Mobaygirl

Mar 21 - 16 year Old Makes Racial Comment Over WalMart Loud Speaker

A 16-year-old boy who police said made an announcement at Walmart ordering all black people in a southern New Jersey store to leave was charged with harassment and bias intimidation, authorities said Saturday.

The boy, whose name is not being released because he is a juvenile, grabbed one of the courtesy phones at Walmart's Washington Township store Sunday evening and calmly announced: "Attention, Walmart customers: All black people, leave the store now," police said.

The teen was arrested Friday and released to the custody of his parents; police did not know whether he had a lawyer.

"This was an extremely disturbing event on many levels," Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton said at a news conference. "Any statements like these that can cause harm or grave concern must be addressed as quickly we possibly can."

Dalton said the case would be handled in juvenile court in neighboring Atlantic County, where the boy lives. He would not say whether the boy has a criminal record, citing the teen's age, and would not disclose the teen's race, saying that did not factor into the investigation.

The 16-year-old has been charged with harassment and bias intimidation. posted by Mobaygirl

Mar 21 - Fargo calm, confident as Red River completes rise

FARGO, N.D. – They passed out cigars in Fargo on Saturday, but no matches just yet, as a flood-weary city that's spent the last week getting ready to hold back the Red River cautiously prepared to celebrate what appeared to be a successful defense against the swollen waterway.

The river continued to inch upward toward an expected crest Sunday a few feet below last year's record, to be followed by a quick and steady drop. As they waited, Fargo's residents turned their attention to cleaning up debris in low-lying neighborhoods where more than a million sandbags held back the waters, with some taking a break for basketball
posted by Tracymarie

Mar 20 - Snow storm strikes Plains on first day of spring

NORMAN, Okla. – A powerful storm began blowing through Oklahoma and the southern Plains on the first day of spring Saturday, bringing heavy snow and strong winds a day after temperatures reached into the 70s.

Forecasters said gusts of up to 40 mph could create drifts of blowing snow and blizzard conditions in what the National Weather Service called "a potentially life-threatening" storm. The storm hit as teams were playing or preparing to do so in the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments this weekend in Oklahoma City and Norman.
posted by Tracymarie

Mar 20 - Rosie O'Donnell Talk Show Returning In 2011

Rosie O'Donnell is set to return to syndicated daytime television, according to two reports Friday.  Early Friday, Showbiz411's Roger Friedman began reporting that Rosie — who has both hosted a syndicated talk show and co-hosted ABC's "The View" — would return to daytime TV:

My sources say that Rosie will fill the void left by Oprah Winfrey starting in the fall of 2011.

Rosie was overheard telling pals at Joe Allen's restaurant in New York last night that deal is almost done to restore her to her place as Queen of DaytimeTalk.

Later, GossipCop reported that Rosie's return to TV was a done deal, and that she would host a syndicated show beginning with the 2011-2012 season:

Rosie O'Donnell has signed a deal to bring a new talk show to TV syndication for the 2011-2012 season, Gossip Cop has learned exclusively.

Dick Robertson, former president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, is one of the driving forces behind the show.

Rosie hosted a variety show on NBC over Thanksgiving 2008 that flopped in the ratings.

With Oprah's show ending in 2011, there will be a huge void in the daytime TV landscape; it has been reported that ABC-owned "The View" is considering a move to syndication and could move to Oprah's time slot. Ellen DeGeneres recently extended her deal with NBC-owned stations.
posted by Maddox

Mar 20 - Katherine Heigl's Wardrobe Malfunction

Yes, just when fans thought they wouldn't be seeing quite as much of Heigl -- it was recently announced that she, most likely, would no longer be appearing on "Grey's Anatomy" -- attendees of the event nearly saw much more of Heigl than they ever expected.

On Thursday evening, as she was accepting the honor of Female Star of the Year at the ShoWest Awards, Heigl's dress fell apart. Bush graciously leapt to the rescue, holding her shoulder strap in place.

With Bush at her side, Miss "Izzie Stevens" was able to carry on with her acceptance speech. A short while later, as she was backstage posing for photographers, Billy's helpful hand was replaced by a pin.

After the incident, Billy took to his Twitter account, summarizing the night's events in less than 140 characters: "Oh my, hosting showest awards in LV. Heigl comes up to get award, dress strap breaks...I hold her top on while she accepts!"

Earlier in the evening, the managing director of ShoWest, Robert Sunshine, mentioned Heigl's "ever-present charm and innate talent." It was charm and talent that wound up being put to the test when she took to the podium.

Heigl's bare shoulder wasn't all she displayed at the Las Vegas gala. The rom-com darling also showed off her new hairdo: The famously blonde actress is now brunette.
posted by Mobaygirl

Mar 20 - Odds slim for Obama on immigration overhaul

President Barack Obama promised to make overhauling the immigration system a top priority in his first year as president. He is now in Year Two, and the odds that he will get to sign a bill before the November elections appear long. Grassroots activists frustrated by the wait for a new system are organizing a rally Sunday in Washington by what they hope will be thousands of people from across the U.S. voicing their displeasure at the pace of action.

In meetings last week, Obama sought to assure activists and the two senators who are drafting a bill of his "unwavering" commitment to comprehensive immigration overhaul. But the White House has also signaled that the issue is not among the legislative priorities it wants completed before the entire House and one-third of the Senate face voters in November. Asked about the priorities after health care, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said financial regulation, energy legislation and watering down a recent Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance are among the "big priorities" — not to mention jobs and the economy.
posted by Photography By Glenn

Mar 20 - Judge orders renegotiation of 9/11 settlement

A federal judge on Friday rejected a legal settlement that would have given at least $575 million to people sickened by ash and dust from the World Trade Center, saying the deal shortchanged 10,000 ground zero workers whom he called heroes. "In my judgment, this settlement is not enough," said U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who delivered his pronouncement to a stunned gallery at a federal courthouse in Manhattan.

Rising from his chair, the 76-year-old jurist said he feared police officers, firefighters and other laborers who cleared rubble after the 9/11 terror attacks were being pushed into signing a deal few of them understood. Under the terms of the settlement, workers had been given just 90 days to say yes or no to a deal that would have assigned them payments based on a point system that Hellerstein said was complicated enough to make a Talmudic scholar's head spin.

"I will not preside over a settlement that is based on fear or ignorance," he said. Of the proposed settlement of $575 million to $657 million, workers stood to get amounts ranging from a few thousand dollars to more than $1 million. Hellerstein said the deal should be richer. Too much of it would be eaten up by legal fees, he said.
posted by Photography By Glenn

Mar 20 - Sandra Bullock still poised for Successful future

Sandra Bullock reached the pinnacle of her profession on March 7, when she won an Academy Award. Her husband, Jesse James, was by her side. He even teared up when she went on stage to accept the Oscar. Little more than a week later, amid allegations of James' infidelity, Bullock canceled a planned appearance at the London premiere of the movie that won her the prize, citing "unforeseen personal reasons."

But the brand-new Oscar winner isn't likely to experience any professional consequences from this public exposure of her personal pain. "If anything, it would engender a massive amount of sympathy toward her, and she's already exceedingly well liked," said veteran publicist Michael Levine. Even the cancellation of her London appearance to promote "The Blind Side" shouldn't hurt its overseas returns, he said.

"Ironically, it can actually bolster her fame," said Karen Sternheimer, a sociologist at the University of Southern California who studies pop culture and celebrity. "She has tried to keep herself out of her career as much as possible. This development, it adds to her image as a sympathetic figure that especially women can relate to."
posted by Photography By Glenn

Mar 20 - Casey Anthony can't afford to pay for defense

A judge ruled Friday that Casey Anthony is indigent and can use public money to help pay for her defense against charges that she killed her 2-year-old daughter. Circuit Judge Stan Strickland issued the ruling a day after her attorney disclosed that ABC had paid the Florida mother and her relatives $200,000 for exclusive use of family photos and videos.

In his ruling, the judge said Anthony met the standards under the law to be deemed indigent. A new lawyer joined Anthony's defense team Thursday, agreeing to help represent her pro bono. In Anthony's case, the judge's ruling means the state will cover defense costs, but not lawyer's fees. Those defense costs will be submitted to the court to make sure they comply with caps on spending, the judge said.

Her attorney, Jose Baez, told the judge Thursday that in addition to the money from ABC, Anthony's defense fund had received $70,000 from another attorney on the defense team and a $5,000 anonymous donation. But that money is gone, he said. Some of her lawyers have worked pro bono, but Baez told the judge he had been paid more than $89,000 since taking on the case in 2008, and another attorney had been paid more than $22,000.
posted by Photography By Glenn

Mar 20 - Britney Steps Out With Agent-Beau, Sports Festive Headgear

Break time is apparently over for Britney Spears and her agent-boyfriend, Jason Trawick. The smile-deficient pair emerged hand-in-hand in Los Angeles on Wednesday, just one day after a report surfaced claiming they had recently decided to take a breather because "they were fighting a lot and have not been getting along."

Their outing included a trip to a party supply store, where the popster, outfitted in a surprisingly stain-free strapless white minidress, browsed the shelves in a set of Minnie Mouse ears before settling on a jaunty leopard-print headband-crown (hey, just be thankful it's not a pink wig).

Brit-Brit, 28, happily wore her noggin-topper out the door, much to the delight of the throng of paparazzi who were on hand to document the public display of togetherness, which also included a stop at a Barneys of New York outpost in Beverly Hills.

And it seems this wasn't the only time they hung out in recent days.

More stable is Trawick's role in Britney's professional life, because, despite the apparent capriciousness of their relationship, he has remained her agent.

Perhaps he was the one who advised her (or, more accurately, her handlers) to drop the price on her long-on-the-market Beverly Hills mansion.

This week, Spears reduced the five-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bath Mediterranean-style villa to $5.5 million, down from the original $7.9 million she was asking for in September 2008, reports TMZ.

She bought the place on a whim, furniture and all, in 2007 for $6,750,000.

The new bargain-basement price not only gets you a library, media room and a wet bar, but it also buys you a piece of history: This was the house that Brit was carried out of on a gurney during her meltdown in January 2008.

Us Weekly says the McDonald's-loving squeezes, who are also rumored to have taken romantic timeouts last summer and during the holidays, were spied over the weekend at the Mondrian Hotel and at Spears' estate.

"They are on and off," shrugs an insider.
posted by Melissa Ilievski

Frustrations await Bush, Clinton visit to Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – One restored a Haitian president to power; the other flew him back out again. Former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are visiting Haiti on Monday, reminding the country of its tumultuous recent past just as frustration over an uneven earthquake relief effort is bringing politics back to the surface.

The ex-presidents are spearheading U.S. fundraising in response to the Jan. 12 earthquake. Tapped by President Barack Obama for the role, they are making the one-day visit to assess recovery needs.

Charged memories of their policies toward the impoverished Caribbean nation are already mixing with frustration over deplorable living conditions among the 1.3 million homeless quake survivors. Supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have scheduled protests for Monday — demanding the return of their exiled leader and pleading for more aid
- 03/21/2010 from Tracymarie

The Price of Fame: Do Stars Give Up Their Right to Privacy?

What exactly is the price of fame? We know that celebrities are very well paid. Jennifer Aniston commanded a salary of $27 million last year. That's 843 times the average American's salary of around $32,000 a year.

That's a pretty nice premium to get for being famous. But what should that increase pay for? Is it enough to cover the complete lack of privacy afforded famous folks today, the media scrutiny and sometimes the inability to drive to the gas station without the paparazzi tailgating their BMWs? Maybe it is. It's hard to put a price tag on privacy.

We raise these questions after reading your comments in response to our post about the ethics involved in releasing Corey Haim's 911 call.

Jojo posted: "Just because a person is a celebrity does not mean we should have access to EVERY part of their life. How sad that a mother's anguish can be played over and over for all the world to hear."

Keith posted: "When you make money from celebrity, you cant deny celebrity... you go as you came in...."

Samantha posted: "These people chose to have public lives when they went into showbiz. Are we just supposed to ignore them once they die? If they CHOSE the public life, it goes for in death too. Air the tapes. If you don't want to hear it... PLUG YOUR EARS!"

Our commenters represent two sides of this quandary. Jojo and heaps of others say that the public should not be given access to every part of a famous person's life, but Keith and Samantha (and again, plenty of others) believe that celebrities sign those rights away when they start accepting fat paychecks.

There is an argument that back in the good old days (before the Internet, a 24-hour celebrity news cycle and a variety of celebrity tabloid magazines), celebs were still able to exist in their pretty and famous bubbles without such enormous intrusion into their private lives. While that is true, it is also true that the rise of more celebrity news outlets has managed to create more celebrities. Oftentimes, there is a direct correlation between how often we hear about a certain actor, actress, singer or reality star and how much money they bring in at the box office, in album sales or through endorsements. The continued intrusion into their lives also serves to raise their salaries.

Would 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' have made $186 million at the box office if it hadn't been for speculation over Brad and Angie's romance? Would that same couple have been able to sell off pictures of their subsequent three offspring for tens of millions of dollars if it hadn't been for the celebrity media's interest in them? Would Paris Hilton ever have risen above the status of banquette dancing socialite if it hadn't been for all her gossip column coverage?

It's give and take, plain and simple, but that doesn't mean it's always fair. Now we want to hear from you. Do you think celebrities sign away their privacy because of their big paychecks? Tell us in the comments what amount you would have to be paid to offer the public full access to all your personal garbage. - 03/21/2010 from Nicole Gagne`

Thousands rally to pull troops from 2 war zones

Thousands of protesters — many directing their anger squarely at President Barack Obama — marched through the nation's capital Saturday to urge immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

At least eight people, including activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested by U.S. Park Police at the end of the march, after laying coffins at a fence outside the White House.

Friday marked the seventh anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The protesters defied orders to clear the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House and park police say they face charges of failure to obey a lawful order.

Activist Ralph Nader told thousands who gathered in Lafayette Park across from the White House that Obama has essentially continued the policies of the Bush administration, and it was foolish to have thought otherwise.

"He's kept Guantanamo open, he's continued to use indefinite detention," Nader said. The only real difference, he said is that "Obama's speeches are better."

Others were more conciliatory toward Obama. Shirley Allan of Silver Spring, Md., carried a sign that read, "President Obama We love you but we need to tell you! Your hands are getting bloody!! Stop it now."

The protest organized by Act Now to Stop War and Racism or ANSWER drew a smaller crowd than the tens of thousands who marched in 2006 and 2007. Protests in cities around the country also had far fewer participants than in the past.

San Francisco's rally brought out Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the top-secret Pentagon Papers study of the Vietnam War and is the subject of the recent documentary film, "The Most Dangerous Man in America." He likened the protest and others like it around the country Saturday to a day of demonstrations organized against the conflict in Vietnam in 1969.

Anna Berlinrut, of South Orange, N.J., was one of a number of protesters who have children who have served in Iraq, and said her son supports her protests.

"If there were a draft, we'd have a million people out here," Berlinrut said when asked about the turnout. The exact number of protesters was unclear, as D.C. authorities do not give out crowd estimates. Organizers estimated the march, which stretched for several blocks, at 10,000.

Despite the arrests, the protest was peaceful. At the outset, police closed a portion of the sidewalk in front of the White House fence after protesters tried to use mud and large stencils to spell out "Iraq veterans against the war."

A group of older women calling themselves the Raging Grannies sang, "The country is broke, this war is a joke."

Four demonstrators evoked images of the U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by dressing in orange uniforms and wearing black hoods.

In Los Angeles, hundreds chanted anti-war slogans and carried mock tombstones, and several hundred gathered in San Francisco.

The Los Angeles march, which was under a mile, was to culminate with a rally in front of the famed Grauman's Chinese Theater.

"We want to see the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq," said Corazon Esguerra with ANSWER. "We want all the troops wherever they are to come back." - 03/21/2010 from SMMurphy PhotoArt

Why Haiti Can't Feed Itself

The earthquake not only smashed markets, collapsed warehouses and left more than 2.5 million people without enough to eat. It may also have shaken up the way the developing world gets food.

Decades of inexpensive imports – especially rice from the U.S. – punctuated with abundant aid in various crises have destroyed local agriculture and left impoverished countries such as Haiti unable to feed themselves.

While those policies have been criticized for years in aid worker circles, world leaders focused on fixing Haiti are admitting for the first time that loosening trade barriers has only exacerbated hunger in Haiti and elsewhere.

They're led by former U.S. President Bill Clinton – now U.N. special envoy to Haiti – who publicly apologized this month for championing policies that destroyed Haiti's rice production. Clinton in the mid-1990s encouraged the impoverished country to dramatically cut tariffs on imported U.S. rice.

"It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake," Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 10. "I had to live everyday with the consequences of the loss of capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people because of what I did; nobody else."

Clinton and former President George W. Bush, who are spearheading U.S. fundraising for Haiti, arrive Monday in Port-au-Prince. Then comes a key Haiti donors' conference on March 31 at the United Nations in New York.

Those opportunities present the country with its best chance in decades to build long-term food production, and could provide a model for other developing countries struggling to feed themselves.

"A combination of food aid, but also cheap imports have ... resulted in a lack of investment in Haitian farming, and that has to be reversed," U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes told The Associated Press. "That's a global phenomenon, but Haiti's a prime example. I think this is where we should start."

Haiti's government is asking for $722 million for agriculture, part of an overall request of $11.5 billion.
- 03/21/2010 from Melanie

College on edge after recent wave of student suicides

A wave of suicides at Cornell University in the past two semesters is a "public health crisis," the school's mental health initiatives director said.  "We are not out of the woods yet," Timothy Marchell said of the school in Ithaca, in upstate New York.

Three students committed suicide during the fall 2009 semester, and three are suspected in the past two months, according to university spokesman Simeon Moss.

In February, a freshman jumped off a bridge over one of the area's well-known gorges. Last Thursday, the body of a sophomore engineering major was found under similar circumstances.

Police are also searching for a body in another suspected suicide witnessed last Friday.

The cause of the wave of suicides is unclear, Marchell said.

Cornell had no suicides from 2005 to 2008, he added. And the school has consistently fallen within or below the national average for such deaths, said Karen Carr, assistant dean of students at Cornell.

The national average is 7.29 suicides per year for every 100,000 students, said Paula Clayton, medical director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. That means Cornell, with 19,639 students, should average fewer than two suicides a year
- 03/20/2010 from Tracymarie

Mexico's drug war takes growing toll on Americans

MEXICO CITY – More Americans in Mexico are falling victim to a wave of drug violence sweeping the country, a change driven home by the recent killing of a U.S. Consulate employee and her husband who were gunned down after leaving a children's birthday party.

The number of U.S. citizens killed in Mexico has more than doubled to 79 in 2009 from 35 in 2007, according to the U.S. State Department's annual count. No figures were available for the first two months of 2010.

While only some of the killings are specifically listed as "executions" or "drug-related," the increase in homicides appears to be related to drug battles. In Ciudad Juarez, the northern border city hardest hit by drug violence and where the consulate employee was killed, homicides of Americans rose to 23 in 2009 from two in 2007.

The annual murder rate for the estimated 500,000 American citizens in Mexico at any one time has risen — but still remains lower than in some U.S. cities: about 15 per 100,000. Baltimore's 2009 homicide rate was 37 per 100,000 residents.
- 03/20/2010 from Tracymarie

It's Not Easy Coming Back From The Dead

Being dead can be a real drag, especially if you're alive.  Just ask Doris Temple, 85, a Navy veteran who learned in January that the government had declared her deceased. Strongly suspecting an error, she protested, but not before she lost her health insurance and thousands of dollars in income - Social Security benefits as well as private insurance and pension payments.

All the while, she got letters addressed to "the estate of Doris Temple," some of which included condolences. And when she tried to rent a Walnut Creek apartment last month, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. wouldn't hook up her utilities because, as a corpse, she had a lousy credit score.

By Thursday, after weeks of work by her and her son, much of the damage from the mistake - which the Social Security Administration eventually fixed - had been reversed. But Temple remained wary.

"It's been one kick in the pants after another," she said at the Ygnacio Valley Care Center in Walnut Creek, where she is recovering from a flareup of a lung condition.

Rebirth is hard work

As it turns out, not dying requires a lot of energy. Word of her passing, Temple said, seemed to spread quicker than news of her subsequent rebirth - particularly among those who owed her money.

"It's hard to bring someone back from the dead," said her son, Robert Temple of Walnut Creek.

Doris Temple figures the error was related to the death of her husband of 63 years, Charles Temple, who did not emerge from heart surgery Dec. 15 at a hospital near the couple's former home in Vista (San Diego County). That's the day the Social Security Administration had her dying.

The couple was close, but not that close. They met during World War II on the streets of New York City. He was a naval officer, she one of that era's WAVES - Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. They raised two boys and traveled the world.

Doris Temple moved to Walnut Creek in early January to be near her surviving son. But the mistake, she said, made it difficult for her to fully grieve for her husband.

'Resurrection' totals

In a June 2008 report, the Social Security Administration's inspector general called cases like Temple's "resurrections" and said the agency could do more to help the victims, given their "serious hardships." The report said Social Security officials had deleted 46,035 death entries from their files from January 2004 to April 2007.

Lowell Kepke, a Bay Area spokesman for Social Security, said the agency receives death reports from many sources, including funeral directors and relatives. Married couples, he said, often receive benefits under the same accounts, opening up the potential for a blunder.

Regardless of whether the mistake originated with the government, Kepke said, his agency takes the lead in helping the victim.

"When these errors happen, we put our energy into helping the individual fix everything," Kepke said. "We know how inconvenient it can be. And it's embarrassing."

Living proof

It was Robert Temple who first learned his mother was declared dead, after receiving a letter from her health insurer. Soon after, on Jan. 28, he accompanied a Social Security official to see his mom at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.

Her status as a living and breathing person was confirmed that day, and then memorialized in an official Feb. 26 letter from Social Security. But in many ways, the bucket had already been kicked.

Doris Temple said she lost her husband's pension from IBM, which is managed by Fidelity Investments, and her long-term care insurance from Senior Health Insurance Co. of Pennsylvania.

Robert Temple has since persuaded the companies to restore benefits, some of which won't resume until next month. Retroactive pay will be included, he said.

But one more problem popped up: When the government corrected its records, it listed his mother's birth date as Dec. 15, 2009.

"She's now an infant," he said. "She has 60-plus years left to requalify for Social Security."
- 03/19/2010 from Mobaygirl

Pope's Irish letter faces critical Catholic world

DUBLIN – Pope Benedict XVI addresses Ireland on Saturday in a letter apologizing for the sex abuse scandal here — a message being watched closely by Catholics from Boston to Berlin to see if it also acknowledges decades of Vatican-approved cover-ups.

The church is only beginning to come to terms with decades of child abuse in its parishes and schools. The scandals first emerged in Canada and Australia in the 1980s, followed by Ireland in the 1990s, the United States this decade and, in recent months, Benedict's German homeland.

Victims' rights activists say that to begin mending the church's battered image, Benedict's message — his first pastoral letter on child abuse in the church — must break his silence on the role of the Catholic hierarchy in shielding pedophile clergy from prosecution.

That includes abuses committed decades ago under the pope's watch, when he was Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger of Munich, as well as the pontiff's role in hushing up the scandals.

As leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger was responsible for a 2001 Vatican edict that instructed bishops to report all cases of child abuse to Vatican authorities under strict secrecy; it made no mention of reporting crimes to police.
- 03/19/2010 from Tracymarie

Could school bus ads save school budgets?

SEATTLE – School districts have imposed all sorts of drastic cuts to save money during the down economy, canceling field trips and making parents pay for everything from tissues to sports transportation.

And some have now resorted to placing advertisements on school buses.

School districts say it's practically free money, and advertisers love the captive audience that school buses provide.

That's the problem, say opponents: Children are being forced to travel to school on moving media kiosks, and the tactic isn't much different than dressing teachers in sponsor-emblazoned uniforms.

"Parents who are concerned about commercial messages will have no choice," said Josh Golin, associate director of Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood. "Parents won't be given the option to send their kids on the ad-free bus."

Washington lawmakers considered the idea of school bus advertising this year, and the concept is also being tossed around in Ohio, New Jersey and Utah. About half a dozen states already allow bus advertising — including Colorado, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Tennessee and Texas.

The idea can be traced back about 15 years, but budget woes have led to a recent resurgence.
- 03/19/2010 from Tracymarie

Clinic Seeks to Help Teens Kick Tech Habit

Facebook, Twitter and video games provide a harmless diversion for most people. For others, however, they can be an addiction on par with gambling or even substance abuse. In July, Dr. Richard Graham, a British psychiatrist, told The Daily Telegraph that some video games are as addictive as crack.

He's now offering help. Graham has set up a clinic in London that will specialize in technology addiction for patients he has dubbed "screenagers."

The clinic at at Capio Nightingale Hospital will cater to children aged 15 to 17. A video game rehab center opened in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 2006, and other clinics offer help with technology addiction, but Graham's center differs with its focus on teens. The clinic already is receiving large volumes of calls from worried parents hoping to help their children.

The program will also help patients deal with cyberbullying, as well as manage their use of other devices like cell phones.

"Mental health services need to adapt quickly to the changing worlds young people inhabit and understand how seriously their lives can be impaired by unregulated time online, on-screen or in-game," Graham told the London Evening Standard. "We have found many of the existing services fail to recognize the complexity of these situations, borrowing from older models of addiction and substance misuse to very limited effect."

Some cases are so severe, Graham said, that police had to be called because of fights between teens and parents who were attempting to limit their computer use.

But when Graham and his team announced they would be signing up to play the popular online game "World of Warcraft" to research its addiction, some within the gaming community saw this as a patronizing move.

"World of Warcraft players, on the other hand, who may suffer from the false consciousness of not wanting to be saved, might characterize Dr. Richard Graham as a clueless n00b who should be ganked as often as possible," wrote a blogger on the group complaint blog Popehat. Translation: Graham might be characterized as an inexperienced player who should be killed.

Recent events suggest that some problems go beyond individual responsibility, however. Cyberbullying through social networks has been linked to a number of teen suicides. Also, the clinic opening comes just weeks after a South Korean couple made international headlines by allowing their 3-month old daughter to starve to death while spending 12 hours a day in a cybercafe raising a virtual child in the online world.

Others from within a community of "World of Warcraft" players might be more inclined to agree with Graham. One Web site, WoWdetox.com, offers an online support group for people trying to give up their gaming habit. Users report problems with their social lives, marriages and work. One person even reported developing a vascular disorder in his leg from spending all day sitting down.

One commenter echoes the sentiments of millions of others who have allowed an addiction to move to the center of their life.

"I want to quit WoW so badly. I've been playing for 2 years. ... The problem is that I don't know what else to do besides play video games :(". - 03/19/2010 from Maddox

Bring Back Brothels, Says French Lawmaker

An ally of President Nicolas Sarkozy is battling for brothels to be made legal in France once again -- almost 65 years after the country shuttered its famous bordellos.

Parliamentarian Chantal Brunel, who was appointed head of the country's sexual equality watchdog last month, argues in a new book on violence against women that the reintroduction of bordellos would protect prostitutes from exploitation, trafficking and physical attack.

"Women selling sex should be allowed to do so legally on special licensed premises," she told the daily Le Parisien. "This would free thousands of women from the exploitation they suffer at the hands of pimps and criminal gangs and offer them much more security than they currently have on the streets. It would give them a legal taxable income, and they would not be handing over large sums of their earnings to a pimp."

The French public seems to support her demand for decriminalization. A poll published Thursday by Le Parisien found that 59 percent of the population backed the reopening and regulation of maisons closes (closed houses). More than two-thirds of men and almost half the women questioned were in favor of the proposal. Just 13 percent of women opposed the idea, and 38 percent were undecided.

If Brunel's recommendations are approved, Paris could regain its reputation as the original sin city.

Napoleon Bonaparte made bordellos legal in the French capital in the early 19th century. By 1939, the city center was home to some 200 brothels. Those high-class whorehouses attracted illustrious clients, including artists such as Picasso and Rodin, Hollywood royalty like Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart and genuine royalty such as Britain's King Edward VII. He frequented a brothel at 12 rue Chabanais when he was the Prince of Wales. As a thank you for his joyful memories, he donated a love chair to the bordello.

The maisons closes were finally outlawed in 1946 by President Charles de Gaulle, whose strict Catholic wife was outraged by French prostitutes' acts of "horizontal collaboration" with occupying Nazi troops.

Brunel has said she doesn't want to return to the "situation before 1946." Instead, she envisages a system of "open houses" where women are provided with shelter and medical care, and are not reliant on a "landlord" who would take a cut of their earnings.

But it's uncertain if Sarkozy, who has previously taken a tough line on prostitution, will back her proposals. In 2002, Sarkozy -- then interior minister -- made "passive soliciting" an offense, allowing police to arrest any woman who appeared to be seeking customers in public, even if she hadn't approached any clients.

Brunel voted for that law but says it has made prostitution only more dangerous. She says many of the country's 90,000 prostitutes have been pushed out of city centers and are "now hidden in woods and on the Internet, where it is far easier to harm someone." Hundreds of women are also believed to have quit the country for work in legal brothels just across the border in Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Before sex workers can legally set up shop, Brunel will have to win over anti-prostitution activists, who have loudly condemned her policy suggestion.

"What kind of a society locks up its women for the pleasure of men?" Bruno Lemettre, president of the Mouvement du Nid, which campaigns for a prostitution-free society, asked Le Parisien. "No woman chooses such work of her own free will. Those who say the opposite are shielding themselves to avoid talking about their suffering." - 03/19/2010 from Maddox

Former Boyfriend-Producer Suing Lady Gaga - More Details

A songwriter and music producer who claims he helped launch pop star Lady Gaga says she squeezed him out of her lucrative career after he co-wrote some of her songs, came up with her stage name and helped get her record deal.

Rob Fusari filed a $30.5 million lawsuit against the Grammy Award-winning performer, saying his protege and former girlfriend ditched him as her career soared.

"All business is personal," said the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a Manhattan state court.

Lady Gaga's spokesman, Dave Tomberlin, didn't immediately respond to an e-mail sent Thursday by The Associated Press.

Fusari had credits on such hits as Will Smith's 'Wild, Wild West' and Destiny's Child's 'Bootylicious' when a friend steered the piano-playing singer -- then known by her real name, Stefani Germanotta -- to him in March 2006, according to his lawsuit.

Though he initially dismissed her, he realized she had star potential after hearing her play in his Parsippany, N.J., studio, the suit said. He spent the next several months working with her every day and "radically reshaping her approach," persuading her to drop rock riffs for dance beats, it said.

As they co-wrote songs such as 'Paparazzi' and 'Beautiful, Dirty, Rich,' which would appear on her debut album, 'The Fame,' he transformed Germanotta into Lady Gaga, a name adapted from Queen's 'Radio Ga Ga,' the lawsuit said.

In a 2009 interview with the AP, Lady Gaga said her "realization of Gaga was five years ago, but Gaga's always been who I am."

"I was Gaga from the time that I was 19 through my first record deal," the 23-year-old said of her over-the-top, avant-garde style, which has captured the imaginations of millions of fans. "I always dressed like that before people knew me as Lady Gaga. I was always that way ... I stuck out like a sore thumb."

According to the lawsuit, Lady Gaga and Fusari's relationship turned romantic and then became a business partnership in May 2006, when they created a joint venture called Team Love Child LLC to promote her career. Fusari's share was 20 percent, it said.

Fusari -- whose account of his role in the multiplatinum-selling artist's early career has been told in interviews -- says he introduced Lady Gaga to a record executive who ultimately shepherded her to Universal Music Group's Interscope Records, which released 'The Fame' in 2008. The album has sold more than 3 million copies in the United States; Fusari has a producing credit.

But the lawsuit says their personal and business relationship had soured by then and he has been denied a 20 percent share of song royalties, 15 percent of merchandising revenue and other money he's owed. He acknowledges getting checks for about $611,000, but says that isn't his full share.

Lady Gaga won two Grammys in January: best dance recording, for 'Poker Face,' and best electronic/dance album, for 'The Fame.'
- 03/19/2010 from Nicole Gagne`

Alleged Tiger Woods mistress publishes 'sext' messages

Los Angeles, California - A former porn actress who says she had a three-year intimate relationship with Tiger Woods posted text messages online Thursday that she says the golfer sent her last year.

"I just wanted to let the public know what the relationship was and that he has not taken responsibility for his behavior," said Veronica Siwik-Daniels, who goes by the screen name Joslyn James.

"Everyone else can draw their own conclusions from that," she said.

The Web site -- www.sextingjoslynjames.com -- displayed 120 text messages purported to have been sent to her by Woods between July and October of last year.

The messages document "just a brief part of the time we had together," Siwik-Daniels said.

Woods publicly apologized for his extramarital affairs last month, but he has never disclosed the names of any of his lovers. The golfer's management company did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment on the text messages.
- 03/18/2010 from Tracymarie

Anderson Cooper Is Not Afraid To Get His Hands Dirty

CNN journalist Anderson Cooper graces the cover of Outside Magazine's April "Adventure" issue and reveals that while covering the recent earthquake in Haiti, he couldn't sit back like some journalists. Instead, he dug into the rubble to start saving lives.

"To be in a place before relief workers are there: That presents some unique challenges. You suddenly find yourself in a situation where, you say, 'You're a doctor -- what do you do?' There are some journalism purists who say that you do nothing, that you just watch and report, and I certainly understand that," Cooper says. "But in the case of a little boy who got hit in the head with a cement block, no one was helping him. He couldn't get up ... Blood was pouring from his head. It was a split second decision to take him out of the situation. I think anyone would have done the same thing if they had the opportunity."

In the interview, he talks openly about the dangers of reporting, his stint in Haiti and the emotional toll of coming face-to-face with his biggest fears.

On reporting in dangerous locations: "I don't believe you should be ruled by fear in anything in life. I don't like anything that scares me. I prefer to face it head-on and get over it. Anyone who says they're not scared is a fool or a liar or both. I just don't want that fear in my stomach to be a part of my life, so I work to eliminate it."

On the risks taken by adrenaline junkies: "I have no interest in jumping out of an airplane or any of the things people do for thrills to push the limit and all that. To me, that seems foolish, there's no point. If people are suffering in a place, to me, it's not a question of whether I'm going to go or not. It's a question of how fast can I get there."

On his naivety during as a youth: "I can't believe some of the things I did. The idea of going to Somalia alone, not having a place to stay or security. I was 23 or 24. There was fighting between different clans in the city. I literally landed on the airstrip and had no idea about the town. A truckload of gunmen approached me, and I ended up hiring them as my gunmen, and we went around to these burial rounds where all these bodied were being dumped, and there were all these empty pits. I was thinking, they could just shoot me and put me in a pit and no one would ever know."
- 03/18/2010 from Nicole Gagne`

Does Lady Gaga Have a Equity Stake in Polaroid?

Much has been made of the seemingly rampant product placement in Lady Gaga's new music video, 'Telephone,' and according to the New York Post, all that blatant branding was as purposeful as it seemed.

Of the 10 brands that appear throughout the much-discussed video, Polaroid is perhaps the most prominent. In January, Polaroid received more press than it has in years when it announced that it had entered into an unconventional partnership with the music superstar. Gaga was to be the brand's "creative director and inventor of specialty products," a source told the Post. The deal allegedly gave Gaga an equity stake in the company, allowing her to participate "in the future of the company in a meaningful way."

For its part, Polaroid has refused to comment on the specifics of Gaga's deal. However, sources close to the company say that her deal likely gives her more than a simple cut of the revenue generated by Gaga-branded products.

Polaroid reportedly hopes Gaga can help revive its brand and launch it as a global name in digital photography. The company has stated that Gaga's product line could constitute as much as 30 percent of its business in the near future. Her line is expected to launch later this year.

Other brands that that are featured prominently in 'Telephone' include Heartbeats headphones and Virgin Mobile. Gaga has existing marketing deals with both companies: The headphones were a collaboration between Gaga and Dr. Dre, and Virgin Mobile is the sponsor of her wildly successful Monster Ball tour, which recently added 31 US arena dates.

If Gaga is an equity stake holder in Polaroid, her deal is likely similar to the one struck between Sarah Jessica Parker and Halston. According to BlackBook, Parker was brought on board in an active design role to reinvigorate the design house. She is known to sport the brand often, and Halston dresses are featured prominently in the upcoming sequel to 'Sex and the City.'

"Brands that step up to the plate and pay -- and with Lady Gaga probably had to pay well -- have a bigger opportunity for people to pay attention," Steve Yanovsky, a music and emerging media consultant at GroupM's Mindshare media division, told the Post.

People certainly are paying attention now. Since debuting late last week, 'Telephone,' which also features Beyonce, has racked up nearly 20 million views on YouTube. Given that even the highest rated network television shows are hard-pressed to in pull 20 million viewers these days, collaborating with Gaga represents a unique opportunity at mass exposure for any brand. - 03/18/2010 from Nicole Gagne`