Latest News From Around the Globe

Presidential Debate

2008-01-05T21:40:00.001-08:00

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Competing in New Hampshire, the top four Democrats were trying to set themselves apart.

During a debate in Manchester sponsored by ABC, Hillary Rodham Clinton accused campaign front-runner Barack Obama of changing his positions on health care and "a number of issues."

"You said you would vote against the Patriot Act. You came to Senate, you voted for it. You said you would vote against the Iraq war, you came to the Senate and voted for" funding, Cliton said.

"I think we should get into examining everybody's record," she said.

But Obama said he has been "entirely consistent" and that he and Clinton have a "philosophical disagreement."

"I didn't hear these kind of attacks from Sen. Clinton when she was ahead," he said. "Now that she's not we hear them."

Clinton, who finished third in Iowa, immediately made clear she intended to run a more aggressive campaign in New Hampshire when she said Obama's record requires more scrutiny. Former Senator John
Edwards described Clinton as a defender of the status quo.

Meanwhile, Republicans also squared off in a 90-minute debate held before Democrats took the stage.

Senator John McCain said he alone among
Republican presidential contenders criticized President Bush's initial policy in the war on Iraq.

But McCain and all but one of the other participants said they now support the administration's overall war on terror. Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul is running an anti-war platform.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also went after opponents aggressively, clashing with Mike Huckabee on foreign policy and with McCain on immigration.

"It's not amnesty," McCain shot back after Romney criticized his plan for overhauling the immigration system. "My friend, you can spend your whole fortune on these attack ads, but it still won't be true."

Earlier, Romney criticized Huckabee for having written that the Bush administration was guilty of an "arrogant bunker mentality" on foreign policy.

"Did you read the article before you commented on it," asked Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor.

"I read the article, the whole article," retorted Romney.

The event was part of a rare debate doubleheader, Republicans first, Democrats second, in the same hall at Saint Anselm College. Intermission brought White House hopefuls from both parties onto the stage at the same time, an unusual occurrence that left McCain chatting with Democratic hopeful Clinton.

A poll three days ahead of the New Hampshire
primary showed movement in both parties.

On the Democratic side, Obama was even with Clinton at 33 percent. John Edwards is next at 20 percent followed by Bill Richardson at 4 percent.

The CNN/WMUR-TV poll released just ahead of Saturday night's debates had McCain topping Romney by 6 percent, followed by Rudy Giuliani and Huckabee.

Bill Richardson

2008-01-05T21:36:00.001-08:00

DES MOINES, Iowa -

Despite his fourth-place finish in Iowa, Democrat Bill Richardson said he'll keep campaigning as the only candidate who will get the troops out of Iraq next year.

"I just believe there is a lot of support for my position on the war, and I'm going to make this campaign a referendum on ending the war," the New Mexico governor said in an interview with The Associated Press shortly before boarding a plane to New Hampshire. Richardson, who got just 2 percent of the vote in Iowa, said he had called Barack Obama to congratulate the Illinois senator for his victory in the first test of the 2008 presidential election.

Richardson ran ads in the final days of the Iowa campaign criticizing the top three finishers _ Obama, John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton _ for refusing to commit to a quicker withdrawal of troops. He was the only Democratic candidate to criticize rivals by name in his ads.

Obama, Clinton and Edwards said in a debate three months ago that while they plan to end the war in Iraq, they cannot guarantee pulling out all U.S. combat troops by the end of the next presidential term in 2013. They say some troops would have to stay to protect the American Embassy or for other duties. Richardson has said that's not really ending the war.

Now that Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joe Biden of Delaware have dropped out of the Democratic contest, Richardson suggested he has a better chance of getting his message through.

"We made the final four and we're on to New Hampshire," Richardson said to the loud cheers of about 300 supporters gathered in a downtown hotel ballroom.

Richardson said he'd been held back by a lack of funds, but said his political views would prevail with voters beyond New Hampshire.

"When you're outspent 20-1 it shows, but this race is not over, wait until we get to New Mexico, Arizona, California and Colorado," he said.

In the interview, Richardson blamed his loss on a large turnout that benefited Obama. He said voters clearly were attracted to Obama's message of bringing change to the White House.

Richardson rose to double-digits in the polls last summer and once seemed set to break into the top tier of candidates. But his climb in the polls stalled in the fall as Obama's campaign began to surge.

A poll of those entering the caucuses showed that Richardson had 7 percent support. But any candidate who doesn't get at least 15 percent support in a given precinct is not viable under Iowa Democratic Party rules and their supporters are free to back other candidates.

Supporter Mike Grooms, 53, of Des Moines, said Richardson supporters at his caucus site all shifted to Obama "because it would damage (Hillary) Clinton," once it became clear Richardson wasn't viable. A Richardson adviser confirmed that the campaign encouraged local organizers to move to Obama when Richardson didn't meet the threshold.

___

Associated Press writer Nedra Pickler in Washington contributed to this report.

Abc Debate

2008-01-05T21:34:00.001-08:00

Kucinich files complaint on ABC debate
By DAVID BAUDER
AP Television Writer

NEW YORK -- Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich filed a complaint with the FCC on Friday after ABC News excluded him, fellow Democrat Mike Gravel and Republican Duncan Hunter from its prime-time debates on Saturday.

Kucinich argued that ABC is violating equal-time provisions by keeping him out of the debate and noted that ABC's parent Walt Disney Co. had contributed to campaigns involving the four Democrats who were invited.

"ABC should not be the first primary," the Ohio congressman said in papers filed at the Federal Communications Commission.

ABC said the candidates left out of the debates failed to meet benchmarks for their support that were outlined to each campaign prior to the Iowa caucus. Kucinich did not complain about these rules ahead of time, said spokeswoman Cathie Levine, who had no further comment since she hasn't seen the FCC filing.

ABC said it hoped to encourage more conversation and interaction among the candidates during the debates, which will both be moderated by Charles Gibson. The stakes are high as candidates take the stage three days before the New Hampshire primary.

The Republican debate will include Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. It starts at 7 p.m. EST.

Shortly after that 90-minute forum, Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Bill Richardson will take the stage at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.

The network set rules to narrow the field. Candidates had to meet at least one of three criteria: place first through fourth in Iowa, poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major New Hampshire surveys, or poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major national surveys.

Democrats Joe Biden and Chris Dodd took some of the pressure off ABC by quitting the race Thursday night.

"In previous debates where the stage was more crowded you had to make sure all of the candidates got fair time," said David Chalian, ABC News political director. "Here you will have more time to go in depth on the issues."

ABC said it believed its rules were inclusive, while also ensuring viewers get a thorough look at the probable next president.

"We're regretful that we're not going to be in it," said Roy Tyler, a spokesman for Hunter. "We're just going to keep working. I think it's a mistake on their part to exclude any viable candidate at this point."

Fox News Channel is sponsoring a debate in its mobile studio Sunday that excludes Paul and Hunter. Huckabee, Giuliani, Romney, Thompson and McCain have been invited.

Each debate will be divided into two parts. During the first 45 minutes, Gibson will select three prominent issues to promote a dialogue. The candidates will be seated and encouraged to talk to each other, and not just to the cameras, Gibson said.

"If I have any personal prejudice against these debates, it's that you see too much of the moderator," Gibson said. "I want to see less of the moderator and more of the candidates."

There won't be any buzzers or lights on the stage to mark time limits for talking, putting the pressure on Gibson to limit filibusters and promote fairness.

The second half of the debate will be a more traditional format, with Gibson and WMUR-TV political director Scott Spradling asking questions on a variety of topics. Candidates will be asked to keep their answers to a minute, Chalian said.

Gibson said he hoped to have a few minutes where both Republican and Democratic candidates are on the same stage, to promote the idea that despite differences, all are Americans hoping for the best for their country. The auditorium will be quickly emptied between debates and a new audience brought in.

Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will lead ABC's coverage. Three hours of live debate with both Republican and Democratic candidates represents a grueling on-air test for Gibson, ABC's chief news anchor.

"I didn't volunteer," he said. "It's something new, it's something different. I can fail miserably at this and may well do so but we're looking for some ways to do something different."

Jack Lengyel

2008-01-05T21:30:00.001-08:00

Published Jan. 5, 2008 at 5:26 a.m.

This is a busy time of year for football fans.

Amid the orgy of bowl games and impending NFL playoff matchups, the supply of pigskin on TV has been plentiful.

But, the Packers are off this week. That means a lot of casual fans will be looking for something different to do and diehards will be looking for a fix.

May we suggest a football movie?

With help from a few friends and the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), we compiled this list of football movies -- some favorites and some flops -- to help pass the time.

"Friday Night Lights" (2004) -- Adapted from the book of the same name by H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger, this is a look at Permian High School team that captivates the tiny town of Odessa, Texas, where a successful prep football season is surpassed only by food, water and shelter on the necessity scale. Billy Bob Thornton plays coach Gary Gaines and you can see country singer Tim McGraw acting as well. Popcorn talk: Bissinger, who wrote a book about St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, lived in Shorewood for awhile.

"The Longest Yard" (1974; remake in 2005) -- The original, starring Burt Reynolds and Eddie Albert, is an all-time classic. The remake, starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, is serviceable at best. The story centers on a star football player who is incarcerated after a series of personal problems and has to deal with a sadistic warden who makes him lead a team of inmates in a tuneup game against the guards. Reynolds plays the role of veteran inmate / former football player Nate Scarborough in the remake. Popcorn talk: The climactic game in the original takes up 47 minutes of the film, which clocks in at 121 minutes.

"Remember the Titans" (2000) -- Football is the backdrop, but early 1970s race relations provide the primary storyline in this movie based on the integration of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Denzel Washington plays coach Herman Boone, who gets his players to bond during training camp and fashions a championship-caliber team that suffers a setback when a star player is injured in a car accident. Popcorn talk: Disney took some license with this movie, which was filmed in Georgia rather than Virginia. In the movie Gary Bertier, played by Ryan Hurst, is injured before the championship game. In real life, Bertier played in the final game and was injured afterward.

"We are Marshall" (2006) -- A poignant tale about the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed most of Marshall University's football team. Matthew McConaughey stars as head coach Jack Lengyel, who has to rebuild the program while the community around him heals. Bring some Kleenex for this one.

"Rudy" (1993) -- Take Rocky Balboa out of Philadelphia, shrink him to about half-size, drop him onto the Notre Dame campus and -- Presto! -- you've got Daniel Ruettiger. This uplifting tale, starring Sean Astin in the title role, is enjoyable even for the many people who can't stand the Fighting Irish. Although they don't appear in a scene together, Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn both appear in the movie before hitting it big with "Swingers." Popcorn talk: When Rudy looks at the dress list, it contains the names of players who took part in Notre Dame's game against Air Force. Joe Montana led the Irish back from a 20-point deficit to a 31-30 victory. The first two names that Rudy points two belong to the two players who actually carried him off the field following his only appearance.

New Hampshire Debates

2008-01-05T21:26:00.001-08:00

By Mark Egan Sat Jan 5, 9:27 AM ET

NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Barack Obama's bid to be America's first black president is under fire from Democrats and Republicans alike before political debates on Saturday to help voters pick who to vote for in New Hampshire's primary.
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A day after his unexpected victory as Iowa's choice for the Democratic nomination to run in the November election, Obama's message of hope and change was derided by both Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney -- the leaders of the Democratic and Republican fields here.

"Did you listen to Barack Obama?" Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts seeking to become America's first Mormon president, said at a late Friday rally.

"He is a new face, but gosh when you listen to what comes out of his mouth. It's like, 'We're going to just get our troops out of Iraq," Romney said. "Have you thought about the consequences?"

Romney, who unexpectedly lost in Iowa to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, was referring to Obama's promise to get U.S. troops out of Iraq.

And Clinton, a New York senator, said: "I know that the next president will embody the hopes and dreams of all of us, but I also know that they cannot be false hopes."

Clinton's lead over Obama in New Hampshire shrunk slightly to 4 points, 32 percent to 28 percent, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Saturday. John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator who finished second in Iowa, was in third place with 20 percent.

Among Republicans, Arizona Sen. John McCain's lead over Romney fell by 2 points to 32 percent against 30 percent. Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, gained 2 points to 12 percent.

Most of the polling in the four-day tracking survey was done before the Iowa caucuses on Thursday.

Tuesday's New Hampshire primaries will help decide who runs in November's election to succeed U.S. President George W. Bush.

"We have to pick a president who is ready on Day One to do the job, the tough and difficult job," said Clinton, seeking to become America's first female president.

Clinton and Obama spoke to the same Democratic rally on Friday evening. But on Saturday they will face off against each other in a controversial televised debate which promises an in-depth look at candidates.

The prime-time back-to-back debates on ABC -- first for Republicans and then Democrats -- will have a reduced field.

TIGHT FIELD

Republican Duncan Hunter and Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel were excluded by organizers and Democrats Joe Biden and Chris Dodd quit the race after poor returns in Iowa.

ABC only allowed candidates into the debate if they finished in the top four in Iowa or secured 5 percent in New Hampshire or national polls.

Kucinich's campaign filed an emergency complaint with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission late on Friday saying the network was, "violating its obligation to operate in the public interest" by excluding candidates.

The first debate on Saturday is between Romney; McCain, who won the 2000 New Hampshire primary; Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York City during the 9/11 attacks; Huckabee; anti-war candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas; and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, also known as an actor on TV's "Law and Order."

The Democratic field is smaller -- Clinton, Obama, Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who served in Bill Clinton's cabinet.

ABC said the tight field will allow Americans to hear more from each candidate and that the format will be novel.

Candidates will sit in a semi-circle and for 45 minutes ABC News anchor Charles Gibson will pose three major issues aimed at getting the politicians to debate among themselves.

There are no time constraints on how long a candidate may speak and Gibson says he plans to intervene only if needed to push the debate forward or calm an argument.

The second half of each 90-minute debate is more traditional with Gibson and a colleague for ABC's local affiliate WMUR asking specific questions of candidates.

ABC arranged the debate in conjunction with Facebook and some of the questions posed may be generated from issues raised by members of the popular networking site on a joint Facebook/ABC page which has been posting a daily question.

(Additional reporting by Jason Szep in Manchester and Claudia Parsons in Nashua; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Marshall University

2008-01-05T21:23:00.001-08:00

A | A | A

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Tirrell Baines had 19 points and 13
rebounds to lead Marshall to a 67-62 overtime victory over Winthrop
today in Huntington.

Markel Humphrey added 12 points and Mark Dorris scored 15 points
for Marshall, which improved to 8-4 on the season.

Humphrey scored five points in overtime and Baines had four.
Winthrop took its only lead in overtime, 58-57, after a 3-pointer
by Michael Jenkins with 2:47 left. Baines then made a layup with
2:24 remaining to give Marshall the lead for good.

Dorris' 3-pointer with just under 30 seconds to play tied the
game at 51-51 and forced overtime.

Marshall jumped to a 17-0 lead, not allowing Winthrop to score
until nine minutes into the game before the Eagles closed to 29-23
at halftime.

Jenkins led Winthrop with 23 points and Antwon Harris added 15.

We Are Marshall

2008-01-05T21:17:00.001-08:00

Winthrop a huge win for Marshall
Jan 05, 2008 @ 11:29 PM
By GRANT TRAYLOR
The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON -- For the first eight minutes, Marshall simply could not miss.

For the next 32, it seemed as though they could not hit.

Thank goodness for Mark Dorris and Markel Humphrey, there was an extra five minutes to make up for lost time.

"We can't do that too often," Dorris said. "We have to go out there and attack from the beginning."

Marshall jumped to a 17-0 lead, Winthrop came all the way back and the Thundering Herd prevailed, 67-62, in a men's basketball overtime thriller Saturday afternoon.

With just more than six minutes left, Humphrey and Dorris had combined for only five points and the Herd trailed 42-38.

With one field goal between them, Dorris said the duo didn't get down on themselves. Instead, they refocused and helped lead the team back.

"We are the experienced veterans on the team," Dorris said. "Markel is attracting a lot of double teams, so we have to pick up and help him out. When open shots come, we have to make them."

After struggling for the first 34 minutes of the game, Dorris hit a three-pointer from the right corner and gave a slight fist pump running back down court after overcoming his slump.

"I try not to get to down on myself," Dorris said. "I know in basketball, you are going to make shots and miss shots. But it did feel good to finally make one. I got excited and it got us going as a unit."

Dorris and Humphrey combined for the final 13 points of regulation, including Dorris' three-pointer to force overtime.

The rejuvenated Herd offense took over in the overtime session, hitting 4-of-6 field goal attempts and eight of 10 free throw attempts to earn the victory.

The importance of the win was not lost on the team as Matt Walls sprinted off the court and others celebrated in the middle of the floor following the game.

"The West Virginia win when Tre Whitted hit that falling three, that's No. 1 on my list," Dorris said. "This is up there at No. 2 or No. 3...Winthrop is a heck of a team. They hit some big three-pointers down the stretch.

"To be able to come back from being up to tied and coming back and winning, that shows our character as a unit."

Dorris finished with 15 points and Humphrey ended with 12 to complement freshman Tirrell Baines who had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the team.

However, Dorris said that at this point, everyone should drop the freshman title from in front of Baines' name and Matt Walls also.

"It's like they aren't even freshmen anymore," Dorris said. "Their confidence coming down the stretch, they play as upperclassmen. Their confidence sure doesn't lack out there."

The win was especially sweet for Baines, a Laurens, S.C., native. He responded by scoring nine of Marshall's first 12 points as the Herd built a 17-0 lead nine minutes into the game.

"It was a big win because I'm from South Carolina, about an hour away from Rock Hill," Baines said. "It was a big win for our program, too."

The win places Marshall at 8-4 heading into conference play Wednesday at Rice.

Flat Belly Diet

2008-01-02T11:04:00.001-08:00

The Flat Belly diet is the latest diet to hit the public. Best of all, it works. How does this simple diet work? Your love handles and that stubborn belly fat will disappear after a few weeks on this diet. What a great way to get rid of those pounds you packed on at Christmas time.

Prevention Magazine online is really promoting this diet and you can go there for more information, and some neat things about this miracle diet. This diet is not like a diet, actually. You can have a delicious snack like chocolate pudding with bananas and graham crackers as well as eating real food like grilled mushroom and roasted pepper burgers. This truly seems like it is not a diet, but it certainly is a diet that will help you to lose weight.

The web site says that a moderate fat diet is better for losing weight then a low fat diet is. The weight not only comes off easier it also stays off better and what make this diet work it is the good fats, also known as monounsaturated fatty acids MUFA.

The Flat Belly diet centers around five foods that have these good fats in them naturally and those five food groups are oils, chocolate, nuts and seeds, olives, and avocados. You simply need to eat one serving from any of these groups at a meal. All meals should be around 400 calories, enough to curb your hunger but not to stuff yourself.

This diet will give you energy and will melt off the stubborn belly fat. ABC News reports many adults have New Year's resolutions of weight loss, and I know I do. Most of us adults have at least a bit of fat here we try hard to get rid off we called it love handles and this diet will do the trick.

The Flat Belly diet is one chocolate lover can stick too, because dark and semisweet chocolate are both on this diet. You simply need to each one serving of chocolate which is about ¼ cup, add some bananas and graham crackers and you got a sweet parfait that will help you loose weight.

One serving of oil is about a tablespoon, and it is easy to add this as well. Just use a tablespoon of olive oil to pan fry some vegetables or a spread a tablespoon of pesto sauce on a sandwich.

Sources:

Prevention Magazine

In god's Name

2007-12-23T21:50:00.000-08:00

IN GOD’S NAME: Twelve of the World’s Most Influential Spiritual Leaders Address Some of the Most Profound and Challenging Questions of Our Time!

Posted by: Sheldon A. Wiebe in CBS, TV Reviews, Television

This evening CBS presents a unique documentary, In God’s Name [ 9/8C], in which twelve of the most influential spiritual leaders in the world talk about the most pressing questions of our time and discuss how and why they have been able to deal with some of the most of the most devastating events in recent history.

“People of all faiths and of all homelands are divided into reasonable and unreasonable people, and all I wish – and pray to God for – is that reasonable people will outnumber the fools.” – Imam Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader.

Jules Naudet was in the World trade Center, shooting a documentary about New York firefighters when the south Tower fell in one of the most horrific terrorist acts in history. His brother, Gedeon, was afraid that he’d never see him again – and when they were reunited, they realized that they spent their time apart wondering the same things: who am I, why am I here, why is there such evil in the world.

At that time, they determined to seek out world spiritual leaders and find out what they believed. In God’s Name is the result of their travels to spend a day with, and interview, a dozen of those leaders. It is the first time that these twelve spiritual people have been filmed in this context – and the first time that we will see them espouse their beliefs in the same program.

The one belief that is common to all twelve people is that there is no religion that sanctions violence and killing for any reason other defence of self, country or faith. There is further, no sanction for the killing of innocents under any circumstances. Every single one of the twelve denounced acts of terrorism, such as the 9/11 attacks.

What makes these declarations important is that we not only hear them from such influential leaders, but that we are given some insight into the backgrounds of these people: how they were called to lead; the sacrifices they’ve had to make to lead, and some of the ways in which their faith has been tested.

Between them, the twelve are spiritual leaders to something like four billion people! There are various Christian sects, a Hindu leader, the Dalai Lama, the High Priest of Shintoism, the chief Rabbi of Israel, both Sunni and Shiite Muslims and the Sikhs’ highest authority.

The Naudet brothers have done a marvellous job of showing us the daily lives of the twelve. We see Amma [Sri Mata Amritanandmayi], the Hindu spiritual leader known as The Hugging Saint, who spends her days hugging and comforting the people who seek her out; Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar Sri Akal Takht, the Sikh leader, who lives in two small rooms with his wife and daughter; the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile from the Communist China run Tibet, who espouses his appreciation of all faiths, and so forth.

This candid and forthright documentary shows that all of these people have so much more in common than their differences that there should be a way for the reasonable people to indeed outnumber the fools. In the end, In God’s Name is both an indictment of those fanatics who pervert religion to kill, and a call for all the peoples of the world to unite – and share the core messages of their faiths at the most basic levels – in the hope that we can change things for the better.

Jules and Gedeon Naudet have clearly touched the hearts of these twelve spiritual leaders. They have been given unique access to all twelve and put together a film that speaks to us in positive terms, despite the evils of the world around us. It is a once in a lifetime achievement.

Santa Radar

2007-12-23T21:44:00.000-08:00

On Santa Claus's trail: one billion people will log on to track his progress

One billion people around the globe will log on to track Father Christmas's progress - and the people behind the website are America's top-secret radar defence experts

Interview by Cole Moreton

Published: 23 December 2007

When Santa Claus leaves the North Pole to begin his epic delivery tomorrow, he will be tracked closely by radar and satellite, and by jet fighters following the sleigh. And this Christmas Eve there will be more men and women and boys and girls watching than ever, as the website showing his progress around the world in real time expects a billion hits.

"Norad Tracks Santa" – run by the deadly serious North American Aerospace Defense Command – has become a massive festive phenomenon. For one night only each year, the organisation set up to defend the US from incoming missiles sets its sights on Santa.

Originally an American craze, tracking Santa is rapidly picking up fans in this country and many others. Last year Jonathan Ross gave an excited commentary as the sleigh swooped over Big Ben, and broadcasters from other nations were also hired to describe Rudolph blazing across their night skies. This time the images from Santa Cams will be in 3D and the audience the largest yet, thanks to a link-up with the search engine Google.

At a retirement home in Colorado, a 90-year-old will follow the reindeer all the way. Harry Shoup is the man who started all this 52 years ago, after taking a very strange phone call. It's a remarkable story. "Oh my goodness, I'll never forget it," says Shoup. On 24 December 1955, he was colonel in charge of a massive radar system built to give the US early warning of the Soviet attack many people feared was imminent. The Cold War was at its height. The Pentagon was building nuclear missiles, the Kremlin doing the same. At his windowless base in Colorado Springs, in front of a massive three-storey map of the world that looked worryingly like the command room in Dr Strangelove, Colonel Shoup was keeping watch for Communist bombers.

"The red phone rang," he says. That never happened, and it meant huge trouble. The red phone was the emergency line: it could only be his commander calling, or the Pentagon. "I picked it up and I said: 'Yes, sir? This is Colonel Shoup.'"

There was no answer for a moment. Then came the hesitant voice of a small boy. "Are you really Santa Claus?"

Shoup was taken aback. "I looked around my staff and I thought, 'Somebody's playing a joke on me. This isn't funny.' I said, 'Would you repeat that, please?'" The boy asked again if he was Santa Claus. "I knew then that there was some screw-up on the phones."

There certainly was. A local Sears Roebuck store had advertised a Santa line, on which children could talk to the man himself as he prepared for his rounds. But the wrong phone number had been published. Instead of talking to a Sears volunteer, the child unwittingly got through to one of the most important lines in America – and certainly to one of the most uptight men in the country that Christmas Eve.

Shoup called his workplace the Ulcer Palace because of the stress he was under there, according to his granddaughter Carrie Farrell. Now working for Google in California, she is telling her family story in full for the first time to The Independent on Sunday. "My grandfather was shocked at first," she says. "He was in no mood for this."

The colonel said no, he wasn't Santa – and could he speak to the boy's mother? She came on the line and explained what had happened, at which point Ms Farrell says, "He started to lighten up. He was a very serious man ... but I think the season eventually got the better of him."

When the boy was told he had actually reached the radar command centre, he asked a question that would have massive implications for the base and for millions of children in the half-century to come. "Do you know where Santa is then?"

Colonel Shoup, laughing by now, decided to play along. He did have three young girls and a baby boy waiting at home, after all. So he spoke to the men who were mapping data on to the huge picture of the world. "They were able to find out where Santa was on the radar," says Ms Farrell. Really? "Oh sure," says the 36-year-old new technology expert, deadpan. "Yeah."

The red phone rang many times that night, and with each call, the radar team got more enthusiastic about this seasonal diversion from their ultra-serious work. "Everyone there went along with it," says Ms Farrell. The bosses did not, at first – until Col Shoup convinced them it was a very good public relations tool for their new defence technology. "The guy comes off as being a bit hard on the outside, but he realised this was a chance for them to stand for something good."

The following Christmas the military actually advertised its ability to tell everyone where Santa was. Over the years a call to Norad became a part of the build-up to Christmas for many children in the US, but it remained an American secret until an internet version was launched in 1998.

In recent years the audience has grown fast. Last year the website – now in five languages – received 941 million hits from 210 countries. The phones were manned by 750 volunteers who took 65,000 calls and answered 96,000 emails. "My grandfather really does realise the scale of what this has become," says Ms Farrell. "He loves his legacy."

Her mother Pam, the middle of the three Shoup girls, was 11 in 1955. "They were taken to see the big screen," says Carrie. "They also got used to having reporters turn up every year."

Pam grew up to marry an air force pilot, who in time became commander of the air force academy at Colorado Springs. They had their own daughter, Carrie, who knew Christmas Eve as the time for Grandpa's ritual. "It was a family occasion with my grandfather at the helm. We would all sit there and he would tell us the story of Santa Claus, and his own personal story involving Santa."

Then he would get on the phone to the base commander. "We got the inside track. There was one set of information that was given to the public, but we got a little bit more information." They believed it too. "He was not kidding. When he told us we had to go to bed right away or Santa wouldn't come, then we did as we were told, because we knew he knew where Santa was."

This was a family in which the children loved science and maths puzzles and many of the adults knew how to fly – so it was no great leap for her to get involved in the internet boom a decade ago. Ms Farrell has worked for Google since 2001, and now recruits engineers from an office in Manhattan, but surprisingly the link-up with Norad wasn't her idea. It came from one of those engineers who get to spend 20 per cent of their time on personal projects. "I hadn't told too many people about my grandfather until I heard about that."

This year Norad will use the Google Earth application which allows users to zoom in on a realistic landscape anywhere in the world, assembled using satellite photographs and overlaid with information. Tomorrow that will include Santa's sleigh as it moves through the sky.

Norad starts tracking at 9am British time, when it is expected he will still be at the North Pole. His route changes from year to year, but always involves starting after sunset somewhere around New Zealand.

Traditions vary: here, most people expect Santa around midnight, but in some countries – such as Argentina, Sweden and Germany – the presents have to arrive on Christmas Eve itself. That makes for a complicated journey, but by flying west from the Antipodes, Santa can pass through different time zones and give himself at least 24 hours to make the deliveries to an estimated 75 million homes.

There are many theories about how he does it. The sceptics say you would need 214,200 reindeer (assuming you had some that could fly) travelling at 650 miles per second, which would cause them to burn up in the sky like a meteorite. But scientists love to show that it's all possible: the astrophysicist Knut Jorgen Roeed Odegaard from Norway says the heat should be no problem if Santa has "an ion-shield of charged particles, held together by a magnetic field, surrounding the sleigh".

At North Carolina State University, Dr Larry Silverberg is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. He says Santa is a super-scientist who travels in a "relativity cloud" that makes the rest of the world appear frozen in a moment and gives him all the time he needs.

"Based on his advanced knowledge of the theory of relativity, Santa recognises that time can be stretched like a rubber band, that space can be squeezed like an orange and that light can be bent," says Dr Silverberg. "Relativity clouds are controllable domains – rips in time – that allow him months to deliver presents while only a few minutes pass on Earth. The presents are truly delivered in a wink of an eye."

As for Norad, it has as little time for sceptics as it once had for Soviets. "The fact that Santa Claus is more than 15 centuries old and does not appear to age is our biggest clue that he does not work within time as we know it."

It will track him using 47 radar installations along the northern border of North America, and orbiting satellites that use infra-red to detect launched missiles – or Rudolph's glowing nose. There are also Santa Cam digital cameras at key locations around the world, and Canadian CF-18 fighters to escort the sleigh through North American airspace.

Harry Shoup, who lives "right across the street" from the air force academy, likes to wear a shirt that says "Santa's Colonel". "He is so excited. He will be tracking Santa, same as always," says his granddaughter.

She won't, though. Carrie Farrell will be on a plane flying to Australia. "There's a good chance I will look out of the window and see Santa in flight. That is exactly what I expect to happen." She says it with such conviction, just like Col Shoup shooing his excited children – and so many around the world – to their beds.

Further browsing If you want to track Santa's journey, go to noradsanta.org

its a wonderful life

2007-12-14T21:41:00.000-08:00

It's a wonderful joint life annuity

By Paul Farrow

Last Updated: 12:53am GMT 15/12/2007

Forget about sackfuls of pressies to unwrap or bottles of fine wine to sup, this is the one time of year that we should first and foremost consider the needs of others.

That's the theory anyway.

I have no doubt we momentarily shed our selfish ways for the festive period but what happens when the bedraggled trees have been thrown in the dump and decorations are back in the attic for another year?

Well, I can tell you that two-thirds of men retiring this year won't consider their wife when they buy an annuity. Even though they have a greater chance of meeting their maker before their loved one, they will buy an annuity whose income tap will turn off once they die.

Indeed, so worried are Age Concern that they went on the record a couple of years ago blaming "selfish" husbands for not providing for their wives.

The problem is twofold. Firstly, women tend to outlive men by around five years, while women have long been dealt a duff hand when it comes to pensions.

Just 17 per cent of women have a full basic state pension compared with 78 per cent of men, for instance.

The status quo remains to this day with the vast majority of pensioners opting for a single life annuity. Take Britain's biggest insurer, Standard Life. It informs me that two in three of its retirees opt for a single life annuity - ditto Prudential.

A single life annuity is just that: it pays for one person and when they die, the insurer snaffles the pot. With a joint life annuity, the surviving spouse gets around two-thirds of the annuity income for the rest of their life. But such insurance is not free and the single life annuity pays out a great deal more.

For example, a 65-year-old male would get £3,700 a year with a single life annuity, falling to £3,150 if it is joint.

Whether the decision to opt for a single life annuity is taken for selfish reasons is a controversial point. It has probably got more to do with lack of knowledge, or the realisation that you have not saved enough for retirement.

It could also be that the default option from insurers to would-be pensioners just happens to be a single life annuity. The suggestion from Billy Burrows, the annuity specialist, that a joint annuity should be offered as a default too, seems to have some mileage.

Naturally, when people take advice and are informed of their options they tend to buy a joint annuity; the problem is that most don't seek guidance or even trawl the market for a better solution than the one offered by their pension provider.

Which is why the Government ought to think twice about lifting a safety net on contracted out pensions.

As we report on the opposite page, the Government is proposing to open the playing field for contracted out plans so investors can put them in a Sipp.

The proposal looks sure to get the green light, but there is one potential stumbling block. Currently those who are married or are in a civil partnership are required to buy a 50 per cent spouse's pension with their protected rights pot.

Several providers are against this rule staying put because it will complicate matters and cause an administrative headache. Such a selfish attitude could have unforeseen consequences for a surviving spouse.

Another Christmas Balls-Up

There was more misery for pensioners embattled with the Government. First, Equitable Lifers were informed that the long-awaited report into the collapse of Equitable was delayed for a third time because the Ombudsman has received "substantial representations" from government bodies whose actions under investigation.

Then on Friday the Government published figures showing the number of people who had received some compensation from the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), set up to help victims of collapsed pension schemes. It was revealed that more than half of those who are of pensionable age have still to receive any money.

I've no doubt that Gordon Brown was hoping that we would see his generous side earlier in the week, when he said he was confident that he could guarantee that all the 125,000 who lost their company pension would see their payments increased from 80 per cent to 90 per cent. It certainly sounds a good idea although, as the indefatigable Ros Altmann points out, it is pure spin.

In reality, the pension they get will be worth around half of the amount they were due because it does not include all the benefits they would have got had their pension not gone bust.

Indeed, let us put spin aside for the moment. The FAS was set up more than three years ago to rescue workers whose company pension scheme had gone bust between January 1 1995 and April 5 2005.

The pension it will be paying out has been dubbed a "core pension" which strips out inflation linking, takes away the tax-free lump sum, pays much reduced widow's benefits and removes all ill-health and early retirement benefits.

Since the scheme was set up, the Government has been found guilty of misleading these thousands of workers into thinking their occupational pensions were safe, not once or even twice but four times.

Yet it has still refused to take any blame. Thousands of pensioners will suffer yet another Christmas without so much as a handout. Ministers should be ashamed of themselves.

William Kidd

2007-12-14T08:34:00.000-08:00

Shiver me shattered timbers: stiff of despoiled Captain Kidd ship discovered in Caribbean

Last updated at 15:52pm on 14.12.07

The remains of a ship plundered by legendary 17th pirate Captain William Kidd has been found in the Caribbean, according to U.S. archaeologists.

A team of underwater researchers from Indiana University discovered barnacled cannons and anchors off the coast of Catalina Island, which belongs to the Dominican Republic.

Archaeologists believe the remnants belong to the wreckage of the Quedagh Merchant, an Armenian ship loaded with satins, muslins, gold and silver - many of which was owned by the British East India Company.

Scroll down for more...

Shock discovery: Treasure hunters had been searching for the Quedagh Merchant for years

Historian Richard Zacks, who wrote a book about the seafaring privateer called The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd, said the Scotsman had captured the 500-ton ship in the Indian Ocean but left it in the Caribbean in 1699 as he travelled to New York to try and clear his name of criminal charges.

Captain William Kidd: 1645-1701

Anthropologist Geoffrey Conrad, director of Indiana University's Bloomington's Mathers Museum of World Cultures, said the men Kidd entrusted with the Quedagh Merchant reportedly looted it, before setting fire to it and letting it drift down the Rio Dulce.

Conrad said the location of the wreckage and the formation and size of the canons, which had been used as ballast, are consistent with historical records of the ship.

Archaeologists also found pieces of several anchors under the cannons.

After imprisonment in the U.S., Kidd returned to London and stood trial on charges of piracy and the murder of his former gunner William Moore.

Kidd was tried without representation and found guilty of all charges.

Kidd's hanging at Execution Dock in Wapping, London, in 1701 was tricky - one the first and second attempt the rope broke, but he was eventually killed on the third attempt.

Scroll down for more...

Meticulous study: Researchers from Indiana University hope to 100% prove the authenticity of the remnants

His body was dipped in tar and placed in an iron cage, which was hung over the Thames for two years as a warning to other privateers.

Charles Beeker, a scuba-diving archaeologist who teaches at Indiana University, said: "When I first looked down and saw it, I couldn't believe everybody missed it for 300 years.

"I've been on thousands of wrecks and this is one of the first where it's been untouched by looters."

"We've got a shipwreck in crystal clear, pristine water that's amazingly untouched. We want to keep it that way, so we made the announcement now to ensure the site's protection from looters."

Beeker is hoping to protect the ship from treasure hunters, who have been looking for the Quedagh Merchant for years, and the university had obtained a license from the Dominican government to study the wreckage and convert the sea floor where the cannons and anchors are marooned into an underwater preserve.

Scroll down for more...

Pirate or privateer?: Captain Kidd was hanged in 1701 after being found guilty of murder and piracy

He explained: "We believe this is a living museum. The treasure in this case is the wreck itself."

The remnants were first spotted by a local man, who reported his findings to Dominican government.

John Foster, California's state underwater archaeologist, has joined the Indiana team for the research.

He said: "I look forward to a meticulous study of the ship, its age, its armament, its construction.

"Because there is extensive written documentation, this is an opportunity we rarely have to test historic information against the archaeological record."

The Adventure Galley: Captain Kidd's main vessel

Snow Globe Boy

2007-12-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

Snow Globe Boy Seeking World Record

Submitted by Julie on December 14, 2007 - 10:00am.

Ben Eckerson, a 24-year-old production coordinator at McKinney advertising agency in Durham, N.C., has been spending much of the past several days sitting inside a giant inflatable snow globe. As of Friday morning, Eckerson had been in the globe for nearly three full days.

Eckerson's snow globe adventure is being shown live, 24-hours per day, 7 days peer week through a webcam at snowglobeboy.mckinney.com. According to the site, he is hoping to set a world record for time spent in such a spot, and hopes to spread some holiday cheer.

He has been spending all but 51 minutes per day inside the snow globe, and utilizes those minutes away to take care of personal needs. All of his meals are delivered to him inside the snow globe, which is located inside the McKinney headquarters building.

Eckerson also has a number of items in the snowglobe to keep himself entertained, including a Playstation, exercise equipment, games, and paper towels.

The idea initially behind the snow globe was to send out a different, creative, yet green holiday card this year, and so the agency came up with the snow globe idea - sending out digital cards through the website. The idea quickly snowballed, and "Snow Globe Boy" became an internet phenomenon.

He says has hes received so many emails since entering the snow globe that he can't even respond to them all. Eckerson plans to leave the globe Friday to attend the company's holiday party.

Alinea Chicago

2007-12-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

Show takes a bite out of Chicago

Posted by Bill Daley at 12 p.m. CDT

Geoffrey Baer's two-hour special, "The Foods of Chicago: A Delicious History," premiered Tuesday on WTTW-Ch. 11 and proves once again why Chicago is one of the top food destinations in this country, if not the world.

The show brought the city's array of cultures and food into sharp focus, offering everything from authentic Mexican to those crossculture hybrids unique to Chicago, like deep-dish pizza, Italian beef and chicken Vesuvio. Lots of familiar faces, too, as Baer visits with food writers, including the Tribune's own Donna Pierce, historians, home cooks and restaurateurs.

The timing of this program is particularly appropriate given the attention Chicago's food has received of late. Saveur magazine devoted its entire October issue to the city, a first in its history. Charlie Trotter's $5,000-a-plate anniversary dinner that same month drew superstar chefs and food lovers from around the world. The James Beard Foundation named Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill the best restaurant in the nation last spring at a ceremony considered the food world's version of the Oscars. And Grant Achatz emerged as a superstar chef, whose Alinea restaurant was named No. 1 of the nation's 50 best in Gourmet magazine.

Given Chicagoans' typically self-effacing view of local foods, Baer's program proves there are ample reasons for city residents to toot their own horns. “The Foods of Chicago: A Delicious History” will be rebroadcast at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3, 9:30 a.m. Dec. 8 and 8 p.m. Dec. 9.

Robert Pattinson

2007-12-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

New Role for Robert Pattinson in "Twilight" Film

Pattinson

Posted by: Edward

December 11, 2007, 05:07 PM

Robert Pattinson, who portrayed the character of Cedric Diggory in the “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” film has been cast in a new role for the film adaptation of the first book in Stephenie Meyer’s series, “Twilight.” It was announced today via a press release on the author’s site (PDF download here) that Mr. Pattinson will be taking on the role of Edward Cullen in the upcoming film. Stephenie Meyer is quoted on her website as saying of this casting announcement:

I am ecstatic with Summit’s choice for Edward. There are very few actors who can look both dangerous and beautiful at the same time, and even fewer who I can picture in my head as Edward. Robert Pattinson is going to be amazing.

The press release also quotes Summit Entertainment’s President of Production Erik Feig who speaks on the casting of such a unique and popular character by saying:

“It’s always a challenge to find the right actor for a part that has lived so vividly in the imaginations of readers but we took the responsibility seriously and are confident, with Rob Pattinson, that we have found the perfect Edward for our Bella in TWILIGHT.”

The film is set to begin production in February 2008 with Kristin Stewart (“Panic Room”) taking on the aforementioned role of Bella Swan. You can find the first novel of the series, “Twilight,” in our own Cauldron Shop along with its next two chapters “New Moon” and “Eclipse.”

Thanks to Tempest and Candace for mailing!

Janet Chandler

2007-12-11T04:16:00.001-08:00

Janet Chandler's killers mute at sentencing

Posted by Chronicle News Service December 10, 2007 15:30PM

Categories: Breaking News, Janet Chandler murder trial

Arthur Paiva

Anthony Williams

Freddie Parker

James Nelson

Chronicle News Service/Mark CopierJames and Glenna Chandler, seated second and third from right, watch the sentencing of four men convicted of killing their daughter,Janet Chandler. Anthony William, one of the four sentenced, confers with his attorneys.Chronicle News Service/Mark CopierJames and Glenna Chandler talk to the media after the sentencing at Grand Haven Circuit Court.

The last four defendants in the 1979 slaying of Hope College student Janet Chandler were sentenced this afternoon to mandatory terms of life in prison without parole.

None of the defendants, standing only feet from Chandler's tearful parents, had anything to say before sentencing

Arthur "Carl" Paiva, 57, of Muskegon, James Nelson, 60, of Rand, W. Va., Freddie Parker, 50, of Charleston, W. Va., and Anthony Robert Eugene Williams, 56, of Boscobel, Wis., were convicted of felony murder in Chandler's 1979 killing.

Afterward, Glenna and James Chandler said they were not surprised that the defendants failed to show any remorse.

"You'd have thought -- well, what can they say," the father said. "They all say they weren't there, and they're innocent. As a Christian, I just say we should probably forgive. However, you have to ask for forgiveness, and none of these arrogant people showed remorse, much less asked for forgiveness."

They were Wackenhut security guards, in Holland to protect the striking Chemetron Corp. plant. Workers described the guards as thugs. They stayed at the former Blue Mill Inn in Holland, where Chandler, a Hope College student, worked.

Janet Chandler was kidnapped and taken to a guest house where a Wackenhut boss stayed, where she was repeatedly raped, tortured, then finally died after being strangled with a belt.

Her body was dumped on a snowy median of Int. 196 near South Haven.

Soon after Chandler went missing, a Wackenhut guard told Holland police that he was talking to her on the telephone when she reported she was being robbed.

Police considered then that she could have been robbed and kidnapped.

Robert Lynch, 78, of Three Oaks in southwest Michigan, who held the belt when Chandler died, was the first arrested in the case. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is serving 25 to 50 years in prison. Laurie Swank, 50, Chandler's former boss and roommate who was arrested in Nescopeck, Pa., where she worked as a nurse, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years for second-degree murder.

She cooperated with prosecutors, and testified for the prosecution.

The cold case has drawn national attention, with NBC's "Dateline" -- in court Monday -- expects to air a segment early next year. The case gained attention when Hope College professor David Schock and his students produced a documentary, "Who killed Janet Chandler."

A four-man cold-case team of Holland police and state police investigators traveled the nation to track down witnesses and suspects. In some cases, police made numerous out-of-state trips for re-interviews before they cracked the case, marked by extreme brutality and a 27-year code of silence among defendants as well as witnesses.

cns Girls Gone Wild

2007-12-10T18:54:00.001-08:00

"Girls Gone Wild" Creator Cries Foul Play From Jail

Ashley Dickson - Celebrity News Service News Writer

Chickasha, OK (CNS) - Joe Francis, the creator behind the "Girls Gone Wild" adult video franchise, has accused guards at the Grady County Law Enforcement Center of abusing him during his stay at an Oklahoma prison facility.

Francis, 34, is currently in jail awaiting trail on charges of tax evasion, and his attorneys claim the guards denied him food and blankets and also threatened to strap him naked to a chair for 48 hours.

Francis has been in jail since April when a judge called for him to be held in contempt after yelling at an attorney during his trial. The trial came on the heels of a federal lawsuit brought on by two underage women who were filmed by Francis and his crew.

Francis was held at the Oklahoma facility from May 17 to June 4, while he was being moved from a Florida jail to a facility in Reno, Nevada. Grady County officials are denying all accusations of abuse.

"Mr. Francis was treated like every inmate that comes through the Grady County Law Enforcement Center," jail administrator Shane Wyatt told The Oklahoman newspaper.

Francis has made millions off the "Girls Gone Wild" films, which sends out a camera crew to patrol party-heavy areas in an effort to find college-age girls willing to participate in sexually provocative acts

Dana Perino

2007-12-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

December 10, 2007, 12:17 pm

Nobody’s Perfect: Press Secretary Edition

By Mike Nizza

Tags: blogs, comedy, media, washington

Press Secretary Dana Perino. (Photo: Ron Edmonds/Associated Press)

“This has not been my week,” Press Secretary Dana Perino joked over the weekend, a few days after a widely-circulated dust-up with Helen Thomas, a longtime White House correspondent who believes there’s no such thing as a rude question. In the video, Ms. Perino strongly disagreed.

But that would not be the last time that she provoked critics. On Saturday, she appeared on NPR’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me” during a segment that guarantees embarrassment for its well-known guests, or as the introduction gamely puts it:

The subjects are “asked ridiculous questions about completely random topics and then being mocked and punished for your wrong answers.”

And mocked and punished she was, but not for batting 1-for-3 on the subject of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer minutiae. Instead, it was for volunteering up front the kind of canned tale of self-deprecation that is often seen on late-night-television. The Washington Post retells the relevant passage about a recent question in the White House briefing room that uncovered a glaring historical blind spot for her:

“I was panicked a bit because I really don’t know about . . . the Cuban Missile Crisis,” said Perino, who at 35 was born about a decade after the 1962 U.S.-Soviet nuclear showdown. “It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I’m pretty sure.”

So she consulted her best source. “I came home and I asked my husband,” she recalled. “I said, ‘Wasn’t that like the Bay of Pigs thing?’ And he said, ‘Oh, Dana.’ ”

An account from another reporter who deals with her on a daily basis — this one from The Chicago Tribune’s Mark Silva — also noted the appearance more as a laugh-in-passing.

But bloggers saw it as a moment of truth, with one suggesting that she resign and a leading liberal blog expressing shock: “Seriously?” More from The Carpetbagger Report:

I’d argue that this is more than just a minor embarrassment for a senior White House official. The significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis is probably greater now than at any point in the post-Cold War era.

Less sober reactions are stacking up in Google’s Blog index, with comments attached to at least one post yielding several inevitable uses of the word “bimbo.”

In short, the critical response of Ms. Perino’s appearance on a comedy show was devoid of any sense of humor whatsoever — a perhaps unsurprising result since most folks on the Web learned of the episode via quotes shorn of the frequent outbursts of laughter and pervasive zaniness.

The original broadcast, of course, is the most fair source for your own opinion, but a transcript also does a decent job of conveying the all-in-good-fun mood.

Ms. Perino herself is probably not bothered by all the laughing at her expense. Thick skin is a requirement for the job of White House spokesman, and she put to rest — at least for the moment — a much different label than one she earned on Friday: “Icy Queen.”

Matthew Murray

2007-12-10T16:04:00.001-08:00

Matthew Murray Identified as Shooter in Colorado Killings

Atlanta, Ga. 12/10/2007 08:10 PM GMT (FINDITT - Top Story)

The man who shot and killed two members of the Christian-based Youth With a Mission organization in Arvada, Colorado is believe to be the same man who killed two worshippers at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs several hours later.

After being refused a room at the Youth With a Mission building Matthew Murray fired on several of the staff members. Two of those hit were killed while two others received injuries, one with a bullet to the neck and the other a bullet in the leg.

About twelve hours after the first shooting Murray began his assault on worshippers at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Murray killed two sisters in the church parking lot and shot their father before entering the building.

A female security guard shot Murray before he got more than 50 feet into the church, a shooting that is believed to have saved hundreds of lives.

Led Zeppelin Reunion

2007-12-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

Led Zeppelin reunion: live setlist here

Follow the legends' reunion online as it happens

1 hour ago

Led Zeppelin have taken to the stage at the O2 Arena in London tonight (December 10) - and NME.COM will be bringing you the action as it happens.

Currently we're experiencing one of technical issues with our live blog, but we don't intend to let that stop us, so we're going to post up the set and the comments from our journalist in the hall in this news story while we get things fixed.

So while it is a bit basic, if you just refresh this news story every few minutes you'll have the action from the Ahmet Ertegun tribute show.

So far Led Zeppelin have played:

'Good Times Bad Times'
"The set started with a clip from 'The Song Remains The Same' DVD with an American news clip telling of they broke The Beatles' attendance record for a gig in 1973 in California. Simple stage set, video screen behind the band."

'Ramble On'
"'Ramble On' done in extremely slow, bluesy manner, with shards of electric guitar from Jimmy Page."

'Black Dog'
"Page wearing dark shades, quite muddy sound. Crowd singing the 'ah-ah' bits back at Plant."

'In My Time Of Dying'
"Page is playing bottleneck guitar. Plant spoke for the first time before song, saying 'Good evening'."

'For Your Life'
"That's not something you get to hear often these days, Led Zeppelin giving a song its live debut."

'Trampled Under Foot'
"Before starting Plant told the crowd it was the band's attempt to sound like Robert Johnson's 'Terraplane Blues'."

'Nobody's Fault But Mine'
"There are huge screen's dominating the O2 Arena, they split into four sometimes, goes monochrome, colour etc...quite spectacular."

'No Quarter'
"Following the song Plant paid tribute to John Paul Jones, who played keyboards and bass on the track."

'Since I've Been Loving You'
"A bit of a style guide for you, all the band are dressed in black bar Page who is rocking a white shirt. As for the song they gone for the epic version....very bluesy."

'Dazed And Confused'
"Settle yourselves in, we're expecting a ten minute version of this classic... it was. At the end of it of the song Plant told the audience 'On guitar Jimmy Page, just as he did on 'The Song Remains The Same' DVD which was filmed in Madison Square Garden in the 70s."

'Stairway To Heaven'
"What do you think happened? Right! From the moment those opening notes rang out the whole audience went absolutely crazy. The atmosphere is electric. Afterwards Plant said "Ahmet, we did it!"

'The Song Remains The Same'
"A fairly straight version of the classic. The sound is still a bit muddy and quiet though."

'Misty Mountain Hop'
"Plant kicked this one off by praising the job drummer Jason Bonham has been doing, stepping into his late father's shoes tonight."

'Kashmir'
"Yet another epic, as this song cracks the ten minute mark. Plant introduced this one declaring 'We've got people from 50 countries here and this is the 51st'. Afterwards they left the stage to loud applause. Will they do an encore? What do you reckon..."

'Whole Lotta Love'
"... of course they come back to deafening applause. And it's an extended version of the old 'Top Of The Pops' theme. Then once more the band leave the stage with a visibly emotional Plant declaring:
'Thanks to everybody. Thanks Ahmet Ertegun, this one for is Ahmet Ertegun as we remember the days when Atlantic Records was the best label on the planet!'."

'Rock And Roll'
"Just time for one more, as after two hours the night reaches its climax, and what a stomper to go out on. And after the hype, the millions of people who entered the ticket ballot and the speculation, Led Zeppelin's reunion show is over. A one off? We dearly hope not."

We will also have the first review which will be filed from the venue just after the band leave the stage.

Meanwhile are you going to the gig? If so send your pictures, videos, reviews and stories to ledzep@nme.com, be sure to include your name and where you come from and we'll publish the best.

Queen Latifah Engagement

2007-12-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

Queen Latifah May Finally Be Coming Out

Article Date: 12/04/2007

By Dylan Vox

Queen Latifah’s latest film is called Perfect Holiday, and this Christmas season, she may be making us all little more merry. Speculations have been made that the 37-year-old Queen is not only planning on coming out of the closet, she is expected to announce her engagement to long time girl friend Jeanette Jenkins.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Dana Elaine Owens (a.k.a Queen Latifah) was a gifted performer even at an early age. In the late '80s and early' 90s she rose to fame as one of the most recognizable female rappers of the time and became a mainstay on the hip-hop circuit.

In 1993, she joined the cast of the FOX sitcom Living Single and transferred her celebrity momentum into a successful acting career. It was a role in the 1996 critically acclaimed film Set it Off, in which Latifah played a lesbian, that sparked speculations she might be gay.

This week, Page Six of the New York Post made reference to a successful actress that was planning on coming out of the closet. Although Latifah was not specifically mentioned in the article, a report on MediaTakeout.com announced it had exclusively learned that Latifah planned on announcing her engagement to her former personal trainer and girlfriend of four years after the promotional tour of her new film.

As for now, no official confirmation has been made as to when or if the Cover Girl spokeswoman will officially come out. The couple is supposedly planning a public wedding. MediaTakeout.com states they "can't reveal our source to this story, but we can tell you that we're 100% sure on this one."

Renee Sloan

2007-12-10T15:38:00.000-08:00

Scott Baio and Renee Sloan Tie the Knot in LA!

Posted on Dec 10 2007 - 11:52am by Angela | 1 comments

Saturday was a very "happy day" for Scott Baio and his longtime love, Renee Sloan.

The self-proclaimed commitment-phobe finally said "I do" to the love of his life and mother of their one-month-old daughter.

Scott Baio/ Renee Sloan: Photo Credit: Starbux/ WENNBut it hasn't been an easy road finding love for the star of VH1's reality series, Scott Baio is 45...and Single, who has dated some of Hollywood's most prominent sex symbols.

Over the years, the playboy fanatic has been romantically linked to Pamela Anderson, Denise Richards, Heather Locklear and his Happy Days costar Erin Moran.

But Baio has finally decided to settle down with Sloan, which could pose difficulties for the next season of his show - considering he is now 46 years old and married.

According to E! Online, the new season will follow Scott and Renee's new life as parents and newlyweds.

Renee and Scott met at the Playboy mansion in the early 1990's.

Renee also has an 18-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.

New Life Church

2007-12-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

COLORADO SPRINGS – Authorities say four people, including a gunman, were shot on Sunday.

The gunfire erupted at the 10,000-plus member mega-church, New Life Church, just after 1 p.m., according to authorities.

KOAA says the gunman opened fire at the New Life Church as the 12 p.m. service was getting out. Authorities say the shooting occurred outside of the church.

9NEWS has learned the gunman was shot by a security guard and may not have survived. Authorities also found an improvised explosive device.

Authorities have not confirmed that the suspect is dead. They say they have one person in custody. Police are not releasing any information about what kind of weapon was used in the attack or the suspect's status. 9NEWS has learned the gunman was dressed with a tactical helmet and body armor.

About 100 people were still inside the church as of two hours after the shooting. Authorities are keeping them there until they can sort everything out.

Police say El Paso County SWAT and Colorado Springs SWAT are searching the area to see whether there may be any other suspects.

Businesses in the area, including Lockheed Martin, have been put on lockdown.

New Life Church was founded by Ted Haggard. Haggard was forced out after admitting in November 2006 to sexual immorality and purchasing methamphetamines from a gay escort.

Reverend Brady Boyd took over as pastor in August 2007.

Earlier on Sunday, two people were killed and two others were injured in a shooting at Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in Arvada when a lone gunman opened fire and then fled the scene. He has not been apprehended.

Dale Lambert, the assistant director to YWAM says there is no direct link between the YWAM program in Arvada to New Life Church. However, the YWAM in Colorado Springs does work with New Life Church.

9NEWS and 9NEWS.com will update this story as more information becomes available.

Youth With A Mission

2007-12-09T09:17:00.001-08:00

Gunman opens fire in Christian missionary

From correspondents in Denver

December 10, 2007 01:40am

A GUNMAN walked into a training centre for young Christian missionaries in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, and opened fire, wounding at least four people.

The shooting occurred just after midnight at the Youth With a Mission centre, Arvada Police spokeswoman Susan Medina said.

The extent of the injuries was not clear, and the gunman was still at large this morning.

According to its website, Youth With a Mission has about 1000 locations worldwide and trains people to become missionaries. About 50 people were inside the Arvada site when the gunman opened fire.

Martin Ramirez

2007-12-09T09:12:00.001-08:00

Ramirez Box tonight

By Mary Louise Schumacher

Friday, Nov 30 2007, 08:07 AM

Every one-night art party that Cedar Block puts on at the Milwaukee Art Museum seems better than the last.

"The Ramirez Box," the group's fourth installment, like the events that preceded it, challenges local artists to respond to a feature exhibit at the art museum in a very specific way. It happens tonight at 8 p.m.

The artists participating in this exhibit-fete will possess a unique form of solidarity with Martin Ramirez, the self-taught artist whose work is the subject of a major retrospective. Like Ramirez, who spent the last 30 years of his life in mental institutions, often creating art from the scraps and odd materials he gathered from trash bins, the 30 local artists in the show will have made new works using nothing more than what they got in a box from Cedar Block back in October.

Brent Gohde, the founder and director of Cedar Block, has assembled a diverse group of Milwaukee artists including Charles Dwyer, Beth Bojarski, Mutope Johnson, Faythe Levine, Andrew Swant, Bobby Ciraldo, Della Wells, Mark Winter, John Riepenhoff and others.

Donebestdone (still, to left, from donebestdone piece) will perform and Tom Crawford and Von Munz will DJ at the event, which features free appetizers and a cash bar. The Martin Ramirez exhibition will also be open until 10 p.m. Tickets are $7, $5 for members. Information: (414) 224-3200.

Here's my story from today's paper about Brent and Cedar Block.

Check back at Art City a little later for a preview of donebestdone's work.

Oprah Obama

2007-12-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

Oprah campaigns for Obama in Iowa

Ms Winfrey (R) raised $3m for Mr Obama in September

US chat show host Oprah Winfrey is attending a campaign rally in Iowa for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Organisers have given out 23,000 tickets for the event.

On January 3, Iowa will hold the first caucus in the 2008 US presidential election, when activists will choose a candidate for their party's nomination.

Mr Obama's rival - Hillary Clinton - is also campaigning in the state, accompanied by her mother and daughter.

Tight race

Iowans who signed up to volunteer at least four hours of their time to the Obama campaign have been given priority tickets for the Oprah-Obama event.

Those attending the Des Moines rally will hear a speech from Mr Obama as well as from Ms Winfrey, and dozens of campaign workers will be on hand to sign up fresh volunteers for the senator's electoral operation.

Ms Winfrey announced her endorsement of Mr Obama's candidacy in May, and hosted a fundraising event in September which raised $3 million (£1.5million) for his campaign.

The race to win the Iowa caucus is very tight, with most polls showing Mr Obama, Mrs Clinton and another candidate - former Senator John Edwards - neck and neck.

Because it is the first state in the country to hold a caucus, presidential candidates are always keen to prove their electability by winning in Iowa.

Mrs Clinton is also campaigning hard in the state, and has appeared at an event with her mother Dorothy Rodham and her daughter Chelsea.

"Senator Clinton is a big fan of Oprah's, and she thinks it is great for candidates to have surrogates campaign on their behalf," a Clinton campaign spokesman said.

Mrs Clinton is also using a "surrogate" to campaign for her: Bill Clinton, her husband (and former President) has been appearing at events in another early primary state, South Carolina, while his wife campaigns in Iowa.

Chelsea Clinton

2007-12-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

Clinton's Mother, Daughter Hit Trail

By MIKE GLOVER – 4 hours ago

WINTERSET, Iowa (AP) — Three generations of Clinton women hit the trail vowing "change across the generations" as Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped up her pitch to the women voters who could hold the key to Iowa's caucuses, which will launch the presidential nominating season in less than four weeks.

"We're getting close to the caucuses," said Clinton. "I always think its better to go to the caucuses with a buddy. Today, I've got some buddies with me."

Those "buddies" included 88-year-old mother Dorothy Rodham and daughter Chelsea Clinton, making her first appearance with her mother on the trail in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Opening the swing, Clinton noted that her family is able to care for her mother as she ages.

"I'm fortunate, my mother lives with Bill and me," said Clinton. "Lots of times she has more energy than we do."

Clinton noted that her mother fits the description of women who were born before women got the right to vote, and are now pushing to elect the first woman president.

"She has seen a lot happen and change in our country," said Clinton. "Not everyone is as lucky to have their mother or father or grandparent with them as we are."

Clinton's mother joined her on the campaign trail Friday night, and Chelsea joined her Saturday morning. Neither spoke at the campaign events, but Chelsea worked a crowd hard as they opened the day.

Clinton used the occasion to trot out a plan to bolster long-term care, including a $3,000 tax credit for caregivers, a doubling of the standard deduction for the elderly and a tax credit for purchasing long-term care insurance. She repeatedly pointed to her ability to care for her own mother as she ages.

"I don't think having my mother with me is a burden, I think it's a joy," said Clinton. "It isn't easy to do and a lot of families don't have a lot of options."

The multigenerational appeal was aimed straight at women voters.

"I'm a proud working daughter," said Clinton. "My family is able to make the decisions we think are right for us and that's what I want for every American family."

Issues of long-term care and building families will be a focus of her presidency, Clinton said.

"I'm thrilled to be running as the first woman president of the United States," said Clinton. "It's exciting and humbling."

Clinton is locked in a tight battle with rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards in the race for Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses, a competition where the stakes are very high. Although the Iowa race is close, Clinton has commanding leads in early voting states like New Hampshire and South Carolina, and some strategists argue that a win in competitive Iowa could propel her toward the nomination.

While Obama was seeking the spotlight Saturday by bringing in talk show maven Oprah Winfrey, Clinton was fast making her campaign a family business. While her mother and daughter joined her in Iowa, her former president husband campaigned for her in another early voting state, South Carolina, and was headed back to the Iowa on Monday for a swing focused on college campuses.

The Clinton women opened their day with breakfast at a popular Des Moines delicatessen, and Chelsea Clinton showed some skill at retail politics as she worked the crowd, taking aside Darlene Dols, of Chaska, Minn., who declared herself undecided in the race, though her sister backs Clinton.

"Is there anything I can tell you that would put you over the edge for my mom?" Chelsea Clinton asked. "Listen to your sister."

She began to move away, but reversed field and came back.

"We're going to be here for a while, so if you think of anything, come on over," said Chelsea Clinton.

By focusing on women and long-term care, Clinton was targeting two crucial groups in the state's electorate — women and seniors. More than 60 percent of caucus-goers in the last election cycle were over 50, and the state has one of highest populations in the nation over 85.

That group will be the target of her long-term care plan. Nationally, the over-85 population is expected to grow from 5 million to 21 million by 2050.

"It is time for a new beginning and a new approach to helping Americans grow old with dignity," said Clinton. "Our seniors deserve our love, our respect and our care."

Clinton said the image of her campaign Saturday underscored her multigenerational pitch.

"The reason I am happy they are both here is I'm running for president to make the kind of change that America needs, changes people need no matter what age they are," said Clinton. "We need change across the generations."

The Associated Press

Mayweather Fight

2007-12-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS: If Floyd Mayweather's welterweight title bout with Ricky Hatton is half as good as the weigh-in, boxing fans are in for a remarkable finish to a strong year.

From the floor to the ceiling, one end of the MGM Grand Garden Arena was packed with 5,930 singing, whistling, clapping fans. About 5,929 seemed to be supporting Hatton, the wildly popular underdog — including the small brass band sponsored by a British newspaper.

"There's only onnnnnnne Ricky Hatton!" they sang relentlessly — and when Hatton finally took the stage, they roared approval.

Mayweather ascended to the scales with fellow "Dancing With the Stars" contestants Wayne Newton and Helio Castroneves holding his belts. Mayweather's two sons, 7-year-old Shamaree and 8-year-old Koraun, also held up belts won by their famous father — but not even the kids could deflect the boos.

"That was amazing," said Castroneves, the Brazilian two-time Indianapolis 500 champion who won the TV dance contest. "I was right behind Wayne, in case something goes wrong. ... At least they were more organized than Brazilian soccer fans. They'll be singing one thing over here, and one thing over there, and they don't get it together like that."

Hatton, a longtime junior welterweight, weighed in at 145 pounds (66 kilograms), while Mayweather hit the limit of 147 pounds (67 kilograms).

"Floyd only has one fan!" the crowd sang while Mayweather flexed.

Ring announcer Michael Buffer even got in a crack, drawing boos when he claimed President Bush had called Vegas in concern.

"The last time this many British invaded America, it was 1812 and you burned down the White House!" Buffer said.

___

HOPKINS-CALZAGHE HEATS UP: Though Bernard Hopkins and Joe Calzaghe haven't even agreed to fight next year, they're already going toe-to-toe.

Hopkins and Calzaghe had never met before Friday, but they confronted each other in the press room and again on the weigh-in stage. The scuffles — and a racially tinged remark by Hopkins — piqued already strong interest in the veteran fighters' potential meeting next summer at Yankee Stadium or another East Coast outdoor venue.

The fighters traded insults in both venues, but Hopkins provided the last word in the press room.

"I will never let a white boy beat me. Never," Hopkins said to Calzaghe, who only laughed.

Hopkins, the longtime middleweight champion who stunned Winky Wright in a light heavyweight bout in July, has been calling out the unbeaten Welsh champion for five months, anticipating a cross-cultural clash that could generate all the interest of Mayweather's fight with Hatton.

Earlier, Hopkins vented his frustration about the fighters' inability to reach a deal. Hopkins claims Golden Boy Promotions offered a 50-50 revenue split with Calzaghe, who was rebuffed by Hopkins earlier this week after requesting a private meeting with The Executioner.

"When did Joe ever leave his neighborhood to fight?" Hopkins asked of Calzaghe, who has never fought in North America. "It's 'World Champion.' Come out of your element and see how you function. Come out of Europe. ... I'm already who I am. Joe needs that American icon on his resume. Right now, all he has is Jeff Lacy."

After chasing a fight with Hopkins for years, Calzaghe (44-0) has expressed frustration with the pace of negotiations between Golden Boy and famed British promoter Frank Warren, claiming Golden Boy's offers are unacceptable. Calzaghe said he's more than willing to make the trip across the Atlantic for the fight Hopkins already has dubbed "Independence Day."

"I just came out to support Ricky, but this has been a bonus," said Calzaghe, who unified the 168-pound (76-kilogram) division with a thrilling unanimous decision over Mikkel Kessler last month.

"Bernard doesn't scare me in the slightest. I'm undefeated for 17 years. Look at his face, and look at my face. He's 43, and he can't fight any more. I still don't think he'll fight me. I think he's just talking. If he does fight me, he knows what'll happen."

___

OSCAR'S CALL: Add Oscar De La Hoya to the list of fight fans who wonder if Mayweather is less than focused on Hatton.

Sure, De La Hoya has a vested interest in sparking belief in Hatton, since the Golden Boy is co-promoting the fight with Mayweather's company. But De La Hoya believes Mayweather might have reached his highest summit with a split-decision victory in their fight in May.

"He wanted that fight so bad for so many years," De La Hoya said. "Now, in his mind, his next fight is Ricky Hatton. In his mind, he's saying, 'He doesn't have a chance.' ... You start losing that focus, because you're on top of the world, because you were just involved with the biggest fight in the history of the sport. You sometimes tend to think, 'I'll change things up a little. Hatton can't be that tough.'"

Mayweather's alteration of his usual fight-week training schedule and his regular complaints about his aching body have prompted many to wonder if the champion is fully ready. Mayweather was incredibly trim at Friday's weigh-in, showing off a chiseled six-pack.

"He's got to find other things to motivate him," Hopkins said. "One of those things was 'Dancing With the Stars,' and I don't know if that's a good one."

Christine Jack Toretti

2007-12-07T17:13:00.000-08:00

Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson on leave, files for divorce

THE CANADIAN PRESS

TUCSON, Ariz. - Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson has filed for divorce although his wife says she remains committed to the marriage.

The 73-year-old Hall of Fame coach filed a divorce petition in Pima County Superior Court on Thursday, the same day he announced he would extend his leave from the team through the end of the season.

"The marriage has been irretrievably broken with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation," Lute Olson's lawyer, Leonard Karp, said Friday.

Christine Olson, 50, is the coach's second wife.

Lute Olson and his first wife, Bobbi, were married for 47 years before her 2001 death from ovarian cancer. The couple had five children.

Gordon James, a Phoenix-based spokesman for Christine Olson, issued a statement on her behalf saying she received notice of the divorce filing Thursday night.

Christine Olson was in New York this week for meetings connected to her position as a Republican national committeewoman from Pennsylvania.

The Olsons were to have met in Chicago on Friday night, where the 22nd-ranked Wildcats arrived in advance of Saturday's game against Illinois.

"Our family has been struggling through a difficult and private matter for some months now," Christine Olson's statement said. "It was our hope that during my husband's temporary leave of absence, we would be able to focus on our family and successfully address this matter.

"Unfortunately, it seems that my husband has reached a decision that he is unable to continue our relationship together during this difficult time. While I am personally devastated, I remain committed to my marriage and will continue to support my husband through this difficult time in his life. I have nothing but love and respect for him."

Christine Olson is still living in Tucson and will be remaining in the family home while Lute Olson apparently has moved out, according to James.

He said Christine Olson will be fighting for her marriage and trying to avoid a divorce.

Karp said he didn't know if Lute Olson was in Tucson on Friday.

"His request basically was that people honour his privacy," said Karp, who is authorized to speak on the coach's behalf. "He's taken a lot of time to make this decision. I think he needs the time to resolve these matters. Our hope is that once Christine retains her attorney that we can sit down and amicably resolve things."

Olson announced his leave Nov. 4, saying the reasons were personal and not health related. In a statement released by the university Thursday night announcing the leave extension, Olson said he plans to coach the Wildcats for the 2008-09 season.

"There are personal issues within my family that need to be addressed and I must devote my full energy to that," Olson said.

Karp said he didn't believe Olson would rescind his leave in light of the divorce filing.

"I think his statement is his true feelings, that he will be back next year but that he needs this time during this season to resolve his personal problem," Karp said.

Legal records supervisor Ray Rivas in the Superior Court clerk's office said court rules bar public scrutiny of divorce petitions until the filer's spouse has been served or 45 days have passed.

Olson has coached Arizona for 24 seasons and posted a 589-187 record with 23 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. His Wildcats have won 11 Pac-10 championships, reached the Final Four four times and won the 1997 NCAA title.

Assistant Kevin O'Neill, the interim coach while Olson is gone, said Friday he's doing the best he can to fill in.

"I have great respect and admiration for what our players have done to this point in terms of focusing on basketball only in a very difficult situation - a situation that, really, there's no blueprint for," O'Neill said.

Senior guard Jawann McClellan said the players want Olson back "100 per cent."

"We wanted Coach Olson back more than anything, but first of all, we want him to do well and take care of Coach Olson," McClellan said. "A lot of people don't realize that he's still human."

Bobbi Olson played an active role in her husband's basketball program, joining him on recruiting trips and even cooking pancakes for prospective players when they visited Tucson. Former players revered her for being instrumental in creating a family atmosphere. The university renamed the basketball floor the Lute & Bobbi Olson Court after her death.

In 2003, Lute Olson married Christine Jack Toretti, a prominent, politically active Pennsylvania businesswoman. Toretti, who took Olson's last name after their wedding, remains chief executive of an oil and gas drilling company and sits on several corporate boards. She has three sons from her first marriage.

AP Sports Writer Andrew Seligman in Chicago contributed to this report.

Elin Nordegren

2007-12-07T13:52:00.001-08:00

Tiger Woods' Wife Wins Libel Lawsuit

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK – 1 hour ago

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) — The wife of golfer Tiger Woods won $183,250 and an apology Friday from an Irish magazine that published an abusive article and a faked nude photo of her.

Trevor White, publisher of The Dubliner, conceded that the article — published in September 2006 when Ireland was hosting the Ryder Cup — "was cheap, tasteless, and deliberately offensive. It was also completely untrue."

The article visibly angered Woods during the opening day of competition, which the United States lost to Europe. His wife, Elin Nordegren Woods, welcomed the settlement in a statement Friday.

"The false and deeply offensive article in The Dubliner magazine, with the accompanying photograph of another woman wrongly claimed to be me, caused great personal distress to me and my family," she said.

Nordegren Woods said she would donate the money to a cancer charity in honor of Heather Clarke, the wife of Northern Ireland golfer Darren Clarke. She died of cancer before the Ryder Cup tournament.

As part of the settlement accepted by a Dublin court, The Dubliner must publish its lengthy apology in a variety of venues, including in its next issue. If the magazine fails to meet the conditions the award will be increased to $366,500 and the publishers will have to pay Nordegren Woods' legal costs.

"This regrettable episode in our lives in no way detracts from the great love of Ireland that Tiger and I share," Nordegren Woods said. "We look forward to experiencing the extraordinary warmth of its people and of our many friends in Ireland again in the future."

The September 2006 article's headline described the U.S. golfers' wives as "Ryder Cup filth." The story claimed that Woods' wife "can be found in a variety of sweaty poses on porn sites across the Web." It also insulted the wives of golfers Chad Campbell, David Toms and Jim Furyk, who did not sue.

"The photograph was not of Ms. Nordegren Woods. There are no such photographs of Ms. Nordegren Woods on internet sites or elsewhere. Ms. Nordegren Woods has never posed, or been photographed, nude. The story was utterly and comprehensively false," White said.

barbara walters 10 most fascinating people

2007-12-06T18:07:00.001-08:00

t's a holiday TV tradition right up there with Rudolph, Charlie Brown, and It's a Wonderful Life. I'm talking, of course, about Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007.

Yep, every year people tune in to see Babs interview some of the biggest success stories, and some of the biggest screw-ups of the last 12 months.

This year's guests include disgraced shock-jock Don Imus, cutest-actress-in-the-whole-wide-world Katherine Heigl, American Idol loser and Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson, and Euro mega-celebrity duo David and Victoria Beckham.

Also in the show: pop super-duper-sensation-but-I'm-not-sure-why Justin Timberlake, former President and likely first-ever First Husband Bill Clinton, and MySpace creators Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe.

That's nine. The "Number One Most Fascinating Person of 2007" will be announced on the show. I wonder who it will be? Britney? Paris? Lindsay?

When it comes to celebrity interviews, those are all pretty good "gets." But my suggested list would look a little different.

Ten People Barbara Walters Should Interview

10. David Hasselhoff
What better excuse to show that video of him drunk again? Wait... alcoholism is NOT funny. Unless it's David Hasselhoff half-naked crawling on the floor eating a cheeseburger. Then it's kinda funny, actually.

9. Amy Winehouse
She's like Linsday, Britney and Courtney Love all rolled into one. Babs can ask her about her new song, "I Changed My Mind, I'd Rather Go To Rehab Than Jail."

8. Evil Knievel
Because even dead he's more interesting than the MySpace guys. Or Jennifer Hudson. Or the Beckhams. Or most of the people on this year's show.

7. Javier Bardem, the assassin from No Country for Old Men
What's it like to be the baddest-ass bad-guy since Hannibal Lecter? And when are you going to start doing commercials for The Flobee?

6. Billy Ray Cyrus
The one-hit-wonder is making a comeback thanks to his now famous daughter who plays Hannah Montana. This would be less of an interview and more of a plea. STOP SINGING "ACHY BREAKY HEART!"

5. Katie Couric
Seriously Katie, the whole "evening news" thing just isn't working out. Barbara could offer her Meredith Vieira's old job on The View, and then the circle of life would be complete.

4. Sanjaya
I got a lot of super-nice emails from some super-nice fans of super-nice Sanjaya, so I'm not going to say anything bad about him here. But come on Barbara, if you're going to interview an American Idol loser, it has to be Sanjaya! Not Hudson.

3. O.J. Simpson
Actually, this would be a serious journalistic accomplishment if you could get an interview with O.J. without paying him. My question: how goes the search for the real guys who busted into a Vegas room and stole a bunch of sports memorabilia at gunpoint?

2. Rumer Willis, daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis
Taking undeserved celebrity stardom to a new low. Why is she famous? I just don't understand. Paris Hilton pioneered the "celebutant" label because she was: 1.) the child of a famous family; 2.) rich and 3.) super hot! Well Rumer, two out of three ain't bad.

1. Iggy, the dog that Ellen DeGeneres gave away
ollowing Ellen's tearful plea and the uproar that followed, this dog is a T-bone-a-fide star now, appearing in his own public service announcements about "pet adoption awareness." But let's settle this canine custody battle once and for all. Iggy, if you want to stay at the shelter, bark once. If you want to go back to Ellen's hairdresser's kids, bark twice. And if you want to go back to Ellen, start dancing stupidly through the audience.

Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007 airs Thursday, December 6th at 10pm ET on ABC.

Ethan Morris: "Not always right, but never in doubt." Go ahead and write me.

One Laptop Per Child orders surge

2007-12-02T18:13:00.000-08:00

Peru wants 260,000 machines; Mexican billionaire signs up

December 1, 2007

Despite slower-than-expected sales and tough competition from commercial rivals, the One Laptop Per Child Foundation of Cambridge is enjoying a surge of new orders.

Nicholas Negroponte, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who set up the foundation to provide low-cost laptops to poor schoolchildren around the globe, said in an interview yesterday that the government of Peru has signed a contract to purchase 260,000 of the $188 machines. "It was notarized five minutes ago," he said, adding that the Peruvian order will make it easier for the foundation to sign up more countries to the program. "It's momentum."

Negroponte also said Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has purchased 50,000 of the machines for distribution in his country. "He's an old friend, and he's been involved in this from the beginning," Negroponte said.

The nonprofit has designed its laptop to eventually cost less than $100 each. It hopes to persuade governments in developing countries to buy millions of the machines and hand them out free of charge as educational tools.

But foreign governments haven't placed as many orders as Negroponte expected when he launched the foundation in 2005. So OLPC has asked affluent American individuals and charitable groups to buy machines and donate them to children in poor countries. Participants in the Give One Get One program pay $400 for two of the machines - one for their own use and the other to be donated. Participants also receive a year of free wireless Internet access at hundreds of public hotspots operated by T-Mobile. A separate program, called Give Many, encourages charities to pay for hundreds or thousands of OLPC laptops.

Robert Fadel, the foundation's director of finance and operations, said both programs are paying off. Since the Give One Get One program began Nov. 12, the foundation has received about $2 million in orders every day, he said. That works out to 190,000 laptops total, with at least half donated to children in developing countries. Fadel said many customers end up donating both the computers they buy. Fadel didn't have numbers on how many machines have been sold through the Give Many system, but said the number runs into the thousands.

The surge in sales of the nonprofit's laptops comes as OLPC faces growing competition from commercial vendors of cheap laptops. Intel Corp. is pushing a rival computer called the Classmate, while Asus Computer International of Taiwan offers the Eee PC, designed for use in affluent nations such as the United States as well as in poor countries.

OLPC also has been hit by a patent-infringement lawsuit in Nigeria filed by Lagos Analysis Corp. of Natick. The suit claims the foundation stole the company's keyboard design. Negroponte said the lawsuit is without merit, because OLPC uses a keyboard programming technique developed in 1996, long before the Nigerian patent was filed.

The founder of Lagos Analysis Corp., Ade Oyegbola, was convicted of bank fraud in Boston in 1990 and served a year in prison. Oyegbola insists his Nigerian patent is legitimate and said he plans to file a copyright-infringement lawsuit against OLPC in an American court.

Computer industry analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates Inc. in Wayland, a longtime skeptic of the OLPC plan, was impressed by the foundation's early sales. "I remain generally skeptical, but that's some good news," said Kay. "If you were a budding computer company, you'd be happy to sell 300,000 or so units in your first season."

But Kay still predicted trouble ahead for the foundation, unless it stops acting like a charity and more like a traditional computer business. "They have to survive on selling products, having satisfied customers, and having people come back for more," he said.

However, Negroponte said OLPC's nonprofit status is essential, as it enables the foundation to collaborate with leading technology companies in designing and building the laptop. He said many of the foundation's partners would not offer assistance if they viewed OLPC as a business rival rather than a charity.

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com.

Harris Poll

2007-12-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

Football Jumps to No. 2 in AP, Coaches Polls; Awaits BCS

BATON ROUGE -- After winning its third SEC Championship since 2001, 21-14 over Tennessee, the LSU football team moved to No. 2 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday just after noon CT. Check back for the Harris Poll as well as the BCS Standings at 6:45 p.m.

LSU (11-2) received 11 first-place votes from both the writers and coaches, while No. 1 Ohio State received 46 from the coaches and 50 from the AP.

Though four other teams received AP first-place votes -- No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Virginia Tech, No. 10 Hawai'i -- each received only one. Oklahoma also received a pair of first-place votes from the coaches and Hawai'i got one.

Should the Tigers move to the Top 2 of the BCS Standings, they would play in the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7, 2008. The BCS Standings are a compilation of the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Harris Interactive Poll and an average of six computer rankings.

LSU will gather at the Football Operations Center to watch the announcement on FOX at 6:45 p.m.

USA Today Top 25 Poll

The Top 25 teams in the USA Today college football coaches poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 1, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Record Pts Pvs
1. Ohio State (46) 11-1 1,469 3
2. LSU (11) 11-2 1,418 7
3. Oklahoma (2) 11-2 1,331 8
4. Georgia 10-2 1,277 4
5. Virginia Tech 11-2 1,242 t5
6. USC 10-2 1,227 9
7. Missouri 11-2 1,104 2
8. Kansas 11-1 1,099 t5
9. West Virginia 10-2 1,010 1
10. Hawaii (1) 12-0 994 10
11. Arizona State 10-2 900 13
12. Florida 9-3 890 11
13. Illinois 9-3 747 14
14. Boston College 10-3 617 12
15. Wisconsin 9-3 594 16
16. Clemson 9-3 567 17
17. Texas 9-3 498 18
18. Tennessee 9-4 480 15
19. Brigham Young 10-2 462 19
20. Virginia 9-3 332 t21
21. Auburn 8-4 289 t21
22. Boise State 10-2 246 23
23. Cincinnati 9-3 215 24
24. Arkansas 8-4 137 25
25. South Florida 9-3 115 NR

Others receiving votes: Texas Tech 52; Central Florida 51; Connecticut 23; Oregon State 23; Penn State 23; Michigan 22; Air Force 20; Oregon 9; Utah 6; Wake Forest 4; Houston 3; Michigan State 3; Tulsa 1.

The AP Top 25

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 1, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking.

Record Pts Pvs
1. Ohio St. (50) 11-1 1,578 3
2. LSU (11) 11-2 1,519 5
3. Oklahoma (1) 11-2 1,423 9
4. Georgia (1) 10-2 1,421 4
5. Virginia Tech (1) 11-2 1,380 6
6. Southern Cal 10-2 1,346 8
7. Missouri 11-2 1,195 1
8. Kansas 11-1 1,164 7
9. Florida 9-3 1,071 10
10. Hawaii (1) 12-0 1,050 11
11. West Virginia 10-2 1,040 2
12. Arizona St. 10-2 939 13
13. Illinois 9-3 797 15
14. Boston College 10-3 668 12
15. Clemson 9-3 614 16
16. Tennessee 9-4 554 14
17. Texas 9-3 517 17
18. Wisconsin 9-3 447 19
19. BYU 10-2 439 21
20. Cincinnati 9-3 394 20
21. Virginia 9-3 344 22
22. Auburn 8-4 264 23
23. South Florida 9-3 246 25
24. Boise St. 10-2 221 24
25. Arkansas 8-4 173 NR

Others receiving votes: Texas Tech 137, UCF 35, Connecticut 31, Oregon 30, Oregon St. 30, Michigan 26, Air Force 17, Kentucky 13, Penn St. 1, Wake Forest 1.

BCS Selection Show

2007-12-02T11:46:00.000-08:00

When dust settles, it will be Ohio State and LSU
12:08 AM CST on Sunday, December 2, 2007

Who likes complete and utter college football chaos?

Yep, that's what we've got this morning – BCS confusion and chaos.

No. 1 Missouri drowned in the San Antonio Riverwalk, and couches all over Morgantown were spared Saturday night when Pittsburgh, a 28 ½-point underdog, upset No. 2 West Virginia.

So now, who deserves to play in the national championship game? It figures that No. 3 Ohio State will move up when the final Bowl Championship Standings are released at 7 p.m. today. But the Big Ten champion Buckeyes can only guess who their opponent might be at this point.

Can you just imagine the crazy, confused look on the faces of those coaches and Harris poll voters? Surely they knew that the college football world is relying on them to figure it all out.

I know Georgia (10-2) and Kansas (11-1) were in the BCS top five last week, but they don't deserve to play in New Orleans. If you can't win your division and play for a conference title, you don't deserve to play in the national championship game.

Virginia Tech was sixth in the BCS standings last week. Good team. Excellent defense. The Hokies won the ACC title on Saturday, but there aren't many people bragging on the strength of that league.

Give me LSU (11-2).

The Tigers had a roller-coaster ride through Atlanta like no other on Saturday. Coach Les Miles started the day fending off what he called erroneous reports from ESPN about him leaving for Michigan.

He ended it by celebrating a Southeastern Conference title with a 21-14 win over Tennessee in the Georgia Dome.

"Well, I don't exactly know how votes will go, but we're the champions of the finest conference in America," Miles said. "We played Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida. I challenge any other team in America to go through this conference and come out unscathed."

Here's the thing about Miles' Tigers. Yes, LSU did lose against Kentucky and Arkansas. Both of those are respectable teams, but neither one is anywhere near the BCS discussion. The Wildcats and Razorbacks needed six overtimes combined to knock off the Tigers, though. Anything can happen in overtime.

LSU was seventh in the BCS computer rankings last week. The voters are going to have to do all the heavy lifting on LSU's behalf. It's incumbent on the voters to forget about their ballots last week and vote who they think truly deserves to be 1-2 and play for the national title.

Unfortunately for the Big 12, neither Missouri or Oklahoma is going to get in the BCS title mix.

Mizzou (11-2) can't be included after the way OU dominated the second half and ran away with the final score. OU (11-2) won't climb over LSU and USC into the No. 2 position, either.

Same goes for West Virginia. The Mountaineers (10-2) cannot lose to a big underdog such as the Panthers and then get into the national title game. Now, West Virginia will still be in a BCS bowl by virtue of winning the Big East title. But quarterback Pat White's dislocated thumb injury will be talked about in coal mines for years to come.

The rest of the BCS fallout will be relatively easy once the top two teams get decided. Oklahoma is going to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Missouri and Kansas will battle it out for an at-large berth.

Don't forget about Hawaii. If the Warriors held on late Saturday and finished the regular season undefeated, June Jones' team will be in the BCS mix, too.

You can bet the happiest people on earth were Fox television executives. Now, we've all got a reason to tune into today's BCS selection show.

Then, we can start the argument all over again an hour later.

WHO WILL IT BE?

Ohio State (11-1) looks like a lock for the BCS national title game. Staff writer Brian Davis ranks the possible opponents for the Buckeyes:

1. LSU (11-2): Any team that wins the SEC title must be considered. Voters have to move the Tigers way up, though.

2. USC (10-2): The Pac-10 champion Trojans can beat anybody right now. USC's November dominance was no fluke.

3. Virginia Tech (11-2): The Hokies make a nice storyline, but the ACC simply isn't stronger than the SEC and Pac-10.

4. Kansas (11-1): The Jayhawks have a legitimate beef with an 11-1 record. But KU didn't even win its division.

5. Georgia (10-2): Georgia's in the same boat with Kansas. Winning your division must be a prerequisite.

PROJECTING THE BCS

Staff writer Brian Davis projects the five BCS games as things stand today.

Allstate BCS national championship: Ohio State vs. LSU

FedEx Orange: Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia

Tostitos Fiesta: Oklahoma vs. Arizona State

Allstate Sugar: Georgia vs. Kansas

Rose: USC vs. Hawaii

Miss World

2007-12-02T06:35:00.000-08:00

Miss China on top of the world

1 day ago

SANYA, China (AFP) — Pre-contest favourite Miss China won the Miss World 2007 title in her own country late Saturday, much to the delight of the audience, in front of an estimated two billion viewers around the globe.

Twenty-three-year-old Zhang Zilin was crowned the winner in Sanya, China. Miss Angola came second and Miss Mexico third at the beauty pageant, held on the southern holiday island of Hainan, dubbed China's answer to Hawaii.

Viewers in 200 countries were expected to tune in to watch the show, which saw Miss China take the crown ahead of 105 of the world's most beautiful and talented women.

The audience in the 2,000-capacity Beauty Crown Theatre, specially built for when Sanya first hosted the event in 2003, roared in delight as Zhang was crowned the winner at the end of the two-hour-long contest, which was conducted mainly in English.

The secretary from Beijing was the pre-contest favourite with British bookmakers, along with Miss Dominican Republic.

At 182 centimetres (six feet), Zhang was also the tallest contestant.

"There are 1.3 billion people behind me," she said during the interview stage of the contest, referring to China's population.

"If I win I want to become a link between the Olympic Games (in Beijing next year) and the Miss World Organisation."

"I want to use the power and beauty of Miss World to support those in need," she said, speaking throughout in hesitant English, adding a few words in Chinese.

Zhang earlier told the contest her favourite pasttimes were the 100-metre hurdles and the high jump.

Fireworks exploded above the crown-shaped theatre, where visitors had paid up to 300 dollars for tickets, after the popular decision was made.

Miss Mexico had also been strongly fancied, while Miss Angola was an outsider.

"I want to tell you that I am a strong woman and also a dreamer girl and I don't accept failures in my life," Carolina Moran Gordillo, Miss Mexico, said earlier in the contest.

"This is my dream and I worked very very hard to get here," the 19-year-old student added.

Portuguese-born Miss Angola, Micaela Reis, 18, said she wanted to win the coveted crown so she could spread awareness about AIDS/HIV.

Contestants were rated on an array of disciplines including physical fitness, style, dress, personality and beauty.

The 106 were whittled down to 16, then five, with hotly tipped Miss Dominican Republic not making the final five despite strong support from the mainly Chinese crowd.

The 57th edition of the contest was being held on World AIDS Day as organisers wanted the annual showcase of gloss and glitz, seen by critics as a sexist throwback, to help increase awareness of the fight against HIV/AIDS.

To underline their commitment to AIDS awareness, organisers invited former South African president Nelson Mandela's eldest daughter Maki to serve on the panel of nine judges.

The Noble laureate's son Makgatho died of an AIDS-related illness in 2005, and the family has since been active in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

As well as being held on World AIDS Day, Miss World 2007 came a week after Chinese state media reported hotels in Beijing have been ordered to stock condoms in every room in response to a spike in new HIV infections in the capital.

Home Equity

2007-12-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

ANALYSIS-After Wells Fargo, home equity has further to fall

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters) - If Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), regarded as a prudent mortgage lender, must take a $1.4 billion charge for home equity loans that comprise a mere sliver of its total loan book, how much might rivals write off?

The Wells Fargo write-down, largely covering $11.9 billion of home equity loans the bank considers most at risk, shows how the U.S. housing crisis has bled well beyond subprime mortgages to home loans once regarded as relatively safe.

It raises the specter of more pain for other lenders with significant home equity exposure, particularly on loans meant to cover most or all of the homes' value.

"Higher LTV (loan-to-value) loans now carry a much higher risk profile," said Greg McBride, a financial analyst at Bankrate.com in North Palm Beach, Florida. "Borrowers are defaulting in big numbers, and because they had little of their own money invested, lenders are on the hook."

Financial companies have announced some $50 billion of mortgage-related write-downs after the housing decline caused a summer freeze in global credit markets.

Third-quarter loan losses at federally insured banks and thrifts more than doubled from a year earlier to $16.6 billion, a 20-year high, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp data released Wednesday showed. This pushed overall profits down 25 percent to $28.7 billion, the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2002.

SQUIRRELLY DEALS

Home equity loans are generally "second liens," meaning that providers get paid after borrowers pay their primary lenders.

The loans let people, typically with good credit histories, borrow against their homes, often to fund home repairs or to pay off higher-cost credit card debt. A typical rate on a $30,000 home equity loan is 8.39 percent, compared with 13.42 percent on a typical credit card, according to Bankrate.com.

Some loans are home equity lines of credit, which let people borrow up to specified limits. But in recent years, closed-end "piggyback" loans that let home buyers with first mortgages finance up to 100 percent of the homes' value gained popularity.

Easing credit conditions allowed home equity loan volume to triple in the decade ending 2005, when volume first topped $1 trillion, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Many lenders are now cutting back. Wells Fargo this week significantly curbed its home equity business conducted through brokers.

"It's hard to gauge which lenders are most at risk, but pretty much any large lenders will have exposure because most made piggyback loans in the last three years," said Guy Cecala, publisher of the newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance.

"Many were squirrelly deals to let borrowers work their way around underwriting requirements," he said. "In a declining market, borrowers are realizing it was a bad idea to take out the second mortgages. They are also learning that as long as they keep paying on their first mortgages, they'll keep their homes."

Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), two big mortgage lenders, said they each had at least one-fourth of their loan books in home equity loans as of Sept. 30. Neither immediately returned calls seeking comment.

Lehman Brothers Inc analyst Jason Goldberg, meanwhile, said Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB.O: Quote, Profile, Research), First Horizon National Corp (FHN.N: Quote, Profile, Research), SunTrust Banks Inc (STI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and TCF Financial Corp (TCB.N: Quote, Profile, Research) are among other banks with more than 10 percent of their loan portfolios in home equity.

"Lenders need to generate cash flow for investors, and yet are holding many risky loans they may have difficulty selling or would have to discount," said Robert Manning, a business professor at Rochester Institute of Technology.

"The real crisis may occur when middle-class borrowers start burning through other lines of credit, and their home values still haven't rebounded," he said. "That may occur as soon as a year from now." Manning wrote the book "Credit Card Nation: America's Dangerous Addiction to Credit."

BAD AS IT GETS

Late payments are already surging on home equity loans, several large lenders have said. At Countrywide, for example, the delinquency rate was 4.62 percent as of Sept. 30, up from 2.10 percent a year earlier. (Countrywide's subprime delinquency rate rose to 23.94 percent from 16.93 percent.)

Wells Fargo's $1.4 billion write-down is concentrated in $11.9 billion of particularly risky home equity loans -- 3 percent of its loan book -- largely made through mortgage brokers. It plans to liquidate this portfolio.

The bank said it has $71.5 billion of additional home equity loans it considers safer.

"I've been in the banking industry for over 30 years, and I've worked through three ... housing cycles," Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins said at an FBR Capital Markets conference on Wednesday. "This is about as bad as it gets."

Washington Mutual ended September with $59.1 billion of home equity loans and lines of credit on its books, or 25 percent of its loans held. Chief Executive Kerry Killinger on Nov. 7 called the downturn "painful," saying it would last through 2008.

Countrywide had $32.7 billion of prime home equity loans held for investment on Sept. 30, or 39 percent of its portfolio. Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo on Oct. 26 said the lender has "a much better chance of success" than any mortgage rival

Bankrate.com's McBride said prospective home buyers will feel much of the fallout. "Lenders want borrowers to bring something to the closing table, other than a pen," he said. "They want borrowers to make down payments, so they have something at stake."

(Additional reporting by John Poirier in Washington; Editing by Gary Hill)

((jon.stempel@reuters.com; +1 646 223 6317; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: FINANCIAL HOMEEQUITY/ Keywords: FINANCIAL HOMEEQUITY/

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The 20th World Aids Day, and what's changed?

2007-12-01T06:56:00.000-08:00

1:20PM Saturday December 01, 2007

Does the news that the United Nations overestimated the number of HIV infections mean the world has turned the tide on AIDS?

Not according to the most of the media coverage ahead of the 20th World Aids Day today.

The fact that the United Nations got it wrong about the number of people living with the virus is simply "a sampling error", writes Donald McNeil in the International Herald Tribune.

The UN and the World Health Organisation "have eaten a lot of crow" for the mistake of miscalculating the number of infected, comments Los Angeles Times.

But the good news is that the pandemic has peaked, the papers say, most likely in the late 1990s. But that doesn't mean the world can relax and get complacent about AIDS. Even if the estimate of 2.5 million new infections this year is 40 per cent lower than the estimate for 2006, that's "not a particularly happy plateau," McNeil quotes Dr. Robert Gallo, who discovered the AIDS virus.

It's hard to get excited when more than 2 million people - most of them in sub-Saharan Africa - are still dying from the disease each year and 15 per cent of the population in eight countries in the south of the African continent are infected, says the International Herald Tribune in its editorial.

Take Zimbabwe, for example. This year has seen a drop in HIV prevalence rates in the country, but AIDS is still one of the biggest challenges the country faces, according to Owen Mugurungi, who heads the government's HIV/AIDS and TB unit, quoted by Zimbabwe's Financial Gazette. In a country with so many economic and political challenges right now, such a statement is not to be taken lightly. And the grim statistics back it up - we're talking about at least 2500 AIDS-related deaths a week in Zimbabwe.

Elizabeth Taylor, writing in USA Today, highlights the fact that the problem of AIDS is still very much present in the United States as well, in particular amongst the country's black population. The rate of HIV/AIDS diagnosis, for instance, is 20 times higher for black women than their white counterparts.

The Chinese papers acknowledge the fact that the stigma surrounding AIDS is a crucial problem in tackling the disease, but there's some good news. The Shanghai Daily reports that, according to Health Minister Chen Zhu, more than 40 per cent of sex workers now use condoms. This compares to less than 15 per cent six years ago and Zhu attributes it to the success of awareness programmes about the disease.

In India, the awareness campaigners still have a long way to go, judging by some of the results of a global study conducted by the MAC AIDS Fund. Almost 60 per cent of those surveyed believed there was a cure for AIDS and over 40 per cent said they wouldn't want to live in the same house as a person infected with the virus, The Hindu reports.

And if you thought Western Europe didn't have to battle misconceptions like that, a survey commissioned by the British Red Cross shows otherwise. One in seven young British people aged between 14 and 25 say they wouldn't stay friends with an HIV-infected person. According to a survey quoted by Britain's Mirror , the number is almost as high as in South Africa. And that's a country where about 19 per cent of the population is HIV-positive.

These reports from around the world show there's still a lot of work to be done fighting the pandemic and the prejudice that accompanies it. The latest revised figures are indeed good news and, as the IHT's McNeil points out, this is at least the sign that AIDS will eventually behave "like other pestilences" and there will, in the end, be a solution to one of the most deadly diseases the world has seen.

But right now, in the words of the LA Times' editorial: "(Any) way you count them, the millions of needless deaths from this disease are too many, and too little is being committed to solve the problem."

- REUTERS

100 Top High Schools

2007-11-30T17:23:00.000-08:00

US News and World Report Releases America's Best High Schools

Atlanta, GA 11/30/2007 09:05 PM GMT (FINDITT)

U.S. News and World Report released their annual America's Best High Schools list Friday. The list will be available on newsstands on December 3 with Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax, Va. topping the list.

The survey took into account over 18,000 high schools in 40 states. The top 100 were classified as Gold Medal with the remaining 405 deemed Silver Medal.

The following 10 states and the District of Columbia did not have sufficient data available for analysis: Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Florida had four high schools listed in the top 10, followed by California with three.

Followed by Thomas Jefferson were Pacific Collegiate Charter School in Santa Cruz, Calif.; International Baccalaureate Program in Bartow, Fla.; Oxford Academy in Cypress, Calif.; and Montpelier High School in Montpelier, Vt. to round out the top five.

For more education news, please check out http://news.finditt.com/NewsList.aspx?cat=15&wcat=18

Bernanke hints at further rate cut

2007-11-30T16:34:00.000-08:00

Reduction may be needed to head off economic 'headwinds'

By Bill Barnhart |Tribune markets columnis

7:04 AM CST, November 30, 2007

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech Thursday night, said that "renewed turbulence in financial markets" since the Fed's last policy meeting at the end of October "has partially reversed the improvement" in the outlook for the economy "that occurred in September and October."

In brief remarks on the economy and Fed policy to the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, he declined to take a side in the debate apparently under way among Fed policymakers about whether or not to cut interest rates at their next committee meeting, on Dec. 11. He indicated he remains open to either possibility.

Stock markets in Asia that were open for trading during Bernanke's speech extended their gains after his comments.

Kenny Rogers Re-Signs With Tigers; Rays Sign Percival

2007-11-30T16:32:00.001-08:00

Kenny Rogers Re-Signs With Tigers; Rays Sign Percival

By Danielle Sessa

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- All-Star pitcher Kenny Rogers re- signed with the Detroit Tigers for next season two weeks after firing his agent Scott Boras.

The New York Mets traded outfielder Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals for catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church.

Free-agent reliever Troy Percival reached a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. The St. Louis Cardinals signed free- agent shortstop Cesar Izturis to a one-year contract, suggesting the team might not re-sign 2006 World Series Most Valuable Player David Eckstein.

Major League Baseball teams are acquiring players ahead of next week's annual Winter Meetings in Nashville. Clubs didn't disclose contract values in their statements. FoxSports.com said Percival's deal was worth $8 million with incentives that could bring it to $10 million.

Rogers, a left-hander who turned 43 earlier this month, went 3-4 with a 4.43 earned run average for Detroit in an injury-shortened season. He started the year on the disabled list and underwent surgery in July to remove a blood clot in his left shoulder.

No Boras

Rogers parted ways with Boras because the agent wanted to talk to other clubs while Rogers wanted to stay in Detroit. Boras secured the pitcher a two-year, $16 million deal before the 2006 season. Rogers has a 210-143 record in his 19-year career that began with the Texas Rangers.

New York traded Milledge, its first-round pick in the 2003 draft, following two seasons in which the 22-year-old has been criticized by opponents for his excessive celebrations. He batted .272 last season with seven home runs and 29 runs batted in.

The Mets got Schneider, a career .252 hitter, to help replace Paul Lo Duca. The team also acquired catcher Johnny Estrada earlier this month. Church hit .272 with 15 home runs and 70 RBI last season, with the 29-year-old splitting time in left and center field.

Tampa Bay's Percival has 324 saves in 10 seasons with the Angels and two one-year stints with Detroit and St. Louis. The 38-year-old hadn't pitched since July 2005 when he went on the disabled list with a partially torn muscle in his throwing arm. He came back with the Cardinals last season, going 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 34 games.

The Cardinals added to their defense by acquiring the Gold Glove-winning Izturis. The 27-year-old played for the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates last season, hitting a combined .258 with 16 RBI in 110 games. Eckstein, St. Louis's shortstop the past three seasons, is a free agent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Sessa in New York at dsessa@bloomberg.net

Iconic Daredevil Evel Knievel Dies at 69

2007-11-30T15:38:00.001-08:00

By MITCH STACY:

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over crazy obstacles including Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

Knievel's death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.

Knievel had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.

Longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundel said Knievel had trouble breathing at his Clearwater condominium and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital.

"It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it. Superman just doesn't die, right?" Rundel said.

Immortalized in the Washington's Smithsonian Institution as "America's Legendary Daredevil," Knievel was best known for a failed 1974 attempt to jump Snake River Canyon on a rocket-powered cycle and a spectacular crash at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. He suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980.

"I think he lived 20 years longer than most people would have" after so many injuries, said his son Kelly Knievel, 47. "I think he willed himself into an extra five or six years."

Though Knievel dropped off the pop culture radar in the '80s, the image of the high-flying motorcyclist clad in patriotic, star-studded colors was never erased from public consciousness. He always had fans and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years.

His death came just two days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video.

Knievel made a good living selling his autographs and endorsing products. Thousands came to Butte, Mont., every year as his legend was celebrated during the "Evel Knievel Days" festival, which Rundel organizes.

"They started out watching me bust my ass, and I became part of their lives," Knievel said. "People wanted to associate with a winner, not a loser. They wanted to associate with someone who kept trying to be a winner."

For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always comfortable, the gab glib. To Knievel, there always were mountains to climb, feats to conquer.

"No king or prince has lived a better life," he said in a May 2006 interview with The Associated Press. "You're looking at a guy who's really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved."

He had a knack for outrageous yarns: "Made $60 million, spent 61. ...Lost $250,000 at blackjack once. ... Had $3 million in the bank, though."

He began his daredevil career in 1965 when he formed a troupe called Evel Knievel's Motorcycle Daredevils, a touring show in which he performed stunts such as riding through fire walls, jumping over live rattlesnakes and mountain lions and being towed at 200 mph behind dragster race cars.

In 1966 he began touring alone, barnstorming the West and doing everything from driving the trucks, erecting the ramps and promoting the shows. In the beginning he charged $500 for a jump over two cars parked between ramps.

He steadily increased the length of the jumps until, on New Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 151 feet across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace. He cleared the fountains but the crash landing put him in the hospital in a coma for a month.

His son, Robbie, successfully completed the same jump in April 1989.

In the years after the Caesar's crash, the fee for Evel's performances increased to $1 million for his jump over 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in London — the crash landing broke his pelvis — to more than $6 million for the Sept. 8, 1974, attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in a rocket-powered "Skycycle." The money came from ticket sales, paid sponsors and ABC's "Wide World of Sports."

The parachute malfunctioned and deployed after takeoff. Strong winds blew the cycle into the canyon, landing him close to the swirling river below.

On Oct. 25, 1975, he jumped 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island in Ohio.

Knievel decided to retire after a jump in the winter of 1976 in which he was again seriously injured. He suffered a concussion and broke both arms in an attempt to jump a tank full of live sharks in the Chicago Amphitheater. He continued to do smaller exhibitions around the country with his son, Robbie.

Many of his records have been broken by daredevil motorcyclist Bubba Blackwell.

Knievel also dabbled in movies and TV, starring as himself in "Viva Knievel" and with Lindsay Wagner in an episode of the 1980s TV series "Bionic Woman." George Hamilton and Sam Elliott each played Knievel in movies about his life.

Evel Knievel toys accounted for more than $300 million in sales for Ideal and other companies in the 1970s and '80s.

Born Robert Craig Knievel in the copper mining town of Butte on Oct. 17, 1938, Knievel was raised by his grandparents. He traced his career choice back to the time he saw Joey Chitwood's Auto Daredevil Show at age 8.

"The phrase one-of-a-kind is often used, but it probably applies best to Bobby Knievel," said U.S. Rep. Pat Williams, D-Mont., who grew up with Knievel. "He was an amazing athlete... He was sharp as a tack, one of the smartest people I've ever known and finally, as the world knows, no one had more guts than Bobby. He was simply unafraid of anything."

Outstanding in track and field, ski jumping and ice hockey at Butte High School, Knievel went on to win the Northern Rocky Mountain Ski Association Class A Men's ski jumping championship in 1957 and played with the Charlotte Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League in 1959.

He also formed the Butte Bombers semiprofessional hockey team, acting as owner, manager, coach and player.

Knievel also worked in the Montana copper mines, served in the Army, ran his own hunting guide service, sold insurance and ran Honda motorcycle dealerships. As a motorcycle dealer, he drummed up business by offering $100 off the price of a motorcycle to customers who could beat him at arm wrestling.

At various times and in different interviews, Knievel claimed to have been a swindler, a card thief, a safe cracker, a holdup man.

Evel Knievel married hometown girlfriend, Linda Joan Bork, in 1959. They separated in the early 1990s. They had four children, Kelly, Robbie, Tracey and Alicia.

Robbie Knievel followed in his father's footsteps as a daredevil, jumping a moving locomotive in a 200-foot, ramp-to-ramp motorcycle stunt on live television in 2000. He also jumped a 200-foot-wide chasm of the Grand Canyon.

Knievel lived with his longtime partner, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel, splitting his time between their Clearwater condo and Butte. They married in 1999 and divorced a few years later but remained together. Knievel had 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Clinton's Transportation Secretary

2007-11-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

November 26, 2007 -- Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today called on the Inspector General of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to expand an investigation of federal contracting practices to investigate the practice of award fees by DHS, especially when it comes to no-bid contracts.

Senator Clinton’s call comes in light of a recent report by DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner that DHS improperly awarded a $475 million no-bid contract to Chenega Technology Services Corporation, which according to the report “likely did not provide the government the best value” and that DHS "did not comply with federal regulations".

According to the IG’s office, the agency also provided award fees to the company as part of its contract. In calling for the investigation, Senator Clinton underscored that despite federal law requiring DHS to link award fees with successful acquisition outcomes, there have been a number of reports of DHS providing award fees regardless of performance.

“This disconnect between performance and award fees appears to be part of a troubling pattern,” said Senator Clinton. “In too many cases, DHS appears to be awarding bonuses without evaluating work or, even worse, despite poor performance. Failing contractors should be rooted out not rewarded.”

The following is Senator Clinton’s letter to DHS Inspector General Richard L. Skinner requesting an investigation:

November 26, 2007

Mr. Richard L. Skinner
Inspector General
United States Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Mr. Skinner:

I write regarding a disturbing report you issued last month that raises serious questions about contracting practices at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The report – Customs and Border Protection Award and Oversight of Alaska Native Corporation Contract for Enforcement Equipment Maintenance and Field Operations Support (OIG-08-10) – details how DHS improperly awarded a $475 million, no-bid contract to Chenega Technology Services Corporation to maintain X-ray, radiation and other screening machines at U.S. border checkpoints. Your report concludes the contract “award likely did not provide the government the best value” and that DHS "did not comply with federal regulations."

Additionally, your staff informs me that award fees were given to Chenega as a part of its contract with DHS. Given that your report did not focus on award fees to Chenega, the details of these fees are unclear. However, taken together with your conclusion that the Department improperly awarded the underlying contract to Chenega, it is disturbing to hear that DHS has provided an award fee to this corporation.

This disconnect between performance and award fees appears to be part of a troubling pattern. The Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) state clearly that cost-based award fee contracts are intended to motivate excellent contractor performance in areas such as quality, timeliness, technical ingenuity, and cost-effective management. Despite this guidance, during the course of the past several years there have been a number of reports documenting how award fees are being doled out by DHS to contractors regardless of performance:

• Evaluation of TSA’s contract for the installation and maintenance of explosive detection equipment at United States Airports (DHS Inspector General, September 2004) – TSA awarded a contract to Boeing for the installation and maintenance of explosive detection equipment at airports. TSA paid more than $44 million to Boeing without any evaluation of Boeing’s performance.

• Transportation Security Administration Review of the TSA Passenger and Baggage Screening Pilot Program (DHS Inspector General, September 2004) – TSA awarded four pilot program contracts to determine whether private companies could provide and maintain passenger screening performance at levels equal to or greater than the TSA screener force. The Inspector General found the award fee determinations lacked performance criteria, were highly subjective and based primarily on contractor self-assessments and input from TSA officials.

• Observations on the Department of Homeland Security’s Acquisition Organization and on the Coast Guard’s Deepwater Program (GAO-07-453T) (February 8, 2007) – GAO found that despite documented problems in schedule, performance, cost control, and contract administration throughout the first year of the Deepwater contract, the contractor had received a rating of 87 percent, which fell in the “very good” range and resulted in an award fee of $4 million.

In too many cases, DHS appears to be awarding bonuses despite poor performance, or worse, without even evaluating work. Failing contractors should be rooted out, not rewarded. Given your report of what appears to be noncompliant federal contracting practices on the part of the DHS and a pattern of providing award fees to contractors without justification, I request that you expand your investigation into the practice of award fees by the Department, especially when it comes to no-bid contacts. Specifically, I would ask that your investigation review the following questions:

• Section 3501 of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 (P.L. 110-28) states, “The Secretary of Homeland Security shall require that all contracts of the Department of Homeland Security that provide award fees link such fees to successful acquisition outcomes (which outcomes shall be specified in terms of cost, schedule, and performance).” DHS has engaged in a number of contracts in Fiscal Year 2007. How many of these contracts included award fees and were these award fees based on successful acquisition outcomes? What was the total amount of these award fees?

• Did the Department of Homeland Security violate P.L. 110-28 in providing award fees to contractors Fiscal Year 2007?

• Were award fees given to Chenega Technology Services Corporation justified and based on successful acquisition outcomes?

• What mechanisms are currently in place at DHS to ensure that award fees are awarded in a proper manner? Are these mechanisms enforced in providing award fees for DHS contracts? What can the Department of Homeland Security do to ensure that award fees are justified and based on successful acquisition outcomes?

Thank you for attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Source: Senator Hillary Clinton

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