Saturday, December 13, 2008

Michael Jackson plans to sell the gates to his Neverland Ranch, one of his white gloves and 2,000 other items at auction in California.

Michael Jackson plans to sell the gates to his Neverland Ranch, one of his white gloves and 2,000 other items at auction in California.

The sale is to be spread over five days in April in Beverly Hills, the BBC reported. Darrell Julien, the auctioneer, said Jackson has complete control over the sale.

Julien refused to guess how much the wrought-iron Neverland gates or anything else might fetch.

We have not put an estimate on the gates yet, he said. There is a lot of history there.

Some of the proceeds from the sale are to go to Musicares, a non-profit organization.

A Jackson glove went for $35,000 in 2006 and a pair of socks for $15,000 in 2005.

Even the auction catalog is being treated as a moneymaker with a $100 price tag and a limited edition signed by Jackson going for $500.

Jackson was acquitted in 2005 of molesting young boys at the ranch. In November, he signed over the ranch to a real estate company linked to Colony Capital, which loaned him money last year. The deal allows Jackson to continue to live there.


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Tim McGraw Wants To Be Governor Of Tennessee


 

Tim McGraw says he wants to run for office someday in Tennessee. Not only that, but he's already getting the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton.

"I think he's got it," Clinton says. "The Democrats need candidates whom people can relate to in a personal way, people who understand their lives and their concerns and share their values. And I think that's something Tim can do without even pretending."

McGraw says Clinton is "the best President we've ever had".

Still, Tim says he has no immediate plans to enter politics. "Maybe in 10 or 15 years when the music has died down," he said.

It was revealed that McGraw was recruited to run for senate a few years ago, but opted out to focus on family and singing. Plus, he really has his eye on governor.

"It's more of a leadership role, and I think that's something that I'd do well," he said. "That doesn't rule out senator; I just think that as governor of a state, especially where I live, there would be a lot more opportunities to make some decisions and change some things."


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Mystery Ship Found in Lake Ontario

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Dec. 13) - Two explorers conducting underwater surveys of Lake Ontario have uncovered an aquatic mystery — a rare 19th-century schooner sitting upright 500 feet under the waves.
Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville located the 55-foot long dagger-board ship unexpectedly this fall using deep scan sonar equipment off the lake's southern shore, west of Rochester.

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A single winner has won the $207 million jackpot from the latest drawing of the multistate Mega Millions lottery

The only ticket to match all the winnings numbers from Friday night's drawing was sold in Piqua, Ohio.

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Rahm Emanuel talked with governor's office about who should fill Obama's Senate seat

Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be White House chief of staff, had conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration about who would replace Obama in the U.S. Senate, the Tribune has learned.

The revelation does not suggest Obama's new gatekeeper was involved in any talk of dealmaking involving the seat. But it does help fill in the gaps surrounding a question that Obama was unable or unwilling to answer this week: Did anyone on his staff have contact with Blagojevich about his choice for the Senate seat?

Blagojevich and John Harris, his former chief of staff, face federal charges in an alleged shakedown involving the vacant Senate seat, which Illinois law grants the governor sole authority to fill.

Obama said Thursday he had never spoken to Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy and was "confident that no representatives" of his had engaged in any dealmaking over the seat with the governor or his team. He also pledged Thursday that in the "next few days" he would explain what contacts his staff may have had with the governor's office about the Senate vacancy.



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THE VIEW’s GREENROOM


From Gretawire.com


This is from Greta Van Sustern's recent trip to the View.  

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Tom Cruise on The Tonight Show-Elvis Impression



Part Two





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Robin Williams on Obama and more Palin Bashing in UK. (Video)



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Friday, December 12, 2008

Scientists find 2,000-year-old brain in Britain

LONDON — British archaeologists have unearthed an ancient skull carrying a startling surprise — an unusually well-preserved brain. Scientists said Friday that the mass of gray matter was more than 2,000 years old — the oldest ever discovered in Britain. One expert unconnected with the find called it "a real freak of preservation."

The skull was severed from its owner sometime before the Roman invasion of Britain and found in a muddy pit during a dig at the University of York in northern England this fall, according to Richard Hall, a director of York Archaeological Trust.

Finds officer Rachel Cubbitt realized the skull might contain a brain when she felt something move inside the cranium as she was cleaning it, Hall said. She looked through the skull's base and spotted an unusual yellow substance inside. Scans at York Hospital confirmed the presence of brain tissue.

Hall said it was unclear just how much of the brain had survived, saying the tissue had apparently contracted over the years. Parts of the brain have been tentatively identified, but more research was needed, he said.

Read the Story. 


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Remains confirmed to be Caylee Anthony.


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Powell on Small-Town Values- Why is Colin Powell a Republican??



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Illinois Governor Chief of Staff Resigns.

 Governor’s chief of staff quits

John Harris submitted his resignation this morning, his attorney says. 


http://link.chicagotribune.com/r/TWOAU6/KJK62/T1UEPK/Q8BC/V11089/28/t


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Ron Paul "How Much is This Really Costing!" On Bailout (Video)

Bailout not Constitutional? Nationalization. Very Interesting.



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Obama Chief of Staff Emanuel ducks whether he was Blagojevich emissary

Sun-Times Reporters
CHICAGO--President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, refused to take questions from reporters this morning about whether he was the Obama "advisor" named in the criminal complaint against Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The complaint states Blagojevich wanted a promise of a high-level appointment or some other reward for Blagojevich in exchange for Blagojevich naming Obama's friend Valerie Jarrett to replace him in the U.S. Senate.

Emanuel was uncharacteristically absent from Obama's news conference this morning. He was spotted two hours later in the lobby of Chicago's City Hall. He was there to listen to his two children performing in a concert with their school, Anshe Emet.

A Sun-Times reporter pressed him to comment about whether he was the emissary named in the criminal complaint.

"You're wasting your time," Emanuel said. "I'm not going to say a word to you. I'm going to do this with my children. Dont do that. I'm a father. I have two kids. I'm not going to do it."

Asked, "Can't you do both?" Emanuel replied, "I'm not as capable as you. I'm going to be a father. I'm allowed to be a father," and he pushed the reporter's digital recorder away.


Blagojevch was caught on tape saying that he wanted the Obama advisor in question to know what Blagojevich wanted in exchange for the Jarrett appointment.

Blagojevich said, "He asks me for the fifth CD thing, I want it to be in his head." Emanuel represents the 5th Congressional District in Illinois.

No one in the Obama campaign or administration has been charged with any wrongdoing. Obama said this morning that none of his staff has had a hand in any dealmaking on his Senate replacement.


Jesse Jackson Jr. denies he and his brother were involved in scheme

CHICAGO — Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. flatly denies that he and his brother were involved in a scheme to get him a Senate seat in a deal with scandal-tainted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY'-uh-vich).

The remarks in an interview with The Associated Press Friday came on the heels of a Chicago Tribune report that cited unidentified sources. The newspaper said businessmen with ties to the governor and congressmen discussed raising $1 million for Blagojevich to get him to appoint Jackson to the Senate. The report depicts Jackson's brother as an active participant.

The congressman said "to an absolute certainty" that his brother was not involved in any scheming or wrongdoing.

Jackson has been identified as "Senate Candidate 5" in a federal complaint. The governor is overheard saying the candidate would raise $500,000 for Blagojevich, and an emissary would raise an additional $1 million.



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Ice storm cuts off power to hundreds of thousands

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Did Obama team have contact with Illinois governor?

CHICAGO — Barack Obama insists he didn't have any contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich or anyone else who might have been scheming to sell the president-elect's U.S. Senate seat. But he has not yet given his transition staff the same clean bill of health — perhaps with good reason.

An examination of the FBI complaint against Blagojevich and the days immediately following Obama's historic election victory suggests the governor was highly interested in Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett as a potential Senate appointee, albeit with a steep price tag.

The 76-page complaint contains multiple references to "Senate Candidate 1," whose description clearly fits Jarrett, a former finance chief for Obama's earlier campaigns and incoming senior White House adviser.

Rest of the Story Here


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BEN STILLER STEPS IN FOR SHATTERED MARK RUFFALO TO ACT IN UPCOMING MOVIE GREENBURG


A mystery still surrounds the death of the brother of movie actor Mark Ruffalo. Late this afternoon, the Los Angeles County Coroner reported that the cause of 39-year-old Scott Ruffalo's death is being deferred pending a toxicology report. Those results could take up to eight weeks. 

Scott Ruffalo, a hair stylist, was found with a gunshot wound to the head in the early hours of December 1 and would lie in a coma for more than a week. He died in Cedars Sinai hospital  December 8. 

Shaha Mishaal Adham, 26, was taken into custody on a warrant of attempted murder in connection with the shooting, but she was released the same night that Ruffalo died. According to news reports, Adham claimed that Ruffalo shot himself during a game ofRussian Roulette

Mark Ruffalo, 41, is best known for his roles in Zodiac, Collateral and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Gawker is reporting that actor Ben Stiller has stepped in for the shattered Ruffalo, to act in upcoming feature Greenburg.
http://mt.laweekly.com/mt-tb.cgi/95632

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Colorado sues Humane Society

DENVER, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Colorado Humane Society deceived donors about the number of animals put to death in its shelter, the state charges in a lawsuit.

Attorney General John Suthers said the group collected $3 million in illegal donations, The Denver Post reported. The lawsuit seeks either a custodian for the Humane Society until its management is replaced, or the transfer of its assets to another organization.

"We want the shelter to remain open," Nate Strauch, a spokesman for Suthers, said. "We're just trying to remove the management."

The group falsely claimed to have a no-kill policy, saying that only 8 percent of the animals in its shelter were euthanized, while actually killing up to 29 percent, the lawsuit claims. Managers also mishandled funds, including paying employees with checks against insufficient funds, the state alleges.

Mary Warren, the group's director, her husband, Robert Warren, who serves as development director, and her daughter, Stephenie Gardner, director of operations, allegedly ignored the Charitable Solicitations Act, failing to register with the state for the past three years.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/11/Colorado_sues_Humane_Society/UPI-76871229057329/


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Retailer KB Toys files for bankruptcy protection


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Macaulay Culkin's sister, Dakota, killed by car


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Ex-Nasdaq chair Bernard L. Madoff arrested on fraud charge

NEW YORK (AP) — A former Nasdaq stock market chairman was arrested on a securities fraud charge Thursday, accused of running a phony investment business that amounted to what prosecutors called a "giant Ponzi scheme."

Bernard L. Madoff was released on $10 million bail. He declined to comment as he walked out of court.

Madoff, 70, the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, maintained a separate and secretive investment-advising business that served between 11 and 25 clients and had a total of about $17.1 billion in assets under management, prosecutors said.

They said he told employees Wednesday that it had been insolvent for years, losing at least $50 billion.

Madoff told employees he was "finished," that he had "absolutelly nothing," that "it's all just one big lie" and it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme," according to a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Defense lawyer Dan Horwitz called Madoff "a person of integrity" and said he intends to fight the charge.

If convicted, Madoff could face up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5 million.

Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC ranks among the top 1 percent of U.S. securities firms, according to the firm's Web site.

Prosecutors noted in a release that the Web site also notes: "Clients know that Bernard Madoff has a personal interest in maintaining an unblemished record of value, fair-dealing and high ethical standards that has always been the firm's hallmark."


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Hannity will start new Show on January 12th Alone.



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Republican National Committee calls for special election in Illinois.

Republican
National
Committee

To: RNC National Committee Members
Fr: Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan
Re: RNC Memo on Illinois Senate Seat
Date: Thursday, December 11, 2008

I wanted to share with you an interesting development that took place yesterday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) drafted and sent a letter to Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) asking that he step aside so that the lieutenant governor could make the appointment concerning President-elect Obama's vacated seat in the U.S. Senate. In the last 24 hours there has been increased activity on the part of Democrats to discourage an election in Illinois where voters would decide who should represent them in the Senate.

That leads to one question, why?

The reason is because Harry Reid and Democrats on Capitol Hill are seeing exactly what we are seeing. Republicans are competing and winning. We are holding seats in states and districts carried in the past by Republicans, and we are also picking up seats in Democrat strongholds, as is the case in Louisiana's Second Congressional District.

Voters are embracing leaders who represent core conservative values, such as Saxby Chambliss, John Fleming and Joseph Cao. They are rejecting politicians who offer words, not deeds and fail to demonstrate a real commitment to getting things done.

Voters in the Second District of Louisiana rejected the greed and corruption demonstrated by Congressman Jefferson and embraced Mr. Cao's commitment to preserve the dignity of public office by championing comprehensive ethics reform, keeping taxes low, and providing greater accountability for Congressional spending.

We expect that the same may be true in Illinois and it appears Harry Reid agrees.

The situation in Illinois clearly speaks to the need for a special election as articulated by Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) when he stated the Illinois General Assembly "should enact a law as quickly as possible calling for a special election" to fill the Senate vacancy of Barack Obama.

His sentiments could not have been clearer and have been echoed by Democrats and Republicans alike.

The people of Illinois should decide who will represent them in the U.S. Senate, as opposed to an insider from the Blagojevich Administration at the behest of Washington politicians.

While Democrats in Washington offer rhetoric speaking to "openness" and "transparency" it seems these words have little meaning behind them at moments of political inconvenience. This is an opportunity for the politicians in the nation's capital to step aside and allow the people to have their say. As Chairman of the Republican Party, I believe in these unique circumstances to restore integrity into the system, voters should have the final word on who represents their interests in Illinois and I would hope Democrats in Washington are willing to place their confidence and trust in the people to elect their next Representative in the U.S. Senate.


Paid for by the Republican National Committee
310 First St., S.E. Washington, DC 20003 www.gop.com

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Source Lynn Sweet

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Beware of the Dog House!




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Skull of a 'Young Child' Found Near Anthony Home (Video)


7 Questions For Obama About Blagojevich

Politico: Stinging Criminal Complaint Against Illinois Gov. Raises Lots Of Questions For President-Elect


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Some Asthma Drugs Too Risky, FDA Told

WASHINGTON (Dec. 11) - Government health advisers Thursday called for restrictions on some long-acting asthma drugs, but spared Advair, a top-selling medication used by millions of patients.
Outside experts advising the Food and Drug Administration recommended that Foradil and Serevent no longer be used for asthma. But they said the benefits of Advair and Symbicort clearly outweigh the risks.
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Church wants 'Santa Claus will take you to hell' sign with Nativity Scene.

A Kansas-based church that has blamed deaths in Iraq on U.S. tolerance of homosexuality has asked Gov. Chris Gregoire's office to approve a "Santa Claus will take you to Hell" message to display among other religious statements in the Capitol's third-floor hallway.

The Westboro Baptist Church's message would be near a Nativity set, three signs mocking atheism, and an atheist sign that celebrates the winter solstice, while also taking a shot at religion as "myth and superstition" that enslaves minds, all in the state Capitol's third-floor hallway.

The Westboro request is under consideration by the state Department of General Administration, which also has a request for a display depicting "The Spaghetti Monster" and "a Christian woman in Bellevue who wants to erect a sign offering blessings on all people." "Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster" is a parody of the Kansas education-board decision to teach "intelligent design" as an alternative to Darwinist evolutionary concepts in biology classes.

Also under consideration is a request for a "Festivus" pole, a reference to the mock holiday "Festivus for the Rest of Us" popularized by the "Seinfeld" sitcom in the late 1990s.

According to Spokesman-Review reporter Rich Roesler, the first part of Westboro's proposed message:

"You'd better watch out, get ready to cry, You'd better go hide, I'm telling you why 'cuz Santa Claus will take you to hell. He is your favorite idol, you worship at his feet, but when you stand before your God He won't help you take the heat. So get this fact straight: you're feeling God's hate, Santa's to blame for the economy's fate, Santa Claus will take you to hell."

Westboro Baptist, led by Fred Phelps Sr., has protested at funerals for gays and at military funerals, blaming the nation's tolerance for gays for the loss of U.S. military personnel in Iraq. The actions prompted the Washington Legislature to pass House Bill 1168 in 2007, making it a misdemeanor crime of disorderly conduct to disrupt a funeral or protest within 500 feet of a funeral or funeral procession.

Source


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John Mayer Auctioned on Ebay.



John Mayer is being auctioned on Ebay. Bidding has startst at $25,000, and the fan who makes the bid gets to take a cruise with him. 6 hours left and there is one bid.  

Per the Auction-

The Mayercraft Carrier 2 sets sail on March 27 for a four-day voyage of fun, sun and plenty of jawdropping perks—like the guitar of Mayer's that he'll sign and give to you to take with you wherever you roam!

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Jennifer Aniston Without Clothes on GQ Cover (PHOTO)

***Warning  Almost Nude Photos. 


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Carmen Electra (Photo) Without Clothes on in Playboy 2009

***Warning almost Nude. 


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Child's body found near Caylee Anthony's home

ORLANDO, Fla. — The skeletal remains of a small child were found Thursday in woods less than a half-mile from the Orlando home of a missing 3-year-old girl, but officials could not immediately say whether they belonged to the toddler.

A utility worker found the body in the outlying middle-class suburb about 9:30 a.m., Orange County Sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said. There was nothing that immediately indicated that the remains were the body of Caylee Anthony, he said.

Caylee's mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, insists that she left the girl with a baby sitter in June, but did not report her missing until July. Anthony has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with her daughter's death.

Since then, Anthony's family, police and volunteers from around the country have searched for the little girl.

The child's grandmother first called authorities in July to say she hadn't seen Caylee for a month and her daughter's car smelled like death. Earlier Thursday, a judge had delayed the mother's trial from January to March.

Earlier this month, the Orange County State Attorney turned over almost 800 pages of documents, which showed someone at the Anthony home had done Internet searches for terms like "neck breaking" and "household weapons."

In mid-March, someone used the Anthonys' home laptop to search Google and Wikipedia for peroxide, shovels, acetone, alcohol and chloroform. Traces of chloroform, which is used to induce unconsciousness and also a component of human decomposition, were found in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car during forensic testing, the documents say.

Orange County jail officials also released several hours of videotapes of visits between Casey Anthony and her family from July and August, when she was arrested on neglect and other counts but before she was charged with first-degree murder.

During the taped visits, Anthony's parents tell her they're trying hard to find the little girl. Anthony does not appear to add information to aid that search beyond her account that a baby sitter took the girl.

Last week, prosecutors announced they would not pursue the death penalty for Anthony.

The Orange County State Attorney's Office said in a news release last week that "it is not in the best interest of the people of the state of Florida" to pursue the death penalty against Anthony.

Messages left with Caylee Anthony's grandparents and with Todd Black, the spokesman for Casey Anthony's lawyer, were not immediately returned.

Souce


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