July 31st, In the News

Exxon Mobil made nearly $1500 per second while we paid $$$ at the pump!
Exxon Mobil has reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history. They posted a net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter. That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second. That barely beat the previous corporate record of $11.66 billion, also set by Exxon in the fourth quarter of 2007.
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Dead woman found in Airplane Lav

Flight attendants discovered the body of a 61-year-old woman in the restroom of a plane shortly before the flight landed in Atlanta.

It was unclear how she died or how long she was in the restroom. The crew on the Los Angeles-to-Atlanta flight noticed the restroom was occupied on final approach.




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Van Gogh Mystery

There is a mysterious painting underneath Van Gogh's famous work 'Patch of grass' .Conventional X-ray techniques give a colorless, partial view of the hidden painting and only show vague contours of a person behind 'Patch of Grass'.

By recycling his work Van Gogh painted many layers over the original painting but the scientists managed to scan all the different elements in those layers of the relevant area with X-ray fluorescence.

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The bear had head stuck in jug met his match.

Minnesota wildlife officials say that they tried for six days to capture a bear that had a plastic jar stuck over its head, but ended up killing the animal after it wandered into a city during a festival. The wild black bear -- whose head got stuck inside a 2½-gallon clear plastic jug presumably while foraging for food -- ambled into the city of Frazee, about 200 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, during the town's busy Turkey Days celebration.

Coincidentally, bear season opens September 1.

In the News, July 30 2008

5.4 earthquake Hits Southern California

"This earthquake reminds us to be prepared," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said. "We were very fortunate that there were no serious injuries or property damage."

California has a 99 percent chance of experiencing a major earthquake within the next 30 years, according to a report by state and federal agencies. This quake caused no serious damage or injuries, but experts say it's a reminder that the "Big One" could happen at any time.

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Two Holes in One in the Same Round!


Bob Hickey pulls the ball out of the cup after his second hole-in-one during the same round at Marsh Ridge Golf Course in Michigan. He has been playing golf 50 years and never had a hole-in-one. The 66-year-old man used a 7-iron to card his first-ever ace on the 167-yard 10th hole at Marsh Ridge in Gaylord. Then he used an 8-iron to ace the 147-yard 17th hole.
According to a 2000 Golf Digest article cited by the Traverse City Record-Eagle, the odds of one player making two holes-in-one during the same round are 67 million to 1.
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The letter finally got there- 60 years later.

A letter detailing the mood after Truman defeated Dewey that was lost in the postal system for nearly 60 years recently turned up in the mailbox of a Kansas woman.
The letter, postmarked Nov. 11, 1948, was stamped with "Return to sender" and "Found in supposedly empty mailbox."


The letter states, "All Lawrence is in mourning since the election," during which Harry S. Truman beat Thomas E. Dewey for the presidency of the United States. The election would have taken place just days before the letter was postmarked.

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Banning New Fast Food Restaurants in LA

The Los Angeles City Council has approved a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in a low-income area of the city. The City Council voted unanimously to place the moratorium on new fast food restaurants in parts of the city with a proliferation of such eateries and above average rates of obesity.

The yearlong moratorium is intended to give the city time to attract restaurants that serve healthier food. The action, which the mayor must still sign into law, is believed to be the first of its kind by a major city to protect public health.

In the News July 29, 2008

Watch out Yogi!

Reuters

Wildfire threatens homes and Park

Yosemite National Park is battling destructive wildfires. The fires are raging for miles. The fires are leaving the wilderness threatened and thousands of nearby homes have been evacuated.

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Pres. Bush goes ahead with execution of former Army Cook

AP Photo

President Bush could have commuted the death sentence of Ronald A. Gray, a former Army cook convicted of multiple rapes and murders. However, Bush has decided that Gray's crimes were so repugnant that execution was the only just punishment.

Bush's decision marked the first time in 51 years that a president has affirmed a death sentence for a member of the U.S. military. It was the first time in 46 years that such a decision has even been weighed in the Oval Office.

Gray, 42, was convicted in connection with a spree of four murders and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, N.C., area between April 1986 and January 1987 while he was stationed at Fort Bragg. He has been on death row at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., since April 1988
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She's Back

A statement from University College Hospital said Winehouse had been kept in overnight for observation. She had been suffering a reaction to a medication she was taking at home according to her spokeswoman.Troubled singer Amy Winehouse was released from a London hospital after an overnight stay to treat what her spokesman said was an adverse reaction to medication.

According to a spokespereson for the singer. "She was kept in overnight purely for observation."




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PETA wants military to stop using animals in medical training


People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter Monday to Defense Secretary Robert Gates asking him to replace the use of animals with non-animal methods such as human simulators.

In the letter, PETA said the military inflicts gunshot, burn and chemical wounds on monkeys, pigs and goats for training.

"This outmoded practice is not only cruel, but is a disservice to the men and women who risk their lives in defense of our country and who deserve the most effective trauma training methods available," wrote Kathy Guillermo, director of the PETA's Laboratory Investigations Department.

The Army said the training is critical to teach soldiers how to manage critically injured patients within the first few hours of their injuries when there are no medics, doctors or facilities nearby.

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18 Children Later...

A Romanian immigrant has given birth to her 18th child in British Columbia, making her the province's most prolific mother in 20 years.

Proud dad said Saturday that his 44-year-old wife gave birth to a daughter who weighed in at seven pounds, 12 ounces.

"We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that's the reason we did not stop the life."

In the News July 28, 2008

The Dark Night Can Shatter Box Office Records-Surpassing Titanic!

"The Dark Knight" continues to obliterate box office records, crossing the $300 million mark in the 10 days since it's release. The current Batman installment has grossed $75.6 million in its second weekend in theaters, pushing its domestic total to $314,245,000 according to Warner Bros.

• It surpasses the record set in 2006 by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which took 16 days to make $300 million.

• It has already had broken records for best opening weekend at $158.4 million and best single-day with $66.4 million.
  
• It's also busted records in its showings on IMAX screens, making $16.3 million in its first 10 days.

• "Dark Knight" could reach $400 million in about 18 days, which would beat the record "Shrek 2" set in 2004 when it made that much money in 43 days.

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Where is the money coming from?

A businessman arrived at the Treasury Department carrying a suitcase stuffed with about $5.2 million. The bills were decomposing, nearly unrecognizable, and he asked to swap them for a cashier's check. He said the money came from Mexico.

The problem is that for the past few years, authorities say, he and his family have popped in and out of U.S. banks, looking to change about $20 million in buried treasure for clean cash. And the banks say that the money is always the same — decaying $100 bills from the 1970s and 1980s.

It's the story that keeps changing. Among the stories heard: It was an inheritance, somebody dug up a tree and there it was, it was found in a suitcase buried in an alfalfa field and a relative found a treasure map.

Authorities are investigating . "Given that the money is coming north from Mexico, that both conflicting and cockamamie stories have been told about its origins, and that all the stories of how it got to be found are fantastical, I strongly suspect that the Felhaber currency is the proceeds of illegal bulk narcotics sales," ICE investigator Stephen A. Schneider told the Federalmagistrate.
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Another Hollywood DUI

Shia LaBeouf was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving Sunday after an early morning wreck in which the "Indiana Jones" star injured his hand and knee, authorities said.

LaBeouf was trying to make a left turn at a West Hollywood intersection around 3 a.m. when his pickup collided with another vehicle, rolling the truck over, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Scott Wolf said.

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Gas under $4, down 12 cents over two weeks

The average price of gas dipped below $4 a gallon for the first time since the start of June, according to a national survey.

The average price of gas dropped to under $4 a gallon for the first time since the beginning of June, according to a national survey released Sunday.

The survey showed that the average price at gas stations across the nation was a fraction of a cent below $4.00 for a gallon of self-serve regular, said survey publisher Trilby Lundberg.

The price dipped about 12 cents over two weeks. The survey, which tallies prices at thousands of gas stations nationwide, found an average of $3.9959.

In the News July 27,2008

Eclipse Coming to a Sky Near You

Space.com wants you to know that there will be a rare solar eclipse on August 1st. This total eclipse is the first in nearly two and a half years. Those who will be able to see it will be in an area that includes western and central Asia, parts of northern and central Europe, all of Greenland and even a small slice of northeastern North America. During this eclipse the view of the sun will become completely blocked by the moon.

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Who is volunteering and who is not

According to researchers for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), nationally, the volunteer rate fell in 2007 for the second year in a row, to 26.2 percent . Their report showed Miami with a volunteerism rate of 14.5 percent, replacing Las Vegas in last place among major metropolitan areas. By region, the Midwest had the highest volunteer rate at 31.1 percent, followed by the West at 26.1, the South with 24.7 and the Northeast at 23.4.

By state, Utah had the highest rate, 43.9 percent, followed by Nebraska, Minnesota, Alaska and Montana. Nevada had the lowest state rate, 17.7 percent; Florida and New York were the next lowest.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore., were the highest-ranked big cities, while New York City and Las Vegas were the lowest-ranked after Miami. Among 25 mid-size cities, Provo, Utah, came first with a 63 percent rate — the highest of any jurisdiction in the report.


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"Cat Fight" in the friendly skies

A flight headed to London, England, was forced to make an emergency landing after an 'altercation' involving two drunken women. One of the women is accused of hitting a flight attendant with a bottle of vodka and trying to open a cabin door in mid-air, police said. The aircraft was cruising over Austria at 10,000 meters (32,800 feet).The staff on the flight from Greece to England eventually forced the women back to their seats and the pilot made an emergency in Frankfurt .Both women were released from police custody.

In the News, July 26 2008

Quantas Plane Lands With HUGE Hole in It

Australian investigators began examining a Qantas jumbo jet which had to make an emergency landing after a large hole opened on its fuselage according to a Philippine aviation official. The Boeing 747-400 was cruising at 29,000 feet with 346 passengers when it was shaken by an explosive bang. The plane descended rapidly before landing safely minutes later at the Manila airport.

There were no injuries among the passengers and crew, but some of the passengers suffered nausea.
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The Governator Bans Trans Fats

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David McNew / Getty Images

Fast-food restaurants signs line a street July 24 in the South Los Angeles area of Los Angeles, California.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that will ban restaurants and other retail food establishments from using oil, margarine and shortening containing trans fats. The new law, requires restaurants to use oils, margarines and shortening with less than half a gram of trans fat per serving by Jan. 1, 2010, and applies the standard to deep-fried bakery goods by Jan. 1, 2011.

California is the first state to ban trans fats from restaurant food, following several cities and major fast-food chains in erasing the notorious artery-clogger from menus.

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5 Year Old Busts out of Day Care and Heads for HOOTERS

In Texas, investigators are looking into how the 5 year old managed to slip out of a day care center unnoticed, then cross two busy roads and end up a half-mile away at a Hooters restaurant.

With no chaperone for the boy in sight, the Hooters manager called police.

"We kept him in the back coloring and kept him pretty occupied until the police showed up," he said. Was he coloring in a Hooters coloring book?

The day care owner, said the boy had asked to go to the bathroom before he disappeared. When his father arrived minutes later to pick up the child, workers said they realized the boy was missing.

The five-year-old has not been back to the day care since the incident.

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We've All Been there...

An angry man shot his lawn mower for not starting.The 56-year-old Milwaukee man is accused of shooting his lawn mower because it wouldn't start. Is this against the law in Milwaukee? He has been charged with felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle and misdemeanor disorderly conduct while armed.

He told police: "I can do that, it's my lawn mower and my yard so I can shoot it if I want."

A woman who lives at his house reported the incident. She says he was intoxicated. Now he can

face up to an $11,000 fine and six years and three months in prison if convicted.

In the News July 25th, 2008

Obama in Berlin

Barack Obama touched hearts during an impassioned speech to a 200,000-strong crowd in Berlin, German newspapers agreed, but suspicions remain about the White House contender's motives for courting a European audiences. Obama 's campaign has received roughly 10 times more money from declared U.S. donors living in Germany, France and Britain than his Republican rival, reflecting his popularity in Europe as he makes his first tour of the continent as the presumed Democratic nominee.

Federal Election Commission reports show Obama has raised at least $1 million from donors who identify themselves as Americans living in Great Britain, Germany and France, while John McCain has taken in at least $150,000.

Obama has raked in $338 million to $126.3 million for McCain.
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They fell asleep on the job.

Three ballistic missile crew members in North Dakota fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices this month, triggering an investigation by military and National Security Agency experts, the Air Force said Thursday. The three crew members, who are in the 91st Missile Wing, were in the missile alert facility about 70 miles from Minot. That facility includes crew rest areas and sits above the underground control center where the actual keys can be turned to launch the ballistic missiles.

Officials said the three officers were behind locked doors and had with them the old code components, which are large classified devices that allow the crew to communicate with the missiles. Launch codes are part of the component, and the devices were described as large, metal boxes.

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US home foreclosures leapt nearly 14 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, according to research group RealtyTrac. This is a sign of deepening housing woes as foreclosures continue to soar. 220,000 homes were lost to bank repossessions in the second quarter, according to a housing market report Friday issued by RealtyTrac. That's nearly triple the number from the same period in 2007.

A total of 739,714 foreclosure filings were recorded during that three-month period, up 14% from the first quarter, and 121% from the same period in 2007. That means that out of every 171 U.S. households received a filing, which include notices of default, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.
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Another Teen Caught on Video
A teenager shown on a video coaxing his 2- and 4-year-old nephews into smoking marijuana was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of injury to a child/causing bodily injury and agreed to testify against his co-defendant, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported online .

The video shows one teen lighting a marijuana cigarette in the 2-year-old's mouth, then laughing as the toddler coughs. One teen then tells him to pass it to his brother, who also smokes it and coughs. Parts of the video showed someone calling the children "potheads" and asking if they "have the munchies."

Drug tests showed the youngsters had marijuana and cocaine in their bodies. When the video was made, the children's mother was sleeping in another room, police have said. She was not arrested. The children have since been placed in foster care.

Fort Worth police found the video while searching the house in connection with a burglary investigation in which the teen also was charged. He pleaded guilty to two burglary charges and received eight-year sentences that he will served at the same time, the newspaper reported.

In the News, July 24 2008

Warning Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer.

The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Adults should keep the phone away from the head and use the speakerphone or a wireless headset, he says. He even warns against using cell phones in public places like a bus because it exposes others to the phone's electromagnetic fields.

Electromagnetic fields generated by cell phones should be considered a potential human health risk. Sufficient time has not elapsed in order for us to have conclusive data on the biological effects of cell phones and other cordless phones—a technology that is now universal.

Studies in humans do not indicate that cell phones are safe, nor do they yet clearly show that they are dangerous. But, growing evidence indicates that we should reduce exposures, while research continues on this important question.

These measures are also likely to be important for people who are already suffering from cancer and who must avoid any external influence that may contribute to disease progression.

1. Do not allow children to use a cell phone except for emergencies. The developing organs of a fetus or child are the most likely to be sensitive to any possible effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields.
2. While communicating using your cell phone, try to keep the cell phone away from the body as much as possible. The amplitude of the electromagnetic field is one fourth the strength at a distance of two inches and fifty times lower at three feet.
   Whenever possible, use the speaker-phone mode or a wireless Bluetooth headset, which has less than 1/100th of the electromagnetic emission of a normal cell phone. Use of a hands-free ear piece attachment may also reduce exposures.
3. Avoid using your cell phone in places, like a bus, where you can passively expose others to your phone’s electromagnetic fields.
4. Avoid carrying your cell phone on your body at all times.
   
5. If you must carry your cell phone on you, make sure that the keypad is positioned toward your body and the back is positioned toward the outside so that the transmitted electromagnetic fields move away from your rather than through you.
6. Only use your cell phone to establish contact or for conversations lasting a few minutes as the biological effects are directly related to the duration of exposure. For longer conversations, use a land line with a corded phone, not a cordless phone, which uses electromagnetic emitting technology similar to that of cell phones.
7. Switch sides regularly while communicating on your cell phone to spread out your exposure. Before putting your cell phone to the ear, wait until your correspondent has picked up. This limits the power of the electromagnetic field emitted near your ear and the duration of your exposure.
8. Avoid using your cell phone when the signal is weak or when moving at high speed, such as in a car or train, as this automatically increases power to a maximum as the phone repeatedly attempts to connect to a new relay antenna.
9. When possible, communicate via text messaging rather than making a call, limiting the duration of exposure and the proximity to the body.
10. Choose a device with the lowest SAR possible (SAR = Specific Absorption Rate, which is a measure of the strength of the magnetic field absorbed by the body). SAR ratings of contemporary phones by different manufacturers are available by searching for “sar ratings cell phones” on the internet.
    

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50 Cent has sued Taco Bell, claiming the fast-food restaurant chain is using his name without permission in advertising that asks him to call himself 99 Cent.

The rapper says in a federal lawsuit filed that the Mexican-themed chain features him in a print ad asking him to change his name to 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent. His real name is Curtis Jackson.

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Omaha Animal Horder

Humane society workers have found 117 cats, a raccoon and a rabbit in a north Omaha house. The discovery came after Council Bluffs, Iowa, police caught the 54-year-old woman who lives at the house reportedly stealing cat food. Officials say she smelled like cat urine.

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How to Avoid getting a Speeding Ticket.

AOL has published these tips on how to avoid a speeding ticket.

• Drive within 5-10 mph of surrounding traffic
  

• Try to stay in the middle of the pack

• Find a 'rabbit' - a solitary driver traveling the speed you'd like to drive that you can follow discretely, about 50-100 yards back. If there's a cop using radar, hopefully the rabbit will trip the trap and get a speeding ticket, not you.
  

• Don't change lanes frequently, tailgate, drive aggressively

• Always use your signals and be courteous to fellow drivers. It's safer, and it will help you fade into the background.

• Avoid the fast lane. Use the far left lane to pass when necessary, but try to stay in the middle lanes when possible.
  

• Watch for cutouts and modulate your speed accordingly

• Don't speed when you are the only car on the road
  

• Get a radar detector

• Drive a nondescript vehicle
  

If you do get pulled over while driving a fancy, high-profile car, your odds of getting a speeding ticket versus a warning have probably gone up.

In the News, July 23, 2008

Mourning Golden Girl Estelle Getty

E! Online Photo: (E! Online)

Attention all cable TV rerun lovers.
Estelle Getty, the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV's "The Golden Girls," has died. She was 84. Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, was said to have been under 5 feet and under 100 pounds.

Born Estelle Scher to Polish immigrants in New York, Getty fell in love with theater when she saw a vaudeville show at age 4. She was a perennial award nominee for The Golden Girls, which ran for seven seasons, from 1985-1992. She won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her work as Sophia Petrillo

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Plastic bags getting tossed in LA.

The city of Los Angeles announced it will ban all plastic bags from retail stores as of July 1, 2010, following similar anti-pollution regulations already enforced in San Francisco. After July 2010, all store customers must provide their own bags or purchase bags made of paper or other biogradable material from the store for 25 cents .

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The most dangerous times for heart attack
According to Time, for all kinds of cardiovascular emergency - including sudden cardiac death, rupture or aneurysm of the aorta, pulmonary embolism and stroke - are the morning and during the last phase of sleep. A group from Harvard estimated this risk and evaluated that on average, the extra risk of having a myocardial infarction, or heart attack, between 6 a.m. and noon is about 40%.


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Rhode Island Man Scores Highest Blood Alcohol Level

Rhode Island police say they arrested a man whose blood alcohol level was 0.491 percent — the highest ever recorded in Rhode Island for someone who wasn't dead. According to the state’s health department, a person with a blood alcohol count of .3 is said to be in a “stupor”, .4 is “comatose” and .5 is considered to be fatal.

The man crashed into a road sign was tested as having a blood-alcohol level six times the legal limit . He was released on personal recognizance after a bail hearing and will face another hearing Friday on charges of drunken driving and resisting arrest.

In the News July 22, 2008

Tropical Storm Dolly intensifies in the western Gulf of Mexico

There are a lot of warnings issued along the coasts of Texas and Mexico . The is expected to come ashore as a hurricane on Wednesday, around the Texas-Mexico border.

Hurricane warnings were in effect along about 200 miles of coastline from Rio San Fernando in Mexico northward to Port O'Connor, Texas. A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area within the next 24 hours.

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Remember this?
The wife of the Broadway mogul who trashed him in a widely viewed youtube video. They were granted a divorce .

A Manhattan judge gave Philip Smith a divorce from Tricia Walsh-Smith on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment.

Walsh-Smith lashed out against Smith in the tearful and furious YouTube video, which has attracted more than 3 million hits. She makes embarrassing claims about their intimate life and then calls his office to repeat those claims to a stunned assistant.

On the video, Walsh-Smith also goes through their wedding album, describing family members as "bad," "evil" or "nasty," and expresses concern about eviction from the couple's luxury apartment.The not so sympathetic judge called it "a calculated and callous campaign to embarrass and humiliate her husband" and to pressure him into settling the divorce case on more favorable terms than were stated in their prenuptial agreement.

"She has attempted to turn the life of her husband into a soap opera by directing, writing, acting in and producing a melodrama," the judge said

The prenuptial agreement, signed three weeks before the couple's 1999 wedding, was valid. This means that Walsh-Smith must leave their Park Avenue apartment within 30 days and that Smith, president of the Shubert Organization, the largest theater owner on Broadway, must pay her $750,000.

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New York Times rejects essay that Sen. John McCain wrote defending his Iraq war policy.

The piece was in response to an op-ed from Sen. Barack Obama that was published in the paper last week. The paper said it could not publish it as written.

Read McCain's rejected piece

In a statement released Monday, The New York Times said it is "standard procedure on our Op-Ed page, and that of other newspapers, to go back and forth with an author on his or her submission."

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Good-Bye Jay.....
The news has been released that Jay Leno's last show will be Friday, May 29, and O'Brien will start the following Monday, June 1st. This is according to what NBC executives told a Television Critics Association meeting .
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Former track star Marion Jones has asked U.S. President Bush to commute her six-month prison sentence for lying to federal agents about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and a cheque-fraud scam.

The Justice Department confirmed Monday that Jones is among hundreds of convicted felons who have applied for presidential pardons or sentence commutations, but would provide no further details. If granted, a pardon would remove a conviction from someone's record, while a commutation only reduces or eliminates the person's sentence.

In the News, July 21, 2008

Air Force B-52 bomber crashed off the island of Guam

At least two people from the bomber's six-man crew were recovered from the waters, but their condition was not immediately available, the Coast Guard said.

Six vessels, three helicopters, two F-15 fighter jets and a B-52 bomber were involved in the search, which had covered about 70 square miles of ocean.
The B-52 bomber based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana was en route to conduct a flyover in the Liberation Day parade celebratings the day when the U.S. military arrived on Guam to retake control of the island from Japan.

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Curiosity Jarred the Cat

Photo courtesy of Vancouver Fire Department Truck 85

Two men arrived at Vancouver Fire Station 85 with a cat whose head was trapped in a mason jar. The men came home from a weekend camping trip to find their cat, named Ralph, stuck in the jar.

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Sarah Jessica Parker's art-competition reality show has found a home at Bravo.

Bravo has picked up Parker's "American Artist." Aspiring artists compete to produce various styles of artwork (painting, sculpting, etc.), which is then judged by a panel of experts. SJP's Pretty Matches production company is helping develop the project.

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Hurricane Season

The US is watching three tropical storms currently.

Bertha continues to churn in the North Atlantic, after bringing power failures and heavy rain to Bermuda, and surfer-friendly waves and swimmer-unfriendly riptides to the US East Coast. Its closest land point is Newfoundland, and it’s projected to move toward Iceland in the next few days.

A disturbance that started in the Gulf of Mexico has moved into the Atlantic, and picked up strength off the Carolinas. Cristobal will bring more high surf and heavy rains. The National Hurricane Center projects the storm as moving along the East Coast, offshore from Nova Scotia by Tuesday.

NOAA's National Hurricane Center watches the storms. Look out for #1, in the lower left.

Fausto is a hurricane and moving farther away from Baja,Cal.

A system in the Caribbean, south of Jamaica and east of Honduras, could make a name for itself. It’s headed toward the resorts on the Yucatan coast, then into the Gulf of Mexico. It has the potential to threaten the Texas coastline in a big way by midweek. The next name on the list is Dolly. To get more current maps, go to www.nhc.noaa.gov

In the News; July 20, 2008

Batman has set another box office record.

Heath Ledger dominates as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" in a performance already garnering raves.

The Dark Knight banked an astonishing $66.4 mil on Friday to set a new record for the biggest opening-day gross in box office history. The old mark of $59.8 mil was achieved by Spider-Man 3 in 2007.

"The Dark Knight" began with a record $18.5 million from midnight screenings, topping the previous high of $16.9 million for "Star Wars: Episode III -- The Revenge of the Sith."

The opening day grosses for "The Dark Knight" far exceeded the full weekend haul of its predecessor, "Batman Begins," which took in $48.7 million in its first three days in 2005.

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Saggy Pants Outlawed

Saggy pants have been outlawed in the south Chicago suburb of Lynwood. Village leaders have passed an ordinance that would levy $25 fines against anyone showing three inches or more of their underwear in public.
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Rapper DMX arrested

Rapper DMX was arrested while shopping at a Phoenix, Arizona, mall. He was arrested on suspicion of giving a gave a false name and Social Security number to a hospital to get out of paying for medical expenses.

The Maricopa County Sheriff says that when DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, went to Scottsdale's Mayo Clinic in April, he used the name Troy Jones and failed to pay a $7,500 bill.


DMX was previously arrested on felony drug possession and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges after authorities seized 12 pit bull dogs and dug up the remains of three others.

The musician/actor has had other recent run-ins with the law, including an arrest at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport this month on outstanding warrants after he failed to appear in court. He has also been arrested in Miami, Florida, on charges of attempting to purchase cocaine and marijuana.


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Firefighter rescues bear cub burned in Northern California wildfire

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Los Angeles Times
IN GOOD HANDS: Adam Deem holds the cub he found in burned brush in Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Lil' Smokey's paws were badly burned and his left eye was singed.

Adam Deem was driving through burned brush in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest west of Redding when he spotted a black bear cub teetering oddly in the middle of the road. After he couldn't find its mother, the injured animal he dubbed Lil' Smokey was taken to a wildlife care center in South Lake Tahoe.

In the News; July 19th, 2008

China and The Olympics Update

A shopper looks at fake foreign brand handbags at a stall in Beijing May 8, 2008. China, where fake...

• A shopper looks at fake foreign brand handbags at a stall in Beijing, China, where fake goods from software to designer handbags are sold on street corners, in markets and in upscale shopping districts, has been struggling to tackle intellectual property piracy and is especially keen to clean up Beijing ahead of the Olympics in August.
  

(Claro Cortes IV/Reuters )

• The site of the Olympic sailing competition is "basically" free of the bright-green algae bloom that recently carpeted the sea off the Chinese city of Qingdao, an official said Tuesday. Chinese fishmen remove green algae from the sea in Qingdao, China.

Passengers walk at a subway station in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 10, 2008. Extraordinary security measures such as X-ray scanners and bomb detecting devices have been deployed in key public areas ahead of the summer Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

• Beijing opened two new subway lines just in time to carry passengers banned from their cars as the capital tries to clean up its skies before next month's Olympics
  
  
• Dog meat has been taken off of the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
  

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New York Restaurants Posting Calories

It's an anti-obesity campaign that has also included a recent citywide ban on artificial trans fats in restaurant food. In New York City city health inspectors can begin issuing citations that carry fines to restaurants that do not have calorie information posted with their prices.

The fines for not posting will range from $200 to $2,000.


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Roo Attack

An elderly Australian woman was attacked by a large kangaroo on a farm in Australia but, was saved as her pet dog jumped to her aid. According to the woman's son, she had been knocked over and savaged by the large kangaroo .
The male kangaroo was estimated to be up to two meters (six feet, six inches) tall and weighing 100 kilograms (220 pounds) .

"The kangaroo has just jumped up and launched straight at her. He hit her once and she just dropped and rolled," according to her son.

"My dog heard her screaming and bolted down and chased him off. If it wasn't for the dog she'd probably be dead. Her face has been ripped apart, her hand has been mauled, and she's got scratches all over her back and concussion," "

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San Franciscans Honor President Bush

In the city by the bay, there is a measure seeking to commemorate President Bush's years in office by naming a sewage plant after him will appear on the November ballot. The measure is to rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant, which treats waste water from San Francisco's west side, the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.

In the News, July 18, 2008

Tomatoes are safe to eat.

The Food and Drug Administration has said that it is okay to eat tomatoes again. This comes weeks after tomatoes were blamed as a source of a salmonella outbreak in the United States and Canada.The actual source of the outbreak of salmonella still isn't known, but the FDA says tomatoes are safe.

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Fattest People are in the South
According to a new CDC survey, the South tips the scales again as the nation's fattest region. More than 30 percent of adults in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee are considered obese. In part, experts blame Southern eating habits, poverty and demographic groups that have higher obesity rates.

Colorado was the least obese, with about 19 percent fitting that category in a random telephone survey done last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The South has had high death rates from heart disease and stroke, health risks that have been linked to obesity, some experts noted.

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Best Neighborhoods to Walk in

Walkscore.com has published its walkable rankings and has deemed San Francisco the most walkable city, with a "Walk Score" of 86 out of 100.

Here are the top 25 US Cities according to Walkascore;
(rank, city, score, neighborhoods)

1 San Francisco 86 Chinatown, Financial District, Downtown
2 New York 83 Tribeca, Little Italy, Soho
3 Boston 79 Back Bay-Beacon Hill, South End, Fenway-Kenmore
4 Chicago 76 Loop, Near North Side, Lincoln Park
5 Philadelphia 74 City Center East, City Center West, Riverfront
6 Seattle 72 Pioneer Square, Downtown, First Hill
7 Washington D.C. 70 Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Downtown
8 Long Beach 69 Downtown, Belmont Shore, Belmont Heights
9 Los Angeles 67 Mid City West, Downtown, Hollywood
10 Portland 66 Pearl District, Old Town-Chinatown, Downtown
11 Denver 66 Lodo, Golden Triangle, Capitol Hill
12 Baltimore 65 Federal Hill, Fells Point, Inner Harbor
13 Milwaukee 62 Historic Third Ward, Lower East Side, Northpoint
14 Cleveland 60 Downtown, Ohio City-West Side, Detroit Shoreway
15 Louisville 58 Central Business District, Limerick, Phoenix Hill
16 San Diego 56 Core, Horton Plaza, Cortez Hill
17 San Jose 55 Buena Vista, Burbank, Rose Garden
18 Las Vegas 55 Meadows Village, Downtown, Rancho Charleston
19 Fresno 54 Central, Fresno-High, Hoover
20 Sacramento 54 Richmond Grove, Downtown, Midtown
21 Albuquerque 53 Plaza Vieja, Martineztown, Downtown
22 Atlanta 52 Five Points, Poncey-Highland, Sweet Auburn
23 Detroit 52 Downtown, New Center, Midtown
24 Dallas 51 Government District, Main Street District, West End Historic District
25 Tucson 51 Iron Horse, El Presidio, Ocotillo Oracle
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Britney gives Sole Custody to K-Fed


E! Online Photo

Britney Spears has agreed to hand over her parenting skills to Kevin Federline.
K-Fed's longtime attorney tells E! News that the divorced duo have reached a settlement in their long-gestating custody case.

According to the agreement signed by all parties, Federline gets sole legal and physical custody of sons Sean Preston and Jayden James and Spears will have visitation rights.

In the news July 17, 2008

US Healthcare Quality not feeling so good.
The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System found that The United States fails on most measures of health care quality.The United States fell far short of benchmarks for access, quality, efficiency, and other key measures of health system performance.

Americans are waiting longer to see doctors and are more likely to die of preventable or treatable illnesses than people in other industrialized countries, according to the repor.

Americans squander money on wasteful administrative costs, illnesses caused by medical error and inefficient use of time, the report from the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund concluded.

One key measure is prevention of premature deaths from easily treated conditions such as asthma and heart attacks.The United States fell from 15th to last among 19 industrialized nations on this measure from 2006 to 2008. The report estimated the U.S. health care system could save 100,000 lives if it matched Japan or France, the top performers.

Infant mortality remains high in the United States, with a rate of 7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 2.8 per 1,000 in Japan and 3.1 in Sweden.



Efficiency received a score of 53 "in part because of widespread delivery of inappropriate and wasteful care throughout the United States, including potentially avoidable hospital admissions, minimal use of information technology, and high insurance administrative costs," the report added.

The United States spent 7.5 percent of national health expenditures on insurance administration in 2005, compared to 6.9 percent in France, the next highest spending nation, 2.3 percent in Japan and 1.9 percent in Finland.

While 98 percent of doctors in the Netherlands and 89 percent in Britain use electronic medical records, only 28 percent do in the United States.


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Low Carb Diets Win

A low-carb diet and a Mediterranean-style regimen helped people lose more weight than a traditional low-fat diet in one of the longest and largest studies to compare the dueling weight-loss techniques.
The low-carb diet improved cholesterol more than the other two. l.

The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Emmy Award Nominations

The nominations for the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced.

• Best drama are "Boston Legal," "Damages," "Dexter," "House," "Lost" and "Mad Men."

• Best comedy are "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Entourage," "The Office," "30 Rock" and "Two and a Half Men."

• Best actor in a drama are Gabriel Byrne ("In Treatment"), Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad"), Michael C. Hall ("Dexter"), Jon Hamm ("Mad Men"), Hugh Laurie ("House") and James Spader ("Boston Legal").

• Best actress in a drama are Glenn Close ("Damages"), Sally Field ("Brothers and Sisters"), Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"), Holly Hunter ("Saving Grace") and Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer").

• Best actor in a comedy are Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock"), Steve Carell ("The Office"), Lee Pace ("Pushing Daisies"), Tony Shalhoub ("Monk") and Charlie Sheen ("Two and a Half Men").

• Best actress in a comedy are Christina Applegate ("Samantha Who?"), America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty"), Tina Fey ("30 Rock"), Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("The New Adventures of Old Christine") and Mary-Louise Parker ("Weeds").
  

The Emmy Awards ceremony will be held September 21 and broadcast on ABC.
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SJP's Mole has been removed.

E! Online Photo: Sarah Jessica Parker's Celebrity Mole(E! Online)

E! News can confirm that Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker has parted ways with her signature mole.

"Yes, she's had it removed," said a source close to the actress today.

While reasons for the removal are unclear, we're told the procedure was "no big deal."
Yes, it was her signature to many of us.

In the News July 16, 2008

Two Companies to Pay Fines for Calling


The FTC is enforcings do-not-call rules. Two telemarketing companies that sell Dish Network Corp.'s satellite TV services have agreed to pay fines of $95,000 for ignoring the federal do-not-call list and hanging up on customers, according to federal regulators .

Planet Earth Satellite Inc., of Phoenix, Ariz., and its president have been charged with calling consumers whose phone numbers are on the National Do Not Call Registry.

Star Satellite LLC, based in Provo, Utah, was accused of making telemarketing calls that failed to connect consumers to a live telemarketer within two seconds after consumers answer the call.

The FTC said the company, its president and other defendants were "unjustly enriched" by these "unlawful practices."

We hate telemarketers.


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Barak Obama Speaks with Larry King

"I am absolutely convinced that strategically it is time for this [Iraq] war to end," Obama said, adding he believes the United States can withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months while leaving "a residual force to engage in counterterrorism activities" and protect diplomats.

Obama also addressed the New Yorker's cover depicting him in Muslim garb and his wife as an armed militant, saying it is an unsuccessful attempt at satire that will likely fuel misconceptions he has long battled over the course of his presidential campaign.

"It's a cartoon ... and that's why we've got the First Amendment," Obama said. "And I think the American people are probably spending a little more time worrying about what's happening with the banking system and the housing market, and what's happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, than a cartoon. So I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about it."

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Khloe Kardashian is going to jail. Will E! follow her?

The reality show star and youngest daughter of the late attorney Robert Kardashian admitted during a July 3 court hearing that she violated her probation stemming from a 2007 drunken driving arrest, according to court records.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Kardashian, who's featured on E! Entertainment Television's Keeping Up With the Kardashians, to surrender to authorities on Friday and serve up to 30 days in jail. Kardashian will also have to enroll in an alcohol treatment program — one of the terms of probation she failed to complete — within three weeks of her release. She will also remain on probation.

Her drunken driving arrest was featured in an episode of the E! series. Her father gained fame for helping to represent O.J. Simpson after the former football star was accused of murder.

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DUMB Predator.

Image provided by the Michigan attorney-general's office.

A 33-year-old Michigan man is accused of wearing a "World's Greatest Dad" shirt to a meeting for sex with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

He has since been arraigned on charges of child sexual abuse and using the Internet to attempt child sexual abuse.