Cosby heads the Kansas City chapter of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families (NCPCF). Earlier this year, he organized a petition drive calling for grand jury investigations of 32 adult businesses in Kansas and Missouri for promotion of obscenity. Enlisting the help of church leaders and community activists, Cosby's group delivered the petitions to six county courthouses in May.
A Burning Man participant was found dead this morning, hanging from the inside of a two-story high tent, according to Mark Pirtle, special agent in charge for the Bureau of Land Management.
The apparent suicide would be the festival's first in its 21 year history, Pirtle said.
Pershing County coroners are investigating the scene and preparing to remove the body. Pirtle said the man was hanging for two hours before anyone in the large tent thought to bring him down. "His friends thought he was doing an art piece," Pirtle said.
Six members of the Paw family, each listing the house at 41 Shelbourne Ave. as their residence, have donated a combined $45,000 to the Democratic senator from New York since 2005, for her presidential campaign, her Senate re-election last year and her political action committee. In all, the six Paws have donated a total of $200,000 to Democratic candidates since 2005, election records show.
That total ranks the house with residences in Greenwich, Conn., and Manhattan's Upper East Side among the top addresses to donate to the Democratic presidential front-runner over the past two years, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of donations listed with the Federal Election Commission.
It isn't obvious how the Paw family is able to afford such political largess. Records show they own a gift shop and live in a 1,280-square-foot house that they recently refinanced for $270,000. William Paw, the 64-year-old head of the household, is a mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service who earns about $49,000 a year, according to a union representative. Alice Paw, also 64, is a homemaker. The couple's grown children have jobs ranging from account manager at a software company to "attendance liaison" at a local public high school. One is listed on campaign records as an executive at a mutual fund.
The Paws' political donations closely track donations made by Norman Hsu, a wealthy New York businessman in the apparel industry who once listed the Paw home as his address, according to public records. Mr. Hsu is one of the top fund-raisers for Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign.
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.
"At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct.
"I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."
•Be sure and visit Life of Jason. Good guy, good blog, different perspective. As the poet-philosopher Rodney King might say, let's all just get along.
•The radio board belonging to Art Morris has a boffo thread going. Topic: When should a radio newsroom help a radio personality?
•First Michael Vick (sorry, Dustin), now Earl Simmons, better known as rapper/actor DMX. KPNX reports that police raided DMX's home in Maricopa County and seized several pit bulls. They also found the remains of three other dogs on the property. One of the dead dogs had been burned.
•Is Fidel Castro dead? That's the rumor for Saturday.
“He can’t be around political candidates or any elected official,” said Ruth A. Ogle, a program manager at the Maryland Parole Commission. “He can’t go to a rally, a public appearance, a political dinner, anything like that.”
In 1996, the commission denied Mr. Bremer’s application for parole, saying early release would mean “open hunting season” on politicians.
It is red and shiny. I need to work on taking off from stop signs or otherwise getting out on the road into traffic. I killed it the other night because I didn't give it enough gas. I was half-way into the road when it died. No traffic was near enough to worry about it, but it could have been a bad situation. I got it started again no problem but at that point I had entered panic mode a bit and gave it too much gas which also isn't good. Almost ran it off the other side of the road. Can't let my fear get the best of me.
The world is a lot less bright without him.
Earlier this week, the EU urged Texas to end the "cruel and inhumane" practice. Texas's governor said it was a "just and appropriate" punishment.
Members of Conner's family and that of the victim, Kathyanna Nguyen, witnessed the execution through windows in the death chamber.
Before he was put to death, Conner - who had always maintained his innocence - asked for forgiveness and expressed love to his family and Ms Nguyen's family.
"What is happening to me is unjust and the system is broken," he said in his final statement.
His final words were: "I bear witness there is no God but Allah and the Prophet Muhammad. Unto Allah, I belong, unto Allah I return. I love you."
YOUR WATCHING LA INK
YOUR WATCHING THE NEW HIT SERIES LA INK
In motions filed Tuesday in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Jay Raphael, former head of the university's Department of Theatre and Dance, and Rhythm McCarthy, a professional dancer and a teacher in the department, are asking the court not to allow fired theater instructor George Cron to introduce any evidence that Raphael and Ms. McCarthy had a romantic relationship or that Ms. McCarthy had a romantic relationship with Cron.
Yo Gabba Gabba! is a fun live-action program for young children ages 1 and up. Join our host DJ Lance Rock as he introduces us to friendly toy monsters in a magical land full of music, dance, colorful cartoons, and simple life lessons that will get you and your children up off the floor to learn and dance along. Just say the magic words! YO GABBA GABBA!!
Astronomers have spotted a space oddity in Earth's neighbourhood - a dead star with some unusual characteristics.
The object, known as a neutron star, was studied using space telescopes and ground-based observatories.
But this one, located in the constellation Ursa Minor, seems to lack some key characteristics found in other neutron stars.
Details of the study, by a team of American and Canadian researchers, will appear in the Astrophysical Journal.
If confirmed, it would be only the eighth known "isolated neutron star" - meaning a neutron star that does not have an associated supernova remnant, binary companion, or radio pulsations.
The object has been nicknamed Calvera, after the villain in the 1960s western film The Magnificent Seven.
He'll receive NO upfront cash and NO first-dollar gross ... Instead, Jim has a cash-break deal in theory of at most 36.2% on the back end -- which in reality may turn out to be a lot less. ...
[G]etting top-tier talent for no money upfront with cash-break back end is like a wet dream for Warner Bros. "This is a deal you make with someone who's star has fallen," a studio source told me tonight. Which is why I've learned that Warner Bros execs were privately patting themselves on the back for coming up with it and then dancing in the hallways when Carrey's reps finally went for it. ...
[M]ovie after movie of his has collapsed in development (Spielberg's The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty remake, 20th's Used Guys, Paramount's Ripley's Believe It Or Not) and his most recent release, New Line's The Number 23, was dead on arrival. Since then, the actor has sat around booking no major movies beyond toon voiceovers (20th's Horton Hears A Who, a sop for the Used Guys deal going south, and Disney's A Christmas Carol directed by Robert Zemeckis) for nearly a year.
Known for a layered style that was as much melodic and full of tonal color as it was rhythmic and steady, Roach is among the few musicians who brought about stylistic changes to jazz. His bebop and hard bop styles continue to be the standard in jazz to this day.
Born in North Carolina to a mother who was a gospel singer, he grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. A few years after taking piano lessons, he took up the drums at the age of 10.
From the start of his music career, Roach was involved in numerous situations that would later be designated historic. As a teenager in the early 1940s, he was part of the dawn of bebop, drumming with alto saxophonist Charlie Parker in clubs on such benchmarks of the style as "Woody 'n' You," "Koko" and "Now's the Time."
Roach worked with Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell on their earliest recordings and was part of Miles Davis' "Birth of the Cool" sessions in 1949 and 1950. He co-founded Debut Records with Charles Mingus to give musicians control over their recordings.
Police arrested Burton last year after he allegedly began masturbating in front of a woman on a Bay Area Rapid Transit train.
Prosecutors sought the lengthy prison sentence because Burton already had two prior convictions for indecent exposure and a previous conviction on six counts related to sexual assault, San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. ...
"Our concern was, 'Are we being too lenient? Are we adequately protecting the public?'" Wagstaffe said. "We have a person here who has done this for many, many years. And with all likelihood, he will be doing it again."
The man was spotted fleeing while still clutching a beer.
"There was a 12-pack of Corona he was working on in the front seat," Orange County sheriff's Cmdr. Jeff Stonebreaker said. "He decided to take one of those over the fence with him. So, he bails out of the car and runs from the deputies with a beer in his hand."
The driver, who was not named, was arrested and charged with DUI and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
Authorities said the driver has a history of DUIs.
•KTTS remains No. 1 in the market, posting a 15 rating, up from 13.6 last fall.
•KSPW, the station known as Power, is up to No. 2 with a 7.5, up from 6.7 last fall.
•KTOZ, better known as Alice, enjoyed a huge rebound, up from 4.7 to 7.2 -- from 7th place to 3rd in the market.
•KGBX, the adult-contemporary station, tumbled from 2nd place to 4th. Its ratings went from 8.2 to 7 -- a marked decline for an always popular station.
•Rounding out the top five is KOMG, the classic-country station with the impressive billboard campaign. Rating: 6.1, up from 4.7 last fall.
KSGF, the talk station, fell from 4th place to 10th. Its ratings number fell from 6.0 to 4.4.
•KWTO-FM, aka The Jock, tanked -- 2.7 to 1.6 -- throwing the fate of the all-sports station into doubt.
•For all its impressiveness with KTTS and KSPW, corporate owner Journal doesn't seem to have the knack for rock. KZRQ, the active-rock station, slid from 4.2 to 2.6. To be fair, this wasn't a good book for alt/new-rock; KQRA also fell, losing a ratings point to land with a 4.7.
She apparently died of old age, Kyodo said.
[B]y night (she) reigned over New York society with a decided disdain for pretension and by day devoted her time and considerable resources to New York’s unfortunate.
[H]er third husband, Vincent Astor, heir to the fur and real estate fortune of John Jacob Astor, died and left about $60 million to her personally and an equal amount for a foundation “for the alleviation of human suffering.” Her husband had told her, “You’ll have fun, Pookie.”
"I want to thank the people of Iowa who were welcoming and supportive as well as my volunteers and contributors from around the country," said Thompson. "I have no regrets about running. I felt my record as Governor of Wisconsin and Secretary of Health and Human Services gave me the experience I needed to serve as President, but I respect the decision of the voters. I am leaving the campaign trail today, but I will not leave the challenges of improving health care and welfare in America."
Thompson, who was elected to serve four terms as Wisconsin Governor and four years as Secretary of Health and Human Services, began exploring a presidential bid last December. Weeks ago, he told supporters and the news media that if he did not do well in the Iowa Straw Poll, he would step aside and leave others to work for the Republican nomination.
Q Mr. Secretary, given what we know, is there any reason to believe this is a result of terrorism?
SECRETARY THOMPSON: It appears that this is just an isolated case. There's no evidence of terrorism -- at this ...
Q Do you know if he happened to work around wool or any of the products that might have --
SECRETARY THOMPSON: We don't know that at this point in time. That's entirely possible. We do know that he drank water out of a stream when he was traveling to North Carolina last week. But as far as wool or other things, it's entirely possible. We haven't got all of the investigations done. And we're doing a tremendous extensive job of investigating everything. ...
Q Mr. Secretary, do we know, was this inhalation anthrax? Was this fellow a hunter?
SECRETARY THOMPSON: It appears at this point in time it's inhalation.
Q Do you know if he was a hunter?
SECRETARY THOMPSON: We don't know that. We know he was an outdoorsman, so it's entirely possible that he was --
Q Mr. Secretary, can you be certain that it's an isolated case?
Q Can you explain why he was drinking from a stream? (Laughter.) Is that a reason -- should we know that? Why are you giving us that detail?
SECRETARY THOMPSON: Just because he was an outdoorsman, and there is a possibility that -- there are all kinds of possibilities ...
•The file squirrelhunting.jpg, a fine use of action figures and road kill.
•A little something we call fdr.jpg, a seldom-seen photo of Roosevelt in his wheelchair.
•911_hijackers.jpg has mugs of all 19 hijackers onboard the four planes of Sept. 11, 2001.
•Worth saving (and reading) is dover_decision.pdf, the 139-page decision from Judge John Jones in the Dover court case pitting evolution against intelligent design.
•McD1, McD2, McD3 and McD4 are four jpegs of the creepy yet hot female Ronald McDonald tested in Japan.
•The hero/anti-hero Hunter S. Thompson is the image in hst.pdf, a 413kb file.
•If you like a gun-toting moll, sparky_blaine.jpg is for you.
•From 1925, josephine_baker.jpg is a NSFW pic of the great beauty.
•Elvis as Jesus? See elvis.jpg for details.
•Attention all harried moms -- insane_mom.jpg may seem disturbing and familiar.
Griffin died of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his the family that was released by Marcia Newberger, spokeswoman for The Griffin Group/Merv Griffin Entertainment.
Griffin, who began his career as a $100-a-week radio singer in San Francisco, created the "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" game shows, soon moved on to become the featured vocalist in Freddy Martin's band.
That led to a brief film career, in which he appeared opposite Doris Day and Kathryn Grayson, and later to a successful TV career as host of "The Merv Griffin Show," which aired for more than 20 years.
His biggest financial break, however, came from inventing and producing "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune."
After they became the hottest game shows in television, Griffin sold the rights to them to the Columbia Pictures Television Unit for $250 million, retaining a share of the profits. He started spreading the sale money around in treasury bonds, stocks and other investments, but quickly became bored.
The possibility of a sale of Gannett isn’t too far-fetched in light of all the consolidation lately in the ailing newspaper industry (with Knight-Ridder, Tribune, and now Dow Jones all being acquired). In fact, in a posting we did examining the possibility of more deals in the industry, we fingered Gannett as the most likely to be snapped up next.
Physicists said they can create "incredible levitation effects" by manipulating so-called Casimir force, which normally causes objects to stick together by quantum force.
The phenomenon could be used to improve the performances of everyday devices ranging from car airbags to computer chips, say Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin from Saint Andrews University.
Casimir force -- discovered in 1948 and first measured in 1997 -- can be seen in a gecko's ability to stick to a surface with just one toe.
Now the British scientists say they can reverse the Casimir force to cause an object to repel rather than attract another in a vacuum.
"The Casimir force is the ultimate cause of friction in the nano world, in particular in some micro-electromechanical systems," said Leonhardt, writing in the August issue of New Journal of Physics.
Lewis said she had hauled items into her yard early Saturday while her husband slept. The buyer quickly selected the large turtle container, despite being unable to get the lid open.
Her husband's previous wife collected turtles.
"We have lots of turtles," Anita Lewis said. "It didn't even register that this was the one (containing the ashes)."
Privacy and civil liberties advocates, and many Democratic lawmakers, complained that the Bush administration's revisions of the law could breach constitutional protections against government intrusion. But the administration, aided by Republican congressional leaders, suggested that a failure to approve the legislation sought by intelligence officials could expose the country to a greater risk of terrorist attacks.
Democrats facing reelection next year in conservative districts helped propel the bill to a quick approval. Adding to the pressures they felt were recent intelligence reports about threatening new al-Qaeda activities in Pakistan and the disclosure by House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) of a secret court ruling earlier this year that complicated the wiretapping of purely foreign communications that happen to pass through communications nodes on U.S. soil.
The bill would give the National Security Agency the right to collect such communications in the future without a warrant. But it goes further than that: It also would allow the monitoring, under certain conditions, of electronic communications between people on U.S. soil, including U.S. citizens, and people "reasonably believed to be outside the United States," without a court's order or oversight.
