62 Year Old Woman Owes $1,431 for Pay Per View Porn

from The Helena Independent Record

A 62-year-old retired schoolteacher is fighting with a cable company over a hefty bill for porn and gangsta rap programming she says she never ordered.

The charges of more than $1,000 appeared on Claudia Lee's February Cablevision bill, shortly after she bundled her cable TV, computer and phone services.

So dar she has paid $779 to the company and was told to pay $652 more or face having her services cut off. Cablevision said she may not have ordered the pay-per-view programming, but someone in her home did but the only person that ever visit's Lee's home is her 81-year-old mother.

Rosie Won't Be Cutting Her Hair Anytime Soon

from FOX News Channel

Rosie O’Donnell’s new mega contract with ABC has one absolute proviso: the former talk show queen cannot cut her hair.

You may recall there was an uproar toward the end of Rosie’s run as a syndicated talk show host because she chopped off her locks to emulate Culture Club songstress Helen Terry.

O’Donnell will be taking Meredith Vieira’s old chair when “The View” returns in September.

Cost of Zinc May Increase Cost of Penny Production

from The Arizona Republic

The penny is being pinched by the rising cost of production. It could now cost 1.4 cents for the U.S. Mint to make each penny.

The coin is 97.5 percent zinc; copper plating makes up the remaining 2.5 percent. Last year, the Mint produced each penny for 0.97 cent.

That was before the price of zinc more than doubled. The Mint says it is not possible to nail down the cost of each coin right now but acknowledged the lowly penny has grown more expensive.

There is no talk at the Mint of stopping production.

McWorker Looses McJob For McChicken Tampering

from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A 16-year-old boy lost his job at a McDonald's and was given a ticket by police after he was accused of tampering with a police officer's food.

The boy, who isn't being named because he's a juvenile, was given a ticket accusing him of disorderly conduct. The boy, who had been working at the drive-through window at McDonald's when the incident occurred, told police that he put his finger through the food because he doesn't like police officers.

A Muskego officer went through the drive-through the evening of April 12 to order a McChicken sandwich and medium french fries for an emergency dispatcher. Dispatchers cannot leave the station during work shifts, and officers occasionally pick up dinner for them. Not suspecting that anything had happened to the food, the officer brought it to the station and handed the bag to the dispatcher. She discovered a hole that went through the paper wrapped around the sandwich and through the sandwich.

The officer who had brought the food, along with a second officer, went back to McDonald's to speak to a manager, Geiszler said. The manager then brought in the employee who had handed the officer the bag of food. The boy at first said he didn't remember a police squad car using the drive-through.

After more questioning, the boy admitted to putting his finger through the sandwich because he had gotten tickets for underage drinking and didn't like police officers, Geiszler said.
The boy apparently also bragged to another employee, saying he had just "messed with a cop's food," Geiszler said.

The boy was fired from his job that night.

Mumps Outbreak Spreads Across Midwest

from USA Today

Health officials are keeping a close eye on a mumps outbreak that continues to spread across the Midwest.

Apparently the mumps are so rare most people don't even recognize it. The virus swells the salivary glands, creating a chipmunk look. It usually goes away after a week, but it's highly contagious.

A state like Iowa sees about five cases a year. But this year there have been at least 600 cases reported. Another 100 cases have been reported in six other Midwestern states, including four in Wisconsin. And even if you've been vaccinated for the mumps, you may not be in the clear.

A student on vacation in Tucson and another passenger may have helped spread the disease to a large number of people. The student traveled April 2 from Tucson to Dallas on American Airlines flight 1216, then took connecting flights on to Fayetteville, Ark., St. Louis and finally to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The second passenger flew on several flights between Iowa, Minnesota, Detroit and Washington D.C., in late March.

UPDATE Jolie's Lesbian Lust

from News of the World

A stunning model who seduced Angelina Jolie into her first lesbian fling last night predicted Brad Pitt will neer satisfy the Hollywood sex goddess. The Calvin Klein beauty named Jenny Shimizu claims that Angelina is an unbelievable lesbian lover.

She goes on to further claim "[that] one night as we sat talking on Angelina's hotel bed our eyes just locked and we kissed. A slow, lingering, magical kiss.

"Angelina loved to wax herself all over and didn't have a hair on her body—and under the water I could feel every bit of her."

About Pitt she claims "when I heard she had settled down with Brad Pitt I was surprised. She'd never mentioned him before and he seemed such an unlikely choice for her, too clean-cut.

"More to the point I know how much she loves women."

LOCAL Eminem Pays Tribute To Proof

from CNN

Eminem has praised rapper Proof, who was shot dead earlier this week, for his "guidance and encouragement," calling him "my best friend," in a posting on his Web site.

Proof, whose real name is Deshaun Holton, was killed early Tuesday in a shooting at the CCC, a nightclub in a strip of businesses along Eight Mile.

The 32-year-old rapper, a member of D12, was the best man in Eminem's January wedding. Seldom was Eminem seen in public without Proof.

Police have said that Proof fired the first bullet inside the nightclub, touching off a shootout that ended his life. The bullet hit Keith Bender, 35, in the head, critically injuring him, police said. Bender remained in critical condition.

Most of the witnesses told investigators that a fight broke out between Bender and Proof, and that Proof struck Bender with a handgun before shooting him once in the head. Detectives were looking into whether the fight was over a pool game, but they have not settled on a single theory. A suspect in Proof's death remains in police custody.

Exxon Former CEO Gets $168-M Pension

from Comcast

A $69.7 million compensation package and $98 million pension payout to Exxon Mobil Corp.'s former chief executive and chairman Lee R. Raymond has some shareholders and economists asking, "how much is enough?"

The Irving company has drawn criticism from politicians and economists for becoming the most profitable company in history.

The $98 million pension payout portion reflects 43 years of service. But he would have received nearly $17 million less had he retired just last year

UPDATE Police Make Arrest In Holloway Case

from Drudge

Authorities have made an arrest in the case of a young Alabama woman who disappeared while vacationing in Aruba.

Aruban authorities did not disclose why the person was arrest not did they say how the arrest was linked to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway nearly a year ago. They said only that the person who was arrested is 19 and has the initials "G.V.C." In Aruba, when an arrest is announced, officials usually release only a suspect's initials, and not a full name.

There have been a number of false leads in the investigation, and at least three other people were detained without being charged in the case. In recent weeks, Aruban police have searched sand dunes on the northern coast of the island.

Post Card Delivered 50 Years Late

from Comcast

A postcard sent from a Stetson, Fla. home to a man in Riverside, Calif., was returned this week with a "return to sender" stamp and its 1956 postmark.

Mack McCormick, 59, did not send the postcard, but he lives in the home where the postcard originated. It was delivered to his mailbox Monday.

The card may have been sent to California and was rediscovered recently by someone who dropped it back in the mail.

Sobriety Injection Earns FDA Approval

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

A once-a-month injection to treat alcoholism won federal approval Thursday, expanding availability of a drug previously sold only in daily pill form.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Vivitrol. Cambridge, Mass.-based Alkermes Inc. will make the injectable form of the drug, also known as naltrexone. Cephalon Inc. will market and sell it.

The companies hope monthly injections of the drug, to be administered at a doctor's office, will prove an easier regimen for alcoholics to follow than the daily pill. The drug is to be used in conjunction with counseling or group therapy.

The drug works by blocking neurotransmitters in the brain believed to be associated with alcohol dependence, diminishing the craving for alcohol.

The drug's price wouldn't be decided until its U.S. launch in late June.

Vivitrol will carry the strongest warning prescription drugs can bear. The black-box warning will caution patients that the drug can cause liver damage.

There are a reported 2.2 million Americans are seeking treatment for alcoholism, among the 9 million who are alcohol-dependent.

Geena Davis Impeached

from Drudge

An ABC insider indicated that "Commander in Chief," a show about the country's first female president played by Geena Davis, would not be returning for another season.

UPDATE Ford Restructuring Plan

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

Ford Motor Co., which is closing plants and cutting jobs in an effort to improve results from its North American auto business, said Thursday that it will close plants in Norfolk, Va., and St. Paul, Minn., in 2008.

The plants employ about 4,300 hourly and salaried workers.

The nation's second-biggest automaker announced in January that it would close 14 plants by 2012, but only identified five of them. It said at the time that it would name two more plants later in the year.

Ford, in a news release announcing the closures, said the staff reductions in Virginia and Minnesota are part of the 25,000 to 30,000 job cuts announced in January.

Binary Black Hole

from NASA

The two bright sources at the center of this composite x-ray (blue)/ radio (pink) image are co-orbiting supermassive black holes powering the giant radio source 3C 75. Surrounded by multimillion degree x-ray emitting gas, and blasting out jets of relativistic particles the supermassive black holes are separated by 25,000 light-years.

Astronomers conclude that these two supermassive black holes are bound together by gravity in a binary system in part because the jets' consistent swept back appearance is most likely due to their common motion as they speed through the hot cluster gas.

Such spectacular cosmic mergers are thought to be common in crowded galaxy cluster environments in the distant universe. In their final stages the mergers are expected to be intense sources of gravitational waves.

New Jersey Indoor Smoking Ban Enacted

from the New York Times

New Jersey will enact its ban on smoking in indoor public places that includes virtually all of the state's bars and restaurants but not the gambling areas of Atlantic City's 12 casinos. The law was passed in January and is scheduled to take effect this Saturday.

Sperm Donor Sued For Child Support

from the Chicago Sun-Times

Michael Wilford says he was simply a sperm donor. Christin Harris says he was much more than that to her.

Now, the Glenview woman wants him to provide child support and a college fund and pay medical expenses for the 2-year-old twin daughters he fathered.

But Wilforf says it's a case of "involuntary parentage," as he had no intention of doing anything more than provide his ex-girlfriend with the semen she needed to conceive.

Wilford said he was asked to pay nothing toward the in-vitro fertilization or related pregnancy costs and the couple broke up three months after Harris gave birth -- and he was never asked to provide a thing or to act as a father.

At issue are documents Wilford signed admitting he's the parent.

He says he was duped into signing them at a local bank, believing Harris when she said they simply allowed her to establish savings accounts for the girls.

But the documents instead allowed Wilford's name to be put on birth certificates, setting the stage for these monetary demands.

The couple met on Match.com, a dating Web site, and Harris, 45, said she knew then she wanted a child. Wilford, 45, was divorcing and said he didn't want to be a parent again, but would help her.

Testimony is set to continue today and a ruling is expected later this month.

Walgreens Pulling All ReNu Products

from Breitbart

Walgreen Co., the No. 1 U.S. drugstore chain, has told its stores to pull all ReNu products from its shelves, not just the MoistureLoc product that has come under fire, while Wal-Mart and other stores are only removing MoistureLoc.

On Monday, Bausch & Lomb Inc. said it would stop shipping its ReNu MoistureLoc contact lens solution in the United States after some users were diagnosed with a serious eye infection.

Walgreens will continue to sell other Bausch & Lomb products.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, stopped selling ReNu MoistureLoc pending further test results from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Rite Aid Corp., the third-largest U.S. drugstore chain, is removing MoistureLoc products but continuing to sell other products in the ReNu line.

The source of a spike in dangerous fungal eye infections linked by federal health officials to a contact lens solution sold by Bausch & Lomb Inc. remains a mystery.

Gas Prices For The Summer

from WWTI Watertown, NY TV 50

Probable $3-a-gallon gasoline, possibly more, painted a bleak picture Monday for lovers of the open road.

Bloomberg News says crude oil costs, lack of refineries and an anticipated shortage of ethanol are likely to push gasoline prices to more than $3 a gallon this summer.

The national average for regular unleaded is now $2.59 a gallon. In Indianapolis, regular unleaded gas is $2.70 a gallon compared to $2.32 a year ago.

LOCAL UPDATE Fieger To Represent Boy Whose 911 Call Considered Prank

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

Attorney Geoffrey Fieger filed a multimillion-dollar, wrongful-death lawsuit on behalf of the family of a Detroit boy who called 911 to get help for his mother, but was denied because the operator thought the call was a prank.

Fieger said Sherrill Lynn Turner died as a result of the actions of a 911 operator in Detroit, and the attorney said the incident was not an isolated occurrence in the city of Detroit.

In the lawsuit filed on behalf of the Turner family Monday, Robert and his sister -- and now guardian -- Delaina Patterson, were present. Fieger said that Robert, 6, "did exactly what he had been taught to do by his mother."

Robert called 911 twice on Feb. 20 to get help for his mother, who had passed out on the kitchen floor of their home, Local 4 reported. The boy called 911, but was questioned by the operator who believed it was a prank.

Robert told the operator that his mother could not talk. He was scared by what the operator told him, so he hung up the telephone, unaware that his mother died.

Fieger and Robert appeared on NBC's "Today Show" Sunday morning to discuss the incident. Fieger said Sherrill Turner had an enlarged heart, but had a very good opportunity to survive.
"Had they responded immediately at that first call, just before 6 p.m., she certainly would have survived," said Fieger.

Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully Cummings promised a thorough investigation of the operator's response.

Pizza Delivery By Plane

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

A pizza to go from Airport Pizza may do some real traveling.

The pizza joint offers the only delivery service in Nome. But the deliveries can be far longer than a few blocks. Airport Pizza delivers to remote Eskimo villages 100 or more miles away.

Pizza is a welcome break from whale, walrus and reindeer eaten by the villagers.

The pizzeria has even delivered to the Arctic Ocean town of Barrow, the northernmost community in the U.S., 500 miles to the northeast.

Air delivery usually doesn't cost anything extra. Frontier Flying Service flies the pies for free to villages on its regular routes.

Porn Broadcast on Cincinnati Public Access Channel

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

Don and Terri Newbauer's daughter, Nicole, was flipping through the television channels on Saturday looking for Channel 26 in Cincinnati.

Instead, she found hardcore pornography on Adelphia Cable's public access Channel 2, which generally airs videotapes provided by individuals or community groups.

Newbauer said he immediately called Adelphia and asked the phone representative, "What kind of smut are you guys putting on Channel 2?"

Newbauer said the cable company's representative blamed the problem on local programming that Adelphia does not control.
On Adelphia, all videos aired on cable access are screened, and that Saturday's tape -- of go-kart racing -- was screened for the full amount of time it was scheduled to run.

Adelphia said screeners did not watch the rest of the tape that contained about 18 to 20 minutes of pornographic material -- all of which aired on Sunday.

Woman Ticketed For Crossing Street Too Slowly

from San Diego TV 10

Mayvis Coyle, 82, believes she's not getting a fair shake from the Los Angeles Police Department.

She says she was shuffling with her cane across busy Foothill Boulevard in Sunland Feb. 15, carrying groceries, while a traffic police officer watched and waited.

Even before Coyle finished crossing the intersection , he had scribbled a $114 ticket for crossing against a don't-walk signal.

Coyle claims that she entered the crosswalk on a "Walk" signal but it started to change to "Don't Walk" before she could cross.

Coyle and other seniors at Monte Vista Mobile Estates are up in arms over signals they say are too short to safely cross the five-lane boulevard.

So many seniors have complained about hasty intersections that the city council has asked transportation officials last week to study how to accommodate them.

UPDATE SW Airlines and Boeing Named in Suit

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

Boeing and Southwest Airlines are named in a suit filed by the family of a 6-year-old boy killed when a Southwest jet skidded off a Chicago Midway Airport runway during a snowstorm in December.

The boy's family is claiming Southwest was negligent and that the Boeing jet had a problem with the thrust reversers used to slow planes after landings.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the parents of Joshua Woods seeks damages in excess of $50,000.

The lawsuit alleges that Southwest was negligent in landing at Midway International Airport during a snowstorm last December.

The thrust reversers have been at the center of the investigation of the crash.

Great Picture

Leeks, Japanese onions, parsnips and spring carrots have all been ripped up and devoured by this moster rabbit throughout the English countryside.

Arkansas Next to Ban Smoking in Public

from Breitbart

Gov. Mike Huckabee, a champion of healthy living, signed into law Friday a ban on smoking in most indoor public places.

The law exempts hotels and motels with fewer than 25 rooms, tobacco shops, nursing homes and home-based businesses with fewer than three employees. Also, it would not affect some bars.

Violators can be fined $100 to $500

Legislators also sent the governor a bill to ban smoking in cars with children inside, but he had yet to sign it.

The legislation would ban smoking in vehicles when there is a child present who is younger than 6 or weighs less than 60 pounds.

Baptist College Ousts Gay Student

from the Lexington Herald-Leader

A Lafayette High School graduate has been kicked out of the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg because he wrote on a personal Web page that he is gay.

The student, Jason Johnson, 20, was officially dismissed Thursdayat for the 1,700-student Baptist institution, formerly called Cumberland College.

Johnson, a sophomore majoring in theater arts, was a dean's list student Johnson was apparently thrown out of school, three weeks before the end of the school year, because his declaration that he is gay on MySpace.com violated a university policy that says:

"Any student who engages in or promotes sexual behavior not consistent with Christian principles (including sex outside marriage and homosexuality) may be suspended or asked to withdraw from the University of the Cumberlands."

LOCAL Boy's 911 Call Considered Prank; Mother Dies

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

A 6-year-old boy's 911 call for help was thought to be a prank, but the call was real and the boy's mother died.

Robert Turner called 911 to get help for his mother, Sherel Turner, 46, whom he found lying unconscious on the kitchen floor of their Detroit apartment in February.

Transcript of call:

911 Operator: "911. What's the problem?"

Robert: "My mom has passed out."

911 Operator: "Where's the grownups at?"

Robert: (Inaudible)

911 Operator: "Let me speak to her before I send the police over there."

Robert: (Inaudible)

911 Operator: "I don't care. You shouldn't be playing on the phone. Now put her on the phone before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you gonna be in trouble."

Robert: "Ugh!" (Hangs up.)

Officials said the 911 operator will be disciplined, but because of her years of service she will not be fired.

'Cyclops' Kitten to be Museum Centerpiece

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

A one-eyed kitten that stirred an international debate over whether it was a hoax will become the "spokesanimal" for a new museum of oddities.

The museum will explore the ways science and religion intersect called 'The Lost World Museum'. It is scheduled to open later this year in Phoenix, 10 miles north of Syracuse.

The tiny kitten with no nose and one large eye in the middle of its face was born last December and died the next day, despite Allen's efforts to save it.

Its remains will be displayed in a jar of alcohol.

LOCAL BREAKING NEWS

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

Eminem Files For Divorce 82 Days After Meadowbrook Wedding

Detroit-area rap star Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, has filed for divorce from wife Kimberly Mathers.

Eminem's lawyer filed the papers at the Macomb County Clerk's office Wednesday.

The couple remarried at Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester, in January.

The Matherses' first marriage ended in October 2001, but they reconciled in late 2004.

'Brokeback' Protest at Wal-Mart

from Drudge

Wal-Mart has turned aside a massive letter-writing campaign by the American Family Association urging the retailer to refuse to stock Brokeback Mountain.

The group, which has successfully campaigned against what it considers to be broadcast indecency launched the campaign last week after ads for the film began being displayed prominently in the retailer's 3,900 stores.

Wal-Mart released this statement: "The fact that we are offering the movie is not an endorsement of the content of the movie or any specific belief. We simply offer the latest titles that consumers want."

Canada's New Government Scraps Marijuana Decrim. Law

from CNN

Canada's new Conservative government will scrap draft legislation which would have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The legislation, drawn up by the previous Liberal government, alarmed police officials in Canada and the neighboring United States who said it would only encourage the already booming trade in pot.

Under the Liberal bill, people found with small amounts of marijuana would have been fined but would not have received a criminal record.

Colorado Enacts Ban Against Public Smoking

from the Denver Post

Last week Gov. Bill Ownes signed a smoking ban that will apply to all enclosed spaces except casinos, tobacco shops, cigar bars, the smoking lounge at Denver International Airport and private workplaces with no more than three employees. Homes, cars and ranch buildings are exempt. The law will take effect July 1, 2006.

Exxon Dethrones Wal-Mart on Fortune 500

from Breitbart

Skyrocketing energy prices propelled Exxon Mobil Corp. to the top of the 2006 Fortune 500 list, and consigned Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to the No. 2 spot on the magazine's annual ranking of the nation's largest publicly traded companies.

Fortune compiled its list based on companies' 2005 revenues. Exxon Mobil raked in $340 billion in revenue, a 25.5 percent increase over and had $36.1 billion in profits, the most by any U.S. company in history.

Wal-Mart had $315.654 billion in revenue, a 9.5 percent increase from last year. Because of its pervasive U.S. presence, the world's largest retailer has struggled to sustain profit growth in the high teens as it had in previous years.

The History of Daylight Savings Time

Daylight savings time had been theorized as early as the days of Ben Franklin, but wasn't widely adopted until WWI.

During World War I, DST was first adopted in Germany, which was quickly followed by Britain and countries on both sides, and eventually, America. Daylight replaced artificial lighting and saved precious fuel for the war effort.

After the war American farmers fought and defeated urban dwellers and President Woodrow Wilson and got DST repealed, returning the country to "God's Time.” Spotty and inconsistent use of daylight saving time in the United States and around the world caused problems, unusual incidents and, occasionally, tragedies. For example, disregard of a change to DST caused a major train wreck in France, killing two and injuring many.

During WWII, DST was adopted again but this time permanently. All combatants on both sides quickly adopted DST to save vital energy resources for the War. The U.S. enacted FDR's year-round DST law just 40 days after Pearl Harbor.

As part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the U.S. DST period was extended by three weeks in the spring and one week in the fall, commencing 2007.

Currently, the entire country observes this DST period except for: Arizona, Hawaii, the Eastern time zone portion of Indiana, and the U. S. insular areas of Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam--all of which have chosen to stay on standard time all year.

In 2005, Indiana, which has long been a continuing hotbed of DST controversy, passed a law adopting statewide daylight saving time, starting in 2006.

For 2006, the DST period is from Sunday April 2 to Sunday October 29.

For 2007, the DST period is from Sunday March 11 to Sunday November 4.

Theater Pulls 9/11 Movie Trailer

from MSNBC

The AMC Loews theater on Manhattan's Upper West Side took the rare step of pulling a movie trailer from its screens after several complaints including reports of at least one crying patron.

United 93 (formerly titles Flight 93) is the first feature film to deal explicitly with the events of September 11, 2001, and is certain to ignite an emotional debate before and after it opens on April 28.

UK To Showcase Holographic Teachers

from The BBC

Scientists have developed technology to "teleport" holograms of teachers into the classroom.

Equipment which can beam the interactive image of a teacher into schools, where it can hold conversations and make eye contact with pupils, is to go on display at the BETT education technology exhibition next month.

Its creators at the Digital World Centre in Manchester believe it could be used to educate children living in remote areas, or to teach specialist lessons in minority subjets, which would otherwise be uneconomic. The technology used for the hologram is like the glass teleprompts used by politicians to deliver speeches. But instead of an image of words appearing to a speaker behind a podium, the full-length image of a teacher appears to children sitting in front of it.

The image is projected - via a signal on the internet - onto a glass laminate screen, which forms part of a mobile hologram. Because the screen is transparent, all children see is the full length image of a teacher, apparently standing in front of them.

The teacher can see the pupils via an invisible camera built into the lectern. The camera lens coincides with the apparent position of the teacher's eyes.

Dog Sticks Tongue in Paper Shredder

from The Sun News (Socastee, SC)

Sandy Clarke's boxer Cross lost "three or four chunks" of his tongue in late February when he stuck it into a shredder in her home office.

"The dog was screaming," said Clarke, who ran out and yelled for her husband after Cross became entangled. "I woke my daughter up screaming. It was very traumatic."

The incident lasted 10 to 15 minutes, with Cross finally being freed once the shredder was put in reverse instead of trying to pull him out.

"I didn't want more damage done," Clarke said.

The number of shredder accidents - usually involving small children - has caught the attention of national advocates who are now working to make safety standards better.