Why Asking for Directions May Not be a Good Idea

from the South Florida Sun Sentinel

An Illinois tourist who was asking for directions was shot and killed After dropping his son off at a shopping mall in South Florida. Ronald Gentile, 54, pulled over in the Coconut Grove area Saturday afternoon to ask for directions. Witnesses reported seeing Gentile roll down the window on his rented white Chevrolet Cobalt and a man dressed in black then apparently approached the vehicle, robbed and shot Gentile.

Gentile was in South Florida to celebrate his son's 17th birthday. He was supposed to spend Sunday morning watching Superman Returns with his son Paul, who turned 17 on Saturday.

Shortly after Gentile dropped off his son for work, the furniture salesman was driving to his ex-wife's Miami home and got lost in Coconut Grove, police theorize. They suspect Gentile pulled over his rental car at 5:30 p.m. Instead of offering help, a man dressed in black shot Gentile and ran off with some of his belongings. A witness saw Gentile stumble out of the bloodstained car and fall just a few feet away.

UPDATE Global Warming

All time record high temperatures broken in 2 cities and tied in another.

The record for Mt. Rushmore was previousl established in 1985 at 100 degrees. The record was tied yesterday. Also in SD, Maurine had a record of 106 back in 1975, but yesterday temperatures reached 112.

And in New Castle, Wyoming, the record of 106 was established back in 1995, but yesterday temperatures reached 106.

Top Ten List, continued

Lance Bass's recent coming out has put gay celebrities back in the headlines. So over the next few days, I would like to feature other celebs that just need to step out of the closet.

Mario Lopez

There have been rumors about this former Saved by the Bell star being gay for years. He gained major gay notoriety when he portrayed gay Olympic medalist Greg Louganis in Breaking the Surface.

Lopez started out as a dancer and even guest starred on The Golden Girls, a gay fav.

But probably the gayest thing that Mario has ever done was co-hosting the uber-gay talk show, The Other Half. On this show, together with Dick Clark and Danny Bonaduce, he male hosts talked about man feelings and women.

Anderson Cooper

There's not much to say about CNN's 360 anchor Anderson Cooper. My feelings are just intuitive. He has an uncanny sense of style and looked like a million dollars even in the middle of flooded New Orleans during the Katrina disaster. He's also extremely intelligent and his mother was famous couture designer Gloria Vanderbilt. Any he makes grey hair look totally fabulous; he's the total antithesis of American Idol Taylor Hicks.

Jodie Foster

Jodi Foster just plain looks like a big ol' dyke, plus she sometimes soulds like a man. Check out the vintage photo. In an interview once, Foster talked about spending an entire day naked in bed with Rob Lowe (TV's The West Wing) and how they laughed and fell asleep. She went on to say "it was such a great little brother-sister moment". Foster is also very elusive when questioned about her relationship with her husband. He is rarely seen with her at celebrity events.

Ryan Seacrest

This guy needs no explanation. He is as gay as a picnic basket. But just for fun, here's a few reasons:

* Couldn't bag Terri Hatcher, and she's a total slut

* "Seacrest Out" - Invents catch phrases

* Strangely proud of being metrosexual

* Experiments with facial hair

* Engages in cat fights with Simon Cowell

Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel has three counts of circumstantial evidence against him that places him under homo-suspicion. First, he's overly masculine and oftens acts out as if he has something to prove. The squeaky wheel gets the grease! He's also very promiscuous, almost to the level of a sociopath. And finally, he has been spotted hanging out with gay porn stars and has even been seen in gay bars. The picture is of him and Sebastion Bonnett, a noted gay adult film actor.

Once the actor was asked about his sexually, and he responded: "I’m not gonna put it out there on a magazine cover like some other actors. I come from the Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino code of silence."

Cleveland Public Water Cleaner than Fiji

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

A bottled water company has dropped its ad campaign that poked fun at Cleveland.
In national magazines, Fiji Water boasted that "The label says Fiji because it's not bottled in Cleveland."

The company has e-mailed an apology, saying the ad was supposed to be funny but clearly didn't meet that goal. Fiji Water had intended to continue the campaign until the end of the year but now says it will stop.

The back of the Fiji bottle contains information about trade winds purifying island water - water not affected by acid rain and other pollutants.

Cleveland's Water Department was so bothered it ran tests. It said it found the tap water contained no measurable arsenic - but Fiji Water had much higher levels, though still within federal limits. The department said Fiji water also had higher levels of other contaminants. The Cleveland Water Department said their test results showed Cleveland's treated drinking water is better quality than Fiji Water.

UPDATE George Michael

from BBC News

George Michael has said he is to take legal action against a man who claimed he had a gay encounter with the singer.

Allegations of "cruising" on London's Hampstead Heath were printed in the News of the World, but Michael said he would not sue the paper or its owner.

He does plan to sue photographers for harassment, however, and denied calling off a civil ceremony with his partner.

But he admitted seeking anonymous and no-strings sex at what he described as "the best cruising ground in London".

New Top 10 List, continued

Lance Bass's recent coming out has put gay celebrities back in the headlines. So over the next few days, I would like to feature other celebs that just need to step out of the closet.

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah's sexuality has recently been called into question because of her close friendship with Gayle King. King is a former televison anchor and now is editor-at-large for Oprah's magazine, O. In September, King will co-host an XM radio show entitled "Oprah and Friends," in which highlights from Gayle and Oprah's daily hour lonf telephone conversations will be highlighted and played for the listeners.

More recent rumors of Oprah working behind the scenes to cement King a job to replace Star Jones on The View, has forced Oprah and King to publically come forward on numerous occassions to deny they are gay.

Reportedly, Oprah has been making large payments to long time boyfreind (beard), Stedman Graham, to keep him from forcing the outting in an upcoming tell-all book. It has been reported that Stedman was furious to learn of Oprah and King's recent purchase of a Mass. mansion for which the two divas have been spending weekends together decorating.

Jake Gyllenhaal

Besides being overly sensitive, Jake Gyllenhaal has many questionable friendsips. His noted best friend is Matthew McConaughey (who I also put into question for being up for just about anything, especially since he is drunk like 99% of his awake time).

He's also been spotted with Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who recently split with Sheryl Crow. Lance's own sexuality has also been put into question. But as for Matt and Lance, I can't place them on my suspect list; I just don't have enough evidence.

Below is a picture of Jake with one of his best friends. Here they are walking their dogs together on the beach. This is very gay.

UPDATE Gas Prices and Record Profits

from CNN

Profits at Exxon Mobil surged 36 percent to a near record $10.4 billion in the second quarter as surging oil prices helped the world's largest publicly traded company soundly beat Wall Street forecasts.
The company's profit - which amounts to a cool $1,318 a second - is the second biggest ever reported by a U.S. company, behind only the $10.7 billion Exxon itself earned in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The earnings equaled $1.72 a share, topping the $1.64 a share analysts had forecast on average, according to First Call. Total revenue in the quarter was just over $99 billion.

The $1,318 a second would buy enough gasoline, even at the current $3 a gallon national average, to drive a Hummer H3 between Los Angeles and New York three times.

Surging oil prices helped Exxon in the quarter, when crude prices jumped 31 percent. In the chart (right), Exxon's shares (yellow) closely follow the price of crude oil (blue).

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

Gas stations in metro Detroit are charging about $3.15 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. This time last year, the national average for self-serve unleaded was $2.27 per gallon.

Army Dismisses Arabic Linguist for Being Gay

from MSNBC

decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was dismissed from the U.S. Army under the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy, though he says he never admitted being gay and his accuser was never identified.

Bleu Copas, 30, admitted he is gay, but said he was "outed" by a stream of anonymous e-mails to his superiors in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.

An eight-month Army investigation culminated in Copas' honorable discharge on Jan. 30 — less than four years after he enlisted, he said, out of a post-Sept. 11 sense of duty to his country.
He plans to appeal to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records.

The "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy, established in 1993, prohibits the military from inquiring about the sex lives of service members, but requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay. More than 11,000 service members have been dismissed under the policy, including 726 last year — an 11 percent jump from 2004 and the first increase since 2001. That’s less than a half-percent of the more than 2 million soldiers, sailors and Marines dismissed for all reasons since 1993.

Man Has 68 Pitbulls in Home

from the Wichita Eagle (Kansas)

It started with a tip: A social worker, accompanied by police, came to a door in north Wichita wanting to know whether there were children living in a small house with a lot of dogs.
The man who answered the door said no, but then the social worker and the cops heard the voices of children. The police forced their way in.

What they found were two children and a sight that startled them: 68 pit bull dogs, crowded in cages, in a house full of the sound of barking and the smell of dog urine.

Some of the dogs had scars, as though they had been fighting. Police believe the dogs were being sold on the Internet.

The children, ages 11 and 5, are now in protective custody.

The police found dozens of dogs kept in plastic cages, some together but most separated. Several more were found in the yard. The dogs, all pit bulls, were mostly adults.

The dogs were taken to the Wichita Animal Shelter. They will remain there pending prosecution

Marijuana Gumballs

from the Baltimore Examiner

At first glance, the yellow smiley face gumballs confiscated from Howard High School in Baltimore, MD seem innocent enough. But stuffed in the so-called "Greenades" was something that caught the attention of federal drug enforcement agents: marijuana.

The DEA recently released an intelligence bulletin about the gumballs.

County police said they charged three 17-year-old students at Howard High this year in the incident after a teacher alerted a school resource officer.

Howard County police turned the gumballs over to Maryland State Police, whose Forensic Sciences Division Laboratory in Pikesville determined each gumball contained approximately one gram of marijuana.

The instructions on the foil of the gumballs told users to chew for 30 minutes to one hour "before you would like receive your high and to chew for as long as possible, then swallow."

Lance Bass is Gay

from MSNBC

Lance Bass, band member of ’N Sync, says he’s gay and in a relationship with a reality show star.

Bass, who formed ’N Sync with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, tells People magazine that he didn’t earlier disclose his sexuality because he didn’t want to affect the group’s popularity.

The band went on hiatus in 2002. Bass has also found headlines for undertaking astronaut training and failing to raise money for a trip into space.

The singer says he’s in a "very stable" relationship with 32-year-old actor Reichen Lehmkuhl, winner of season four of CBS’ Amazing Race.

Bass and Fatone, 29, are developing a sitcom pilot inspired by the screwball comedy The Odd Couple, in which his character will be gay.

BREAKING NEWS

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

Police are searching for a man who walked into a Birmingham home and climbed into bed with a 6-year-old boy.

The boy woke up screaming inside his Ann Street home at about 2:30 a.m. on July 18, according to Birmingham police. The boy went and got his parents. When his parents confronted the man, he seemed confused and intoxicated.

The man rode off on his bicycle. Police have released a sketch of the culprit.

Anyone with information on the incident should contact Birmingham police at 248-644-3405.

Birmingham police also urge residents to keep their doors locked.

British Monopoly Eliminates Cash

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

If you're passing Go and want to collect $200, better bring a debit card. A British version of the classic Monopoly board game released this week substitutes a Visa-imprinted debit card for the stacks of yellow, blue and purple play money long hoarded by children worldwide.

British players might not be the only ones switching to plastic. Officials at Pawtucket-based Hasbro say they're considering a similar change for American versions.

In the new British version of Monopoly Here & Now, players type amounts into a palm-sized scanner and swipe their debit cards to seal the deal.

Man Dies After Roller Coaster Ride

from AP

52-year-old man who complained that he felt sick after riding a roller coaster at Busch Gardens died about two hours later in a hospital. Thomas M. Welch, 52, of Palm Harbor, was responsive and talking after riding the Gwazi roller coaster Monday morning, but quickly lost consciousness. Paramedics attempted CPR and used a defibrillator, but Welch was later pronounced dead.

Gwazi reaches 50 mph at its highest speed and drops from a 90-foot lift, but does not go upside down. The ride was closed briefly after the incident to make sure it was functioning properly.

London Considering Ban on Shirtless Men

from the Daily Mail

Men may be barred from baring their chests - and stomachs - in public under new local laws being considered by many London area town halls. They would stop men stripping off their shirts in crowded town centres and give powers to police to remove any who defy the cover-up laws.

The proposal has been inspired by the least attractive side effect of the heatwave - the tendency of a number of often middle-aged men to go about in nothing more than shorts. Last week there was a wave revulsion among most of the public at the summer's least welcome fashion trend.

Now local authorities have been circulated with a scheme for using by-laws to require shirts in town centres and to brand men who won't wear them as anti-social. The laws would operate in a similar manner to local statutes that ban drinking on the streets or which prevent gangs of youths from congregating.

BREAKING NEWS

Andrea Yates Not Guilty
from Breitbart

A jury found Andrea Yates not guilty by reason of insanity in the drowning deaths of her young children in the bathtub of their suburban home.

Yates will be committed to a state mental hospital, with periodic hearings before a judge to determine whether she should be released. If convicted, she would have faced life in prison.

Yates' attorneys never disputed that she drowned 6-month-old Mary, 2- year-old Luke, 3-year-old Paul, 5-year-old John and 7-year-old Noah in their Houston-area home in June 2001. But they said she suffered from severe postpartum psychosis and, in a delusional state, thought Satan was inside her and was trying to save them from hell.

This is the second trial for the 42-year-old suburban mother. In Yates' first murder trial, in 2002, the jury deliberated about four hours before finding her guilty. That conviction was overturned on appeal.

Americans Too Fat for X-Rays

from Reuters

More and more obese people are unable to get full medical care because they are either too big to fit into scanners, or their fat is too dense for X-rays or sound waves to penetrate. With 64 percent of the U.S. population either overweight or obese, the problem is worsening, but it represents a business opportunity for equipment makers and hospitals.

Radiologists have their own term for it when writing up reports: "These images are limited due to body habitus."

These scans are used to look for tumors, blood clots, broken limbs and other injuries and diseased organs.

16-y/o Allowed to Refuse Chemotherapy

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

A judge ruled Tuesday that a 16-year-old cancer patient who has refused conventional medical treatment does not have to report to a hospital as previously ordered and scheduled a trial to settle the dispute.

Abraham Cherrix, who is battling Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system, refused a second round of chemotherapy when he learned early this year that the cancer had returned. Abraham chose to instead go on a sugar-free, organic diet and take herbal supplements under the supervision of a clinic in Mexico.

A social worker asked a juvenile court judge to require the teen to continue conventional treatment, and the judge on Friday ordered Abraham to report to a hospital Tuesday. Accomack County Circuit Court Judge Glen A. Taylor set aside that order.

"I feel free today. I was let off the leash," Abraham said after Taylor agreed to a stay and set a trial date of Aug. 16.

Taylor also ended joint custody of Abraham between his parents and social services officials.

In a similar case last year, the parents of 13-year-old Hodgkin's disease patient Katie Wernecke won the right in November to make all her medical decisions after a court fight with Texas child welfare officials. Doctors had recommended chemotherapy and radiation; her father favored a program of intravenous vitamin C.

from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Hodgkin lymphoma is now considered to be one of the most curable forms of cancer. Many patients with Hodgkin lymphoma are cured after initial treatment. For the smaller number of patients who may have a recurrence of the disease or a relapse, re-treatment with chemotherapy is often successful.

The five-year relative survival rate for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma has increased from 73 percent in 1975-1977 to 86 percent in 1996-2002.

Hodgkin lymphoma is usually treated chemotherapy and "involved" field radiation today.

UPDATE George Michael's Gay Wedding Cancelled

from the Evening Standard (London)

George Michael and his American lover Kenny Goss have called off their gay 'wedding' after the pop star was discovered having an illicit encounter with a stranger in a London park.


The couple had been looking forward to an Elton John-style wedding ceremony followed by a lavish party to mark their 10th anniversary.

But plans for the nuptials have been called off after the singer was seen emerging from bushes following a sexual encounter with a pot-bellied, jobless van driver.

New Site

Use this site when you are searching for anything in the Motor City.

www.detroitathome.com

Feeding Homeless Outlawed in Las Vegas

from the Las Vegas Review-Journal

If someone looks like he could use a meal, be warned: Giving him a sandwich in a Las Vegas park could land you in jail.

The Las Vegas City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday that bans providing food or meals to the indigent for free or a nominal fee in parks.

The measure is an attempt to stop so-called "mobile soup kitchens" from operating in parks, where residents say they attract the homeless and render the city facilities unusable by families.

The ACLU of Nevada called the ordinance blatantly unconstitutional, unenforceable and the latest attempt by the city to hide and harass the homeless instead of constructively addressing their plight.

The city's new ordinance, which officials could begin enforcing as early as Friday, defines an indigent as a "person whom a reasonable ordinary person would believe to be entitled to apply for or receive assistance" from the government under state law. Mayor Oscar Goodman, who has been a vocal advocate of cracking down on the homeless in city parks, dismissed questions about how marshals, who patrol city parks, will identify the homeless in order to enforce the ordinance, the violation of which would be a misdemeanor.

Oprah Makes Official Statements on Relationship with Gayle

from MyWay News

Oprah Winfrey and her friend Gayle King want to be clear: they're not gay. In the August issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, the talk-show host explains that some people misunderstand her close friendship with King.
"I understand why people think we're gay," she says. "There isn't a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it - how can you be this close without it being sexual?"
In a long article, Winfrey, 52, and King converse about their 30 years of friendship and "four-times-a-day phone calls."

King, who hosted "The Gayle King Show" in 1997, is an editor of O, the Oprah Magazine.

The two friends say they would have no problem telling the public if they were in a sexual relationship.

"The truth is, if we were gay, we would tell you, because there's nothing wrong with being gay," says King.

Says Winfrey: "Something about this relationship feels otherworldly to me, like it was designed by a power and a hand greater than my own. Whatever this friendship is, it's been a very fun ride."

Recent rumors elude to Gayle replacing Star Jones on "The View."

CBS to Place Logos on Eggs

from The New York Times

In September, CBS plans to start using a new place to advertise its fall television lineup: your breakfast. The network plans to announce today that it will place laser imprints of its trademark eye insignia, as well as logos for some of its shows, on eggs — 35 million of them in September and October.

CBS’s copywriters are referring to the medium as "egg-vertising," hinting at the wordplay they have in store. Some of their planned slogans: CSI ("Crack the Case on CBS"); The Amazing Race ("Scramble to Win on CBS"); and Shark ("Hard-Boiled Drama"). Variations on the ad for its Monday night lineup of comedy shows include "Shelling Out Laughs," "Funny Side Up" and "Leave the Yolks to Us. "

EggFusion, which was founded in 2001, started production last year with one egg company, Radlo Foods, which has since produced 30 million Born Free brand farm-raised eggs with etching. In May, EggFusion landed its first large grocery chain, A.& P., which will use the imprints on 400,000 America’s Choice conventional eggs sold each day in A.& P., Waldbaum’s, Food Emporium and Super Fresh stores from Connecticut to Maryland.

Kitten Born With 2 Faces

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

A bizarre animal was discovered in Ohio last week -- a kitten was born with two faces.
The kitten was born Wednesday morning. It has two mouths that meow in unison, two noses and four eyes that have not opened yet. There are two other kittens from the litter, but there was only one cat born with two faces. A two-faced kitten is extremely rare and there's no real explanation as to why it would have happened.

UPDATE Illegal Immigration

from The Columbus Dispatch

Homeland Security agents took to Ohio streets the past week, arresting 154 undocumented immigrants. The agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo and Detroit came heavily armed and loaded with files and warrants for deportation. They took in immigrants from 30 countries and every continent save Antarctica. Among those arrested, 82 were from Mexico, followed by 19 from El Salvador and seven from Mauritania.

The men and women had been caught entering the country illegally and were ordered to court but never showed or had been ordered deported but never left, authorities said. Twenty had been charged with crimes. One was a reputed member of the Mexican street gang MS13.

No recent event spurred the sweep.

Among those taken were immigrants who had been in the U.S. for a decade or more. They must leave homes, jobs and maybe children born here who are U.S. citizens. In all, the agents arrested 68 they’d sought and 86 they came across. The arrested were taken to the Seneca County jail; 72 Mexicans have already been flown home. Agents escorted them and handed them over to authorities in their homelands.

"Operation Return to Sender"
from KTUL Oklahoma City TV 8

A federal task force swept through Tulsa Wednesday, netting dozens of illegal immigrants. Dubbed 'Operation Return To Sender', it's being run by the Department of Homeland Security.

This was all part of Operation Return to Sender, a nationwide crackdown by US Immigration and customs enforcement to apprehend illegal aliens with federal warrants. It began May 26th and has netted over 21-hundred aliens. Today's target was Tulsa. Three passengers were off-loaded from a white van entering the sheriff's barbed wire yard when we were there. Roughly forty are expected to be taken into custody by days end. Statewide, approximately 120 illegals are earmarked for arrest. Specific crimes are unknown, but of those arrested in other states, 146 were for sex offenses, 367 for gangs, and 640 fugitives previously told to leave the US.