Animated 'Delgo' Has Worst Wide Release Opening Ever

Don't feel too left out if you missed seeing the animated adventure
movie "Delgo" this past weekend. No one did. In fact, the movie broke
a record for having the worst opening ever for a film in wide release.
"Delgo" earned a measly $511,920 this weekend on 2,160 screens, not
even breaking the top ten. That's an average of $237 per screen for
the three days. If you figure there were five screenings a day, and
assume ticket prices are about $8, that comes out to two people in the
theater per showing. By comparison, the Golden Globe-nominated drama
"Doubt" earned roughly the same amount of money, but it was only in 15
theaters.

This is all too bad because the story of the making of "Delgo" has the
makings of a great Hollywood underdog story. 36-year-old entrepreneur
Marc Adler decided he wanted to direct and produce a $40 million
computer animated kids' flick completely independent of Tinseltown
behemoths like Disney and Dreamworks.

Starting in 2001, Adler and his small Atlanta-based animation company
Fathom Studios toiled for years on a tight budget. They lined up an
impressive, if eclectic, cast of voice actors including Freddie Prinze
Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Val Kilmer, Malcolm McDowell, Kelly Ripa,
and Anne Bancroft in her final role (she died in 2005). And when Adler
couldn't get a Hollywood studio interested in his movie, he raised
eyebrows by releasing it himself through distributor-for-hire
Freestyle Releasing. It was a huge risk; one that ultimately didn't
pay off. There wasn't the sort of marketing budget needed to make a
film stand out in the already crowded holiday movie season.

Another problem was the quality of the movie. Or lack thereof. The
story -- star-crossed lovers squaring off against an evil queen on a
fanciful world divided between a reptilian people who can move rocks
with their minds and a sprite-like folk who like dragons -- borrows
liberally from "Star Wars," "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Dark
Crystal," just without the charm and intelligence. The script required
the efforts of six, count 'em, six screenwriters, including Adler. The
critics trashed it, giving it a dreadful D average on Yahoo!, which
proved to be lethal.

"Delgo" is not the only major wide release bomb of the year. Three of
the ten worst openings for films in over 2000 locations came out this
year. The raunchy teen sex comedy "College" and the thriller
"Deception," starring Hugh Jackson and Ewan MacGregor, both tanked,
garnering the sixth and ninth worst openings ever respectively. In
both of those cases, the studios dumped the movies with little fanfare
rather than spend millions on marketing a stinker.

Bush sneaks through host of laws to undermine Obama

After spending eight years at the helm of one of the most
ideologically driven administrations in American history, George W.
Bush is ending his presidency in characteristically aggressive
fashion, with a swath of controversial measures designed to reward
supporters and enrage opponents.

By the time he vacates the White House, he will have issued a record
number of so-called 'midnight regulations' - so called because of the
stealthy way they appear on the rule books - to undermine the
administration of Barack Obama, many of which could take years to
undo.

Dozens of new rules have already been introduced which critics say
will diminish worker safety, pollute the environment, promote gun use
and curtail abortion rights. Many rules promote the interests of large
industries, such as coal mining or energy, which have energetically
supported Bush during his two terms as president. More are expected
this week.

America's attention is focused on the fate of the beleaguered car
industry, still seeking backing in Washington for a
multi-billion-dollar bail-out. But behind the scenes, the 'midnight'
rules are being rushed through with little fanfare and minimal media
attention. None of them would be likely to appeal to the incoming
Obama team.

The regulations cover a vast policy area, ranging from healthcare to
car safety to civil liberties. Many are focused on the environment and
seek to ease regulations that limit pollution or restrict harmful
industrial practices, such as dumping strip-mining waste.

The Bush moves have outraged many watchdog groups. 'The regulations we
have seen so far have been pretty bad,' said Matt Madia, a regulatory
policy analyst at OMB Watch. 'The effects of all this are going to be
severe.'

Bush can pass the rules because of a loophole in US law allowing him
to put last-minute regulations into the Code of Federal Regulations,
rules that have the same force as law. He can carry out many of his
political aims without needing to force new laws through Congress.
Outgoing presidents often use the loophole in their last weeks in
office, but Bush has done this far more than Bill Clinton or his
father, George Bush sr. He is on track to issue more 'midnight
regulations' than any other previous president.

Many of these are radical and appear to pay off big business allies of
the Republican party. One rule will make it easier for coal companies
to dump debris from strip mining into valleys and streams. The process
is part of an environmentally damaging technique known as
'mountain-top removal mining'. It involves literally removing the top
of a mountain to excavate a coal seam and pouring the debris into a
valley, which is then filled up with rock. The new rule will make that
dumping easier.

Another midnight regulation will allow power companies to build
coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks. Yet another
regulation will allow coal-fired stations to increase their emissions
without installing new anti-pollution equipment.

The Environmental Defence Fund has called the moves a 'fire sale of
epic size for coal'. Other environmental groups agree. 'The only
motivation for some of these rules is to benefit the business
interests that the Bush administration has served,' said Ed Hopkins, a
director of environmental quality at the Sierra Club. A case in point
would seem to be a rule that opens up millions of acres of land to oil
shale extraction, which environmental groups say is highly pollutant.

There is a long list of other new regulations that have gone onto the
books. One lengthens the number of hours that truck drivers can drive
without rest. Another surrenders government control of rerouting the
rail transport of hazardous materials around densely populated areas
and gives it to the rail companies.

One more chips away at the protection of endangered species. Gun
control is also weakened by allowing loaded and concealed guns to be
carried in national parks. Abortion rights are hit by allowing
healthcare workers to cite religious or moral grounds for opting out
of carrying out certain medical procedures.

A common theme is shifting regulation of industry from government to
the industries themselves, essentially promoting self-regulation. One
rule transfers assessment of the impact of ocean-fishing away from
federal inspectors to advisory groups linked to the fishing industry.
Another allows factory farms to self-regulate disposal of pollutant
run-off.

The White House denies it is sabotaging the new administration. It
says many of the moves have been openly flagged for months. The spate
of rules is going to be hard for Obama to quickly overcome. By issuing
them early in the 'lame duck' period of office, the Bush
administration has mostly dodged 30- or 60-day time limits that would
have made undoing them relatively straightforward.

Obama's team will have to go through a more lengthy process of
reversing them, as it is forced to open them to a period of public
consulting. That means that undoing the damage could take months or
even years, especially if corporations go to the courts to prevent
changes.

At the same time, the Obama team will have a huge agenda on its plate
as it inherits the economic crisis. Nevertheless, anti-midnight
regulation groups are lobbying Obama's transition team to make sure
Bush's new rules are changed as soon as possible. 'They are aware of
this. The transition team has a list of things they want to undo,'
said Madia.

Gas Price Decline Over!

An honour guard stands next to an OPEC poster before the arrival of
Algeria's president Abdelaziz … Crude prices sank again Monday ahead
of an OPEC meeting where huge production cuts are expected, though
retail gasoline prices rose over the weekend for the first time in
nearly three months.

After hitting a low of $1.6559 gallon Friday, gas prices rose over the
weekend to break an 86-day streak begun in July after prices topped
$4.11 per gallon, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

With average wholesale costs rising 20 cents per gallon or more since
late November, "there's a sense that the Autumn low of $1.6559 gal may
indeed represent the 2008 low water mark for street prices," OPIS
analyst Tom Kloza said in a note.

Light, sweet crude for January on the New York Mercantile Exchange
peaked briefly above $50 a barrel early Monday, but then fell $1.77 to
settle at $44.51 with more dour economic news from both Asia and the
United States.

Investors were looking at more signals of deteriorating demand, rather
than at any OPEC action to cut supply, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at
Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.

"They really can't surprise the market," he said of OPEC. "When we
trade commodities, we have the tendency to buy the rumor and sell the
fact, and of course right now we've done a pretty good job in pricing
in the OPEC rumors."

On Monday, Toyota said it would indefinitely delay a new assembly
plant in Mississippi due to auto industry downturn.

Growth in China's factory output fell to its lowest level in nearly
seven years as trade plunged.

In London, January Brent crude fell $1.81 to settle at $44.60.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for
40 percent of global supply, has signaled it plans to announce a
substantial reduction of output quotas at its meeting Wednesday in
Algeria.

But in a hint of what could come out of the ministers' gathering, OPEC
President Chakib Khelil evoked OPEC's last Algeria meeting four years
ago, where "we reduced by 2 million barrels."

"It was a historic conference, and it enabled us to meet the challenge
of falling markets," he told reporters.

Kuwaiti oil minister Mohammed al-Eleim said Monday that OPEC was
"undoubtedly inclined" to cut production. But he added that any
decision would balance the need for a cut with its impact on the
ailing world economy and producer nations' need for revenue to fund
development projects.

Analysts have questioned whether OPEC members will follow through with
any announced cut.

"They're talking about a severe cut, but the question is their
discipline," said Christoffer Moltke-Leth, head of sales trading at
investment firm Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. "Unless they really
surprise the market, this cut may not support the price much."

Flynn said oil has also been affected by falling equity markets.

"You can talk about OPEC cutting production, but if the economy goes
into the tank there's not going to be nobody left to buy their oil
anyway," he said.

Oil has jumped from a four-year low earlier this month of $40.50 a
barrel on expectations that an OPEC output reduction could be the
catalyst to stabilize the oil price, which has fallen 65 percent since
July.

Investors largely ignored two previous cuts this year that pulled a
total of about 2 million barrels of oil from the market each day,
focusing instead on a slowing global economy that's hurt crude demand.

More bad macro-economic and company news from the U.S. and Europe over
the coming weeks will likely push oil prices lower, Moltke-Leth said.

"I expect crude to continue its slide and I don't think OPEC is going
to prevent that," Moltke-Leth said. "Demand destruction in the major
economies will still very much be on the agenda. We could go as low as
$30 a barrel."

From Sunday to Monday, the national average for regular gas fell
three-tenths of a penny overnight to $1.66 a gallon, according to auto
club AAA, the OPIS and Wright Express.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures fell 4 cents to settle at
$1.0369. Heating oil fell 3.3 cents to settle at $1.4601 a gallon
while natural gas for January delivery rose 15.7 cents to settle at
$5.645 per 1,000 cubic feet.

McCain declines to back Palin for 2012

John McCain pointedly refused to say Sunday that he would back former
running mate Sarah Palin if she runs for president in 2012, saying
there are plenty of other good people in the Republican Party to
consider.

"Oh, no," McCain said on ABC's This Week program when asked if Palin
could count on McCain's support if she seeks the Republican
presidential nomination.

"Listen, I have the greatest appreciation for Governor Palin and her
family, and it was a great joy to know them. She invigorated our
campaign. She was just down in Georgia and invigorated their campaign.

"But I can't say something like that. We've got some great other young
governors. I think you're going to see the governors assume a greater
leadership role in our Republican Party."

As examples, he mentioned Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Utah Gov.
Jon Huntsman.

Pressed by moderator George Stephanopoulos, McCain joked that it's
still early to expect him to take sides so soon after losing his own
campaign.

"My corpse is still warm, you know?" he said.

Girl asks Santa to stop her relative's molestation

A 55-year-old Pharr resident was arrested after a young relative wrote
a letter to Santa Claus wishing that the man would stop molesting her.

The 9-year-old girl wrote the letter and turned it in at Cesar Chavez
Elementary School.

A counselor at the school "reported that the student had turned in a
wish list to Santa wishing for her (relative) to stop touching her and
her sister," according to a probable cause complaint.

Pharr police investigators believe Andres Enrique Cantu molested the
girl throughout a four-year period, according to the complaint.

The Monitor is not disclosing Cantu's relationship to the victim to
protect her identity.

The years of sexual abuse allegedly occurred in the girl's own bedroom
while family members slept.

Cantu was arrested Friday and charged with continuous sexual abuse of
a young child. His bond was set at $100,000. If convicted, Cantu could
face 25 to 99 years in prison.

The girl wrote her letter to Santa Dec. 11.

The following day, she was interviewed at the Children's Advocacy
Center in Edinburg, which works with abused children. There, she told
authorities the details of her molestation, according the complaint.

The counselor who reported the situation to police could not be
reached for comment Monday. Pharr police investigators also could not
be reached to discuss the alleged crime.

The charge against Cantu is a new one, created by the Texas
legislature last year. It is part of a series of changes to the penal
code called Jessica's Law, designed to heighten punishments of sexual
predators.

Advocates of blind fault 'SNL' skit about N.Y. Gov. Paterson

The National Federation of the Blind says it considers NBC's Saturday
Night Live skit making fun of New York Gov. David Paterson an attack
on all blind Americans.
Federation spokesman Chris Danielsen says the portrayal on Saturday's
television show suggesting Paterson as befuddled and disoriented
because of his blindness is "absolutely wrong."

The skit features SNL actor Fred Armisen as Paterson, who must appoint
someone to replace Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Armisen says he has three criteria: economic experience, upstate
influence and someone with a disability and unprepared for the job —
like himself. He holds up a chart illustrating the state's job losses
upside down.

Paterson says he can take a joke, but adds that most blind people
can't find work and the skit's "third-grade" humor won't help matters.

Russian warships headed for Cuba

Russia said on Monday it was sending a group of warships to Soviet-era
ally Cuba in its latest defiant naval move around US waters, part of a
drive to revive old Cold War ties with Latin America.

The warships will visit Havana on December 19-23, the navy said,
continuing a tour that has already taken in US foes Venezuela and
Nicaragua and seen the ships pass through the Panama Canal for the
first time since World War II.

"This will be the first visit to Cuba by Russian warships since the
Soviet era," the Russian naval headquarters said in a statement.

The destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two other ships already held
exercises with Venezuela's navy in the Caribbean Sea last month.

The naval manoeuvres close to US waters are seen as a riposte to
Washington's own moves in Russia's Soviet-era sphere of influence,
including in the Black Sea.

US officials have said they see no military threat from Russia's naval
manoeuvres but continue to keep a close eye on the situation.

The naval visit to Cuba, scene of a dramatic 1962 stand-off between
Moscow and Washington over nuclear missiles, comes as tensions over US
missile defence plans in eastern Europe have prompted talk of a
renewed Cold War among some analysts.

Last month Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made a tour of Latin
America where he visited Cuba and Venezuela and met former Cuban
leader Fidel Castro, part of efforts to revive what he called
"privileged relations" from Soviet times.

Last week he also received Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner,
another Latin American critic of the United States.

Nicaragua's leftist President Daniel Ortega is to visit Moscow on
Thursday, after he risked Washington's wrath this summer by following
Russia in recognizing two Moscow-backed rebel regions of Georgia as
independent.

The Russian moves in Central and Latin America follow heightened
tensions over Russia's military onslaught in Georgia, a close US ally.

Russia strongly objected to US naval deployments off Georgia's Black
Sea coast, accusing the United States of covertly rearming Georgia, a
charge Washington denied.

On Monday the Russian navy avoided direct reference to the United
States, saying that visits to Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela
signified "long-term prospects for developing cooperation among these
countries' navies in the interest of building stability and trust on
the world's oceans."

During the Cuba visit, residents will be welcomed aboard the Russian
ships and Russian officers will lay flowers at a memorial to Cuban
campaigner for independence and critic of US expansionism Jose Marti,
the navy said.

Last week the navy said it was sending ships from its Pacific Fleet to
join ships from the Northern Fleet for exercises with India's navy and
in parallel would continue anti-piracy operations off Somalia.

Despite the growing Russian assertiveness, defence experts have said
Russia's navy remains severely weakened following years of post-Soviet
neglect.

That impression was reinforced by the inadvertent fatal poisoning last
month of 20 people aboard a Russian nuclear-powered submarine that was
undergoing tests off the Pacific coast.

Zimbabwea Students Face Hard Times

Students at Fort Hare University, South Africa, have turned to menial
jobs such as car-washing, security guarding and street vending to earn
a living after the government failed to send them money to return
home.

Worse still, the students who are on government scholarships have
found themselves living in the open after the university authorities
chucked them out of the institution's accommodation they had been
offered after campus closed for the festive season.

The university, where President Robert Mugabe was once a student,
closed its doors for the year a fortnight ago and authorities advised
the Zimbabwean students to return home for the festive period.
However, the government, stung by critical foreign currency shortages,
has failed to come to the rescue of the students.

Parents who spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent said they were disturbed
by the government's failure to send home the students when it was the
state bankrolling their studies at Fort Hare.

"My child is stuck in South Africa and the government is not taking
action," a parent who asked for anonymity said. "They did not even
bother to tell us that they have no money or transport to send our
children back. Right now, I don't know how my child is surviving
without food or shelter. It is very worrying."

Criticism and complaints have dogged the scholarship programme over
the years, especially in the manner the government selects
beneficiaries.

Complaints of favouritism and nepotism have rocked the once efficient
programme whose major intentions have been to support underprivileged
students.

The programme has of late become a Zanu PF project meant to buy
loyalty and votes.

Mugabe initiated the scholarship and has since established similar
programmes with the universities of Rhodes, KwaZulu Natal,
Witwatersrand, Cape Peninsula, and Walter Sisulu.

In 2008 alone the government through the presidential scholarships
sent more than 481 students to South African universities.

While the government has expanded the presidential scholarship
programme, it has ironically slashed financial support to students at
local institutions owing to the crunch financial situation back home.

Student riots over payouts are now the order of day at various
institutions of higher learning.

Lecturers' strikes over poor salaries and working conditions have also
become a permanent feature in the education sector, painting a gloomy
picture of the future of education in Zimbabwe.

Efforts to get a comment from the coordinator of the presidential
scholarship fund Chris Mushohwe and Higher Education minister Stan
Mudenge were fruitless as they were reportedly out of their offices.

Former Sen. Fred Thompson plans return to acting

Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson best known on TV for his role as a gruff district attorney on NBC's "Law & Order," dropped out of the crowded GOP primaries in January after his much-anticipated presidential campaign failed to gain strong support among conservatives. And now he's going back to the small screen after his foray into Republican presidential politics over the last year.

He campaigned heavily for eventual nominee John McCain, and had recently tried to gain support to be in charge of the Republican National Committee. But his former finance chairman, B.C. "Scooter" Clippard, said Thompson told him Wednesday that he was returning to acting and
dropping his RNC bid. "He seriously considered it, but he called and said that it was not in the cards," Clippard said.

Clippard said he did not know which television programs might be interested in Thompson. "He has some wonderful opportunities back in the television market that probably financially far outweigh being chair of the RNC," Clippard said.

Thompson, 66, was a lawyer and character actor before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1993, only to turn his back on politics after his first full term in favor of a full-time acting career in 2002. And while his presidential ambitions didn't pan out, at least Thompson got to play the commander in chief as Ulysses S. Grant in the 2007 TV movie "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."

Thompson began his acting career playing himself in the film "Marie" in 1985, about a high-profile legal case he handled in Tennessee.

Testimony In Murder Trial Begins for Rapper T.I.

Rap star Clifford "T.I." Harris is charged with shooting and killing Philant Johnson, an assistant to T.I. two years ago following a concert appearance in Cincinnati.

He took the stand in a Hamilton County courtroom Friday to testify for the prosecution in the murder trial of 34-year-old Hosea Thomas.

The shooting occurred as T.I. and his entourage were leaving a concert after-party at the Club Ritz. Prosecutors say that T.I. and Johnson were in two vans heading South on Interstate 75, when they were chased by a Jeep Cherokee, when the shooting occurred in May of 2006. T.I.
says his security people tried to keep him away from the fight. Security for the Club Ritz wanted to pull him away, but Harris says he resisted, telling them, "I am straight with you, you should be dealing with what's going on."

"I noticed headlights, you know, trying to get around and get into the lane of oncoming traffic making efforts to pull up along side of us. Basically, me and Ron was having the same conversation that I just told you. 'If a fight brake out, I'm cool. You need to go make sure
everyone else is alright so we can leave. Don't just stand here with me and do nothing.' So Ron and I were having that discussion. And I also noticed headlights and I attempted to bring it to Ron's attention. 'Do you see what's going on around you? Are you looking?' And he said, 'Yeah, I got it, I got it.' He kept talking, kept talking, and before I knew it, shots rang out," the rapper describes.

Three members of T.I.'s entourage were injured during the gun battle between the cars on the interstate. Thomas faces charges of murder and felonious assault, among other charges. T.I. admitted on the stand that he faces federal gun charges in connection with a previous
unrelated incident.

Among the first questions to T.I. was to describe his relationship with Johnson. T.I. says he grew up in Atlanta with Johnson, who he describes as "my oldest living friend." T.I. says Johnson's family and his family knew each other well. Johnson helped arrange personal business for T.I. as well as made touring arrangements for T.I.'s entourage. T.I. also described the fight that broke out at the Club Ritz nightclub in Roselawn before the shooting incident. He told the jury, "At first it started out with 5 to 6 people, then it escalated to 15 to 20 people, then 30."

Islamists say they'll fight Somali pirates

In the past two weeks Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates have
seized eight vessels including the huge Saudi supertanker. Several
hundred crew are now in the hands of Somali pirates. The pirates dock
the hijacked ships near the eastern and southern Somali coast and
negotiate for ransom.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said today that the Saudi government
was not and would not negotiate with pirates, but what the ship's
owners did was up to them.

A radical Islamic group in Somalia said today that it would fight the
pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of
crude oil. Abdelghafar Musa, a fighter with al-Shabab who claims to
speak on behalf of all Islamic fighters in the Horn of Africa nation,
said ships belonging to Muslim countries should not be seized.

The Somali pirates have the support of their communities and rogue
members of the government. Often dressed in military fatigues, pirates
travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger ships
that tow them far out to sea. They use satellite navigational and
communications equipment and an intimate knowledge of local waters,
clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.
They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket
launchers and grenades -- weaponry that is readily available
throughout Somalia.

Attempt by Germany to Ban Scientology Dropped

Germany is dropping its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after finding
insufficient evidence of illegal activity, security officials said
Friday. Domestic intelligence services will continue to monitor the
group, officials said.

The German branch of the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology has
been under observation by domestic intelligence services for more than
a decade. Top security officials asked state governments in December
to begin gathering information on whether they had sufficient grounds
to seek a ban.

The Church of Scientology welcomed the ministers' decision to stop
seeking a ban as the "only one possible." "There never was a legal
basis to open such proceedings," said Sabine Weber, a spokeswoman for
Scientology in Germany. Scientology further called on officials to end
the observation, and what it called "the discrimination and the
harassment that go along with it."

Germany has said it considers Scientology to be in conflict with the
principles of the nation's constitution, calling it less a church than
a business that uses coercion to take advantage of vulnerable people.

A report on extremism last charged that Scientology "seeks to limit or
rescind basic and human rights, such as the right to develop one's
personality and the right to be treated equally."

Mukasey checks out of hospital, returns to DOJ

Attorney General Michael Mukasey was given a "clean bill of health"
and went back to work Friday after his harrowing collapse at a
late-night dinner speech.

The 67-year-old Mukasey, accompanied by his wife, Susan, told
reporters and cameras at midday Friday that he felt "excellent" as he
stepped into a van for a ride back to the Justice Department.

Mukasey never transferred his authority to a deputy during the time
when he was rushed to George Washington University Hospital late
Thursday and while there under observation during the night. He passed
a host of tests Friday, he said, including a treadmill stress test, an
MRI and a CT scan.

"As you may have heard, I collapsed briefly last night at the
conclusion of a speech," the retired federal judge said in a
late-morning e-mail to his departmental staff.

"All tests at the hospital have come back with good results, and I
feel fine," Mukasey's e-mail said. "Thank you for your good wishes and
your good work. It has been and remains an honor to serve with you."

Florida teen kills self on live webcam

Abraham Biggs Jr., 19, was found in the bedroom of his home in
Pembroke Pines, Florida, on Wednesday and an autopsy showed he died of
a toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to
treat anxiety and insomnia, the Broward County Medical Examiner's
Office said. He had committed suicide by drug overdose in front of a
webcam streaming live video to the Internet and some viewers may have
egged him on, authorities said on Friday.

"We have ruled it a suicide. Part of the terminal event was recorded
on a website and there was streaming video," said Dr. Steve Cina,
deputy chief medical examiner of Broward County. A police spokesman
said detectives were investigating the case but would not release any
details.

Biggs had written blogs about his intentions and some of the viewers
who were watching the event live may have goaded him on, Cina said.
"There is some indication of that, yes," he said. In a purported
suicide note posted by Miami television station WPLG on its website,
Biggs said: "I hate myself and I hate living." The note said he had
"thought about and attempted suicide many times in the past."

The Miami Herald newspaper said another suicide in Broward County was
broadcast live on the Internet a few years ago. Last year, a
42-year-old man killed himself in front of a webcam in what was
believed to be Britain's first suicide on the Internet. Viewers saw
him climb onto a chair, tie a rope around a ceiling joist and hang
himself.

Who's gonna deal? Madonna and Guy Ritchie

Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce Friday.

Neither appeared at the brief court session in which "Ciccone M L v
Ritchie G S" was one of 17 cases given a preliminary decree. After six
weeks and a day, the divorce can become final.

The decree said the divorce was granted on the basis of Ritchie's
"unreasonable behavior," but did not elaborate.

British news media reported, without identifying the sources of their
information, that the celebrity couple had reached a settlement that
would see the pop superstar keep the majority of her estimated 300
million pound ($445 million) fortune.

Reports in the Evening Standard and the Times of London said the
couple had also reached a deal regarding their two children: Rocco, 8,
and David Banda, 3, who was adopted from Malawi in 2006.

The newspapers said the two boys will split their time between Britain
and the United States, while Lourdes -- Madonna's 12-year-old daughter
from a previous relationship with personal trainer Carlos Leon -- will
live with her mother in America.

As far as division of assets, Guy reportedly keeps the couple's
sprawling $20 million English estate, while Madonna gets the $14
million London pad.

Requests for comment from representatives for the couple were not returned.

Madonna and Ritchie, director of "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two
Smoking Barrels," married in December 2000 at Skibo Castle in the
Scottish Highlands.

Palin talks turkey while workers slaughter one in the background

Aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential
nominee, should do a better job picking the locations for her
on-camera interviews. While the GOP vice presidential nominee talked
politics after pardoning a turkey for Thanksgiving, the camera caught
workers slaughtering turkeys in the background.

For what it's worth, President Bush is set to pardon a turkey of his
own next week. We don't expect to see any blood and guts during that
event.

GM Execs get criticized then return leased jets

General Motors Corp(GM.N) will return two of its leased corporate jets
amid intense criticism in Washington this week on the luxury travel
arrangements of its chief executive even as the company pleads for
federal aid.

CEO Rick Wagoner was in the capital to testify on the company's dire
financial situation but his testimony was overshadowed by irate
lawmakers who blasted him for flying on a private jet to ask for
public funds and failing to make personal sacrifices in exchange for
federal assistance.

Chief executives from Ford Motor Co, and Chrysler LLC, who were also
there to plead for $25 billion in federal aid, came under fire too for
flying to Washington in private jets. GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said
on Friday GM decided to return the aircraft because of a "really
aggressive cutback in travel." Wilkinson said the decision to return
the leased corporate jets was made before this week's hearings and
that the company in September returned two other of the seven jets it
had at the beginning of the year.

"There is a perception issue," Wilkinson said of Wagoner's travel to
Washington on a private jet. "We need to be very sensitive to that
going forward." He, however, said the company has not decided on what
mode of transportation Wagoner would take if had to travel to
Washington again.

Wagoner and Ford CEO Alan Mulally are required by their companies to
fly by private aircraft for security reasons, according to company
documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The
policy for Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli is not required to be
disclosed because the company is not publicly traded.

Skeptical lawmakers took to task the three CEOs for their luxurious
travel arrangements at congressional committee hearings. "Couldn't you
have downgraded to first class or something, or jet-pooled or
something to get here?" Rep. Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat, asked
the executives at a hearing held by the U.S. House Financial Services
Committee. Even Democrats who said they were sympathetic to the
automakers' plight expressed frustration that the executives used
private jets while professing ruthless cost-cutting measures.

A Chrysler spokesman said the automaker also leases or charters jets.
He, however, declined to comment on whether the company was rethinking
the use of private jets for executive travel, saying it was a "private
matter." Ford did not have an immediate comment on its corporate jet
policy. According to Ford's proxy, CEO Mulally's compensation
included $752,203 in 2007 for personal use of company aircraft. About
two years ago, the head of Ford's North American operations, Mark
Fields, gave up use of a corporate jet for personal travel to his home
in Florida after the arrangement came under criticism at a time when
the automaker was losing billions and slashing jobs. He now flies
first class on commercial planes.

al Qaeda Video: Humiliate Bush

Hope these guys don't come to my town.  In the meantime, Libi, one of the top al Qaeda commanders has called for President George W. Bush and the Republicans to be "humiliated," without endorsing any party in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, according to a video posted on the Internet.

The remarks were the first comments from a leading al Qaeda figure referring, albeit indirectly, to the U.S. elections. Muslim clerics often end sermons by calling on God to guide and support Muslims and help defeat their enemies.

"O God, humiliate Bush and his party, O Lord of the Worlds, degrade and defy him," Abu Yahya al-Libi said at the end of sermon marking the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, in a video posted on the Internet.

Bin Laden made little mention of Bush's Democratic challenger John Kerry, telling Americans: "Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands and each state which does not harm our security will remain safe."

In 2004 al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden issued his first video in more than a year just days before the elections to deride President Bush and warn of possible new September 11-style attacks.

Oldest Hebrew Text Ever, Found

Hey this won't be coming to your town anytime soon, unless your town is Jerusalem. On Thursday, Archaeologists in Israel reported that they had unearthed the oldest Hebrew text ever found. The text was found while excavating a fortress city overlooking a valley where the Bible says David slew Goliath.

The dig's uncovering of the past near the ancient battlefield in the Valley of Elah, now home to wineries and a satellite station, could have implications for the emotional debate over the future of Jerusalem, some 20 km (12 miles) away.

Archaeologists from the Hebrew University said they found five lines of text written in black ink on a shard of pottery dug up at a five-acre (two-hectare) site called Elah Fortress, or Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Experts have not yet been able to decipher the text fully, but carbon dating of artifacts found at the site indicates the Hebrew inscription was written about 3,000 years ago, predating the Dead Sea Scrolls by 1,000 years, the archaeologists said.

Several words, including "judge," "slave" and "king," could be identified and the experts said they hoped the text would shed light on how alphabetic scripts developed.

Modern-day Israel often cites a biblical connection through David to Jerusalem in supporting its claim, which has not won recognition internationally, to all of the city as its "eternal and indivisible capital."

Palestinians, saying biblical claims have been superseded by the long-standing Arab population in Jerusalem, want the eastern part of the city, captured by Israel in a 1967 war, to be the capital of the state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"The chronology and geography of Khirbet Qeiyafa create a unique meeting point between the mythology, history, historiography and archaeology of King David," said Yosef Garfinkel, the lead archaeologist at the fortress site.

In a finding that could have symbolic value for Israel, the archaeologists said other items discovered at the fortress dig indicated there was most likely a strong king and central government in Jerusalem during the period scholars believe that David ruled the holy city and ancient Israel.

McCain Not Gonna Make It

Here's something that is not coming to your town soon, The Maverick.  He's losing so now he throws Palin under the bus.  He's looking for a scapegoat, for someone to blame when  McCain loses on Tuesday.  Her name is Sarah,  Sarah Palin.

In recent days, a McCain "adviser" told Dana Bash of CNN: "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone."  Imagine not taking advice from the geniuses at the McCain campaign. What could Palin be thinking?   Also, a "top McCain adviser" told Mike Allen of Politico that Palin is "a whack job." Maybe she is. But who chose to put this "whack job" on the ticket? Wasn't it John McCain? And wasn't it his first presidential-level decision?

And if you are a 72-year-old presidential candidate, wouldn't you expect that your running mate's fitness for high office would come under a little extra scrutiny? And, therefore, wouldn't you make your selection with care? (To say nothing about caring about the future of the nation?) McCain didn't seem to care that much. McCain admitted recently on national TV that he "didn't know her well at all" before he chose Palin.

But why not? Why didn't he get to know her better before he made his choice? It's not like he was rushed. McCain wrapped up the Republican nomination in early March. He didn't announce his choice for a running mate until late August.

Wasn't that enough time for McCain to get to know Palin? Wasn't that enough time for his crackerjack "vetters" to investigate Palin's strengths and weaknesses, check through records and published accounts, talk to a few people, and learn that she was not only a diva but a whack job diva? But McCain picked her anyway. He wanted to close the "enthusiasm gap" between himself and Barack Obama. He wanted to inject a little adrenaline into the Republican National Convention. He wanted to goose up the Republican base. And so he chose Palin. Is she really a diva and a whack job? Could be. There are quite a few in politics. (And a few in journalism, too, though in journalism they are called "columnists.") As proof that she is, McCain aides now say Palin is "going rogue" and straying from their script. Wow. What a condemnation. McCain sticks to the script. How well is he doing?

In truth, Palin's real problem is not her personality or whether she takes orders well. Her real problem is that neither she nor McCain can make a credible case that Palin is ready to assume the presidency should she need to.  And that undercuts McCain's entire campaign.

This was the deal McCain made with the devil. In exchange for energizing his base by picking Palin, he surrendered his chief selling point: that he was better prepared to run the nation in time of crisis, whether it be economic, an attack by terrorists or, as he has been talking about in recent days, fending off a nuclear war. "The next president won't have time to get used to the office," McCain told a crowd in Miami on Wednesday. "I've been tested, my friends, I've been tested."  

Never has a man been tested so many times - unless you're Lance Armstrong, my friends!

'Angels and Demons' on the Silver Screen

Here it comes again, Dan Brown's words are coming to life on the big screen in the movie adaptation of his best-selling novel "Angels and Demons." As with "The Da Vinci Code," Ron Howard is directing "Angels and Demons" and Tom Hanks stars as Harvard religious expert Robert Langdon

Though the movie will not be released until May 2009, a trailer can be viewed at AngelsandDemons.com a little later today.

The suspense thriller follows Langdon on a globetrotting, secret door-finding adventure during which he meets a beautiful Italian scientist who joins in a hunt for truth. At the center of the action is a mysterious, ancient group called the Illuminati and its most-despised enemy: the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church has been a recurring element in Brown's work and the source of much offscreen controversy.

In June, the church banned producers from filming key scenes in any church in Rome on the grounds that the book is "an offense against God," a Catholic Church spokesman said.
The slight was not directed at the script or the film's producers, Rome Diocese spokesman Monsignor Marco Fibbi said at the time, but rather at the book's author.

"Normally, we read the script, but this time it was not necessary," Fibbi told the Ansa Italian News Agency. "The name Dan Brown is enough."

Members of the Catholic Church denounced "The Da Vinci Code" as a novel when it came out in 2004, and its film version in 2006.

A subplot of the book included a theory in which Jesus married Mary Magdalene and fathered their children -- an idea Fibbi said was "morally offensive" and "harmful to religious feeling."
Howard pushed onward for "Angels and Demons," however, by filming scenes in substitute locations and on Hollywood sets.