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Spacecraft blasts off in search of 'Earths'

2009-03-07T20:52:26Z

(CNN) -- NASA launched its Kepler spacecraft just before 11 p.m. Friday in a mission that the agency says may fundamentally change humanity's view of itself.

This image shows part of the Milky Way region of the sky where the Kepler spacecraft will be pointing.

The Kepler spacecraft blasted into space on top of a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The telescope will search our corner of the Milky Way galaxy for Earth-like planets.

"This is a historical mission. It's not just a science mission," NASA Associate Administrator Ed Weiler said during a prelaunch news conference.

"It really attacks some very basic human questions that have been part of our genetic code since that first man or woman looked up in the sky and asked the question: Are we alone?"

Kepler contains a special telescope that will stare at 100,000 stars in the Cygnus-Lyra region of the Milky Way for more than three years as it trails Earth's orbit around the Sun.

The spacecraft will look for tiny dips in a star's brightness, which can mean an orbiting planet is passing in front of it -- an event called a transit.

The instrument is so precise that it can register changes in brightness of 20 parts per million in stars that are thousands of light years away.

"Being able to make that kind of a sensitive measurement over a very large number of stars was extremely challenging," Kepler project manager James Fanson said.

"So we're very proud of the vehicle we have built. This is a crowning achievement for NASA and a monumental step in our search for other worlds around other stars."

Are we alone?

The $600 million mission is named after Johannes Kepler, a 17th-century German astronomer who was the first to correctly explain planetary motion. His discoveries combined with modern technology may soon help to answer whether we are alone in the universe or whether Earth-like worlds inhabited by some type of life are common.

"We won't find E.T., but we might find E.T.'s home," said William Borucki, science principal investigator for the Kepler mission.

About 330 "exoplanets" -- those circling sun-like stars outside the solar system -- have been discovered since the first was confirmed in 1995.

Most are gas giants like Jupiter, but some have been classified as "super earths," or worlds several times the mass of our planet, said Alan Boss, an astronomer with the Carnegie Institution who serves on the Kepler Science Council. They are too hot to support life, he added, calling them "steam worlds."

Europe's COROT space telescope caused a stir last month when it spotted the smallest terrestrial exoplanet ever found. With a diameter less than twice that of Earth, the planet orbits very close to its star and has temperatures up to 1,500� Celsius (more than 2,700� Fahrenheit), according to the European Space Agency. It may be rocky and covered in lava.

Scientists have marveled how strange some of the alien worlds are.

"The density of these planets has been astounding," Borucki said. "We're finding planets that float like a piece of foam on water, [with] very, very low densities. We're finding some planets where the densities are heavier than that of lead."

The Kepler telescope, however, is seeking something much more familiar: Earth-like planets with rocky surfaces, orbiting in their stars' habitable, or "Goldilocks," zones -- not too hot or too cold, but just right for liquid water to exist.

Quest for a 'pale blue dot'

Once Kepler spots a planet, scientists will be able to calculate its size, mass, orbital period, distance from star and surface temperature, Boss said. He called the mission a "step one" that will tell astronomers how hard it is to find nearby habitable worlds.

"Once we know how many there really are ... then NASA will be able to build space telescopes that can actually go out and take a picture of that nearby 'Earth' and measure the elements and compounds in its atmosphere of the planet and give us some hint as to whether or not it's got life," Boss said.

Boss believes that there may be 100 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way, or one for every sun-type star in the galaxy. He said scientists should know by 2013 -- the end of Kepler's mission -- whether life in the universe could be widespread.

The 20-year goal is to someday take a picture of a pale blue dot orbiting a nearby star, said Debra Fischer, an astronomy professor at San Francisco State University, during a NASA news conference.

Boss called it a potentially unprecedented time of discovery for scientists.

"Sometimes, people call this the golden age of astronomy. I think it's more like the platinum age of astronomy. It's beyond gold," Boss said.

Unemployed place their bets on casino jobs

2009-03-07T20:47:54Z

(CNN) -- Sometimes the best way to roll with the punches is to roll the dice.

Jerry Goldsmith was one of hundreds of people who turned out this week to apply for a casino job.

That's Jerry Goldsmith's attitude. The Colorado man lost his engineering job of 29 years -- and the six-figure salary that went with it -- and is now applying for a casino job dealing craps, blackjack, roulette and poker.

"I was angry. I think everyone gets angry," says Goldsmith, 60, recalling his New Year's Day firing. "It's 'Why me?' But after a while I just learned: One door closed, but many more just opened.

"I just need to find the right one to go into."

Goldsmith was one of 750 people who showed up Wednesday to apply for casino dealer jobs near Denver. Another 550 applied on Thursday.

The applicants were going after 90 spots in dealer school.

Earlier on Wednesday, Goldsmith had interviewed for a job as a cable TV installer. They were his first job interviews since losing his job.

He says that, at first, he spent a lot of time on the Internet looking for work. He also contacted executive headhunters but was unable to find any leads in the engineering field. So he decided to expand his search into other areas.

Goldsmith says he nailed the casino job interview and thinks he would make a great dealer.

"When you've been working hard all your life, quitting is just not an option, so I'll take on any opportunity I can," he says, adding with a laugh: "Hopefully there will be some exchange of gratuity in the business so I make something."

In a November referendum, Colorado voters approved a measure to expand betting limits at casinos in Colorado from $5 to $100 and to add the games of roulette and craps. The new rules will also allow the casinos to stay open 24 hours a day. They currently close at 2 a.m. and open at 8 a.m.

The state hopes to benefit from the increased tax dollars, a portion of which will help fund community colleges, but before the first new tax dollar goes into state coffers, the casinos need to staff up.

"Twenty-four-hour gaming adds a whole extra shift every day, seven days a week. You're adding an extra shift in every department of the casino," says Jef Bauer, who runs three casinos in Black Hawk, Colorado, for Golden Gaming: the Golden Mardi Gras, Golden Gates and Golden Gulch.

"We're looking to hire initially about 90 people into our dealer school, which we're offering free to learn how to deal craps, roulette and blackjack."

Golden Gaming currently employs about 400 people in Black Hawk and anticipates adding another 100 by July 2, when the new rules go into effect.

Black Hawk is a former mining town tucked into the Rocky Mountains about 35 miles from Denver. Black Hawk and its next-door neighbor, Central City, became casino towns in the 1990s.

For years the towns flourished, but Bauer says times are tough now.

"We have just been through 12 months of declines in gaming revenues and head counts," he says, adding that he hopes the increased bet limits, new games and extended hours will bring the gamblers back to the tables.

Before the hiring event even started, more than 100 people were lined up, waiting for an interview outside of a bar in Golden, Colorado. The would-be croupiers filed in, filled out applications and were assigned a number. They were photographed and then sat down for a 3-minute job interview.

No experience was necessary for the casino jobs. Applicants who make the grade will attend a casino-run, part-time dealer school for three months, where they will learn the complicated games and qualify for a Colorado gaming license.

The jobs pay between $40,000 and $80,000 a year, depending on tips.

So who would make a good dealer?

"Mainly what we're looking at is personality and an ability to entertain, and intelligence that can be proven in dealer school," says Bauer. "Most will probably never have dealt cards before."

That seems like just the ticket to Andrea Pitts, whose only casino experience has been on the other side of the table.

"I'm a high roller," she says with a laugh. "I've never dealt cards before, but I love to play blackjack and I'm pretty good at it."

Pitts, 41, spent 12 years working in the trucking industry. But the bad economy has taken its toll, and now she has been forced to look for any kind of work.

Like most of the other casino applicants, she never pictured herself dealing cards. But she says she is ready for the change of pace.

"You have to keep yourself motivated. It would be easy to sit at home and feel sorry for yourself, but that's not going to get you anywhere," she says.

"I'm not afraid to take challenges -- that's what life is all about."

Casinos are big business. According to the American Gaming Association, some 360,000 people work in 467 commercial casinos across the country, accounting for $13.8 billion in wages including benefits and tips.

The industry paid $5.78 billion in gaming taxes in 2007.

Alan Meister, an economist and the author of "Indian Gaming Industry Report," says there were 346,000 people directly employed by 423 Indian gaming casinos in 2007.

State governments often look to casinos as a quick source of tax income in difficult economic times. According to Spectrum Gaming Group, a consulting firm that monitors the gaming industry, at least 15 states have recently expanded or are currently considering expanding gambling.

It all sounds good to Craig Taylor. He spent 13 years in the real estate business, buying and selling investment properties. He says that when the industry was booming he was making a salary in the "low six figures," drove a new BMW and lived in a house in the tony Cherry Creek section of Denver.

But since the market tanked, he has been making adjustments. He sold the BMW and bought a used 2001 Jeep. He sold the house in Cherry Creek and bought a smaller house on the outskirts of Denver. Now all he needs is a job, and he thinks being a casino dealer might be a good fit.

"Real estate was a great job, great income," he says. "But you have to do what you have to do in this economy and make the adjustments to where the job you have pays the bills."

Top 10 Abandoned Cities on Earth

2008-12-10T12:17:34Z

Talpacreative.com:

Top 10 Abandoned Cities on�Earth

Abandoned towns can be found around the world. But what can cause such large-scale loss of population? Some of the main factors are depleting natural resources, roads and railways bypassing certain regions, as well as natural and man-made disasters.

Pictured is �San Zhi,� an abandoned city in the North of Taiwan. This futuristic pod village was built as a luxury vacation retreat for the rich. However, after numerous fatal accidents during construction, production was halted. Lack of money and lack of will meant that work stopped permanently, but the alien-like structures remain. Rumors in the surrounding area suggest that the City is now haunted by the ghosts of those who died.

Do you want to know more?

www.listverse.com

Tunnels for Sale, History Included

2008-12-10T12:15:33Z

Talpacreative.com:

For sale: a vast tunnel complex in central London. Former tenants include Britain�s secret service, the famous hot line between America and the Soviet Union during the cold war and 400 tons of government documents. The asking price: $7.4 million.

Appearing more like the set of a James Bond movie than prime real estate, the complex still has a bar and two canteens, not in use, and a billiard room, not to mention functioning water and electricity supplies.

After years of lying unused beneath the traffic-jammed streets of the city, the tunnel complex � one mile of underground corridors and adjacent rooms � is now for sale by the BT Group, Britain�s largest phone company. BT hopes the site�s special features will attract buyers even as the property market above ground is going through its biggest downturn in decades.

The tunnels were built during World War II as bomb shelters for about 8,000 people and were designed to allow them to survive for five weeks shut off from the outside world.

Go home early and multiply, Japanese told

2008-12-10T12:14:01Z

Talpacreative.com:
Japan�s workers are being urged to switch off their laptops, go home early and use what little energy they have left on procreation, in an attempt to avert demographic disaster. The drive to persuade employers that their staff would be better off at home than staying late at the office comes amid warnings from health experts that many couples are simply too tired to have sex.

A survey of married couples under 50 found that more than a third had not had sex in the previous month. Many couples said they didn�t have the energy. A study by Durex found that the average couple has sex 45 times a year, less than half the global average of 103 times.

�It�s a question of work-life balance,� Kunio Kitamura, head of the Japan Family Planning Association, told Reuters. �The people who run companies need to do something about it.�

Boy, 8, gives taped account in shooting deaths

2008-11-19T08:13:26Z

(CNN) -- An 8-year-old Arizona boy suspected in the deaths of his father and another man can be heard in a videotape of his police interview telling officers that he shot both men after he came home from school.

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Authorities released the tape Tuesday.

(the tape on :http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/18/arizona.boy.murder/index.html)

The boy, sitting cross-legged in an overstuffed armchair, initially denied involvement in the shootings but later said he shot his already wounded father "because he was suffering."

The two officers questioning the boy press him to tell the truth, with one saying at one point, "If you're not honest with me, if you're not truthful, it's not going to look good."

The boy later appears to admit to shooting his father, saying, "After I shot him once he was still moving, I think I shot him again."

He says on the tape he shot both men twice.

Police released the first 12 minutes of the tape, which did not include the alleged confession, earlier Tuesday and released the remainder of the tape late Tuesday afternoon.

The boy is charged with killing his father, Vincent Romero, 29, along with Tim Romans, 39, a man who rented a room in Romero's home in St. Johns, Arizona. Police have said the boy confessed to shooting the men with a .22-caliber handgun.

At the end of the footage, the boy buries his face in his jacket as one officer asks, "You OK, sweetie?"

The officers ask whether the boy was mad at his father, but the answer is not audible.

A judge issued a gag order in the case, preventing police, prosecutors or defense attorneys from commenting on it.

He later modified it, allowing public records -- which included the tape -- to be released, Apache County Attorney Christopher Candelaria said.

"We released it because it becomes a public record, and we're obligated to release it," Candelaria said, refusing to elaborate on why the tape was a public record in an ongoing police investigation.

The boy has not entered a plea to the murder charges. One of his defense attorneys said he was not read his rights and did not have an attorney or a parent present during questioning and said that was improper. Police have not responded to those claims.

"They became very accusing early on in the interview," defense attorney Ben Brewer told The Associated Press last week. "Two officers with guns at their side, it's very scary for anybody, for sure an 8-year-old kid."

In the first 12 minutes of the tape, the boy tells police he decided to walk around the block "like nine or 10 times" before going home -- something he does on Mondays and Wednesdays "because my mom doesn't get off until 5."

He said he was about two houses down from his home when he saw a white car "driving pretty fast" in front of his house. Then, he said, he saw Romans lying on the ground. The boy said he ran over to Romans, then ran inside the house calling for his father.

"I said, 'Dad, Dad,' " the boy said. "And then I went upstairs, and then I saw him, and there was blood all over his face, and I think I touched it ... and I didn't hear anything, and I just saw blood and I cried for about 30 minutes, just crying right next to him."

On the tape, the child continued to deny being home when the slayings took place.

"You're sure?" one officer asks. "Because I heard something that somebody said that somebody was calling your name and you weren't answering."

The boy said he eventually ran to the house of a girl he knows and told her brother that his father was dead, "and so he called his dad ... and we called you guys."

Romans' truck was parked in the driveway, the boy said, and the door was open.

Police said last week they were attempting to discern a motive in the slayings.

"We solved the crime," St. Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick told KPHO. "Now we have to solve the mystery of why."

Astronaut loses tool bag during spacewalk

2008-11-19T08:10:27Z

(CNN) -- Things didn't go quite according to plan for astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper during her spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Tuesday.

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First, a grease gun inside her tool bag leaked, coating everything inside with a film of lubricant. While she was trying to clean it up in the absence of gravity, the whole bag floated away.

Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen were outside the space station on the scheduled six-hour spacewalk, the first of the space shuttle Endeavour's stay at the station.

After completing a few preliminary tasks, Stefanyshyn-Piper was beginning the job of cleaning and lubricating the gears of the station's malfunctioning starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, or SARJ, when she discovered the grease gun leak and then lost the bag.

The starboard SARJ is designed to allow the solar panels on the left side of the station to rotate and track the sun. It started malfunctioning soon after it was installed, and astronauts soon determined the gear assembly is full of metal shavings, a sure sign that metal is grinding on metal.

Cleaning and lubricating the starboard SARJ is a time-consuming job, and will take several spacewalks to complete. When finished, the joint should be partially functional again. More extensive repairs are planned for the future.

Stefanyshyn-Piper was able to share tools with Bowen, and NASA mission controllers expressed confidence that the lost tool bag would not be too much of a problem for the duration of the spacewalk.

Mission controllers were also tracking the lost bag, which they say is floating well clear of the station and drifting further away.

Stefanyshyn-Piper is a member of the crew of the Endeavour shuttle that docked at the ISS Sunday to help install more living areas and upgrade amenities at the station.

More U.S. families struggling to feed children, report says

2008-11-19T08:08:37Z

(CNN) -- Almost 700,000 U.S. children lived in households that struggled to put food on the table at some point in 2007, the highest number since 1998, according to a federal report.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual report on food security showed that those 691,000 children lived in homes where families had to eat non-balanced meals and low-cost food, or even skip meals because of a lack of money. The number of children struggling to feed themselves adequately rose 50 percent from 430,000 children in 2006.

Nearly 36.2 million children and adults struggled to put proper food on the table in 2007, according to the report, up slightly from 35.5 million in 2006.

Of the 36.2 million, nearly a third were not able to eat what was deemed a proper meal.

The other two-thirds -- 11.9 million people -- changed their eating habits by eating low-cost foods, participated in federal food and nutrition assistance programs, ate less varied diets or obtained emergency food from pantries or emergency kitchens, according to the report. That number is up more than 40 percent since 2000.

The prevalence and number of families struggling to eat properly differs drastically from state to state. Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas and Arkansas have the highest rates of prevalent food insecurity.

In Alaska and Iowa, there was a 3.7 percent increase in families struggling to eat adequately, the highest growth among the states over the past nine years, according to the report.

Florida and Hawaii both saw a decrease of about 4 percent in the number of families struggling to feed themselves.

Families headed by single mothers, Hispanic families, African-American families and households with incomes below the poverty line struggled the most, according to the report.

Microsoft to unveil test version of Windows 7

2008-10-29T13:44:27Z

(AP) -- The next version of Microsoft Windows, the software that defines the computing experience for most people, will nag users much less than its much-maligned predecessor, Vista. PC users will be able to test the new edition early next year.

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The world's largest software maker also is making Word, Excel and other key elements of Office -- its flagship "productivity" programs -- able to run in a Web browser. The move is meant to help confront rivals such as Google Inc. that offer free word processing and spreadsheet programs online, threatening one of Microsoft Corp.'s most precious profit centers.

The Windows and Office news came Tuesday at a Microsoft conference for software developers.

The forthcoming Windows 7 will let users choose to see fewer alerts and warnings from their computers. Rampant notifications alerting people to security risks irked many Vista users.

"We had all the best intentions of helping to secure the PC platform even more, particularly for novice PC users who needed to be protected," said Steven Sinofsky, a senior vice president in Microsoft's Windows group. But Sinofsky acknowledged that Microsoft needed to work more closely with outside companies to avoid a similar mess this time.

Michael Silver, an analyst for Gartner Inc., said a smoother debut for Windows 7 is critical for Microsoft.

"The real hurdle is to get Vista's reputation behind them," he said.

Windows 7 keeps some of the significant design changes that debuted in Vista, but tosses out others.

In an interview, Julie Larson-Green, a Windows vice president, offered one small example: In Vista, Microsoft took the "add printer" feature out of the Start menu, but is restoring it in Windows 7 after users complained.

Larson-Green said some changes in Vista made sense to developers but weren't fully tested on actual PC users -- a misstep she seems committed not to repeat.

With Windows 7, Microsoft is also making subtle but useful changes to the task bar along the bottom of the screen. The designers have removed redundant buttons that launch applications. When users roll over a program's icon in the task bar, it will be easier to see how many documents are open, and switch between them.

Microsoft also showed off "jumplists," a quick way of organizing recently used files or popular program features. And it introduced a concept called "libraries," which automatically collects similar files scattered across PCs on a home network and displays them together in a single folder. That could be handy for organizing a family's digital photos stored in disparate places.

Addressing another complaint about Vista, Microsoft said Windows 7 will be faster and need less memory to run. Vista generally needs costlier hardware configurations than the older Windows XP.

Sinofsky held up a "netbook" -- a low-cost, low-power laptop that would have a hard time running Vista -- and said it's working with Windows 7.

Microsoft's early 2009 target for people to begin toying with Windows 7 is striking because the Redmond, Wash.-based company promised deadlines it couldn't keep when it was developing Vista. Microsoft is trying hard to avoid a similar debacle this time. Sinofsky said there is no date yet for the next milestone, a "release to manufacturing" version of Windows 7, but reiterated that the system is set to go on sale in early 2010.

Silver, the analyst, noted that Windows Vista rejigged complex aspects of the software's plumbing, while Windows 7 is largely a cosmetic overhaul. That might spare this launch from many of the compatibility programs that dogged Vista.

Silver was impressed by how Windows 7 handles home networking with fewer headaches than Vista or XP. A big improvement on that front could help keep customers who consider ditching Windows, swayed by Apple Inc.'s claims that such tasks are easier on a Mac.

Building on a broader strategy to meld the best elements of Web and desktop software, Microsoft also showed off lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote software that work in Web browsers and look as they normally do, but don't have to be installed on a PC.

The new programs were running "in the cloud" on the new Windows Azure system Microsoft unveiled Monday, a move aimed at helping it catch up with Google and other nimbler Web companies. Azure lets Microsoft run software and store data in its own massive data centers around the world, instead of requiring people to install programs on their own PCs.

The Office Web programs represent what Microsoft believes is a more polished take on what Google has tried. Microsoft's online Office programs let people work on a document at the same time, and make it easier to publish charts and PowerPoint presentations to blogs with few clicks.

The Web software, to be offered without charge for regular PC users, will launch with the next version of Office. No date has been set.

Silver, the analyst, said he had always expected Microsoft to build on its rudimentary Web Office tools, and noted that the company still has time to tinker, because relatively few people use Google's online documents offering today.

The peek at the new programs didn't address his biggest concern, though: whether Microsoft can promote Web versions without undercutting its very lucrative desktop software business.

Wearing red may boost your sex appeal

2008-10-29T13:42:47Z

CNN: Does wearing the color red give you a sexual edge? Maybe, according to a new study, which found that men find women sexier if they're sporting a crimson hue rather than, say, blue or green.

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However, red won't make you look smarter or more competent, says study author Andrew Elliot, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester in New York.

"We only found the effect for attraction, so males don't rate females in red as more intelligent, more likable, or as having a better personality; they only rate her as sexier and more attractive," he says.

Men also were more likely to say they wanted to have sex with a woman and that they would be willing to spend more on a date if she were in red, according to the report in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

In a series of five studies, about 150 heterosexual men (homosexual men and those with red-green color blindness were excluded) rated photographs of women framed in red, white, gray, green, or blue, or with the woman in a red or blue shirt.

On a 7-point scale, with 1 being the least sexy and 7 a white-hot sex goddess, the color red added about 1.25 points to the rating, says Elliot. Read how to add a little adventure to your sex life

That's nice, but given the looming election, one might wonder: Does wearing red make you more attractive in the voting booth too?

Elliot says the study results don't really apply to the presidential candidates. However, he does say that red can be a negative color, depending on the setting.

"We actually have other research showing that red on the cover of an IQ test leads to worse performance, so red is actually a negative color [in some instances]," says Elliot.

"In terms of the election, I will say that if a politician wears a red tie he -- or she -- may be viewed as more dominant and that might have an effect, but again, that's way beyond our data," he explains. "Red in competence and achievement settings has a negative effect, so these things are really hard to talk about and predict right now."

Why is red so sexy? The researchers have a couple of theories. Read four myths about healthy sex

One is cultural: From red roses to Valentine's Day, red is the universally recognized sign of romance; it makes sense that men may subconsciously associate the color red with sex.

"We think that red, due to the association with hearts and Valentine's Day and lingerie and things like that, takes on a sexy meaning," says Elliot. "There's also a possibility -- a rather provocative possibility -- that there's a deeply embedded sort of tendency for heterosexual men to see red as an attraction cue because that's what happens in the wild."

For example, the rumps of some primates turn red during ovulation, so it's possible that men have some tiny portion deep in their brain that recognizes red as a mating symbol -- even though it's an association that hasn't come in handy for a few million years.

And it's not just men. The researchers think that women will find the color sexy too (tests are under way), possibly because red symbolizes dominance in male primates. Read why some women don't want sex

However, it's all speculation at this point. The study can't determine if red is sexy because we're all just a bunch of animals running around in business suits, or if red is a culturally determined sex symbol. It also can't determine if wearing red has an effect outside the laboratory.

"In the real world, we have a welter of information coming at us about smell, sight, words -- who knows what accounts for the most variance in liking and behavior?" says Elliot. "My strong guess is that if you bring this to the real world and have females who are interested in their date and wear red, they are sending the message to the male that a male isn't even aware of -- they are sending a message that 'I'm available'."

Stone Throws Down Over Botox Claim

2008-10-03T09:02:46Z

Eonline:

When it comes to the coverage of Sharon Stone's custody battle, it's not only her son's feet that stink. So do the reports of her more untraditional parental reactions�at least, according to the actress' camp.

Stone's attorney has lashed out at media reports that focused on one of the star's most unusual out-of-the-box parenting techniques, namely her desire, as relayed via the judge in her custody hearing, to treat son Roan's smelly appendages by injecting Botox.

"This week it was reported in connection with Sharon Stone's custody dispute that she wanted to have her 8-year-old son undergo Botox treatment at this time for his feet,"� attorney Marty Singer said. "Sharon Stone never made this statement. It is a complete fabrication."

While technically true, Singer seems to be protesting on the basis of semantics�Stone didn't make the statement, at least not "at this time"; San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo did, citing a previous legal filing made by her ex-husband Phil Bronstein.

At any rate, the statement was used an example of Stone's overreaction to everyday medical issues�another being her belief that the boy suffered a spinal condition (he didn't)�and cited as part of the judge's tentative ruling denying Stone's request to modify her and Bronstein's current custody arrangement for Roan.

Ultimately the judge stated that relocating Roan from Bronstein's home base in Marin County, Calif., down the coast to Stone's home in L.A. would be too overwhelming for him during the school year. Instead, the boy will continue to be allowed to visit mom on weekends.

"Sharon Stone sought to modify her custody arrangement with her ex-husband by having her son spend most of the school year with her," Singer explained.

"Although the court denied Sharon's request to modify the custody arrangement already in place, Sharon will maintain the same custody arrangement and visitation that she's had with her child for the past several years and still has joint and physical custody of her son.

"Sharon loves her son Roan a

"Sharon Stone sought to modify her custody arrangement with her ex-husband by having her son spend most of the school year with her," Singer explained.

"Sharon loves her son Roan and only wants the best for him."

Mickey Mouse is a corrupting influence and must die, a Muslim cleric has declared.

2008-09-17T08:23:33Z

Daily Telegraph:

Sheikh Muhammad Munajid claimed the mouse is "one of Satan's soldiers" and makes everything it touches impure.But he warned that depictions of the creature in cartoons such as Tom and Jerry, and Disney's Mickey Mouse, had taught children that it was in fact loveable.The cleric, a former diplomat at the Saudi embassy in Washington DC, said that under Sharia, both household mice and their cartoon counterparts must be killed.Mr Munajid was asked to give Islam's teaching on mice during a religious affairs programme broadcast on al-Majd TV, an Arab television network.According to a translation prepared by the Middle East Media Research Institute, an American press monitoring service, he said: "The mouse is one of Satan's soldiers and is steered by him. "If a mouse falls into a pot of food � if the food is solid, you should chuck out the mouse and the food touching it, and if it is liquid � you should chuck out the whole thing, because the mouse is impure."According to Islamic law, the mouse is a repulsive, corrupting creature. How do you think children view mice today � after Tom and Jerry? "Even creatures that are repulsive by nature, by logic, and according to Islamic law have become wonderful and are loved by children. Even mice."Mickey Mouse has become an awesome character, even though according to Islamic law, Mickey Mouse should be killed in all cases."Last month Mr Munajid condemned the Beijing Olympics as the "bikini Olympics", claiming that nothing made Satan happier than seeing females athletes dressed in skimpy outfits.

Pink Floyd keyboardist Wright dies

2008-09-16T14:16:42Z

�(AP) -- Richard Wright, a founding member of the rock group Pink Floyd, died Monday. He was 65.

Richard Wright (right) and a reunited Pink Floyd earn cheers at 2005's Live 8.

Pink Floyd's spokesman Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist, said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He says the band member's family did not want to give more details about his death.

Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason in college and joined their early band, Sigma 6. Along with the late Syd Barrett, the four formed Pink Floyd in 1965.

The group's jazz-infused rock and drug-laced multimedia "happenings" made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and their 1967 album, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," was a hit.

In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright, along with Barrett, was seen as the group's dominant musical force. The London-born musician and son of a biochemist wrote songs and sang.

The band released a series of commercially and critically successful albums including 1973's "Dark Side of the Moon," which has sold more than 40 million copies. Wright wrote "The Great Gig In The Sky" and "Us And Them" for that album, and later worked on the group's epic compositions such as "Atom Heart Mother," "Echoes" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond."

But tensions grew between Waters, Wright and fellow band member David Gilmour. The tensions came to a head during the making of "The Wall" when Waters insisted Wright be fired. As a result, Wright was relegated to the status of session musician on the tour of "The Wall," and did not perform on Pink Floyd's 1983 album "The Final Cut."

Wright formed a new band Zee with Dave Harris, from the band Fashion, and released one album, "Identity," with Atlantic Records.

Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and Wright began recording with Mason and Gilmour again, releasing the albums "The Division Bell" and "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" as Pink Floyd. Wright also released the solo albums "Wet Dream" (1978) and "Broken China" (1996).

In July 2005, Wright, Waters, Mason and Gilmour reunited to perform at the "Live 8" charity concert in London -- the first time in 25 years they had been onstage together.

Wright also worked on Gilmour's solo projects, most recently playing on the 2006 album "On An Island" and the accompanying world tour.

Gilmour paid tribute to Wright on Monday, saying his input was often forgotten.

"He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound," he said. "I have never played with anyone quite like him."

Columbia Scaring Up Ghostbusters Revival

2008-09-05T10:51:59Z

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No need to believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis.

Just believe that the allure of nostalgia and a monster paycheck is strong enough to get Bill Murray to strap on that positron collider again.

Variety reports that Columbia Pictures is gearing up to bring another Ghostbusters film to the big screen, ideally featuring all four main characters from the 1984 blockbuster and its 1989 sequel�Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson.

Both '80s-era films were cowritten by Aykroyd and Ramis and directed by Ivan Reitman.

Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, both executive producers on The Office, have been tapped to pen the new installment�after which, Columbia will approach its would-be leading men.

Eisenberg and Stupnitsky recently collaborated on the Ramis-directed comedy Year One. Despite a handful of small parts over the years in comedies such as Knocked Up and As Good as it Gets, Ramis--who also helmed three episodes of The Office last y has had more of a career behind the camera since his Egon Spengler days.

While the project remains officially unconfirmed, the general consensus is that getting Murray to suit up after all these years will be the hard part�although the Oscar-nominated thesp deigned to contribute his Dr. Peter Venkman voice for the new Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

After helping to keep the dream alive for the past two decades, Aykroyd told a radio station last year that the idea of another Ghostbusters sequel was still alive and kicking. But...

"It will not happen as a live-action [movie], �cause Billy [Murray] will not come on, in the live-action stage anymore for it," " the veteran character actor said. "But he will voice his part, and we are looking to do it as a CGI animated project."

But who knows what will happen if the script stacks up?

Ghostbusters II didn't exactly recapture the magic of the original, which grossed $229.2 million (at '80s prices) at the box office, but it still brought in $112.5 million and millions more from home video sales.

Besides, even the lamest sequels are usually good for lines like, "Only a Carpathian would come back to life now and choose New York!"

Eva Mendes: "I'm Big on Therapy"

2008-09-05T10:50:32Z

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Eva Mendes is one happy camper.

"I'm big on therapy," Mendes told me yesterday. "I've always said I love talking about therapy, because there's nothing wrong with it. Why wait until something goes terrible in your life to start fixing things?"

Mendes, 34, has never talked details about why she did a stint in rehab earlier this year, but she did tell me that one of her biggest issues was coping with her own success. "Up until recently, I was really uncomfortable with having success and enjoying it," Mendes says. "I just couldn't deal with that. How can I have so much? It's not fair. How can the world have so little?�I allowed it to mess with me in the sense that I just didn't know how to handle it."

Things are different now. "I've really broken it down to this simple thing: I deal with everything by giving it away," Mendes explains. "It's genius. It works."

She literally gives things away, like the new pair of Cartier sunglasses she insisted an elderly friend of hers keep when she tried them on. "I said, 'You need to have them. They look really good on you,' " Mendes says.

Speaking of looking good, Mendes has been the center of a censorship storm because of her new steamy ad campaign for the Calvin Klein perfume Secret Obsession. A 30-second TV spot was banned last month by U.S. television networks because it showed part of her nipple. (Above, the campaign's new billboard that was unveiled today in New York's Times Square.)

Mendes could have had the nip slip cut from the commercial (it's in her contract), but says she found the slight nudity "beautiful and tasteful."

In director and writer Diane English's upcoming The Women, Mendes plays Crystal Allen, a smokin' hot Saks salesgirl having an affair with married businessman Stephen Haines. Like Stephen's wife Mary (Meg Ryan), Mendes credits the women in her life for getting her through the tough (and happy) times. "I've run into some women in my life who are like, 'I don't have any girl friends. I only have guy friends,'" Mendes says. "And I'm like to the guys, 'Run for the hills when you hear a girl who says she only has guy friends.' That is a bad situation, because all women should have their base of girls."

Where does that leave her longtime filmmaker boyfriend George Augusto? "He actually grew up with all women in his family," Mendes says. "His mom has five sisters, so he gets it."

Mendes first auditioned for English about three years ago. "They were like, 'Oh, we're not sure if you can do funny. We're not sure if you're the right person for it,' " Mendes remembers "But then two years later, they told me I got the part. I'm like, 'Wait a minute, wait a minute. I don't know if I want it. Things have changed here, Miss Thang!' "

Obviously, she decided to go for it.

Since we never see or hear Stephen�as in the 1939 original, no men get screen time in the movie�did Mendes picture anyone in particular when thinking about him? "Yeah!" she says with a big smile. "It was a very specific person that I had in mind. But I can't tell you any of that stuff. Those are secrets of the trade."