Fishburne, an Emmy and Tony winner, will be introduced in the ninth episode of the upcoming 10th season, the network told The Associated Press on Monday. He'll play a forensics scientist with a secret.

"I am elated and delighted to be joining the cast of CSI, " Fishburne said in a statement, adding that he looked forward to a "wonderful collaboration" with those involved in the series.

Fishburne plays a college lecturer and former pathologist who is focused on why people commit acts of violence.

The air date for Petersen's final episode has yet to be determined but will be early next year. Petersen has been with the series since it debuted in fall 2000 and will remain a CSI executive producer, the network said.

I really want an iphone.  I have no need for one--I have a nice cell phone and a nice ipod and even a nice computer.  There is absolutely no reason for me to shell out the money for an iphone, but God I want one.

Plans for today include....

1. Church
2. Panera
3. Bookstore
4. Dinner/St. Patty's Day fun at O'Donovan's with the crew

For the first time in history, more than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report tracking the surge in inmate population.

The report, released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States, said the 50 states spent more than $49 billion on corrections last year, up from less than $11 billion 20 years earlier. The rate of increase for prison costs was six times greater than for higher education spending, the report said.

Using updated state-by-state data, the report said 2,319,258 adults were held in U.S. prisons or jails at the start of 2008 -- one out of every 99.1 adults, and more than any other country in the world.

Former Illinois Governor George Ryan has been ordered to report to prison on November 7th to start his 6-and-a-half year prison term. 

Ryan was convicted of steering millions of dollars in state leases and contracts to friends and favored lobbyists in exchange for payoffs ranging from expense-paid trips to a seaside resort in Jamaica to a free golf bag. He also was convicted of using tax money and state employees to run his political campaigns and covering up bribes paid in exchange for truck drivers' licenses when he was Illinois secretary of state. Thousands of dollars in payoff cash ended up in the Citizens for Ryan campaign fund.

Legal counsel for Ryan is trying to use the sympathy card to keep him out of prison, claiming that "he is a 73-year-old grandfather whose life revolves around his 17 grandchildren."

Guess what?  Grandpa is a criminal.

A Georgia McDonald's employee spent a night in jail and is facing criminal charges because a police officer's burger was too salty, so salty that he says it made him sick.

So salty that the officer took the employee outside for questioning, and then had her arrested because she served the burger "without regards to the well-being of anyone who might consume it."

You've got to be kidding me!  All the crime going on, and police officers choose to waste their time on this????

Sweet, Zach Braff is hosting Saturday Night Live. This is going to be an awesome show, I just know it.  And Maroon 5 is the musical guest.  Gonna be a good show. 

I did something rather uncharacteristic for myself on a Monday night.  I went to the movies.  I saw 300 with a couple friends, which is the movie about the ancient Battle of Thermopylae and the 300 Spartan soldiers.  I liked it a lot...lots of great battle scenes, and awesome special effects.

Movies of this nature have a tendency of being pretty long, but this was under 2 hours.  That probably made me enjoy it even more.

Olympic gold medalist Tim Montgomery pleaded guilty Monday in connection with a multimillion-dollar bank fraud and money laundering scheme, his lawyer said.

Attorney Robert McFarland declined to discuss details of the plea. The U.S. attorney's office had no immediate comment.

Montgomery was charged last year along with his track coach, Steven Riddick, and 11 others in an alleged conspiracy to deposit $5 million in stolen, altered or counterfeit checks at several banks over three years.

Montgomery, 32, had been awaiting trial along with Riddick and other co-defendants. An alleged coconspirator, Ephraim Richardson, previously pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

The government had accused Montgomery of participating in a plot created by two other defendants who set up sham businesses to take checks stolen from banks and alter them or make counterfeits.

Montgomery allegedly deposited three bogus checks worth a total of $775,000. He also was accused of helping Riddick deposit others worth at least $905,000 and accepting a $20,000 fee for his role. Riddick, a 1976 Olympic medalist, has maintained his innocence.

Montgomery was a 2000 Olympic gold medalist and a former 100-meter world record holder. He retired in 2005 after he was banned from track and field for two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for doping linked to the investigation of BALCO, the lab at the center of a steroid scandal in sports.

Montgomery never tested positive for drugs, and has said he never knowingly took any banned substances.

I celebrated St. Patrick's day in fine fashion with a nice lunch at Cullen's Bar and Grill with Meghan.  There was a great atmosphere there yesterday...lots of fun.

I wore the new shirt that Meghan got me: