Not liking this layout as much as my other one (which I did myself!) but at least its something different.  Maybe when I have more time, I'll play around with it and try to create something uniquely me.  But not now, cuz I have to eat lunch and go to class.  Maybe this weekend.

Look alive, John!

FORT COLLINS, Colorado (AP) -- A 19-year-old former homecoming queen was found dead at a Colorado State University fraternity over the weekend, and the fraternity chapter was suspended by its national headquarters.

The body of Samantha Spady, a sophomore from Beatrice, Nebraska, was found Sunday evening in a lounge at the Sigma Pi fraternity by a member giving a tour of the house. Police suspect drinking contributed to her death but are waiting for the results of toxicology tests.

Police spokeswoman Rita Davis said there was no sign of foul play, leading police to close their criminal investigation. However, it could be reopened if investigators discover someone else provided the underage student with alcohol.

The fraternity's suspension means there will be no social activities at the house pending the results of an investigation but the members can continue living there, said Mark Briscoe, national executive director of Brentwood, Tennessee-based Sigma Pi.

Meanwhile, police were trying to determine how Spady ended up at the fraternity. Davis said Spady was involved in a minor car accident on Saturday and called friends to pick her up. She said the friends indicated she was not drunk at the time.

It's not clear whether Spady drank at the fraternity house on Saturday night but police believe members of the fraternity checked on the sophomore business major and thought she had passed out.

Fraternity president Darren Pettapiece said there was no party at the house. CSU fraternities and sororities have been banned from having organized drinking parties at their houses since 2002 and must instead rent a site for such events.

Adam Tatro, 23, who attended high school with Spady, said he did not understand why no one took her to the hospital.

Spady was an honor student, cheerleading captain, homecoming queen and president of her class in Beatrice, a town of about 13,000 in southeastern Nebraska.

"This just doesn't seem like her at all," Tatro said. "Sam, she was a smart girl. If you knew her at all through high school, she wasn't getting in trouble. She wasn't out doing stupid things."

University president Larry Penley said Tuesday that he is creating a task force to look into alcohol abuse on campus.

The university will also review whether Sigma Pi should remain sanctioned by the school once the police investigation is complete, said Anne Hudgens, the school's campus life director.

Sigma Pi was disciplined in March for having a party and a keg at the house. Six fraternity members are also being sued by a man who said they assaulted him last summer when he accidentally drove on the fraternity's property with his wife and 12-year-old daughter.

In honor of September 11th, I'm posting a picture of ground zero

Reading Moby Dick for English...I  hate this book!  There's so much that could be left out, in my opinion.  It's pretty frustrating that a good deal of this book is just them trying to find the whale.  I'm gonna have to write a paper on this soon, which is gonna be really hard for me since I don't like the book.  Hopefully I can read a couple chapters right now.  Then I'll be like half-way done.

No hands!

Thought I'd post a picture of my apartment complex.  I really like it, and the rent is good.

I don't know where to begin
I don't know how to get out there to see you
I don't know where to dig in.
I don't know how to get in there:to feel you

It's been to long and I'm about to be in time for me
It's been to long and I'm in time

Baby there's something about you that
I can hold on to
I'm going to hold on to that
Baby there's something about you that
I can hold on to
I'm going to hold on to that

I never thought I would win
I never thought much about that.
(It's been a long time coming)
I never stopped to begin
Thinking about the process.
(It's been a long time coming)

It's been to long and I'm about to be in time for me
It's been to long and I'm in time

Baby there's something about you that
I can hold on to
I'm going to hold on to that
Baby there's something about you that
I can hold on to
I'm going to hold on to that

I don't know where to begin
I don't know how to get out there to see you

Baby there's something about you that
I can hold on to
I'm going to hold on to that
Baby there's something about you that
I can hold on to
I'm going to hold on to that

It's been a long time coming
I'm going to hold on to that

And I'm going to be there:be there alright

Five for Fighting: "Something About Her"

Love you Meghan!

This picture is great...you can't see his head. :)

Interesting article.  I wonder if they really did it?

Cops take 5th in Chicago torture suit

Former inmate says he was tortured into murder confession

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- More than two dozen current and former police officials and homicide detectives have taken the 5th Amendment when questioned in a civil lawsuit alleging that Chicago police used torture when interrogating suspects, attorneys said Tuesday.

Attorneys for two former death row inmates told U.S. Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown that the former detectives and officials have refused to testify because they are covering up the use of torture by police.

"Twenty-eight former deputy superintendents and other officials in the police department have all taken the 5th Amendment," attorney G. Flint Taylor told the court.

The disclosure came at a hearing in a suit filed by former inmate Madison Hobley. He claims he was tortured into confessing to a murder he didn't commit and is seeking millions of dollars in damages.

The judge agreed with attorneys for the former officers who sought to bar lawyers for Hobley and another former inmate, Aaron Patterson, from making public transcripts and videotapes of depositions at which the detectives and officials took the 5th Amendment.

She issued a ruling barring such disclosures.

Hobley attorney Kurt H. Feuer argued that reporters should be able to have the transcripts and videotapes: "This is something that the public has a right to know."

James Sotos, who represents a number of former officers who are defendants or potential witnesses, said the primary aim of providing the tapes to the media was to embarrass the officers involved.

Among his clients is Jon Burge, the former commander of a homicide unit where much of the torture allegedly took place.

The two former prisoners say Burge and detectives under him tortured them into confessing to murders they didn't commit. Both men were among four death row inmates pardoned by former Gov. George Ryan just before he left office.

Attorneys for Burge, who was fired by the police department following an internal investigation, have denied he was ever involved in torture. But inmates say they were beaten, dunked in water and questioned with a plastic typewriter cover over their heads, among other things. Taylor says electric shock devices may have been used.

The controversy has dragged on for years.

A special prosecutor is currently conducting an investigation with the potential of bringing criminal charges.

Sotos said in a telephone interview that his clients "would jump at the chance to testify" if not for the special prosecutor's investigation. It's possible, he said, that anyone who testifies they may be charged by the special prosecutor with taking part in a cover-up conspiracy.

"They would love to testify," he said. "It's killing them that they can't."

Slept in til 10, showered, went to Starbucks with Meghan, and then we went to the Art Institute.  Now we're back here at my apartment, doing some studying.  I think we'll watch a movie tonight.  :)

I liked this painting.  Fishing Boats with Hucksters Bargaining for Fish by Joseph Mallord William Turner. 

(OK, so I guess this would have to had happen last year, in her pre-slammer days) :)

Martha Stewart's Holiday To-Do List 

December 1
Blanch carcass from Thanksgiving turkey. Spray paint gold, turn upside down and use as a sleigh to hold Christmas cards.

December 2
Have Mormon Tabernacle Choir record outgoing Christmas message for answering machine.

December 3
Using candlewick and hand-gilded miniature pine cones, fashion a cat-o-nine-tails. Flog gardener.

December 4
Repaint Sistine Chapel ceiling in ecru, with mocha trim.

December 5
Get new eyeglasses. Grind lenses myself.

December 6
Fax family Christmas newsletter to Pulitzer committee for consideration.

December 7
Debug Windows '2000

December 10
Align carpets to adjust for curvature of Earth.

December 11
Lay Faberge egg.

December 12
Take dog apart. Disinfect. Reassemble.

December 13
Collect dentures. They make excellent pastry cutters, particularly for decorative pie crusts.

December 14
Install plumbing in gingerbread house.

December 15
Replace air in mini-van tires with Glade "Holiday Scents" in case tires are shot out at mall.

December 17
Child proof the Christmas tree with garland of razor wire.

December 19
Adjust legs of chairs so each Christmas dinner guest will be the same height when sitting at his or her assigned seat.

December 20
Dip sheep and cows in egg whites and roll in confectioner's sugar to add a festive sparkle to the pasture.

December 21
Drain city reservoir; refill with mulled cider, orange slices and cinnamon sticks.

December 22
Float votive candles in toilet tank.

December 23
Seed clouds for white Christmas. Festoon windows with worthless stock.

December 24
Do my annual good deed. Go to several stores. Be seen engaged in last minute Christmas shopping, thus making many people feel less inadequate than they really are.

December 25
Bear son. Swaddle. Lay in color-coordinated manger scented with homemade potpourri.

December 26
Organize spice racks by genus and phylum.

December 27
Build snowman in exact likeness of God.

December 31
New Year's Eve! Give staff their resolutions. Call a friend in each time zone of the world as the clock strikes midnight in that country. 

5 points to the first one to tell me what movie this is from. 

"Can you keep a secret? I'm trying to organize a prison break."

Only Colin has participated in my game.  Very sad.  If no one else guesses, than I guess Colin wins, even if he's guessed a wrong answer.  :)

Ok, I'll post more of the quote:

"Can you keep a secret? I'm trying to organize a prison break. We have to first get out of this bar, then the hotel, then the city, and then the country. Are you in or you out?"

Wow, I just got back from the library.  Troy and I were doing some study for our justice class.  Man, I am so ready for bed!  I still have to do some reading though.  Will this night ever end?  Ever?

Troy:

Jeff's chillin' on his couch.  I wish I was as calm as he is!  Finals are killing me.  My new home is at the library, and it sucks!

Spent a good couple hours today reading The Awakening.  Pretty good book.  Sad ending, but interesting.

Going to watch tv with Meghan tonight. :)

Little picture of Dennis:

Doesn't that sound good?  I want apple pie with vanilla ice cream.  Oooooh, yeah.  Nice hot apple pie.  Now I'm making myself really hungry.  Too bad I still have to wait awhile before dinner.

We have snow here.

Top Ten Signs Your Boss Is Spying On You

10. Wherever you go you're followed by a potted plant in loafers.

9. The bracelet he gave you for Christmas beeps if you leave your cubicle.

8. Office coffee has hint of hazelnut and sodium pentothal.

7. Your name:"Sam." Next to your parking spot: "Reserved for the guy following Sam"

6. Find yourself getting tasered more than with previous bosses.

5. Your new secretary looks a lot like that chick from "Alias"

4. Instead of photos of wife and kids on his desk, he has a photo of you sleeping.

3. When you're alone in the men's room, a voice tells you to quit blocking the lens.

2. Boss critical of typos in your personal e-mails.

1. The fax machine just coughed.

Mandy and Justin on a bus. :)

I just got back from a very invigorating work out!  I feel terrific now!  Wow, I really have to make a nightly routine of this.  It'll give me just the boost I need to stay up and study.  :)

Time to grab a quick shower before Meghan comes over to study and watch The Simpsons and Friends. :)

Elektra is out!  I want to see it because Jennifer Garner is awesome.  I don't think it's gotten great reviews though.  I hope it's good.  Meghan and I are going to go see it tonight.  :)

I do love my car.  My nice, wonderful 1998 Ford Explorer AWD that takes me everywhere I need to go.  :)

I saw Farenheit 911 on Thursday (thanks College Republicans!)  It really makes you think!  Yesterday Meghan and I went to the talent show that the black heritage group put on.  Lots of talent.  It was really cool.  Today was spent primarily with Tim, going to the store and then working on some stuff for our justice studies class.  Tomorrow looks like more studying, mixed up with some laundry.

Tim, Stephanie, Meghan and I are gonna go watch Volcano at Tim's place.  Three cheers for Tommy Lee Jones. ;)

A picture of Tim:

I admit, I tuned in to the Academy Awards last night.  Not only that, but I enjoyed watching them.  I am telling you this so that you understand that I am not just spouting off whatever drivel I have heard about last night's ceremony--I have a right to speak about this, because I saw it with my own two eyes!

I just went onto Yahoo, a site that is very near and dear to my heart, and saw the headline "Rivers duo declare no Oscar fashion flops."  Now I don't know about you, but I don't put much worth on what Joan and Melissa Rivers have to say about anything, and I will not even begin to pretend that I know anything about fashion, but I think these two ladies are wrong here! 

Did they forget about  Renee Zellweger, and Johnny Depp?

Random picture of Emily and Anne.

Hanging out with Tony, Sean, and Adam tonight.  We're going to go see Sin City.  I'm excited.  :)

Doesn't this look great? I can't wait til summer!

By Debbie Magids, Ph.D.

You can learn a lot about yourself from your relationships — and your relationship with money is no exception. Money talks, and it speaks pretty loudly to your dates, your mates, your business associates and your family — not to mention your waitresses/waiters and parking lot attendants!

Your money behaviors — how you spend it or how you choose to save it — were shaped by your past. They are a refection of the impact growing up rich, poor or middle class had on you, as well as your parents' spending and savings behaviors and how they made you feel.

Here are 10 clues into your emotional world that your relationship with money reveals:

1. Are you an extravagant spender, always the one picking up the bill in the best of places? Do you always have the best new car? Do you pick up the tab for luxurious weekends? For you, money means power.

2. Do you give gifts that are beyond your means, buying things for people you wouldn't buy for yourself? For you, money means love and acceptance.

3. Do you spend beyond your means and buy yourself the best of everything? To you, money means you can buy self-worth.

4. Do you have money but never allow yourself to buy things you want? To you, saving money means being undeserving of what it can buy.

5. Do you hoard your money? Do you avoid spending at all costs, so to speak? To you, money means safety.

6. Do you refuse to spend money on relatively inexpensive extras or conveniences, such as not buying an item in a supermarket you want now because you know it will be on sale next week? To you, money means deprivation.

7. Do you buy what you want and then obsess about it for days? To you, money means guilt.

8. Do you spend your money, but put aside extra into an "I'm-outta-here" fund? To you, money means freedom.

9. Do you enjoy spending your money to nurture yourself when you can? To you, money means self love.

10. Do you live within your means, invest wisely for a good future, spend money on things you want, have perfect credit ratings? Congratulations — you have a healthy relationship with money! To you, money means living the best life you can, now and in the future.

Whatever your relationship to money is, it's good to keep tabs on it. Your romantic relationships will be affected by the value you place on money. It's worth spending a little time thinking about that. They do.

I'm really hating having class on Saturdays from 10:50-1:30.  Stupid creative writing.  If it wasn't on Saturdays, I think I might like it a whole lot more.  The class itself is pretty cool, but I can't really sleep in too much on Saturdays.  Dumb. 

My justice studies are real cool this semester...I'm liking those a whole lot.  All in all, the semester is pretty awesome.  Except for Saturday classes.

By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK - Six weeks after being released from federal prison, Martha Stewart has reached a deal with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. to create a 24-hour radio channel featuring her trademark cooking, gardening and entertaining programming for women.

Coming on the heels of separate deals to create a version of "The Apprentice" and a daily cooking show, the four-year agreement being announced Monday with Sirius marks Stewart's latest move to rebuild her business after serving time for lying to the government about a stock sale.

For Sirius, the deal with Stewart is the most recent effort to ramp up its programming slate to compete with its much larger rival in the emerging satellite radio business, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. Earlier this month XM reported that it had 3.8 million subscribers, while Sirius' most recent subscriber count was 1.2 million.

Both Sirius and XM are still suffering deep financial losses and are spending aggressively to lure customers to their services, which cost $12.95 a month and require the purchase of special receiver units, which can only receive either Sirius or XM signals. Both Sirius and XM offer dozens of commercial-free music channels as well as numerous talk channels, many of which carry advertising.

Stewart's channel will also carry advertising. The companies declined to provide other financial details other than to say the arrangement would last for four years.

The companies did say that Stewart herself would also appear on the channel, which was expected to be called Martha Stewart Living Radio.

Last week Stewart appeared at a magazine industry awards ceremony as two magazines published by her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., won honors for design and general excellence.

Two TV deals involving Stewart were also announced in the past few months, while she was still in prison: a daily cooking show was announced in December, while the "Apprentice" show was unveiled in February.

Last year Sirius signed a five-year, $500 million deal to broadcast Howard Stern's show beginning in 2006, and XM reached a $650 million deal last fall with Major League Baseball. Last week Sirius also said it would launch a weekly talk show with former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley.

Scott Greenstein, the head of entertainment and sports programming at Sirius, said that Stewart's channel would "provide women with the definitive complement to their lives and lifestyle."

Chance Patterson, a spokesman for XM, said that his company had spoken with Stewart's representatives but declined to make a deal with her.

"We evaluated this deal and passed on it, particularly given what we felt was a limited ad revenue return for our investment," Patterson said. "We were more interested in doing a show. We didn't feel it justified doing a whole channel."

By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer

I think I'll watch The Mexican tonight.  Very good movie, in my opinion.

I can't believe these gas prices!  I've been taking the L a lot whenever I'm  just going around the city...saves on money, plus I don't have to worry about parking. :)

I was watching 20/20 last night, and they had a segment about this high school senior with no legs.  His body is basically a stump...he's just a head, trunk, pelvis, and arms.  He gets around really well though.  It was amazing.

High of 91 today.  I am definitely going to turn the air conditioning on in my apartment as soon as I get home.  I love air conditioning. :)  Whoever invented it is automatically a great person in my book. :)

On Wednesday night Meghan and I are going to see Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright in concert.  It's going to be awesome!  I'm excited. :)

Some of my friends:

Just got back from McDonald's.  Gotta love the drive-thru.  Got a Big Mac, fries, and Coke.  Probably going to give myself a heart attack or at least high blood pressure, but I was starving.  Sometimes I just can't help myself.

Spent some time with Layton today.  Now I gotta shower and pick Meghan out for our dinner and a movie date. :)

I just can't believe how much water is covering New Orleans.

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening of cancer, ending a 33-year Supreme Court career during which he oversaw the court’s conservative shift, presided over an impeachment trial and helped decide a presidential election. His death creates a rare second vacancy on the nation’s highest court.

Rehnquist, 80, was surrounded by his three children when he died at his home in suburban Arlington. His wife died in 1991.

“The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his duties on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days,” said court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.

President Bush, speaking Sunday morning at the White House, called Rehnquist "a man of character and dedication" who was respected for his powerful intellect and commitment to the rule of law.

"He honored America with a lifetime of service and America will honor his memory," President Bush said.

Bush recalled being emotionally moved when Rehnquist, visibly ailing from thyroid cancer, attended the presidential inauguration to swear him in for his second term. “Even during a period of illness, Chief Justice Rehnquist stayed on the job to complete the work of his final Supreme Court term,” Bush said.

Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1971 by President Nixon and took his seat on Jan. 7, 1972. He was elevated to chief justice by President Reagan in 1986.

The death leaves President Bush with his second court opening within four months and sets up what’s expected to be an even more bruising Senate confirmation battle than that of John Roberts.

It was not immediately clear what impact Rehnquist’s death would have on confirmation hearings for Roberts, scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Rehnquist presided over President Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1999, helped settle the 2000 presidential election in Bush’s favor, and fashioned decisions over the years that diluted the powers of the federal government while strengthening those of the states.

Arberg said plans regarding funeral arrangements would be forthcoming.

Bush was notified of Rehnquist’s death shortly before 11 p.m. EDT.

“President Bush and Mrs. Bush are deeply saddened by the news,” said White House counselor Dan Bartlett. “It’s a tremendous loss for our nation.” The president was expected to make a personal statement about Rehnquist on Sunday.

Stayed beyond July
The chief justice passed up a chance to step down over the summer, which would have given the Senate a chance to confirm his successor while the court was out of session, and instead Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her retirement to spend time with her ill husband. Bush chose Roberts, a former Rehnquist clerk and friend, to replace O’Connor.

Rehnquist said in July that he wanted to stay on the bench as long as his health would allow.

The president could elevate to chief justice one of the court’s conservatives, such as Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas, but it’s more likely he will choose someone from outside the court.

Possible replacements include Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and federal courts of appeals judges J. Michael Luttig, Edith Clement, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Michael McConnell, Emilio Garza, and James Harvie Wilkinson III. Others mentioned are former Solicitor General Theodore Olson, lawyer Miguel Estrada and former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson.

Rehnquist announced last October that he had thyroid cancer. He had a trachea tube inserted to help him breathe and underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Details of the chief justice’s illness and his plans had been tightly guarded. He looked frail at Bush’s inauguration in January and missed five months of court sessions before returning to the bench in March.

On the court’s final meeting day of the last term, June 27, Rehnquist appeared gaunt and had difficulty as he announced the last decision of the term — an opinion he wrote upholding a Ten Commandments display in Texas. His breathing was labored, and he kept the explanation short.

He had no public appearances over the summer, although he was filmed by television crews in July as he left the hospital following two nights for treatment of a fever.

Extraordinary life
Rehnquist had an extraordinary career, with many historic milestones.

In 1999, he presided over Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial from the presiding officer’s chair seat in the Senate, something only one other chief justice had done. A year later he was one of five Republican-nominated justices who voted to stop presidential ballot recounts in Florida, effectively deciding the election for Bush over Democrat Al Gore.

“The Supreme Court of Florida ordered recounts of tens of thousands of so-called ‘undervotes’ spread through 64 of the state’s 67 counties. This was done in a search for elusive — perhaps delusive — certainty as to the exact count of 6 million votes,” he wrote.

Rehnquist, who championed states’ rights and helped speed up executions, is the only member still on the court who voted on Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion. He opposed that decision, writing: “Even today, when society’s views on abortion are changing, the very existence of the debate is evidence that the ‘right’ to an abortion is not so universally accepted as (Roe) would have us believe.”

He believed there was a place for some religion in government. He wrote the 5-4 decision in 2002 that said parents may use public tax money to send their children to religious schools. Two years later, he was distressed when the court passed up a chance to declare that the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is constitutional.

“The phrase ’under God’ in the pledge seems, as a historical matter, to sum up the attitude of the nation’s leaders, and to manifest itself in many of our public observances,” he wrote.

Rehnquist leaves without accomplishing the legal revolution he had hoped for as the nation’s 16th chief justice. As Rehnquist read it, the Constitution lets states outlaw abortion and sponsor prayers in public schools but bars them from giving special, affirmative-action preferences to racial minorities and women. The court he led disagreed.

In 2003, for example, the court preserved affirmative action in college admissions and issued a landmark gay rights ruling that struck down laws criminalizing gay sex, both over Rehnquist’s objections. And last year, Rehnquist disagreed when the court ruled that the government cannot indefinitely detain terrorism suspects and deny them access to courts

Surprise choice in 1971
Rehnquist was somewhat of a surprise choice when President Nixon nominated him to the court in 1971. He was a 47-year-old Justice Department lawyer with a reputation for brilliance and unbending conservative ideology when he was chosen to fill the seat of retiring Justice John Marshall Harlan. Rehnquist, who practiced law in Phoenix before moving to Washington, was the court’s youngest member.

For years he was known as the “Lone Ranger” for his many dissents on a then-liberal court that left him ideologically isolated on the far right. Succeeding appointments of conservative justices and Rehnquist’s elevation by President Reagan to the federal judiciary’s top job in 1986 transformed his role into one of leading and nurturing an increasingly conservative Supreme Court.

Rehnquist was the force behind the court’s push for greater states’ rights. The chief justice has been the leader of five conservatives, sometimes called “the Rehnquist five,” who generally advocate limited federal government interference.

Those five — Rehnquist and O’Connor, Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Thomas — have voted together to strike down federal laws intended to protect female victims of violent crime and keep guns away from schools, on grounds that those issues were better dealt with at the local level. They split, however, in a recent decision upholding the federal government’s right to ban sick people from smoking marijuana even in states that have laws allowing the treatment.

The Rehnquist five were together in the Bush v. Gore decision, which critics predicted would tarnish the court’s hard-won luster. The closing paragraph of a book Rehnquist wrote on the court’s history may stand as his answer to criticism.

Rehnquist noted that the court makes “demonstrable errors” from time to time, but he added, “It and the country have survived these mistakes and the court as an institution has steadily grown in authority and prestige.”

He had deflected criticism about his views on race during his 1971 confirmation, and the one 15 years later when he became chief justice. As a law clerk to Justice Robert Jackson, Rehnquist wrote memos in 1952 that appeared to suggest Jackson should oppose Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark ruling that declared public school segregation unconstitutional.

Rendition of 'Dixie'
As chief justice, Rehnquist drew complaints when he led a group of lawyers and judges in a rendition of “Dixie” at a conference in Virginia in 1999. He did not respond to a black lawyers’ organization that called the song an offensive “symbol of slavery and oppression.”

Rehnquist, a widower since 1991, dodged questions about his legacy in a March 2004 interview. He said that he tried to keep the court running smoothly and keep the peace among the justices.

“To get everybody working harmoniously together is not a small feat,” he said on PBS’s “The Charlie Rose Show.” “You have to have a very high boiling point.”

Within the court, Rehnquist was a far more popular chief justice than his predecessor, Warren Burger. Liberal Justice John Paul Stevens said in 2002 that Rehnquist brought “efficiency, good humor and absolute impartiality” to the job. Some justices complained that Burger was heavy-handed and pompous.

Rehnquist’s grandparents emigrated to the United States from Sweden in 1880 and settled in Chicago. His grandfather was a tailor, his grandmother a school teacher. Rehnquist grew up in Wisconsin, the son of paper salesman and a translator.

He at first had planned to be a college professor, but a test showed him suited to the legal field. In 1952, he graduated first in his class at Stanford University’s law school, where he briefly dated O’Connor, the high court’s first female justice.

Quiet social life
Rehnquist caused great amusement when he departed from tradition by adding four shiny gold stripes to each sleeve of his black robe in 1995. The flourish was inspired by a costume in a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta.

A close student of the Supreme Court’s traditions and history, he was a stickler for decorum. He frequently admonished hapless lawyers who did not show what Rehnquist regarded as proper courtesy in the courtroom. His gravelly monotone silenced any who kept talking past their allotted time.

He was the enthusiastic host of an annual, old-fashioned employee Christmas party at the court. At a time when many schools, government offices and private businesses quietly did away with overtly Christian holiday symbols, Rehnquist led the singing of traditional Christmas carols.

Rehnquist has led a quiet social life outside the court. Until recently, he walked daily, as tonic for a chronic bad back, and played tennis with his law clerks. He enjoyed bridge, spending time with his eight grandchildren, charades and a monthly poker game with Scalia and a revolving cast of powerful Washington men. He liked beer, and smoked in private.

The only chief justice older than Rehnquist was Roger Taney, who presided over the high court in the mid-1800s until his death at87. Rehnquist was also closing in on the record for longest-serving justice. Only four men were on the court 34 years or longer.

Hung out with Layton again last night.  It was pretty fun.

Wow he looks so possessed in this picture!

WAKEMAN, Ohio - Sheriff’s deputies found 11 children locked in cages less than 3½ feet high inside a home, but a couple denied they had abused or neglected the children.

A judge on Monday put the children — who range in age from 1 to 14 and who have various disabilities, including autism — in foster homes.

The children were found in nine cages built into the walls of the house near this small city in northern Ohio, according to the Huron County Sheriff’s Office. They had no blankets or pillows, and the cages were rigged with alarms that sounded if opened, Lt. Randy Sommers said.

The children told authorities they slept in the cages — 40 inches high and 40 inches deep — at night. Doors to some of the cages were blocked with heavy furniture.

Sharen and Mike Gravelle are adoptive or foster parents for all 11 children, officials said. Prosecutors were reviewing the case, but no charges had been filed as of Monday night.

A children’s services investigator saw one of the children in a cage Friday, Sommers said. The sheriff’s office obtained a warrant and returned to the house that evening and removed the children.

The Gravelles do not have a listed telephone number.

A woman who identified herself as Sharen Gravelle’s mother but would not give her name said the children were happy in their new home.

“This year they have played and had fun and laughed like no other children have, which they have never been able to do,” she said.

At a hearing, the judge placed the children in the custody of the Department of Job and Family Services, and officials placed them in four foster homes, said county Juvenile Court Administrator Chris Mushett.

Appearing with a lawyer at the hearing, the Gravelles denied they had abused or neglected the children.

County Prosecutor Russell Leffler said the Gravelles claimed a psychiatrist recommended they place the children in cages.

The couple were reserved when deputies arrived at the house to remove the children, Sommers said.

“The impression that we got was that they felt it was OK,” he said.

Investigators believe nine of the children slept in the cages that were stacked two-high on the house’s second story. Two mattresses on a bedroom floor also showed signs of recent use, Sommers said.

One of the boys said he’d slept in the cage for three years, Sommers said.

Wakeman, with a population of about 1,000, is some 50 miles west of Cleveland.

I love that painting in Layton's bedroom.  What is it, Kandinsky?

If any of you have an extra $28 million burning a hole in your pocket, the house lived in by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston is now on the market. :)

The Associated Press

FARGO, N.D. -- The same week Oprah Winfrey began devoting time on her show to tracking down sex offenders, she has a collar to show for it.

William C. Davis, 33, of Wadesville, Ind., was arrested in Fargo on Thursday, two days after the talk-show host broadcast his face and offered $100,000 for information leading to his capture.

Jean Rosenthal of Moorhead, Minn., recognized Davis as "Mark," a neighbor of her friend Karie Miller. She called Miller on Wednesday, and the 29-year-old Fargo deli worker discovered the man's identity Thursday morning on a Web site.

"His picture came up and I started shaking so bad, I couldn't hold my coffee," Miller told The Forum of Fargo in Friday editions.

Davis, who was on the FBI's Most Wanted Fugitives list, was one of several fugitive sex offenders shown on Winfrey's program Tuesday. The reward, offered by her production company, applies to fugitives presented on the show and its Web site.

Davis faces felony charges of molesting three Indiana boys last year and failing to register as a sex offender. He was convicted of child molestation in 1992.

Davis, arrested by FBI agents, was in jail, awaiting an extradition hearing to return to Indiana.

Karie Miller was in shock after learning of her neighbor's background. She had helped care for him since he broke his leg in a car accident a few weeks ago.

"I've been cooking for him; I've been doing his laundry," she said.

"He said if he was going to go down, he was going to go down in Larry Bird's jersey," Oklahoma County District Judge Ray Elliott said Wednesday. "We accommodated his request and he was just as happy as he could be.

"I've never seen anything like this in 26 years in the courthouse. But, I know the DA is happy about it."

1.) When showering, do you start the water and then get in or get in and start the water? I always start the water first

2.) Do you read the labels on your shampoo bottle? When I'm bored and have time to waste.

3.) Do you moan in the shower like the people on the herbal Essences commercial?  Heck no!

4.) Have you ever showered with someone of the opposite sex?  Yes

5.) Have you ever been forced to shower with one of your siblings?? Ew, no

6.) Have you ever brushed your teeth in the shower? No, I've never been that rushed for time!

7.) Have you ever dropped your soap on your foot?  Yes.  Slippery stuff, that soap.

8.) How old do you look?  I don't know.  I think I look my age.

9.) How old do you act?   I'm usually pretty mature about things, but I think I act my age.

10.) What's the last song you sang?  I was singing along to some commercial that was playing the "Daydream Believer" song.  Lame, I know.

11.) Have you recently become a member of anything? No.

12.) What are your plans for the weekend?  Hanging out with my girlfriend, getting some reading done, relaxing.

13.) Do you kiss with your eyes open or closed? Closed.

14.) What's the sexiest thing about Condoleeza Rice? uhhhh...the fact that she's a woman?

15.) Does anything on your body itch right now? My neck.

WHERE ARE 16-17?

18) Does every family have a crazy uncle or is it just mine? I don't think anyone in my family is crazy.  But maybe that makes me the crazy one.

19). Have you ever smuggled something into America?  No.

20). Does playing the guitar make a girl/guy more attractive? Yes, it seems to.

21). Do you live in a city with a good sports team?  Hey, the White Sox just won the world series.  And the Bulls used to be good when they had Michael Jordan.

22). Have you ever finished off the popcorn and ate the junk from the bottom of the bag? Yes.

23). Have you ever had sex in a tent? No

24). What about in a boat?  No

25). Have you ever dated a Goth?  No

26.) Would you rather receive 25 million dollars in a lump sum or have amazing sex?  How amazing?

27.) Can you fix your own car?  No, I don't know jack about cars.

29.) Should guys wear pink?  I don't think it's a big deal, but society on the whole seems to equate it with being gay.  If it were up to me, I'd say go for it.

Didn't do much this weekend.  Hung out with Layton a bit, went to the mall, watched some movies.  Basically just relaxed.

I don't know why it is, but Layton's always got red-eye in every single picture of him!  What causes red eye anyway?  Is it something wrong that I'm doing on my part as photographer, or is it just him?

*sigh*  Alas, I seem to have posted one too many pictures of my male friends, because now I am being confused as gay.  I AM NOT GAY.  To those of you who are, I have nothing against you.  I'm just not one of you.

Sorry for the confusion, and I'll try to make this more masculine and testosterone-induced.

I am going to the 11:30 p.m. showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire because my girlfriend wants to go and I just can't say no to her.  It's a 2 and a half hour movie, so we won't be getting out of there until 2 a.m.  That seems a bit rediculous to me, but I guess I should be grateful that we're not seeing the midnight showing.  Good news is that Meghan's spending the night at my apartment, so there's a good chance I'm going to be getting some action.  Thanks, Harry Potter, for getting this boy laid.

I think I'm turning into an old man, because 2 a.m. is sounding awfully late all of the sudden. 

The new Harry Potter movie was pretty darn good, I have to admit.  But now my sister is mad at me because I saw it before her.  I think she's going with her friends today, though, so that should make  her happy.

I was just looking around on Craig's List and saw this wonderful posting:

"Wanted girls all ages from 18 and up to do a butt fetish movie bend over and let a guy jerk off and cum on your butt no sex at all very safe takes 30 minutes pays well please send photo to apply."

Lovely.  I hope no one inquires about that.

SANTA BARBARA, California (AP) -- Sam, the dog whose ugliness earned him TV appearances, limousine rides and even a meeting with millionaire Donald Trump, has died, the Santa Barbara News-Press reported Tuesday.

The pooch with the hairless body, crooked teeth and sparse tuft of hair atop his knobby head died Friday, just short of his 15th birthday, said his owner, Susie Lockheed.

"I don't think there'll ever be another Sam," she said, adding wryly, "Some people would think that's a good thing."

Sam became an international celebrity after winning the ugliest animal contest at the 2003 Sonoma-Marin Fair in California -- a victory he twice repeated. The purebred Chinese crested hairless made appearances on TV in Japan, radio in New Zealand and in Britain's Daily Mirror tabloid, stayed in luxury hotels and met Trump on a talk show set.

Lockheed marketed his visage on T-shirts, a calendar and even a coffee "ugly mug."

At the time of his death, Sam was scheduled to be filmed for a Discovery Channel series on the world's ugliest species.

Lockheed said she was initially terrified of Sam when she agreed to take him in as a rescue six years ago on a 48-hour trial basis. Although she fell in love with him, his appearance repulsed her then-boyfriend and prompted the man to break up with her.

Later, however, Sam became a matchmaker by bringing together Lockheed and her current beau, who saw a picture of the two on an online dating site.

Lockheed said she had Sam euthanized after a veterinarian told her Sam's heart was failing.

She said she's felt a little lost ever since, and is sleeping with Sam's favorite toy -- a stuffed bear he picked up and carried home.

"I have snuggled Sam under my blankets on my bed for six years," said Lockheed, who has three other dogs named TatorTot, TinkerBell and PixieNoodle.

Since I've got the day off, I suggested to Meghan that we go see a movie.  Well, somehow I let her pick the movie, so now I've got to go watch In The Mix with Usher.  Hopefully it's good.

Here's Meghan:

PORTLAND, Ore. - A judge refused to clear the record of the man who whacked Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan on the knee in 1994, likely ending his hopes to become a Navy SEAL.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Julie Frantz told Shane Stant at a Thursday hearing that the law does not allow an assault conviction to be expunged.

Kerrigan had opposed the request, saying in a letter that to grant it “would send a message to others that such a crime can ultimately be swept under the rug.”

Stant, 34, said he made the request because the Navy’s special warfare unit will not accept anyone with a felony conviction.

Stant served 14 months in prison for the conspiracy involving skater Tonya Harding and her ex-husband when Harding was seeking the U.S. figure skating title and a spot on the 1994 Winter Olympics team.

The plot was aimed at disabling Kerrigan, Harding’s chief competitor.

Stant struck Kerrigan with a police baton as she prepared to compete in the U.S. championships in Detroit, leaving Kerrigan crumpled on the floor, grabbing her knee and crying out, “Why? Why?” Kerrigan recovered from the injury and won the silver medal in the Olympics.

Stant, Harding’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and two other men went to prison; Harding served probation.

A dream to be a SEAL
This summer, his lawyer filed court papers asking for Stant’s conviction to be set aside, saying Stant had lived a law-abiding life since leaving prison and needed a break to achieve his dream of joining the SEALs.

In court Thursday, Stant asked for the expungement so that “my case doesn’t overshadow who I am as a person.”

Prosecutors objected and presented a Nov. 25 letter from Kerrigan, who also opposed the request, saying she is still asked about the attack.

“To allow Mr. Stant to have this act removed from his record would be an insult not only to me but to the thousands of athletes that strive to live by the Olympic credo,” she wrote. “At the same time, I believe that granting Mr. Stant’s motion would send a message to others that such a crime can ultimately be swept under the rug.”

Stant now lives in Southern California and said Thursday that he works in marketing, although he declined to give details.

It was unsung Oksana Baiul of Ukraine who collected the gold medal in 1994, edging out Kerrigan. Harding was eighth.

CHICAGO - Police are searching for a Massachusetts man who disappeared while visiting Chicago on business.

Matthew Soumakis, 31, was last seen Monday walking toward his hotel, the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers at 301 E. North Water St., wearing a gray wool jacket, according to a Chicago Police Department news release.

Officials said he spoke with his mother Monday morning and was scheduled to return home Tuesday on an American Airlines flight, but he never made it to the plane, the release stated.

After Soumakis didn't show up for meetings Monday, his colleagues called his family, who in turn called Chicago authorities, NBC5's Lisa Tutman reported.

A bartender at Lizzie McNeill's Irish Pub, which is a few blocks away from the Sheraton, said he believes he saw Soumakis leave late Sunday with an older professionally-dressed gentleman.

His worried family and some of his friends have come to Chicago to help with the search.

"We have not heard anything since last night. The police are doing everything they can. We're hopeful that someone will have seen Matt and at least call us or call the police," said Chris Soumakis, the missing man's brother.

The missing man's wife if four months pregnant with their first child, Tutman reported.

Chris Soumakis said his brother is responsible, reasonable, and would never deliberately disappear, Tutman reported.

Soumakis is 6-foot-1, 230 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. Chicago police used sonar to search the Chicago River, but found no sign of the missing man.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Belmont Area Special Victim Unit at (312) 744-8266.

A few years back the “in” gift was a Walkman cassette player.  Then came portable CD machines.  Then players to handle computer-based music files.  I still have my first MP3 device -- it’s one with a measly 128KB of storage and I was able to store 12-to-15 songs on it before I ran out of room.

Today, 512KB-to-1 or even 2GB is the norm for very small flash memory devices, and 4-60 GB for the larger capacity hard drive models.

When you talk about portable music, you have to begin and end with Apple’s line of iPods.  From the tiny Shuffle (512KB o 1GB models) to the elegantly thin Nano (2 or 4 GB) up to and including the newly improved audio/video iPods (30 or 60 GB), Apple has something for everyone -– and for nearly every pocketbook.

The Shuffle ($99-$129) is flash memory based.  It has no screen to read.  You just load your music (as many as 120 or 240 songs) and hit play.  Some people have told me that the Shuffle sounds best of all the iPod models, although that has to do with the earphones.  I’ll have more to say about that in a minute.

The other flash memory based model, the Nano ($199-$249) is amazingly small and thin.  It can hold as many as 500 to 1,000 songs depending on the model you choose.  It comes in either the famous iPod white or newer black enclosure.  Sound quality is also very good.

The new “full-sized” iPods (30GB is $299 – 60GB is $399) do video as well as audio.  The top-of-the-line 60GB device can hold as many as 15,000 music files or 150 hours of video.  My friend Lew let me see his brand new 60GB iPod and see a video he had bought on iTunes.  I was very impressed with the video quality.

There are other terrific portable audio/video devices out there as well.  I really like the Archos AV 500 that I tested recently.  It comes in a 30GB model (up to 130 hours of video for $499.95) and a 100GB one (up to 400 hours for $699.95).  I particularly love the sharp 4-inch screen. 

You don’t buy programming for the Archos -- you record from your cable or satellite feeds or DVDs.  The Archos can do this because they it doesn't record digitally. It allows you to make analog recordings of your favorite programs — just like using a VCR — via composite or S-video outputs. That means there’s no digital rights management software to get in the way.

There’s even a video camera attachment ($199.95) so you can make your own movies. Archos also markets the AV700 with a 7-inch diagonal widescreen screen.  The 40GB retails for $599.95 and the 100GB model lists for $799.95.

As for other MP3 player favorites, you should also look at Creative’s extensive line of modes -– especially their Zen Micro music player.  It comes in three configurations: the 4GB hard drive model lists for $179.99, the 5GB for $199.99 and the 6GB from $229.99.  The 5GB model is currently marketed with a bunch of extra accessories (a belt clip, sand, power adapter and pouch).

In addition to a great sounding music player, the Zen Micro also has a FM tuner (for listening and recording) as well as a voice recorder and removable/replaceable rechargeable battery.  It also comes in ten colors!

For sheer beauty, you should look at Bang & Olufsen’s drop-dead-gorgeous BeoSound2 MP3 player.  It’s small, round and very sexy.  Then again, you pay for your thrills.  The BeoSound2 is priced at a whopping $460.  (Exclusivity is expensive.)  It comes with B&O’s terrific sounding headphones but the SD memory card is extra (512MB sell for $160).  Premium cases are also extra.

Finally, whatever player you decide on – audio or video – you should think about adding a premium set of earphones.  The ones that come with iPods and the like could and should be trashed.

Instead, buy your self a pair of Shure earphones.  They have a line of terrific sounding ear speakers that will allow you to get the most from your portable music.  From the E2c ($99) to the E3c ($179), the E4c ($299) or the top-of-the-line E5c with separate woofers and tweeters in each ear ($499) you’ll be making a great improvement to any of the above devices.  Highly recommended.

LONDON -- An Eminem impersonator who beat a woman to death and stuffed her body in a suitcase — a scene reminiscent of the rapper's "Stan" video — is facing life in prison.

Christopher Duncan, 21, has the same hair color, style and tattoos as the rapper. Duncan pleaded guilty Thursday to killing Jagdip Najran, 26, a law student and aspiring singer.

They met at a karaoke bar last year, where Najran was smitten after watching Duncan perform, a prosecutor said. Duncan took Najran back to his apartment and beat her over the head with an iron baseball bat until she fell unconscious, then stuffed her body into a suitcase.

Medical experts testified she stayed alive for at least an hour after being struck. Duncan reportedly told police he was high on Ecstasy and LSD at the time.

In the video for "Stan," an obsessive fan ties up his girlfriend, throws her in the trunk of his car and drives it over a bridge.

Duncan was to be sentenced Monday. A call to Eminem's publicist in Los Angeles was not immediately returned.

It doesn't seem that long ago, but one year ago today a jury in Redwood City, California recommended the death penalty for Scott Peterson for the murders of his wife and unborn child.

Today’s Birthdays: Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz is 85. Actor-comedian Dick Van Dyke is 80. Actor Christopher Plummer is 78. Actor Robert Prosky is 75. Country singer Buck White is 75. Movie producer Richard Zanuck is 71. Singer John Davidson is 64. Singer Ted Nugent is 57. Rock musician Jeff “Skunk” Baxter is 57. Country musician Ron Getman is 57. Actor Robert Lindsay is 56. Country singer-musician Randy Owen is 56. Actress Wendie Malick is 55. Country singer John Anderson is 51. Singer-songwriter Steve Forbert is 51. Singer-actor Morris Day is 49. Actor Steve Buscemi is 48. Actor Johnny Whitaker is 46. Actor-comedian Jamie Foxx is 38. Rock singer-musician Thomas Delonge (Blink 182) is 30. Actress Chelsea Hertford is 24.

CHARDON, Ohio - A 75-year-old Amish widower, afraid his church community would find out about him seeking sex from a prostitute, was scammed out of more than $67,000 from the prostitute and her boyfriend, a prosecutor says.

Jake Byler of Burton Township gave the pair the money because they had convinced him that photos of Byler and the prostitute would appear on the Internet, county prosecutor David Joyce said.

Kimberly M. Webber, 35, and Patrick T. Lansdowne, 41, of Cleveland, were indicted Tuesday on six felony charges, including extortion, theft from an elderly person and burglary.

Both remained jailed on Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. If convicted, each faces a possible sentence of two to eight years in prison.

Authorities said Byler was seeking sex when he responded to a newspaper ad and was referred to Webber, who met with him about six times beginning in early 2004.

“He made a few errors in judgment, but he certainly didn’t deserve what happened to him,” Joyce said.

Joyce said Byler’s bank, suspicious about large withdrawals from his account this year, notified his son and daughter-in-law, who had power of attorney. The daughter-in-law contacted the sheriff’s department, which eventually got Byler to reveal what was happening.

Told there was a hidden camera
He told detectives that Lansdowne had convinced him that someone broke into his rural home east of Cleveland and installed a camera in the bedroom.

Lansdowne said he knew a man who would get rid of the pictures for money. Byler tapped into his accounts, took out a loan and gave the pair cash he had stored in his home.

“When he realized he was getting duped he actually broke down and started to cry,” Joyce said Wednesday. “He thought these guys were friends and helping him get the pictures off the Internet.”

A deacon at Byler’s church helped videotape Webber receiving Byler’s final $500 payment, authorities said. After Webber received the money, deputies stopped the car she was riding in and arrested her.

Two men accused of being accomplices — Stanley D. Roy, 42, of Cleveland, and George C. Steffen, 63, of Brunswick — were charged with theft and receiving stolen property.

There was no telephone listing for Steffen.

Roy said he drove Webber to Byler’s house so the two could meet for sex, but assumed Byler was Webber’s “sugar daddy.”

“He didn’t seem to be doing anything against his will,” Roy told The Plain Dealer.

NEW YORK - The National Security Agency has eavesdropped, without warrants, on as many 500 people inside the United States at any given time since 2002, The New York Times reported Friday.

That year, following the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush authorized the NSA to monitor the international phone calls and international e-mails of hundreds — perhaps thousands — of people inside the United States, the Times reported.

Before the program began, the NSA typically limited its domestic surveillance to foreign embassies and missions and obtained court orders for such investigations. Overseas, 5,000 to 7,000 people suspected of terrorist ties are monitored at one time.

The Times said reporters interviewed nearly a dozen current and former administration officials about the program and granted them anonymity because of the classified nature of the program.

Government officials credited the new program with uncovering several terrorist plots, including one by Iyman Faris, an Ohio trucker who pleaded guilty in 2003 to supporting al-Qaida by planning to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, the report said.

But some NSA officials were so concerned about the legality of the program that they refused to participate, the Times said. Questions about the legality of the program led the administration to temporarily suspend it last year and impose new restrictions.

Rice says Bush acted lawfully
On Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was asked about the program.

“I’m not going to comment on intelligence matters,” she told NBC’s “Today” show. But Rice did say that President Bush “has always said he would do everything he can to protect the American people, but within the law, and with due regard for civil liberties because he takes seriously his responsibility.”

“The president acted lawfully in every step that he has taken,” Rice said, “to defend the American people and to defend the people within his constitutional responsibility.”

Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the group’s initial reaction to the NSA disclosure was “shock that the administration has gone so far in violating American civil liberties to the extent where it seems to be a violation of federal law.”

Asked about the administration’s contention that the eavesdropping has disrupted terrorist attacks, Fredrickson said the ACLU couldn’t comment until it sees some evidence. “They’ve veiled these powers in secrecy so there’s no way for Congress or any independent organizations to exercise any oversight.”

NBC report on Pentagon database
Earlier this week, the Pentagon said it was reviewing its use of a classified database of information about suspicious people and activity inside the United States after a report by NBC News said the database listed activities of anti-war groups that were not a security threat to Pentagon property or personnel.

Pentagon spokesmen declined to discuss the matter on the record but issued a written statement Wednesday evening that implied — but did not explicitly acknowledge — that some information had been handled improperly.

The Bush administration had briefed congressional leaders about the NSA program and notified the judge in charge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the secret Washington court that handles national security issues.

Aides to National Intelligence Director John Negroponte and West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, declined to comment Thursday night.

The Times said it delayed publication of the report for a year because the White House said it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny. The Times said it omitted information from the story that administration officials argued could be useful to terrorists.

A new TV show, "Deal Or No Deal" premieres tonight on NBC. 

The rules are simple. Choose a briefcase. Then as each round progresses, you must either stay with your original briefcase choice or make a "deal" with the bank to accept their cash offer in exchange for whatever dollar amount is in your chosen case. Once you decide to accept or decline the bank's offer, the decision is final. Contestants are encouraged to ask friends or family in the audience for advice; however, only the contestant's answer will be considered binding and final.

It doesn't really sound like it would be all that exciting to watch, but playing the game on the computer is pretty fun.  Here's the link, from NBC's "Deal Or No Deal" website.

http://www.nbc.com/Deal_or_No_Deal/game/

CHICAGO -- The body of a 31-year-old Massachusetts businessman who disappeared downtown two weeks ago was pulled from the Chicago River Tuesday morning.

Matthew Soumakis' body was pulled from the river near Halsted and Division Streets at 9:39 a.m. and taken to the Cook County medical examiner's office, where he was positively identified, police News Affairs Officer Patrice Harper said.

An autopsy performed Wednesday determined Soumakis drowned, but the manner of death was undetermined pending a police investigation, according to a Cook County medical examiner's office spokesman.

Police were still investigating the death and have not determined whether foul play was involved in the drowning, police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli said Wednesday afternoon.

Soumakis was last seen at around 1:30 a.m. Dec. 6 exiting Lizzie McNeill's, a bar at 400 N. McClurg Court, police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said at the time.

A police Marine Unit Officer, who declined to be named, said Department of Streets and Sanitation employees working near the river spotted the body and called police.

Police determined the identification through a body and clothing description and other identifiers, News Affairs Officer Robin Mohr said.

She said detectives were awaiting the results of an autopsy scheduled to be performed by the medical examiner's office on Wednesday, to determine how to proceed with their investigation.

Soumakis, who was in Chicago on business, had spoken with his mother the day before he went missing and then did not show up for an American Airlines flight home, a Chicago police news release stated.

Soumakis' family and friends assisted Belmont Area detectives in their search for the missing man by putting up signs and posters earlier this month, Belmont Area Detective John Reardon said.

His wife is four months pregnant with their first child.

According to police, Soumakis was known to frequent bars and taverns and was last seen at Lizzie McNeill's, which is located just off the bank of the Chicago River.

He was last seen leaving the bar with a man with gray hair and a beard and wearing a dark coat, according to Greer.

Police News Affairs Deputy Director Pat Camden said Tuesday he did not know if police had located and questioned that person.

CHICAGO -- Police warned residents on the Southwest Side about a string of home invasions that could be linked to attacks on the Northwest Side.

There were strong similarities with the crimes on the North Side, where the culprits posed as utility workers or repairmen, NBC5's Rob Elgas reported.

Police said at least six people have entered Chicago neighborhoods targeting senior citizens. Some of the ruses used have included claiming to need to inspect cars or property, or being members of utility companies.

In a nine-day crime spree, the men, and possibly women, came to the 4100 block of South Montgomery, and at least four other Southwest Side locations.

"Other attempts, members have also received phone calls prior to the incidents occurring," said Sgt. Gregory Jackson of the Chicago p olice. "They knock on the door, they gain entry. One individual would distract the subjects, as other individuals go through the properties, as well as taking personal properties from the victims."

One woman involved in an attempted invasion the Northwest Side fought back in her own way, Elgas reported. She threw the culprit out. Although it was a defensive move, police said people should call 911 if they suspect something is wrong. Police said in two other cases, two people have been attacked inside their homes.

OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines — Philippine prosecutors charged four U.S. Marines on Tuesday with raping a 22-year-old Filipino woman in early November but cleared two other soldiers who had also been accused.

Washington has not responded publicly to an earlier request by the Philippine foreign affairs department to transfer custody of the Marines to local authorities.

A statement by the U.S. embassy, which has been holding the soldiers, made no mention of custody but said the United States would continue to cooperate with the Philippines on the case under the two countries’ Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

“The U.S. remains committed to seeing that justice is served, and looks forward to a fair and impartial process that can provide for a just outcome,” the statement said.

“We are happy the girl is going to get some kind of justice,” said Katrina Legarda, a lawyer for the complainant.

In affidavits, five of the Marines had disputed allegations that the woman was gang-raped in a van at a former U.S. Navy base at Subic Bay, suggesting there was consensual sex.

The sixth soldier, who had also taken part in two-week military exercises with Philippine troops in October, did not submit an affidavit.

The van driver, a Filipino initially considered a witness, was charged as an accomplice, according to prosecution documents filed with a court in Olongapo City, northwest of Manila.

“I was convinced there was a conspiracy among the accused,” the city’s chief prosecutor, Prudencio Jalandoni, told reporters.

In the charge sheet, Jalandoni said evidence suggested the two cleared soldiers were not in the van at the time of the alleged rape.

He said that once arrest warrants were issued, the four U.S. Marines and the Filipino driver would be placed in one detention facility, subject to the provisions of the VFA.

One-year limit
Recommending no bail be set for the accused, Jalandoni said he was “confident the case will be resolved before the end of the one-year period” stipulated in the VFA for the handling of criminal charges against U.S. soldiers.

The court was expected to select a judge on Jan. 3 to hear the case but no trial date has been set.

The woman who filed the complaint and the six soldiers — all from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in Okinawa, Japan — did not attend three hearings held since late November.

Relations between Manila and Washington deteriorated in the 1990s when Philippine senators ended a treaty allowing U.S. forces to keep naval and air bases that had been used as staging points during the Vietnam War and the first Gulf War.

The bonds were repaired in 1999, when a more friendly Philippine Senate agreed to the VFA, which permits U.S. troops to join military exercises and train local units that are battling communist and Muslim insurgencies.

CHICAGO - Police said Tuesday that two of three people left in critical condition after a weekend crash were off-duty Chicago police officers. Police also say alcohol was involved, NBC5's Anna Davlantes reported.

The driver of the car, Luis Sotelo, a new Chicago police officer just out of the academy, was charged with aggravated DUI.

The accident occurred at about 2:15 a.m. on Saturday. A car ended up facing the wrong way under a viaduct at Clybourn Avenue near Fullerton Avenue.

"It lit up the family room," said Bill Pedriana, a witness who called 911. "The force was so much that it lit up the first level of our house."

The passenger in one of the cars was also a new Chicago police officer who was just out of the academy. He was not moving when he was taken from the scene. Sources told Davlantes that he is partially paralyzed.

Another person in the car, who was the brother of one of the officers, was also injured in the incident and transported to an area hospital.

"We just saw, basically, body by body until, I think the person in the back seat was the last one to get out," said Patrick Hughes, another neighbor.

HOUSTON - Edward Allen’s reaction to being on the government’s “no-fly” list should have been the tip-off that he is no terrorist.

“I don’t want to be on the list. I want to fly and see my grandma,” the 4-year-old boy said, according to his mother.

Sijollie Allen and her son had trouble boarding planes last month because someone with the same name as Edward is on a government terrorist watch list.

“Is this a joke?” Allen recalled telling Continental Airlines agents Dec. 21 at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport. “You can tell he’s not a terrorist.”

She said it took several minutes of pleading and a phone call by the ticket agent to get on the plane to New York.

Allen, a Jamaican immigrant, said workers at La Guardia Airport were even more hard-nosed before their Dec. 26 flight home. She said a ticket agent told her: “You’re lucky that we’re letting you through instead of putting you through the other process.”

The Transportation Security Administration’s “no-fly” list was established immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to prevent people who may have terrorist ties from boarding commercial flights.

‘Common sense should play a role’
“I know the government is trying to protect because of the terrorist attacks, but common sense should play a role in it,” Allen said. “I don’t think he should go through the trouble of being harassed and hindered.”

TSA regional spokeswoman Carrie Harmon said the agency tells airlines not to deny boarding to children under 12 or select them for extra security checks even if their names match ones on the list.

“We do not require ID for children because there are no children on the list,” Harmon said. “If it’s a child, ticket agents have the authority to immediately de-select them.”

Continental spokesman Dave Messing said Thursday that the airline would not discuss its security policies.

Other people with common names who have encountered “no-fly” list problems at airports include Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and actor David Nelson from “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., has said he had to make several calls to federal officials before his name was separated from the one on the list.

Here's a little secret that Starbucks doesn't want you to know: They will serve you a better, stronger cappuccino if you want one, and they will charge you less for it. Ask for it in any Starbucks and the barista will comply without batting an eye. The puzzle is to work out why.

The drink in question is the elusive "short cappuccino"—at 8 ounces, a third smaller than the smallest size on the official menu, the "tall," and dwarfed by what Starbucks calls the "customer-preferred" size, the "Venti," which weighs in at 20 ounces and more than 200 calories before you add the sugar.

The short cappuccino has the same amount of espresso as the 12-ounce tall, meaning a bolder coffee taste, and also a better one. The World Barista Championship rules, for example, define a traditional cappuccino as a "five- to six-ounce beverage." This is also the size of cappuccino served by many continental cafés. Within reason, the shorter the cappuccino, the better.

The problem with large cappuccinos is that it's impossible to make the fine-bubbled milk froth ("microfoam," in the lingo) in large quantities, no matter how skilled the barista. A 20-ounce cappuccino is an oxymoron. Having sampled the short cappuccino in a number of Starbucks across the world, I can confirm that it is a better drink than the buckets of warm milk—topped with a veneer of froth—that the coffee chain advertises on its menus.

This secret cappuccino is cheaper, too—at my local Starbucks, $2.35 instead of $2.65. But why does this cheaper, better drink—along with its sisters, the short latte and the short coffee—languish unadvertised? The official line from Starbucks is that there is no room on the menu board, although this doesn't explain why the short cappuccino is also unmentioned on the comprehensive Starbucks Web site, nor why the baristas will serve you in a whisper rather than the usual practice of singing your order to the heavens.

Economics has the answer: This is the Starbucks way of sidestepping a painful dilemma over how high to set prices. Price too low and the margins disappear; too high and the customers do. Any business that is able to charge one price to price-sensitive customers and a higher price to the rest will avoid some of that awkward trade-off.

It's not hard to identify the price-blind customers in Starbucks. They're the ones buying enough latte to bathe Cleopatra. The major costs of staff time, space in the queue, and packaging are similar for any size of drink.  So, larger drinks carry a substantially higher markup, according to Brian McManus, an assistant professor at the Olin School of Business who has studied the coffee market.

The difficulty is that if some of your products are cheap, you may lose money from customers who would willingly have paid more. So, businesses try to discourage their more lavish customers from trading down by making their cheap products look or sound unattractive, or, in the case of Starbucks, making the cheap product invisible. The British supermarket Tesco has a "value" line of products with infamously ugly packaging, not because good designers are unavailable but because the supermarket wants to scare away customers who would willingly spend more. "The bottom end of any market tends to get distorted," says McManus. "The more market power firms have, the less attractive they make the cheaper products."

That observation is important. A firm in a perfectly competitive market would suffer if it sabotaged its cheapest products because rivals would jump at the opportunity to steal alienated customers. Starbucks, with its coffee supremacy, can afford this kind of price discrimination, thanks to loyal, or just plain lazy, customers.

The practice is hundreds of years old. The French economist Emile Dupuit wrote about the early days of the railways, when third-class carriages were built without roofs, even though roofs were cheap: "What the company is trying to do is prevent the passengers who can pay the second-class fare from traveling third class; it hits the poor, not because it wants to hurt them, but to frighten the rich."

The modern equivalent is the airport departure lounge. Airports could create nicer spaces, but that would frustrate the ability of airlines to charge substantial premiums for club-class departure lounges.

Starbucks' gambit is much simpler and more audacious: Offer the cheaper product but make sure that it is available only to those customers who face the uncertainty and embarrassment of having to request it specifically. Fortunately, the tactic is easily circumvented: If you'd like a better coffee for less, just ask.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A surveillance video that captured images of a homeless man being savagely beaten helped police track down the two teenage suspects, officials said.

More than 100 tips were generated from the video and photographs of the Thursday beating, and investigators and made contact with the families of the suspects within a day, investigators said.

Family members and their attorneys negotiated the Sunday surrender of Brian Hooks, 18, and a 17-year-old youth who had fled the state. (It is the policy of MSNBC.com not to identify juvenile suspects.)

Hooks and the other teen face murder charges in the death of Norris Gaynor, 45, and aggravated battery charges in the videotaped beating of Jacques Pierre, 58, police Capt. Michael Gregory said Sunday.

The teens are also suspects in the beating of Raymond Perez, 49, authorities said. That case remains under investigation, Gregory said.

At a hearing Monday, Circuit Judge Steven P. DeLuca ordered the 17-year-old to be held for 21 days in juvenile custody and to undergo a psychological examination. DeLuca denied a request from the boy's  attorney, Jerry Williams, for home detention.

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to charge the younger teen as a juvenile or an adult.

A hearing for Hooks was delayed until Tuesday. Because he is 18, he was charged as an adult. His attorney, Jeremy Kroll, said the charges “do not appropriately reflect Brian’s responsibility. ... When all the facts come to light, it will be evident that Brian’s involvement is far more limited than has been speculated.”

The attack on Pierre, 58, took place on the Fort Lauderdale campus of Florida Atlantic University, where he had been sleeping on a bench shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday.

Video and still pictures showing two males chasing and beating him with what appeared to be baseball bats were broadcast and published nationally.

“The video was critical in getting the word out,” Gregory said.

Gaynor, 45, was killed a few blocks away from where Pierre was attacked. Gaynor died from severe head injuries, authorities said.

There were 105 attacks on homeless in 2004, including 25 deaths, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition for the Homeless. The majority of attackers were young men between the ages of 16 and 25.

An article from today's USA Today:

Jaime Plascencia, 44, and Anna Ayala, 40, pleaded guilty on Sept. 9 to conspiracy to file a false insurance claim and attempted grand theft with damages exceeding $2.5 million.

Ayala faced up to nine years, eight months in prison for her part in the scam, among other charges. Plascencia could have received 13 years in prison on the charges, including failing to pay child support.

Prosecutors asked the court to impose the maximum sentence on Plascencia and Ayala. In court documents filed last week, the government's lawyers described them as "grifters" who demonstrated "a total selfishness and perceived entitlement to other people's money."

The defense also filed documents last week, but Ayala's lawyer would not provide them before the sentencing and they were unavailable from the court.

"It seems as though the district attorney's office is seeking to effect a judicial result through media pressure," defense lawyer Frederick Ehler said in a statement Tuesday. "The defense prefers to trust in the integrity of the process and to let the process run its course through the court."

Ayala claimed to have found the fingertip March 22 while dining with her family at a Wendy's in San Jose. The Dublin, Ohio-based fast food chain claimed it lost $2.5 million in sales because of the bad publicity.

A search for the finger's owner eventually led to one of Plascencia's co-workers, who lost it in an industrial accident, police said.

Plascencia bought the fingertip from Brian Rossiter for $100 and told him what he and Ayala were planning, according to court documents. Rossiter later told police the couple offered him $250,000 to keep quiet, the prosecution filing said.

By Kamakshi Tandon

As it said on my Starbucks cup this morning:

Our lives are inspired by the dreams we have from the earliest stages of our youth. When you combine passion and hard work, then success is always possible. While no road is ever straight, dedication and persistence will always lead you to your dreams.

-- Arte Moreno (In 2003, he became the first Hispanic owner of a major league baseball team. )

Several Syracuse students received punishments including expulsion and probations after posting insulting comments about a T.A. of one of their classes on the college networking site, Facebook.com.

Trading insults online is nothing new, though there has been a rash of harsh punishments as of late for students caught participating.

It brings up the age-old question: do universities have the right to limit students' freedom of speech? Isn't free speech the very goal that higher education is based on?

Or, do you believe that the students' punishments were justified, considering the crudity of the comments?

Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, likes to kick back with her good friend Corona.

Uh oh, here comes trouble.

I watched the movie Gothika last night, and while I thought it was decent, I don't think it's something I'd want to spend the $8 or whatever it is to see it in the theatre.  The whole psych doctor-turned-psych patient thing was pretty interesting, and I thought Halle Berry did a very good job, but I just wasn't feeling Penelope Cruz.

PISMO BEACH, Calif. - A gunman opened fire inside a crowded Denny's restaurant during lunch hour Wednesday, killing two people and wounding two before taking his own life, police said.

“There could have been 30 or 40 people inside. As the shootings occurred, people were fleeing the restaurant, hiding in bathrooms,” Cmdr. Jeff Norton said.

Police said they did not know the motive for the shootings.

The names of the gunman and the victims were not immediately released. Nor was the condition of the wounded. Local NBC affiliate KSBY reported that the dead and the injured were all males.

Pismo Beach is in San Luis Obispo County, a 3-hour drive northwest of Los Angeles.

With striking regularity, sexual-assault charges at the U.S. Naval Academy are dismissed without trial and the suspects are instead expelled from school, according to an analysis of hundreds of pages of Navy documents.

Of 56 midshipmen accused of sexual assault since 1998, two have been convicted, and one of those was in a civilian court, a review by The Washington Post of Navy incident reports, case summaries and data released by the school show.

In virtually every other case in which investigators found evidence of sexual assault, military prosecutors -- and, in one instance, civilian officials -- cut deals forcing the alleged offender to leave the academy without facing trial and without having a criminal record.

Somehow this doesn't really surprise me.

California researchers say a blood-cleaning machine could save lives if bird flu becomes a pandemic. Fighting viruses by cleansing the blood might sound too good to be true, and many infectious disease experts say it is.

The young Marine had just shot a suspected insurgent and was walking back across the villa's rooftop when he keeled over from a terrific thud to the back of his head.  

A sniper had fired a single, well-aimed bullet that tore through the top of Lance Cpl. Richard Caseltine's helmet, traced a path along the edge of his skull and buried burning bullet fragments in the back of his neck.  

Less than a minute later, the 20-year-old from Aurora, Ind., was up on his feet - crouching, shaking and miraculously, still alive.  

"You expect when somebody gets shot in the head, they're dead," the soft-spoken Caseltine told The Associated Press in an interview, cradling the battered camouflage helmet that saved his life Saturday. "I consider myself very lucky." 

Today's been one of those perfect Saturdays.  Slept in, ate a bagel and drank some coffee while reading the paper, went for a jog, showered, and spent the afternoon in Borders, perusing books and enjoying the day.  Then I took a leisurely walk, and returned home.

Tonight Meghan and I are going to see American Dreamz and then go out to eat at Giordano's.

In the meantime, I'll do some reading of Ethnicity, Race, and Crime: Perspectives Across Time and Place.

I've just been leafing through one of my old textbooks, "Violence, Terrorism and Justice."  It's pretty good; I'm glad I held onto it.

Meghan and I are going to go see United 93 tonight.  I really want to see it, even though I'm sure it'll be tough to watch.

Today the Pentagon released the first video images of American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the military headquarters building and killing 189 people in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The images, recorded by Pentagon security cameras outside the building, were made public in response to a December 2004 Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch, a public interest group. Some still images from the video had previously been leaked and publicly circulated, but this was the first official release.

The airplane is a thin white blur on the video as it slams into the Pentagon at ground level. Almost instantly a white flash and a huge orange fireball appear on the video, followed by a tower of gray-black smoke. One of the videos shows a Pentagon police car driving in the direction of the impact point shortly after the plane hit.

Traveling at an estimated 350 mph, the hijacked American Airlines plane plowed into the southwest side of the Pentagon at 9:38 a.m. EDT, shortly after two other hijacked airlines were flown into the twin towers at the World Trade Center in New York. The attack set off fires in a portion of the Pentagon and killed 125 people inside, in addition to the 59 passengers and crew and the five men who hijacked the plane at Dulles International Airport.

Visit this website to view the video

Meghan and I are going to see The Last Five Years tonight.  It sounds like it'll be pretty good--it chronicles a young couple's romance. Her story starts at the end of the relationship and his at the beginning, so you're hearing it from two points of view.  Smart.

Al Gore, the Democrats' nominee for the White House in 2000, says he has all but ruled out running for president in 2008, saying the best use of his time is to educate people about global warming.

"I haven't made a Sherman statement, but that's not an effort to hold the door open. It's more the internal shifting of gears," said Gore, referring to Civil War-era general William Tecumseh Sherman. "I can't imagine any circumstances in which I would become a candidate again. I've found other ways to serve. I'm enjoying them."

Gore referred to Sherman's famous words upon retiring from the Army in 1884, which put to rest talk of a presidential run: "If nominated I will not run; if elected I will not serve."

Gore, in an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week," stopped short of issuing such an equivocal statement. But he said his time is best spent educating people on heat-trapping gases raising the Earth's surface temperature. He's promoting "An Inconvenient Truth," a film that chronicles his intricate slide shows on global warming.

Going out with a guy from work, Frank, tonight.  Evidently, my social life does not meet his standards.  Since his idea of going out on a Friday night probably just limits itself to "picking up chicks," I'm not sure how I'm gonna explain this one to Meghan.  I told him "you know I've got a girlfriend, right?" and he said "that doesn't mean you can't go out and have a good time."

He better not get me in trouble.

Warren Buffett, the world's second richest man, plans to give away 85 percent of his fortune of more than 40 billion dollars to charity including one run by Bill Gates, the wealthiest man on the planet, Fortune magazine reported.

Buffett, 75, pledged in an interview with Fortune to give away 85 percent of his stock in his Berkshire Hathaway investment firm starting in July.

"I know what I want to do," he was quoted as saying, "and it makes sense to get going."

The shares will go to five foundations. More than 80 percent will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which already has a kitty of about 30 billion dollars used to pay for medical research and give educational grants.

Buffett and the Gates' are close friends. According to Fortune, Buffett plans to eventually become a trustee of the Gates foundation.

Fortune magazine estimated earlier this year that Buffett has a fortune of about 44 billion dollars. Gates has about 50 billion dollars.

New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito broke a tie Monday to rule that Kansas' death penalty law is constitutional.

By a 5-to-4 vote, the justices said the Kansas Supreme Court incorrectly interpreted the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment to strike down the state's death penalty statute.

The dissenters, the four liberal members of the high court, bitterly complained about the decision.

The Kansas court said the state's death penalty law improperly forced jurors to impose a capital sentence even if they believed that the prosecution and defense evidence were equal in weight.

But the justices disagreed. Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas disputed the claim by critics that the law created "a general presumption in favor of the death penalty in the state of Kansas."

The ruling affirms the court's long-held position that states should determine how juries weigh factors presented by the prosecution and defense in capital cases.

Authorities have disrupted foreign terrorists plotting to attack the transportation tunnels running beneath the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, the FBI announced Friday.

"For most of the year, we have been focusing on a group of al-Qaida followers who have targeted the Hudson River tubes," FBI Assistant Director Mark J. Mershon said Friday. "We believe we intercepted this group early in their plotting and, in fact, the plan has largely been disrupted."

Mershon confirmed that one suspect, Assem Hammoud, was in custody in Lebanon and facing criminal charges.

A man who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit testified Tuesday that he was so young, unsophisticated and confused when Chicago police interrogated him that at one point he thought a prosecutor was his lawyer.

Asked why he cooperated with police and tried to answer all their questions in the 1976 murder of 9-year-old Lisa Cabassa, Michael Evans testified that officers told him if he did he'd be released to his mother.

"But they sent me to prison for 200 to 400 years, framed me," Evans said as the trial got under way in his federal lawsuit against the city of Chicago and 12 current and former police officers.

Evans, who testified he has a learning disability and could barely read or write when he was interrogated, said he also went along with police out of fear.

"I was afraid if I didn't cooperate they were going to use any type of brutality," Evans said.

The officers' attorney, however, described Evans as the logical suspect in the slaying and said Evans even tried to intimidate the one witness who could put him at the scene of the crime.

The 12 officers were from the Area 2 violent crime unit, which has been accused of torturing 192 black men in interrogation rooms during the 1970s and 1980s. The accusations, which have drawn international attention and condemnation, have prompted a four-year, multimillion-dollar investigation.

A report on that investigation is expected to be released to the public soon.

A 15-year-old boy from suburban Chicago and his friends are wondering what could have made a group of teens beat him, then take his prosthetic leg and use it as a weapon on a friend who came to his rescue.

Watch the video

A customer at a Philadelphia grocery store tackled an armed robber and beat him with a can of applesauce when he refused to drop his gun, police said. 

The suspect shot himself in the head during the struggle, and passed out after the 66-year-old customer administered four blows to the head with the Mott's applesauce.

The House passed and sent to President Bush legislation establishing a national Internet database designed to tell law enforcement and community officials where convicted sex offenders live and work.

The most serious offenders would be registered in the database for life. All sex offenders could face a felony charge punishable by 10 years in prison for failing to update their database information.

Offenders would be required to register in person.

The House passed the bill by voice vote, as did the Senate last week.

The legislation also sets mandatory minimum sentences of 25 years for kidnapping or maiming a child, and 30 years for sex with a child under 12 or for sexually assaulting a child 13 to 17.

As much as I think that the United States needs to be wary of possible terrorists, this story sickens me.  It's one thing to question someone you suspect of being a terrorist, but quite another to detain him for five years, lock him in a small cell all by himself, humiliate him, scar him, strip search him...all without ever charging him of a crime.

Whether it's a blowout argument or a dinner-table disagreement, a spat with your lover can be trying. Humans have of course devised ways of making up, including tight hugs and the customary apology flowers.

Killer whales have their own tricks for mending relations, a new study finds. Rather than a bouquet, however, they might opt for an intimate swim.

Studies have shown that chimpanzees kiss and hug after a dispute, and other primates such as bonobos resort to sexual activity to resolve conflicts.

Hours after breaking up with his girlfriend, a man shot four people Thursday, including the girlfriend's mother and her co-worker at an elementary school, then shot himself in the head, police said.

Investigators said they had been searching for Christopher Williams, 26, since early Thursday when the girlfriend called police to report he had taken her car after their breakup.

Later in the day, police said Williams killed Andrea Lambesis' 57-year-old mother, Linda, at her home, then headed to the nearby Essex Elementary School, where her daughter was a teacher.

When he did not find the girlfriend, he shot and killed teacher Mary Shanks, 56, Police Chief David Demag said. He also shot and wounded another person at the school. Police had reported earlier two were injured.

Some 39 staffers were in the building preparing for the start of the school year when the gunman showed up, Demag said.

Williams then went to a condominium complex, where he shot an acquaintance, Chad Johansen, 26, before turning the gun on himself, the chief said.

He said Williams shot himself twice in the head, but was still able to talk to police when they arrived.

Demag said the three injured people, including the shooter, were taken to a hospital. All were in fair or good condition late Thursday.

Here's a big surprise.  It turns out that the two sources that the DNA taken from John Mark Karr does not match the DNA samples taken from the crime scene in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case.

No charges will be filed against Karr in connection with the Ramsey case by the Boulder County District Attorney's office.

Samples of Karr's saliva and hair were taken in Boulder after his arrival on Thursday. Those samples were tested over the weekend inside the Denver Police Department's Crime lab.   Karr's DNA is ruled out as the foreign DNA left on JonBenet Ramsey's body when she was murdered in December 1996.

He still faces charges of child pornography in California.

NICKEL MINES, Pa.(AP) Police now say the gunman who attacked an Amish school was 32 years old and sent the male students outside while keeping the girls in and blocking the doors.

Six people were shot to death at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania's bucolic Lancaster County Monday, and at least three young girls were hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.

It was the nation's third deadly school shooting in less than a week, and one of the deadliest in U.S. history.

"So far, six confirmed dead, and the helicopters are pulling into (Lancaster General Hospital) like crazy," Coroner G. Gary Kirchner said.

It wasn't immediately clear if the shooter was among the six. State Police Cpl. Ralph Striebig said earlier that the shooter was dead, but he released no details about that person or a possible motive.

Here's a pretty crazy story--a 14-year-old girl was pulled out of class and questioned by secret service agents because of a picture of President Bush posted on her MySpace page last year  with "Kill Bush" written on the top and a dagger stabbing his outstretched hand.

She took the page down after she learned in her eighth grade history class that such threats are considered a federal offense, but it was too late.

Do they really need to be worried about a teenage girl?

Construction at the World Trade Center site won't stop, despite the recent discovery of more than 100 pieces of bone and human remains believed to belong to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

Read all about it.

A U.S. Marine was convicted Monday of raping a Filipino woman and sentenced to 40 years in prison, ending an emotional trial that has strained U.S.-Philippine ties and tested a joint military pact.

Three other Marines and their Filipino driver were acquitted of complicity.

Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, 21, from St. Louis, was the first American soldier convicted of wrongdoing in the Philippines since the country shut down U.S. bases here the early 1990s. His lawyer, Ricardo Diaz, said he would appeal.

Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier, Lance Cpl. Keith Silkwood and Lance Cpl. Dominic Duplantis, who had been accused of cheering Smith on, were freed.

Smith, who was in the country for joint training, did not deny having sex with the 23-year-old woman but testified that it was consensual.

Family members said this year that Bolden had 40 grandchildren, 75 great-grandchildren, 150 great-great-grandchildren, 220 great-great- great grandchildren and 75 great-great-great-great grandchildren.

E. Howard Hunt, who helped organize the Watergate break-in, leading to the greatest scandal in American political history and the downfall of Richard Nixon's presidency, died Tuesday. He was 88.

Hunt died in Miami after a lengthy bout with pneumonia, according to his son, Austin Hunt.

The elder Hunt was many things: World War II soldier, CIA officer, organizer of both a Guatemalan coup and the botched Bay of Pigs invasion, and author of more than 80 books. He was also a founder of the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA.

Yet the bulk of his notoriety came from the one thing he always insisted he wasn't -- a Watergate burglar.

"I will always be called a Watergate burglar, even though I was never in the damn place," Hunt told the Miami Herald in 1997.

While working for the CIA, Hunt recruited four of the five actual burglars.

Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974. Twenty-five men went to prison for their involvement in the botched plan, and a new era of skepticism toward government began.

Hunt and fellow operative G. Gordon Liddy, along with the five arrested at Watergate, were indicted on federal charges three months later.

Hunt and his recruits pleaded guilty in January 1973, and McCord and Liddy were found guilty.

A memoir by Hunt, "American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond," is due to be released next month.

"We are getting an audience large enough where we have an opportunity to support creativity, to foster creativity through sharing revenue with our users," Hurley said at the World Economic Forum. "So in the coming months, we are going to be opening that up."

Hurley gave no details of how much users would be paid, or what mechanism would be used.

Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller, 64, who also had been convicted of sexual assaults in several states over three decades, was sentenced to the maximum term on 11 felony counts of child molestation and one misdemeanor charge of child pornography possession.

Schwartzmiller represented himself during his trial last year but asked for an attorney to represent him during the sentencing phase.

During the nearly three-week trial, prosecutor Steve Fein showed jurors a map of the "places and decades where the defendant has molested young boys." It included an estimated 100 accusers dating to 1969 in eight U.S. states, Mexico and Brazil.

When Schwartzmiller was arrested in June 2005, investigators found a memoir describing abuse, binders full of child pornography and 1,500 notebook pages with headings including "blond boys," "no, but yes boys," and "best of the best, 13 and under."

Schwartzmiller, who acted as his own attorney during his October trial, told jurors that he was innocent and maligned by a society that doesn't accept men who love boys.

The road would connect Interstate 94 in northwestern Indiana with Interstate 57 in Chicago's south suburbs. The transportation agency said the new expressway relieves congestion on Interstate 80/94 and that private funds are being sought to pay for the road.

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.

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

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'll tell you, it's a wonder I haven't burned my place down yet.  I wander into the kitchen, walk by the stove, and think "boy is it hot in here."  Then I take a look around and realize that I left the burner on the stove on...for over an hour.  Good thing I didn't go anywhere!  This is now the second time that I've done this.  Hopefully there won't be a third.

Boston Legal starts tomorrow, and I'm psyched.  Unfortunately this is the last season, but hopefully it'll be a really good one.