News & Notes On Lindsey Lohan/WWE, WrestleMania, More

News & Notes On Lindsey Lohan/WWE, WrestleMania, More

World Wrestling Entertainment has released the first-ever T-shit for WWE Tag-Team Champion, The Miz.

Mick Foley, Superstar Graham, Christy Hemme, Gail Kim and Molly Holly are all scheduled to appear as guests for this May's Chiller Theatre convention in New Jersey.

One in four WWE WrestleMania 24 themed covers will be featured on the March 2008 edition of WWE Magazine.

TMZ picked up on Lindsey Lohan being backstage on this week’s edition of WWE Monday Night RAW.
source: http://www.prowrestling.com/

Still voting in Wisconsin, exit polls

Still voting in Wisconsin, exit polls

The polls are still open in Wisconsin, with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton each locked in a very close battle for Democratic delegates.

Wisconsin offers 74 national convention delegates, and an early test of support in industrial states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Exit polls show independents cast about one-quarter of the ballots in the Democratic race, and roughly 15% of the electorate were first-time voters. Obama has run well among independents in earlier primaries.

The economy -- trade in particular -- is a key issue in Wisconsin. Seven in 10 of the Democratic primary voters said U.S. trade with other countries winds up costing jobs in the state. Fewer than one in five said it creates more jobs than it loses.

GOP front-runner John McCain is hoping to inch closer to wrapping up the GOP nomination. Republicans are voting in Wisconsin and holding a caucus in Washington state. There are 56 delegates at stake.

source: http://www.kpvi.com/

Painted guns resembling toys pose threat to officers

Hello Kitty stickers are part of the latest danger to police officers nationwide.

Automatic weapons painted pink and covered in Hello Kitty and flower stickers are an example of a growing threat - real guns painted to look like toys, according to a notice recently circulated among officers at the Gainesville Police Department.

The sole purpose of these guns is to fool the observer, said Lt. Rob Koehler of GPD’s Tactical Impact Unit.

"If you saw this, your initial impulse would be, ‘This is a toy,’" Koehler said.

Koehler said these types of guns are especially dangerous to police because they can prevent officers from taking appropriate action, such as using force or avoiding danger.

That moment when an officer first sees someone with a gun could mean everything in terms of how he or she responds, Koehler said.

"It gives the advantage to the carrier," he said. "That moment the person sees it could mean everything."

Although guns have been customized with camouflage print for quite some time, hot pink and neon green paint jobs are relatively new, according to the release.

These guns are not only a problem for officers, but for children as well.

In the past, officers have misjudged toy guns for real ones with tragic results, according to a news release from the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

The colorful guns are also more easily mistaken for toys by children, who may find their parents’ firearms, according to the release.

"Can you imagine a child finding a pastel blue or pink Glock, fully loaded?" the release stated.
Guns can be painted professionally or with at-home kits available on the Internet.

Although GPD officers have not encountered a painted gun locally, the weapons are a growing concern elsewhere in the country.

These "designer guns," as the notice calls them, have become such a problem that New York City lawmakers are working on passing legislation to ban guns colored to look like toys.
source: http://www.alligator.org/

How the Flat Belly Diet Can Help Women

With spring quickly approaching, everyone, including myself, is very eager to attempt to lose weight. There always seems to be new fad diets that are released to anyone who will listen. So what is the latest craze for this year? The Flat Belly Diet seems to be the most popular so far for 2008.

It does have many things that appear to be beneficial at first glance. The one problem that many women seem to have a problem with is losing their belly weight. Belly fat is actually the most dangerous fat on your body, especially for women who have just recently had a baby. In a new book titled the Flat Belly Diet the editors, Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass, say they have found the secret.

The Flat Belly diet is basically a diet that focuses on Monounsaturated Fatty Acids also known as Mufa. Scientist have found that by using a particular nutrition plan and a few motivational tips you can lose up to 15 pounds in just 32 days. The monounsaturated fatty acids are considered to be good fats. By basing your diet on these so called good diets, you can very easily lose the belly fat, according to their book. Your focus when you are on this diet are the five flat belly foods which include, oil, nuts & seeds and chocolate, olives, and avocados. All they recommend is one serving of these foods per meal in addition to watching your calorie intake.

What I really like about this diet is that it seems very easy to achieve. Especially since they mention that exercise is optional and not necessary to lose the belly fat. This diet focuses on health and energy. The total calorie intake for the day is about 1600 which means that you can eat about 400 calories at each of your meals. It is recommended that you have at least four small meals a day. The best part is that it is very easy to stick with this diet just by including the five ingredients in your daily foods. For example when it comes to the oil you can use peanut or canola oil to make stir-fry. Or you can use olive oil to pan fry your food. Or your can choose to use the nuts and seeds as part of a salad. You can visit their official website for some recipe ideas by clicking here.
source: http://www.associatedcontent.com

Shuttle beats weather odds, launches to space station

Shuttle beats weather odds, launches to space station

The shuttle Atlantis charged into orbit this afternoon, headed for the international space station with seven astronauts on a long-delayed mission to deliver a $2.1 billion European science module.

The ship lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 1:45 p.m. CST, roaring away ahead of stormy weather whose approach threatened to delay the 11-day mission earlier in the day.

There were no problems with the erratic fuel gauges that thwarted two launch attempts in early December.

"We have a good system, and we are ready to fly," said NASA launch director Doug Lyons as the liftoff neared.

"Best of luck up there," Lyons told the Atlantis astronauts as their liftoff neared.

"We are looking forward to a great flight," said Atlantis commander Steve Frick.

The launch placed the shuttle on course to dock with the 220-mile-high space station on Saturday, just before noon. Two of the astronauts will embark on a spacewalk Sunday to assist as the school-bus-sized Columbus lab module is hoisted out of the shuttle's cargo bay with a robot arm and attached to the space station.

Frick's crew includes pilot Alan Poindexter, robot arm operator Leland Melvin, spacewalkers Rex Walheim, Stan Love and European Space Agency astronaut Hans Schlegel of Germany. Leopold Eyharts, another European Space Agency astronaut from France, will remain aboard the station until late March, commissioning the new European lab.

Eyharts will replace American Dan Tani, who moved aboard the station in October. Tani returns to Earth aboard Atlantis.

The fliers will spend Friday examining the shuttle's heat shield for possible damage from launch debris. Using the shutte's camera and laser-tipped robot arm, they will survey the wing leading edges and the nose of the ship.

A cold front that marched through the southeastern United States earlier this week spawning deadly tornadoes took aim at Florida today, triggering rain showers, low clouds and high winds.

The front slowed just enough for Atlantis to depart, said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Barrett, a meteorologist. NASA's mission management gave the final approval after watching a thunderstorm veer away from the shuttleport.

The four fuel gauges are part of a safety system that is designed to shut off the shuttle's three rocket engines if there was a fuel leak. Computer commands triggered by the gauges stop the engines from running dry and exploding.

The December delay prompted a round of troubleshooting that placed the source of the problem in a fuel tank electrical connector.

Engineers settled on a repair strategy that included soldering narrow electrical connectors to overcome the interruption of current flow that caused the gauge problem.

Early today, the gauges were immersed in hydrogen as the shuttle's fuel tank was filled with propellents.

The gauges functioned flawlessly throughout the final hours of the countdown and Atlantis' climb to orbit.

source: http://www.chron.com

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers to Rock Super Bowl Halftime Show

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers to Rock Super Bowl Halftime Show

Being selected to entertain the crowd and the huge worldwide audience for the Super Bowl has become almost as prestigious as playing in the National Football League's annual championship game. VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer reports from Super Bowl 42, to be played Sunday in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, that this year's halftime music will feature American rock legends Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers talk to reporters during press conference, 31 Jan 2006

In recent years, the halftime show has seen the likes of The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Prince. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are considered one of the America's great rock and roll bands and they are already members of Rock and Roll's Hall of Fame.

The group is still going strong after releasing its debut album back in 1976 and has sold more than 50 million records. And the band members took this occasion to announce they will tour the United States and Canada in the upcoming months.

Petty said it did not take long for he and his bandmates to say yes when they were invited to be the Super Bowl halftime musical performers.

Tom Petty, left, and wife, center, are escorted by security guards, 31 Jan 2008

"It's mind-blowing [awesome]," Petty said. "It's something that I never even dreamed of. It never crossed my mind, but it's very exciting. We've had quite a week already. It's really something."

Organizers say 56 carts of equipment must be hauled onto the field to put on the Super Bowl halftime show, and without some three thousand local volunteers, it could not be done.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will get to play for 12 minutes. Petty said it was really hard to select what songs from the band's lengthy career to perform.

"We tried to pick the ones that would take you somewhere in that amount of time," he explained. "It's a little bit of a challenge and we've had to kind of rearrange some things, make some a little bit shorter to fit in. But I think we've chosen a good set."

It is also an honor to be the Super Bowl pre-game entertainment. Nine-time Grammy award-winning Rhythm and Blues singer Alicia Keys will sing before the big match-up between the undefeated New England Patriots and New York Giants.

She says she has given a lot of thought to her performance because of the diverse audience.

Alicia Keys talks to reporters during press conference, 31 Jan 2008

"It feels wonderful to be in your country and representing so many groups of people, all walks of life," Keys said. "And music goes along with that, so I think for like something that I'm going to do for the pre-show, I'm just basically going to take you by your neck (grab your attention) and demand that you watch me."

This year's National Anthem at the Super Bowl will be sung by Jordan Sparks, a native of Phoenix who currently lives in Glendale, where Sunday's game will be played. Last year at the age of 17 she became the youngest winner of the popular television show American Idol, and she has already released two albums.

Sparks said she is thrilled to have been selected to sing the anthem.

Jordan Sparks answers reporters' questions during press conference, 31 Jan 2008

"I'm a huge, humungous football fan. So to be able to sing at the Super Bowl and I get to be at one. I've never been to a Super Bowl before so I am just like, it's a whole bunch of firsts for me," Sparks said.

Jordan's father, Phillippi Sparks, is a former NFL player for both the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. She said she can now joke that while her Dad never made it to the Super Bower in his career, she - as a teenager - already has.

source: http://www.voanews.com

Exxon Mobil posts record profits

Exxon Mobil posts record profits

Oil giant Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Corp. posts the biggest annual and quarterly profits by a U.S. company, breaking records it held for both periods.Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: http://money.cnn.com