Grenades Found in Vacant Ala. Home
PIEDMONT, Ala. (AP) - Two people cleaning a vacant house in Piedmont over the weekend found two live hand grenades in a closet, authorities said.
Police Chief David Paslay said family members of the property owners were cleaning the house Sunday when they discovered a fragmentation grenade and a smoke grenade among several boxes.
When authorities arrived, they found the grenades on the porch, intact and in their original packaging — and, therefore, not likely to detonate, Paslay said.
Aaron and Sara Cunningham are listed as the homeowners, according to Calhoun County Tax records. Both died in 2003.
Two members of the Anniston Army Depot's Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit determined the grenades were World War II-era munitions. The grenades were placed in a metal box and taken to the depot to be destroyed, Paslay said.
___
Information from: The Anniston Star
TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
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Woman Finds Crocodile in Swimming Pool
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - A woman found a small crocodile in her backyard swimming pool in Sydney, a zoo spokeswoman said Monday, just weeks after another crocodile was found in a nearby pond.
The latest uninvited croc to turn up in northern Sydney was a 21-inch freshwater crocodile, a different species to the two-foot saltwater croc found on Feb. 23, said Australian Reptile Park spokeswoman Mary Rayner.
"A woman called saying she had a freshwater crocodile in her backyard swimming pool," Rayner said. "She actually caught it. It was extremely angry and she bound the snout."
It was not clear how the freshwater crocodile got into the swimming pool — the species, which can grow up to 10 feet in length, is not found in the wild anywhere near Sydney.
The crocodile was taken to the reptile park, which is also home to the saltwater crocodile discovered last month.
"I think we are (going to be) running out of displays if this keeps on happening," Rayner said.
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - A woman found a small crocodile in her backyard swimming pool in Sydney, a zoo spokeswoman said Monday, just weeks after another crocodile was found in a nearby pond.
The latest uninvited croc to turn up in northern Sydney was a 21-inch freshwater crocodile, a different species to the two-foot saltwater croc found on Feb. 23, said Australian Reptile Park spokeswoman Mary Rayner.
"A woman called saying she had a freshwater crocodile in her backyard swimming pool," Rayner said. "She actually caught it. It was extremely angry and she bound the snout."
It was not clear how the freshwater crocodile got into the swimming pool — the species, which can grow up to 10 feet in length, is not found in the wild anywhere near Sydney.
The crocodile was taken to the reptile park, which is also home to the saltwater crocodile discovered last month.
"I think we are (going to be) running out of displays if this keeps on happening," Rayner said.
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Woman Shows Off Five-Pound Monster Mango
By KARIN STANTON
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) - When Colleen Porter took her mango to the local grocer, it wasn't to sell it, but to weigh it and show it off. Colleen Porter, already a state mango record holder, has been confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records as growing the world's heaviest mango — 5 pounds, 7 ounces. The monster mango appears to be close to the size of a human head.
Porter, 47, a skin care specialist at Kona Center of Facial Surgery, has a certificate from Guinness to prove the record. She's framed it — in mango wood, of course.
Virginia Easton-Smith, West Hawaii agricultural extension agent for the University of Hawaii, who helped with the submission to Guinness, confirms the record. The fruit had to be weighed and documented two separate times by three people. Independent witnesses verified six weighings.
Porter, who tends a small avocado and mango orchard, also stopped by several local grocery stores to check out her mango on their scales. The record-breaking fruit is a Keitt mango, which typically reach two to three pounds.
"All the people I showed it to at Safeway and Sack 'n' Save were just amazed," she said.
Easton-Smith said the Big Island already is noted for producing the world's biggest jackfruit, but having the world's most massive mango is something special.
"We think it's very cool," she said.
Porter said she has been told a photograph of her mango is a "strong contender" to be included in Guinness's next edition, which goes on sale Jan. 1, 2007. The mango record is not found on the Guinness Web site, which includes only a selection of its 40,000 records.
The mango was picked in mid-October and still sits in Porter's refrigerator.
"We're turning it into a piece of art," she said.
Her husband, Scott, has made a mold from the mango and plans to create a sculpture to be painted by her daughter, Megan, an art major in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Porter, who has moved to a new home in Captain Cook, says she almost gave up her orchard.
"One day, I just didn't know if I wanted to keep it up," she said. "I looked up to the sky for some kind of answer and that's when I first saw it."
The granddaughter of farmers, Porter covered the fruit with a bag to prevent insects, birds and rodents gnawing on it and for two months kept vigil.
One day it just looked ready.
"I climbed the ladder and when I touched it, it fell right into my hands," Porter said.
___
On the Net: Guinness World Records
By KARIN STANTON
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) - When Colleen Porter took her mango to the local grocer, it wasn't to sell it, but to weigh it and show it off. Colleen Porter, already a state mango record holder, has been confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records as growing the world's heaviest mango — 5 pounds, 7 ounces. The monster mango appears to be close to the size of a human head.
Porter, 47, a skin care specialist at Kona Center of Facial Surgery, has a certificate from Guinness to prove the record. She's framed it — in mango wood, of course.
Virginia Easton-Smith, West Hawaii agricultural extension agent for the University of Hawaii, who helped with the submission to Guinness, confirms the record. The fruit had to be weighed and documented two separate times by three people. Independent witnesses verified six weighings.
Porter, who tends a small avocado and mango orchard, also stopped by several local grocery stores to check out her mango on their scales. The record-breaking fruit is a Keitt mango, which typically reach two to three pounds.
"All the people I showed it to at Safeway and Sack 'n' Save were just amazed," she said.
Easton-Smith said the Big Island already is noted for producing the world's biggest jackfruit, but having the world's most massive mango is something special.
"We think it's very cool," she said.
Porter said she has been told a photograph of her mango is a "strong contender" to be included in Guinness's next edition, which goes on sale Jan. 1, 2007. The mango record is not found on the Guinness Web site, which includes only a selection of its 40,000 records.
The mango was picked in mid-October and still sits in Porter's refrigerator.
"We're turning it into a piece of art," she said.
Her husband, Scott, has made a mold from the mango and plans to create a sculpture to be painted by her daughter, Megan, an art major in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Porter, who has moved to a new home in Captain Cook, says she almost gave up her orchard.
"One day, I just didn't know if I wanted to keep it up," she said. "I looked up to the sky for some kind of answer and that's when I first saw it."
The granddaughter of farmers, Porter covered the fruit with a bag to prevent insects, birds and rodents gnawing on it and for two months kept vigil.
One day it just looked ready.
"I climbed the ladder and when I touched it, it fell right into my hands," Porter said.
___
On the Net: Guinness World Records
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Now THERE'S a couple that knows how to fight!
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican couple were recovering separately after a marital spat got out of control and saw them firing guns, throwing knives and hurling homemade bombs, Mexican daily Milenio said on Monday.
In scenes taken straight out of hit romantic comedy "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Juan Espinosa and Irma Contreras fought until their house blew up in a homemade gasoline bomb explosion, Milenio said.
Police called to the home in the indigenous Mayan Indian town of Oxkutzcab in the southeastern state of Yucatan arrested Espinosa. Contreras was taken to hospital with third-degree burns.
A local police official confirmed the report but declined to provide further information.
In the violence-filled movie about the fictional Smiths, Pitt and Jolie play married assassins ordered to kill each other.
Espinosa told reporters he was glad his wife had suffered burns, while Contreras said she was only sorry she had not "hacked off his manhood" during the fight.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican couple were recovering separately after a marital spat got out of control and saw them firing guns, throwing knives and hurling homemade bombs, Mexican daily Milenio said on Monday.
In scenes taken straight out of hit romantic comedy "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Juan Espinosa and Irma Contreras fought until their house blew up in a homemade gasoline bomb explosion, Milenio said.
Police called to the home in the indigenous Mayan Indian town of Oxkutzcab in the southeastern state of Yucatan arrested Espinosa. Contreras was taken to hospital with third-degree burns.
A local police official confirmed the report but declined to provide further information.
In the violence-filled movie about the fictional Smiths, Pitt and Jolie play married assassins ordered to kill each other.
Espinosa told reporters he was glad his wife had suffered burns, while Contreras said she was only sorry she had not "hacked off his manhood" during the fight.
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Les REALLY Miserables...
By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - As far as musicals go, seeing people break into song on subjects such as starvation and public executions in North Korea may be one of the most unlikely concepts for stage entertainment in several years.
Producers held a preview in Seoul on Tuesday of the musical called "Yoduk Story" that features goose-stepping North Korean soldiers and deprived prisoners wondering if they can survive into the next day.
The musical is about a North Korean woman's fall from a dancing revolutionary hero to a tortured inmate along with her family at Yoduk prison camp, where she bears a guard's child, and learns to forgive her brutal captors.
The production is meant to be an irony-free look at life in a North Korean prison camp that could change the way the North is depicted in South Korean entertainment.
Songs in the musical include "You are just like germs" and "All I want is rice." The producers hope audiences can find beauty in the misery of life in the prison camps.
Some of South Korea's top movies have been spy thrillers where agents from the two Koreas overlook their political differences and begin to bond, or sentimental stories about families ripped apart by the political divide.
But "Yoduk Story" writer, director and North Korean refugee Jung Sung-san says South Korean audiences have never really gotten a taste of the atrocities committed at the notorious political prisons in the North he was lucky enough to escape after three months.
"This is not somebody else's business. This is happening just a few hours from here," Jung told reporters. "We want to convey the reality of what is happening."
Washington and human rights groups accuse North Korea of having one of the worst records on human rights in the world with a network of political prison camps, guilt by association and public executions to intimidate the masses.
Rights groups have criticized South Korea for not pressing North Korea hard enough on human rights, while Seoul said it prefers quiet diplomacy with the North on the sensitive subject.
The show opens to the public on Wednesday for a 19-day run.
Jung, who said he put one of his kidneys up for collateral to borrow money from a loan shark to stage the 700-million won ($714,000) production, believes he can make enough money to repay the debt and pay the cast and crew.
"It has been really hard and lonely," he said, adding he hopes to take the story to film when the musical's run ends.
Jung, 37, from a relatively privileged background, was arrested for listening to a South Korean broadcast on the radio, a minor infraction for people in his class, but discipline had been tightened after the unexpected death of the communist leader, Kim Il-sung, in 1994.
Jung said the South Korean government did not try to hide its unease about the production, at one point sending out agents to try to coerce him into abandoning the project.
South Korean officials have said Jung has the right to free speech and they do not censor theatrical productions.
South Korea has seen its ties with the North improve rapidly since a unprecedented and unrepeated summit of the two Korea's leaders in 2000.
Pyongyang also reacts angrily to any charges of human rights violations. On Tuesday, its foreign ministry spokesman called U.S. criticism of its human rights record part of "a smear campaign," and vowed to step up its military-first policy, saying "human rights precisely mean sovereignty."
By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - As far as musicals go, seeing people break into song on subjects such as starvation and public executions in North Korea may be one of the most unlikely concepts for stage entertainment in several years.
Producers held a preview in Seoul on Tuesday of the musical called "Yoduk Story" that features goose-stepping North Korean soldiers and deprived prisoners wondering if they can survive into the next day.
The musical is about a North Korean woman's fall from a dancing revolutionary hero to a tortured inmate along with her family at Yoduk prison camp, where she bears a guard's child, and learns to forgive her brutal captors.
The production is meant to be an irony-free look at life in a North Korean prison camp that could change the way the North is depicted in South Korean entertainment.
Songs in the musical include "You are just like germs" and "All I want is rice." The producers hope audiences can find beauty in the misery of life in the prison camps.
Some of South Korea's top movies have been spy thrillers where agents from the two Koreas overlook their political differences and begin to bond, or sentimental stories about families ripped apart by the political divide.
But "Yoduk Story" writer, director and North Korean refugee Jung Sung-san says South Korean audiences have never really gotten a taste of the atrocities committed at the notorious political prisons in the North he was lucky enough to escape after three months.
"This is not somebody else's business. This is happening just a few hours from here," Jung told reporters. "We want to convey the reality of what is happening."
Washington and human rights groups accuse North Korea of having one of the worst records on human rights in the world with a network of political prison camps, guilt by association and public executions to intimidate the masses.
Rights groups have criticized South Korea for not pressing North Korea hard enough on human rights, while Seoul said it prefers quiet diplomacy with the North on the sensitive subject.
The show opens to the public on Wednesday for a 19-day run.
Jung, who said he put one of his kidneys up for collateral to borrow money from a loan shark to stage the 700-million won ($714,000) production, believes he can make enough money to repay the debt and pay the cast and crew.
"It has been really hard and lonely," he said, adding he hopes to take the story to film when the musical's run ends.
Jung, 37, from a relatively privileged background, was arrested for listening to a South Korean broadcast on the radio, a minor infraction for people in his class, but discipline had been tightened after the unexpected death of the communist leader, Kim Il-sung, in 1994.
Jung said the South Korean government did not try to hide its unease about the production, at one point sending out agents to try to coerce him into abandoning the project.
South Korean officials have said Jung has the right to free speech and they do not censor theatrical productions.
South Korea has seen its ties with the North improve rapidly since a unprecedented and unrepeated summit of the two Korea's leaders in 2000.
Pyongyang also reacts angrily to any charges of human rights violations. On Tuesday, its foreign ministry spokesman called U.S. criticism of its human rights record part of "a smear campaign," and vowed to step up its military-first policy, saying "human rights precisely mean sovereignty."
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Marijuana again tied to memory problems
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who regularly smoke marijuana may find their memories growing hazy over time, a study published Monday suggests.
In a study of long-term and shorter-term marijuana users, researchers in Greece found that both groups performed more poorly on tests of memory, attention and other cognitive abilities than a comparison group who'd only occasionally used the drug.
Long-term users - who'd smoked four or more joints per week for at least 10 years - showed the greatest deficits.
The findings, published in the journal Neurology, add to the conflicting body of research on the effects of marijuana on the brain. While many studies have suggested that long-time pot smoking dulls memory, attention span and mental acuity, some have found no large differences in these skills between marijuana users and non-users.
One recent analysis of 15 studies found only minor effects on memory among long-time pot users, and no clear effect on attention, language, reasoning and a number of other cognitive functions.
One problem is that it's difficult for studies such as the current one to establish a definite cause-and-effect relationship between marijuana and intellectual deficits, Dr. Lambros Messinis, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.
Though the researchers accounted for a number of variables -- like education, use of other drugs and the presence of clinical depression -- it's tough to control for all the factors that could make heavy marijuana users different from other people, according to Messinis.
Still, he and his colleagues say, their findings are in line with certain past studies linking heavy, long-term pot smoking to "subtle" deficits in intellectual abilities.
The study included 40 marijuana users ages 17 to 49 who were in a drug abuse treatment program; all had used the drug frequently for at least five years, but half -- those considered long-term users -- had smoked for 10 years or more. They were compared with 24 adults the same age who had used pot no more than 20 times in their lives.
Overall, both long- and shorter-term marijuana users performed more poorly on tests of memory, attention and mental-processing speed. The proportion of study participants deemed "impaired," according to the researchers, was highest in the long-term group and lowest in the comparison group.
Long-time pot users showed the greatest problems on tests where they were asked to learn and remember a series of words. They were "significantly" below the published norms for these tests, according to Messinis and his colleagues.
It's not yet clear whether the intellectual deficits linked to marijuana are lasting, Messinis said, but research "generally supports" the notion that these problems are reversible after longer periods of abstinence. People in his study were required to have been abstinent only for the 24 hours before taking the tests.
Another unknown, according to Messinis, is whether marijuana use at a young age may affect the brain differently than use during adulthood. Knowledge in this area, he said, is still "poor."
SOURCE: Neurology, March 14, 2006.
_____________________________________________________________
DUH!! Why do you think they call that stuff 'dope'.
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who regularly smoke marijuana may find their memories growing hazy over time, a study published Monday suggests.
In a study of long-term and shorter-term marijuana users, researchers in Greece found that both groups performed more poorly on tests of memory, attention and other cognitive abilities than a comparison group who'd only occasionally used the drug.
Long-term users - who'd smoked four or more joints per week for at least 10 years - showed the greatest deficits.
The findings, published in the journal Neurology, add to the conflicting body of research on the effects of marijuana on the brain. While many studies have suggested that long-time pot smoking dulls memory, attention span and mental acuity, some have found no large differences in these skills between marijuana users and non-users.
One recent analysis of 15 studies found only minor effects on memory among long-time pot users, and no clear effect on attention, language, reasoning and a number of other cognitive functions.
One problem is that it's difficult for studies such as the current one to establish a definite cause-and-effect relationship between marijuana and intellectual deficits, Dr. Lambros Messinis, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.
Though the researchers accounted for a number of variables -- like education, use of other drugs and the presence of clinical depression -- it's tough to control for all the factors that could make heavy marijuana users different from other people, according to Messinis.
Still, he and his colleagues say, their findings are in line with certain past studies linking heavy, long-term pot smoking to "subtle" deficits in intellectual abilities.
The study included 40 marijuana users ages 17 to 49 who were in a drug abuse treatment program; all had used the drug frequently for at least five years, but half -- those considered long-term users -- had smoked for 10 years or more. They were compared with 24 adults the same age who had used pot no more than 20 times in their lives.
Overall, both long- and shorter-term marijuana users performed more poorly on tests of memory, attention and mental-processing speed. The proportion of study participants deemed "impaired," according to the researchers, was highest in the long-term group and lowest in the comparison group.
Long-time pot users showed the greatest problems on tests where they were asked to learn and remember a series of words. They were "significantly" below the published norms for these tests, according to Messinis and his colleagues.
It's not yet clear whether the intellectual deficits linked to marijuana are lasting, Messinis said, but research "generally supports" the notion that these problems are reversible after longer periods of abstinence. People in his study were required to have been abstinent only for the 24 hours before taking the tests.
Another unknown, according to Messinis, is whether marijuana use at a young age may affect the brain differently than use during adulthood. Knowledge in this area, he said, is still "poor."
SOURCE: Neurology, March 14, 2006.
_____________________________________________________________
DUH!! Why do you think they call that stuff 'dope'.
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Australia may relax drugs policy on army recruits
CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) - Australia's military is considering scrapping its tough anti-drugs policy in order to attract more recruits to the armed forces.
Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said he was considering scrapping the rule, saying a person's character and ability should be the main tests for new defense recruits.
Under current rules, a person is automatically rejected as a recruit if they admit to having taken illegal drugs. Nelson said that meant someone who lied about drug use could be accepted, while an honest person would be rejected.
"I can say no to that (question) myself, but the reality is about 40-45 percent of the adult population have (tried drugs)," Nelson told a defense conference on Tuesday.
In his first major speech since he became defense minister in January, Nelson said he had taken responsibility for recruitment as Australia's defense forces struggle to meet recruiting targets in Australia's tight labor market.
In December, the government announced plans to expand the size of the army by about 1,500 over 10 years, from its current 42,000 soldiers, including 16,800 reservists.
But with Australia's unemployment rate at near 30-year lows, the defense forces regularly fail to meet recruiting targets, particularly in some specialist areas.
Nelson, who was education minister before taking on defense, blamed school teachers for a culture where school leavers did not see the value of a defense career.
"Unfortunately there is a minority of those in the classroom teaching children that bring pejorative views to the task, not just in relation to defense but in relation to non-university based careers," he said.
CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) - Australia's military is considering scrapping its tough anti-drugs policy in order to attract more recruits to the armed forces.
Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said he was considering scrapping the rule, saying a person's character and ability should be the main tests for new defense recruits.
Under current rules, a person is automatically rejected as a recruit if they admit to having taken illegal drugs. Nelson said that meant someone who lied about drug use could be accepted, while an honest person would be rejected.
"I can say no to that (question) myself, but the reality is about 40-45 percent of the adult population have (tried drugs)," Nelson told a defense conference on Tuesday.
In his first major speech since he became defense minister in January, Nelson said he had taken responsibility for recruitment as Australia's defense forces struggle to meet recruiting targets in Australia's tight labor market.
In December, the government announced plans to expand the size of the army by about 1,500 over 10 years, from its current 42,000 soldiers, including 16,800 reservists.
But with Australia's unemployment rate at near 30-year lows, the defense forces regularly fail to meet recruiting targets, particularly in some specialist areas.
Nelson, who was education minister before taking on defense, blamed school teachers for a culture where school leavers did not see the value of a defense career.
"Unfortunately there is a minority of those in the classroom teaching children that bring pejorative views to the task, not just in relation to defense but in relation to non-university based careers," he said.
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Teacher fired after allegedly biting boy
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A middle school teacher was fired Tuesday after being accused of biting one of her students. Caroline Kolb also is facing an aggravated assault charge in Jefferson District Court, The Courier-Journal of Louisville reported Tuesday. Kolb has pleaded not guilty to biting 14-year-old Garrick Hudson on the back during a classroom altercation at Stuart Middle School in January.
Jefferson County Public Schools fired Kolb for insubordination and conduct unbecoming a teacher, following a district investigation, according to a copy of her termination letter.
The letter said that Kolb at one point denied intentionally biting Garrick.
Kolb could not be reached for comment.
Garrick Hudsons mother, Cassandra Hicks, said the incident occurred Jan. 11 when her son disobeyed Kolbs order to spit out some candy. Kolb told him to stand in the hallway, but he returned to get his books, she said.
As Kolb and Garrick struggled over the books, he fell and hit his head and she "started biting him on his left upper shoulder." Garrick was treated at Kosair Childrens Hospital for a bite wound, according to court records. He also had a small knot on his head.
According to Kolbs termination letter, two students said they saw her bite him, and several staff members said they later heard Kolb admit doing so.
"You denied biting the student, but admitted that you found fabric in your mouth during the incident," the letter stated. Before her firing, Kolb had been reassigned to non-instructional duties. In 2004 and 2005, administrators had warned Kolb to avoid being physically confrontational with students, according to her termination letter.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A middle school teacher was fired Tuesday after being accused of biting one of her students. Caroline Kolb also is facing an aggravated assault charge in Jefferson District Court, The Courier-Journal of Louisville reported Tuesday. Kolb has pleaded not guilty to biting 14-year-old Garrick Hudson on the back during a classroom altercation at Stuart Middle School in January.
Jefferson County Public Schools fired Kolb for insubordination and conduct unbecoming a teacher, following a district investigation, according to a copy of her termination letter.
The letter said that Kolb at one point denied intentionally biting Garrick.
Kolb could not be reached for comment.
Garrick Hudsons mother, Cassandra Hicks, said the incident occurred Jan. 11 when her son disobeyed Kolbs order to spit out some candy. Kolb told him to stand in the hallway, but he returned to get his books, she said.
As Kolb and Garrick struggled over the books, he fell and hit his head and she "started biting him on his left upper shoulder." Garrick was treated at Kosair Childrens Hospital for a bite wound, according to court records. He also had a small knot on his head.
According to Kolbs termination letter, two students said they saw her bite him, and several staff members said they later heard Kolb admit doing so.
"You denied biting the student, but admitted that you found fabric in your mouth during the incident," the letter stated. Before her firing, Kolb had been reassigned to non-instructional duties. In 2004 and 2005, administrators had warned Kolb to avoid being physically confrontational with students, according to her termination letter.
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Burned Man Says He Was Better Off Naked
By The Associated Press
FORT PIERCE, Fla. - Paul Kuschel would have been better off naked — like many of the folks at Sunnier Palms Nudist Park. Instead, he was wearing a pair of nylon shorts Sunday when a generator he was working on backfired and sprayed him with starter fluid, setting him ablaze.
"I would have been better off wearing nothing on at all," Kuschel told Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. The fire seared his shorts to his backside.
"It's a good thing I wasn't wearing a shirt," he said.
Kuschel, 43, suffered second-degree and third-degree burns.
He was taken to a hospital with non life-threatening wounds and was treated and released.
Authorities said the fire erupted as Kuschel was trying to start the generator on a motorhome in the park, which was also damaged in the blaze.
Kuschel reported to his carpentry job Monday morning, even though he can't even swing a hammer because of his injuries.
"I'm just a tough old mule," Kuschel said. "And I don't want to lose this job."
He said he and his wife, Carol, have lived in a tent since moving from Dayton, Ohio, in February and had planned to move into the motorhome, which he just bought Saturday.
"Guess we'll be back in the tent until I can get (the motorhome) fixed," he said.
By The Associated Press
FORT PIERCE, Fla. - Paul Kuschel would have been better off naked — like many of the folks at Sunnier Palms Nudist Park. Instead, he was wearing a pair of nylon shorts Sunday when a generator he was working on backfired and sprayed him with starter fluid, setting him ablaze.
"I would have been better off wearing nothing on at all," Kuschel told Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. The fire seared his shorts to his backside.
"It's a good thing I wasn't wearing a shirt," he said.
Kuschel, 43, suffered second-degree and third-degree burns.
He was taken to a hospital with non life-threatening wounds and was treated and released.
Authorities said the fire erupted as Kuschel was trying to start the generator on a motorhome in the park, which was also damaged in the blaze.
Kuschel reported to his carpentry job Monday morning, even though he can't even swing a hammer because of his injuries.
"I'm just a tough old mule," Kuschel said. "And I don't want to lose this job."
He said he and his wife, Carol, have lived in a tent since moving from Dayton, Ohio, in February and had planned to move into the motorhome, which he just bought Saturday.
"Guess we'll be back in the tent until I can get (the motorhome) fixed," he said.
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Woman Gets Off Probation After 46 Years
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) - Jean Moore is finally off probation — after 46 years. Moore was placed on probation in 1960 after pleading guilty to embezzling several thousand dollars from her La Jolla employer.
She paid back the money over the next 20 years until a court official in Colorado, where she had moved, informed her she had satisfied the terms of her probation.
Apparently, however, word never got back to San Diego and an arrest warrant was entered into the system in 1979.
The warrant sat unnoticed for 27 years, until January, when Moore's Social Security benefits were abruptly cut off. Federal law stops payments to people with active arrest warrants, but it's unclear how Social Security officials found out about Moore's situation.
Moore, a 69-year-old office worker, contacted the San Diego County Bar Association, which hooked her up with criminal-defense lawyer Christopher Plourd.
He pieced together what happened and asked prosecutors to drop the matter. They agreed to do so and a Superior Court judge rescinded the warrant on Monday, although there's no record of her completing the restitution.
Moore said she was relieved the ordeal's over but blamed herself for committing the crime in the first place.
"I'm the one who got the whole ball rolling way back then," said Moore, who married a police officer after moving to Colorado. "Sometimes, you get run over by it."
___
Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) - Jean Moore is finally off probation — after 46 years. Moore was placed on probation in 1960 after pleading guilty to embezzling several thousand dollars from her La Jolla employer.
She paid back the money over the next 20 years until a court official in Colorado, where she had moved, informed her she had satisfied the terms of her probation.
Apparently, however, word never got back to San Diego and an arrest warrant was entered into the system in 1979.
The warrant sat unnoticed for 27 years, until January, when Moore's Social Security benefits were abruptly cut off. Federal law stops payments to people with active arrest warrants, but it's unclear how Social Security officials found out about Moore's situation.
Moore, a 69-year-old office worker, contacted the San Diego County Bar Association, which hooked her up with criminal-defense lawyer Christopher Plourd.
He pieced together what happened and asked prosecutors to drop the matter. They agreed to do so and a Superior Court judge rescinded the warrant on Monday, although there's no record of her completing the restitution.
Moore said she was relieved the ordeal's over but blamed herself for committing the crime in the first place.
"I'm the one who got the whole ball rolling way back then," said Moore, who married a police officer after moving to Colorado. "Sometimes, you get run over by it."
___
Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune
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Bloody hell! Regulator to review Aussie tourist ad ban
MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) - The television advertising regulator has agreed to review a ban on an Australian tourism campaign centred on the slightly risque phrase "bloody hell", officials said on Wednesday.
"It's a bloody good result," Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said after she flew to London to save the campaign.
The Broadcasting Advertising Clearance Centre had banned the ads from television because of concerns over the campaign's use of the word "bloody" and ordered censored ads run in their place.
Bailey said the centre had now agreed to review the ban.
The ads begin with characters saying: "We've poured you a beer and we've had the camels shampooed, we've saved you a spot on the beach ... and we've got the sharks out of the pool".
They end with a bikini-clad woman on a beach asking "so where the bloody hell are you?"
So concerned were Australian tourism officials by the British decision that Bailey was sent to London to lobby broadcasters and regulators, along with the woman in the bikini, Sydney model Laura Bingle.
"My faith in British justice and humour has been restored and I am now hopeful that common sense will prevail," Bailey said in a statement issued by her Canberra office.
Bailey had argued that the word "bloody", a very mild profanity commonly used in Australia and Britain, was not generally considered offensive and had been used in other British advertising campaigns.
The A$180 million ($132 Million in US/£76 million in UK) campaign is already running in the United States, New Zealand and in British cinemas and newspapers, and will also target China, Japan, India and Germany.
The full advertisement can be seen at http://www.wherethebloodyhellareyou.com.
MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) - The television advertising regulator has agreed to review a ban on an Australian tourism campaign centred on the slightly risque phrase "bloody hell", officials said on Wednesday.
"It's a bloody good result," Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said after she flew to London to save the campaign.
The Broadcasting Advertising Clearance Centre had banned the ads from television because of concerns over the campaign's use of the word "bloody" and ordered censored ads run in their place.
Bailey said the centre had now agreed to review the ban.
The ads begin with characters saying: "We've poured you a beer and we've had the camels shampooed, we've saved you a spot on the beach ... and we've got the sharks out of the pool".
They end with a bikini-clad woman on a beach asking "so where the bloody hell are you?"
So concerned were Australian tourism officials by the British decision that Bailey was sent to London to lobby broadcasters and regulators, along with the woman in the bikini, Sydney model Laura Bingle.
"My faith in British justice and humour has been restored and I am now hopeful that common sense will prevail," Bailey said in a statement issued by her Canberra office.
Bailey had argued that the word "bloody", a very mild profanity commonly used in Australia and Britain, was not generally considered offensive and had been used in other British advertising campaigns.
The A$180 million ($132 Million in US/£76 million in UK) campaign is already running in the United States, New Zealand and in British cinemas and newspapers, and will also target China, Japan, India and Germany.
The full advertisement can be seen at http://www.wherethebloodyhellareyou.com.
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rainstorm
TexasStooge wrote:Woman Shows Off Five-Pound Monster Mango
By KARIN STANTON
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) - When Colleen Porter took her mango to the local grocer, it wasn't to sell it, but to weigh it and show it off. Colleen Porter, already a state mango record holder, has been confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records as growing the world's heaviest mango — 5 pounds, 7 ounces. The monster mango appears to be close to the size of a human head.
Porter, 47, a skin care specialist at Kona Center of Facial Surgery, has a certificate from Guinness to prove the record. She's framed it — in mango wood, of course.
Virginia Easton-Smith, West Hawaii agricultural extension agent for the University of Hawaii, who helped with the submission to Guinness, confirms the record. The fruit had to be weighed and documented two separate times by three people. Independent witnesses verified six weighings.
Porter, who tends a small avocado and mango orchard, also stopped by several local grocery stores to check out her mango on their scales. The record-breaking fruit is a Keitt mango, which typically reach two to three pounds.
"All the people I showed it to at Safeway and Sack 'n' Save were just amazed," she said.
Easton-Smith said the Big Island already is noted for producing the world's biggest jackfruit, but having the world's most massive mango is something special.
"We think it's very cool," she said.
Porter said she has been told a photograph of her mango is a "strong contender" to be included in Guinness's next edition, which goes on sale Jan. 1, 2007. The mango record is not found on the Guinness Web site, which includes only a selection of its 40,000 records.
The mango was picked in mid-October and still sits in Porter's refrigerator.
"We're turning it into a piece of art," she said.
Her husband, Scott, has made a mold from the mango and plans to create a sculpture to be painted by her daughter, Megan, an art major in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Porter, who has moved to a new home in Captain Cook, says she almost gave up her orchard.
"One day, I just didn't know if I wanted to keep it up," she said. "I looked up to the sky for some kind of answer and that's when I first saw it."
The granddaughter of farmers, Porter covered the fruit with a bag to prevent insects, birds and rodents gnawing on it and for two months kept vigil.
One day it just looked ready.
"I climbed the ladder and when I touched it, it fell right into my hands," Porter said.
___
On the Net: Guinness World Records
mangoes are cool
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Turkey Smashes Window of Couple Viewing TV
JAMES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Gerald and Maureen Henze were watching some afternoon TV in their home when all of a sudden everything changed. After a loud bang, Maureen was showered by shards of glass, and Gerald and their dog were chasing a turkey down the hall.
"Something just exploded," Gerald Henze told The Saginaw News.
He turned and saw a turkey walking down the hallway. Maureen Henze, who was sitting in a recliner, was injured by flying glass after the turkey crashed through the picture window of their James Township home.
"The glass flew straight at her," the couple's youngest daughter, Judy Carleton, said of Tuesday's events. "She's really lucky it wasn't her face or anything."
Maureen Henze sought treatment at Covenant Medical Center for minor injuries to her legs and feet and returned home that evening, said Carleton, of Lima, Ohio. Gerald Henze suffered small abrasions on his hands.
The couple's dog, Donny, jumped up from a slumber and chased the intruder into a back bedroom. Gerald Henze trapped the bird in the guest room until county sheriff's deputies arrived.
"I was right behind it and got a handful of tail feathers before it ran into the bedroom," Gerald Henze said.
Deputy Kirt Shields released the uninjured turkey, but not before receiving some minor scratches.
___
Information from: The Saginaw News
JAMES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Gerald and Maureen Henze were watching some afternoon TV in their home when all of a sudden everything changed. After a loud bang, Maureen was showered by shards of glass, and Gerald and their dog were chasing a turkey down the hall.
"Something just exploded," Gerald Henze told The Saginaw News.
He turned and saw a turkey walking down the hallway. Maureen Henze, who was sitting in a recliner, was injured by flying glass after the turkey crashed through the picture window of their James Township home.
"The glass flew straight at her," the couple's youngest daughter, Judy Carleton, said of Tuesday's events. "She's really lucky it wasn't her face or anything."
Maureen Henze sought treatment at Covenant Medical Center for minor injuries to her legs and feet and returned home that evening, said Carleton, of Lima, Ohio. Gerald Henze suffered small abrasions on his hands.
The couple's dog, Donny, jumped up from a slumber and chased the intruder into a back bedroom. Gerald Henze trapped the bird in the guest room until county sheriff's deputies arrived.
"I was right behind it and got a handful of tail feathers before it ran into the bedroom," Gerald Henze said.
Deputy Kirt Shields released the uninjured turkey, but not before receiving some minor scratches.
___
Information from: The Saginaw News
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TexasStooge
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Man Sues Himself for Vehicle Damage
LODI, Calif. (AP) - When a dump truck backed into Curtis Gokey's car, he decided to sue the city for damages. Only thing is, he was the one driving the dump truck.
But that minor detail didn't stop Gokey, a Lodi city employee, from filing a $3,600 claim for the December accident, even after admitting the crash was his fault.
After the city denied that claim because Gokey was, in essence, suing himself, he and his wife, Rhonda, decided to file a new claim under her name.
City Attorney Steve Schwabauer said this one also lacks merit because Rhonda Gokey can't sue her own husband.
"You can sue your spouse for divorce, but you can't sue your spouse for negligence," Schwabauer said. "They're a married couple under California law. They're one entity. It's damage to community property."
But Rhonda Gokey insisted she has "the right to sue the city because a city's vehicle damaged my private vehicle."
In fact, her claim, currently pending at Lodi City Hall, is for an even larger amount — $4,800.
"I'm not as nice as my husband is," she said.
___
Information from: Lodi News-Sentinel
LODI, Calif. (AP) - When a dump truck backed into Curtis Gokey's car, he decided to sue the city for damages. Only thing is, he was the one driving the dump truck.
But that minor detail didn't stop Gokey, a Lodi city employee, from filing a $3,600 claim for the December accident, even after admitting the crash was his fault.
After the city denied that claim because Gokey was, in essence, suing himself, he and his wife, Rhonda, decided to file a new claim under her name.
City Attorney Steve Schwabauer said this one also lacks merit because Rhonda Gokey can't sue her own husband.
"You can sue your spouse for divorce, but you can't sue your spouse for negligence," Schwabauer said. "They're a married couple under California law. They're one entity. It's damage to community property."
But Rhonda Gokey insisted she has "the right to sue the city because a city's vehicle damaged my private vehicle."
In fact, her claim, currently pending at Lodi City Hall, is for an even larger amount — $4,800.
"I'm not as nice as my husband is," she said.
___
Information from: Lodi News-Sentinel
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Rare Chinese frog uses ultrasonic communication
LONDON, England (Reuters) - Bats, whales and dolphins use it to communicate. Baby rodents call their mothers with it and now a rare Chinese frog has shown it can hear and respond to ultrasounds, scientists said on Wednesday.
The frog, Amolops tormotus, is the first non-mammalian species known to use the ultra-high frequencies that humans cannot hear.
It comes in handy to be heard above the pounding waterfalls and streams in the mountainous region of east-central China where Amolops tormotus, which is known as the concave-eared torrent frog, lives.
"Nature has a way of evolving mechanisms to facilitate communication in very adverse situations," said Professor Albert Feng of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
"One way is to shift the frequencies beyond the spectrum of the background noise. Mammals such as bats, whales and dolphins do this, and use ultrasound for their sonar system and communication."
But until now it was not known that some frogs were able to use ultrasound.
Kraig Adler, a biologist at Cornell University in New York, first noticed the frog with no external eardrums while surveying amphibians in China. He told Feng, an auditory neuroscientist who studies frogs and bats, about his find.
Feng and his colleagues conducted tests on the frogs to determine whether they could hear and respond to ultrasounds.
"Now we are getting a better understanding of why their ear drums are recessed," said Feng, who reported his findings in the journal Nature.
"Thin eardrums are needed for detection of ultrasound. Recessed ears shorten the path between eardrums and the ear, enabling the transmission to the ears," he added in a statement.
Ultrasounds are high-pitched sounds of more than 20 kilohertz (kHz) frequency -- much higher than the frequency most birds, reptiles and amphibians can hear.
LONDON, England (Reuters) - Bats, whales and dolphins use it to communicate. Baby rodents call their mothers with it and now a rare Chinese frog has shown it can hear and respond to ultrasounds, scientists said on Wednesday.
The frog, Amolops tormotus, is the first non-mammalian species known to use the ultra-high frequencies that humans cannot hear.
It comes in handy to be heard above the pounding waterfalls and streams in the mountainous region of east-central China where Amolops tormotus, which is known as the concave-eared torrent frog, lives.
"Nature has a way of evolving mechanisms to facilitate communication in very adverse situations," said Professor Albert Feng of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
"One way is to shift the frequencies beyond the spectrum of the background noise. Mammals such as bats, whales and dolphins do this, and use ultrasound for their sonar system and communication."
But until now it was not known that some frogs were able to use ultrasound.
Kraig Adler, a biologist at Cornell University in New York, first noticed the frog with no external eardrums while surveying amphibians in China. He told Feng, an auditory neuroscientist who studies frogs and bats, about his find.
Feng and his colleagues conducted tests on the frogs to determine whether they could hear and respond to ultrasounds.
"Now we are getting a better understanding of why their ear drums are recessed," said Feng, who reported his findings in the journal Nature.
"Thin eardrums are needed for detection of ultrasound. Recessed ears shorten the path between eardrums and the ear, enabling the transmission to the ears," he added in a statement.
Ultrasounds are high-pitched sounds of more than 20 kilohertz (kHz) frequency -- much higher than the frequency most birds, reptiles and amphibians can hear.
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TexasStooge
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LA couple gets prison for robbing 5-year-old
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - A Los Angeles man and woman were each sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday for stealing a gold chain from around the neck of a 5-year-old girl in January.
Julio Cesar Beltran, 18, and Patricia Serrano, 31, each pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree robbery and were given two year sentences by a Los Angeles judge, prosecutor June Chung said.
A videotape captured Beltran leaping from a car being driven by Serrano and grabbing two chains on the girl's neck as she stood in front of a meat market, Chung said.
Serrano ripped one of the chains off the girl, giving her an 8-inch (20-cm) cut, she said, and the couple admitted to police that they later pawned the necklace for drug money.
"It's very shocking to have a 5-year-old robbery victim," Chung said, adding that when the robbery was first reported "people were calling in from around the country offering to buy her a new necklace."
Chung said the girl still has a slight scar on the back of her neck but was otherwise doing well.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - A Los Angeles man and woman were each sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday for stealing a gold chain from around the neck of a 5-year-old girl in January.
Julio Cesar Beltran, 18, and Patricia Serrano, 31, each pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree robbery and were given two year sentences by a Los Angeles judge, prosecutor June Chung said.
A videotape captured Beltran leaping from a car being driven by Serrano and grabbing two chains on the girl's neck as she stood in front of a meat market, Chung said.
Serrano ripped one of the chains off the girl, giving her an 8-inch (20-cm) cut, she said, and the couple admitted to police that they later pawned the necklace for drug money.
"It's very shocking to have a 5-year-old robbery victim," Chung said, adding that when the robbery was first reported "people were calling in from around the country offering to buy her a new necklace."
Chung said the girl still has a slight scar on the back of her neck but was otherwise doing well.
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TexasStooge
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Crime-solving is no sweat at body odor bank
BEIJING, China (Reuters) - Police in eastern China can tap the country's first human body odor bank to help their dogs get a nose for criminals, Xinhua news agency said.
The facility in the city of Nanjing has a collection of 500 different smells, meant for comparison with samples taken from crime scenes. They are kept on ice -- at minus 18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees F).
"This way the scent sample can maintain its freshness for at least three years," bank founder Song Zhenhua was quoted as saying in the overnight report.
Only odors that elicit identical reactions from at least three trained crime dogs will pass muster for a place in the bank's vaults, Xinhua said.
Xinhua did not explain how the smells would be captured or stored. In other countries that use olfactory forensic evidence, odors are taken from clothing or collected using gauze pads and airtight plastic containers.
BEIJING, China (Reuters) - Police in eastern China can tap the country's first human body odor bank to help their dogs get a nose for criminals, Xinhua news agency said.
The facility in the city of Nanjing has a collection of 500 different smells, meant for comparison with samples taken from crime scenes. They are kept on ice -- at minus 18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees F).
"This way the scent sample can maintain its freshness for at least three years," bank founder Song Zhenhua was quoted as saying in the overnight report.
Only odors that elicit identical reactions from at least three trained crime dogs will pass muster for a place in the bank's vaults, Xinhua said.
Xinhua did not explain how the smells would be captured or stored. In other countries that use olfactory forensic evidence, odors are taken from clothing or collected using gauze pads and airtight plastic containers.
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TexasStooge
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German court rules it's all work at office parties
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - Employees at office parties are considered to be at work until the boss leaves, a German court ruled in the case of an employee seeking damages for a head injury sustained at a company Christmas celebration.
The case came before the social affairs court in Frankfurt after an insurance company refused to pay disability to a man who suffered severe skull damage after slipping on the steps of a restaurant at his office Christmas party.
The court ruled the company's accident insurance would have to pay disability to the man because he was technically still at work, the court said in a statement on Thursday.
"Up until the end of a work-related gathering accident insurance coverage continues until it is officially over. If this time is not fixed, participants can assume it continues as long as the senior employee is present," the court said.
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - Employees at office parties are considered to be at work until the boss leaves, a German court ruled in the case of an employee seeking damages for a head injury sustained at a company Christmas celebration.
The case came before the social affairs court in Frankfurt after an insurance company refused to pay disability to a man who suffered severe skull damage after slipping on the steps of a restaurant at his office Christmas party.
The court ruled the company's accident insurance would have to pay disability to the man because he was technically still at work, the court said in a statement on Thursday.
"Up until the end of a work-related gathering accident insurance coverage continues until it is officially over. If this time is not fixed, participants can assume it continues as long as the senior employee is present," the court said.
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TexasStooge
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Theaters may ask to jam cell phones
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Reuters) - Movie theater owners faced with falling attendance are considering asking federal authorities for permission to jam cell phone reception in an attempt to stop annoying conversations during films, the head of the industry's trade group said on Tuesday.
Industry leaders at the ShoWest conference for theater owners want to find ways to win back crowds.
"I don't know what's going on with consumers that they have to talk on phones in the middle of theaters," John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, told the ShoWest conference in Las Vegas.
Theaters are trying a number of ways to silence cell phones, from sweeps by ushers to funny fake movie trailers urging viewers to shut off phones.
Fithian said owners were considering other steps if that does not work.
"We will actually petition the Federal Communications (Commission) to remove the block" on jamming cell phones, he said.
That may be difficult, since federal law and FCC rules prohibit the use of cell phone jammers.
The industry is broadly trying to increase interest in the movies.
Motion Picture Association of America Chief Executive Dan Glickman told ShoWest that the industry is researching why and when people go to the movies and might consider an advertising campaign to encourage people to go out to the movies, just as the milk industry has succeeded with its Got Milk? campaign.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Reuters) - Movie theater owners faced with falling attendance are considering asking federal authorities for permission to jam cell phone reception in an attempt to stop annoying conversations during films, the head of the industry's trade group said on Tuesday.
Industry leaders at the ShoWest conference for theater owners want to find ways to win back crowds.
"I don't know what's going on with consumers that they have to talk on phones in the middle of theaters," John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, told the ShoWest conference in Las Vegas.
Theaters are trying a number of ways to silence cell phones, from sweeps by ushers to funny fake movie trailers urging viewers to shut off phones.
Fithian said owners were considering other steps if that does not work.
"We will actually petition the Federal Communications (Commission) to remove the block" on jamming cell phones, he said.
That may be difficult, since federal law and FCC rules prohibit the use of cell phone jammers.
The industry is broadly trying to increase interest in the movies.
Motion Picture Association of America Chief Executive Dan Glickman told ShoWest that the industry is researching why and when people go to the movies and might consider an advertising campaign to encourage people to go out to the movies, just as the milk industry has succeeded with its Got Milk? campaign.
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TexasStooge
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Jessica Simpson snubs Bush
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - Concerned about politicizing her favorite charity, singer-actress Jessica Simpson on Wednesday turned down a invitation to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush, a snub that left Republicans dismayed.
The apparent final word that Simpson would be a no-show at a major Republican fund-raiser with Bush and congressional leaders on Thursday night came after a day of conflicting reports from her camp and organizers of the event.
The blond star of the film "The Dukes of Hazzard" still plans to visit Washington on Thursday to lobby members of Congress on behalf of Operation Smile, a non-profit venture offering free plastic surgery for disadvantaged children overseas with facial deformities.
People close to Simpson said she declined a request to appear that same evening at the gala fund-raiser of the National Republican Congressional Committee -- even after she was offered some private face time with Bush -- because Operation Smile is a non-partisan group.
"It just feels wrong," one Simpson insider told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that the actress keeps her political views private. "She would love to meet the president and talk about Operation Smile ... but she can't do it at a fund-raiser for the Republican Party."
NRCC spokesman Carl Forti said he was surprised at Simpson's position.
"It's never been a problem for Bono," he said, referring to the U2 rock star who has met regularly with political leaders of all stripes to promote various causes, including Third World debt relief. "I find it hard to believe she would pass up an opportunity to lobby the president on behalf of Operation Smile."
Although Simpson's publicists insisted she never had planned to attend the fund-raiser, Forti said the actress initially accepted the NRCC invitation when it was extended on Tuesday night, only to change her mind the next evening.
Forti said the Republican group had even arranged for Simpson to dine at one of the head tables with U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. The NRCC hopes the $2,500-per-plate dinner event will raise $7.5 million for Republican candidates in the congressional midterm elections in November.
Simpson, 25, a Texas native who started out singing in her church choir, became a star on the Christian music circuit as a teenager and crossed over to the pop mainstream with her major-label debut album "Sweet Kisses" in 1999.
She became an overnight MTV sensation in 2003 as co-star of a reality show chronicling her first year of wedlock with fellow pop vocalist Nick Lachey, but she filed for divorce in December after three stormy years of marriage. Simpson is currently featured wearing cowboy boots and hot pants in a TV pizza ad.
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - Concerned about politicizing her favorite charity, singer-actress Jessica Simpson on Wednesday turned down a invitation to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush, a snub that left Republicans dismayed.
The apparent final word that Simpson would be a no-show at a major Republican fund-raiser with Bush and congressional leaders on Thursday night came after a day of conflicting reports from her camp and organizers of the event.
The blond star of the film "The Dukes of Hazzard" still plans to visit Washington on Thursday to lobby members of Congress on behalf of Operation Smile, a non-profit venture offering free plastic surgery for disadvantaged children overseas with facial deformities.
People close to Simpson said she declined a request to appear that same evening at the gala fund-raiser of the National Republican Congressional Committee -- even after she was offered some private face time with Bush -- because Operation Smile is a non-partisan group.
"It just feels wrong," one Simpson insider told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that the actress keeps her political views private. "She would love to meet the president and talk about Operation Smile ... but she can't do it at a fund-raiser for the Republican Party."
NRCC spokesman Carl Forti said he was surprised at Simpson's position.
"It's never been a problem for Bono," he said, referring to the U2 rock star who has met regularly with political leaders of all stripes to promote various causes, including Third World debt relief. "I find it hard to believe she would pass up an opportunity to lobby the president on behalf of Operation Smile."
Although Simpson's publicists insisted she never had planned to attend the fund-raiser, Forti said the actress initially accepted the NRCC invitation when it was extended on Tuesday night, only to change her mind the next evening.
Forti said the Republican group had even arranged for Simpson to dine at one of the head tables with U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. The NRCC hopes the $2,500-per-plate dinner event will raise $7.5 million for Republican candidates in the congressional midterm elections in November.
Simpson, 25, a Texas native who started out singing in her church choir, became a star on the Christian music circuit as a teenager and crossed over to the pop mainstream with her major-label debut album "Sweet Kisses" in 1999.
She became an overnight MTV sensation in 2003 as co-star of a reality show chronicling her first year of wedlock with fellow pop vocalist Nick Lachey, but she filed for divorce in December after three stormy years of marriage. Simpson is currently featured wearing cowboy boots and hot pants in a TV pizza ad.
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