Gay City

Gay City: While two New York town clerks resigned their jobs rather than violate their religious beliefs by signing marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples, a third town clerk who also claims to have religious objections to gay marriage will hire a temporary deputy clerk to process marriage licenses in her office and keep her job in an upstate town. “Most towns this size have a deputy in the budget,” Rose Marie Belforti, the Ledyard town clerk, said at a September 12 town meeting. “They have a line item for the salary of a deputy. I do not. I do all the work myself and I rarely hire a deputy.” Belforti was quoted in the Citizen, a newspaper...

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Lesbian

Lesbian: Thomas Lobel, who calls himself Tammy, is undergoing controversial hormone-blocking treatment in Berkeley, California, to stop him going through puberty as a boy. His lesbian mothers, who adopted him aged two, said they had been criticised by friends and family, but insisted they had not forced their son to become a girl. Debra Lobel and Pauline Moreno said one of the first things Thomas told them when he learnt sign language at three, because of a speech impediment, was, "I am a girl".Tammy, now 11, wears dresses and effectively lives as a girl. Ms Moreno and Ms Lobel said their son, who they claimed was depressed at a younger age...

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Stacey Dash

Stacey Dash: Stacey Dash isn't one of TV's "Single Ladies" anymore, but she's finally a single lady in real life, thanks to a judge's decision to sign off on her divorce from Emmanuel Xuereb. The 45-year-old actress -- who took her "Clueless" diva Dionne from film to TV in the '90s, and recently decided to walk away from VH1's Atlanta-based "Ladies" -- had filed for divorce from Xuereb in January 2010. She obtained a restraining order at the same time, alleging that over the two years they were married Xuereb had repeatedly hit her in the face, head and body. The split was official last week, TMZ said Friday. "I have to be back in L.A. with...

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Anwar Al Awlaki

Anwar Al Awlaki: When President Obama addressed the nation about the death of high-profile al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar al-Awlaki today, he said the drone strike that took out the U.S.-born radical removed the man who "took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans." While al-Awlaki was not the trigger-man in any of the 19 terror operations to which he is linked, U.S. officials and terror experts said that his hand was visible in all of them -- whether by simply pushing the attackers over the violent edge or by personally guiding them through operations. "There's no question that Anwar al-Awlaki...

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Martyn

Martyn: But having scored his first in City colours at Doncaster in midweek, and partnered Fryatt for the first time at the Tigers, Waghorn is confident more goals will follow. "Sooner or later a team is going to see what we can do and hopefully it's not too far round the corner," Waghorn told the Mail. "Matty and I have a good understanding of how we both like to play. We can both go behind, we can both come short, we are both comfortable on the ball, so it looks promising. "We bonded before at Leicester, where we played well, but it's going to take a bit of time for us to click again here." City's last goal double in the league came back...

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Pawpaw

Pawpaw: Current 2012 GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum apologized Thursday night for a misunderstanding that led the former senator to publicly call for a ban on pawpaw, a mango-like fruit that grows along the banks of the Potomac and across large swaths of Southern, Southeastern and Midwest states. The fruit was popular throughout the 1700s and 1800s, but has only recently been rediscovered and commercialized. And because food scientists have found an abundance of nutrients in the pawpaw and a high antioxidant count, demand for the produce has been high. The fruit, slightly testicular in appearance, is also referred to as a Hoosier...

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Holly Madison

Holly Madison: Holly Madison, reality star of “Holly’s World” is insuring her “money makers.” According to Ace Show Biz, 31-year-old Madison is insuring her 34DD breasts for a cool million—She’s taken out a $1 million insurance policy on her breasts with Lloyd’s of London insurance company. She recently told People, ”I’ve heard about people getting bodyparts insured and I thought, why not? Because if anything happened to my boobs, I’d be out for a few months and I’d probably be out a million dollars.” “I thought I’d cover my assets,” she added. ”I think it’s kind of funny. I think they’re getting the credit they deserve. They’re my primary...

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Listeria

Listeria: Health officials say as many as 16 people have died from possible listeria illnesses traced to Colorado cantaloupes, the deadliest food outbreak in more than a decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday that 72 illnesses, including 13 deaths, are linked to the tainted fruit. State and local officials say they are investigating three additional deaths that may be connected. The death toll released by the CDC Tuesday — including newly confirmed deaths in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas — surpassed the number of deaths linked to an outbreak of salmonella in peanuts almost three years ago. Nine people...

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Andy Rooney

Andy Rooney: On Tuesday, CBS announced that the legendary Andy Rooney would be making his last regular appearance on 60 Minutes this upcoming Sunday. Rooney, who is now 92, has spent 33 years with the venerable newsmagazine. Rooney has held the time slot at the end of 60 Minutes since 1979. There, he has made a name for himself with his musings on life and the changing times. He is known by many for his sometimes strange delivery and odd choice of topics. And while some of his rants have seemed ridiculous over the years, Rooney is a powerful figure in American journalism. He has been producing TV essays since 1964 and has written 16 books...

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Herman Cain

Herman Cain: Reporting from Orlando, Fla. -- In a startling embarrassment for the Republican presidential front-runner, Texas Gov. Rick Perry was tripped up by businessman Herman Cain in a straw ballot of Florida Republican activists Saturday that Perry himself had touted as an important measure of the field. The vote has no bearing on the choice of a 2012 nominee but, along with recent campaign events, is likely to increase the chances that the Republican presidential contest will tighten.  It comes on the heels of a performance by Perry in a Florida debate Thursday night that disappointed conservatives, including delegates who came to...

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Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum:  Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has decided to do something about his Google problem, reportedly calling on the company to eliminate dirty search results connected to his name. Just type his name into the search browser and you'll see why. Instead of campaign websites and Wikipedia pages, the top two results for "Santorum" link to foul, sex-related definitions of the former Pennsylvania senator's name that were circulated by gay rights activist and prankster columnist Dan Savage. In response to comments the former Senator made in 2003 equating homosexuality with polygamy and incest, Savage launched an online...

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X Factor Judges

X Factor Judges: Simon Cowell was back at the judges' desk, along with his pal Paula Abdul and music producer L.A. Reid. We also got to see British judge Cheryl Cole in the first hour before she was replaced by former Sing-Off judge and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. Although there had been buzz that Cole's accent was too much for American audiences, Simon told Piers Morgan this week that he axed Cole because she looked "bewildered" on the panel. As for Scherzinger? She's not faring well with critics. USA TODAY's Brian Mansfield writes in today's Idol Chatter blog, "When she goes into her little-girl act, judge/mentor Nicole Scherzinger...

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Fullerton Police Beating

Fullerton Police Beating: Fullerton police have voided three citations given to motorists who extensively honked their horns in support of the protest last Saturday over Kelly Thomas’ death following a violent altercation with police officers. As the Orange County district attorney and federal authorities continue to investigate the homeless man's beating on July 5 after he was wrestled to the ground by six Fullerton police officers, protesters have packed downtown on a weekly basis to express their anger at authorities and encouraged motorists to support their cause. Fullerton Police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said the department received numerous...

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Troy Davis

Troy Davis: AVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Did Troy Anthony Davis deserve to be on Georgia's death row? The answer depends on one's faith in the system and its many procedural hoops. Trial witnesses recanted what they'd sworn to police, and jurors even questioned their verdict. Activists, some of them death-penalty supporters, protested by the thousands that he was innocent — or at least that guilt was hopelessly shrouded in reasonable doubt. But do those "supposed recantations," asks law professor Michael Mears, constitute a mountain of evidence? Or were they, as prosecutors claim, just a molehill, fabricated by death penalty opponents? A close review...

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Dancing With The Stars Results

Dancing With The Stars Results: Army veteran J.R. Martinez and his professional partner Karina Smirnoff learned in the second half of tonight's “Dancing with the Stars” results show that they would be advancing to the second week of the competition. That outcome should not have been in doubt after they landed in a tie for first place with an emotionally expressive Viennese Waltz on Monday night that brought the audience to its feet. Martinez is an Iraq war veteran and former infantry soldier with Fort Campbell’s Strike Brigade. After being severely injured in the war and leaving the Army, he became a motivational speaker and an actor on the...

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Facebook Changes

Facebook Changes: Now that Facebook changed its rules, gambling brands and betting shop online services are able to use the social network to promote sites and reach customers. Now that Facebook relaxed their strict rules, gamers should look for a big influx in gaming brands that use Facebook to build their fan base. Before, gaming and betting shop online companies were not able to reach out to players on Facebook with the freedom that they were looking for. The new rules, which are in effect in 18 worldwide markets (but not in the US), will let gaming brands reach the audience in a very contemporary way. The companies, which include those...

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Clemency

Clemency: The State Board of Pardons and Paroles in the US state of Georgia must reconsider their decision to deny clemency for a US man facing the death penalty, Amnesty International said today after the ruling cleared the way for his execution on Wednesday. Troy Davis was sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of police officer Mark Allen Macphail in Savannah, Georgia. “This is a huge setback for human rights in the USA, where a man who has been condemned under dubious evidence is to be executed by the state. Even at this late stage, the Board must reconsider its decision,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. “The...

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Kate Walsh

Kate Walsh: The biggest surprise of the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen was seeing actress Kate Walsh walk onstage. The next biggest surprise was listening to the Private Practice star throw out off-color jokes from the podium. Could Walsh be unleashing her raunchy side?"I do have a little bit of raunch," Walsh told USA TODAY. "I'm half-Irish after all. So come on." Walsh admitted it might be a big shock for fans of her show to see her R-rated roast session (which will be broadcast Sept. 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT). When asked what they should know before tuning in, she replied with a laugh: "Viewer discretion advised. I'd say, take it easy...

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