Miley Cyrus Racy Photos – Get Over It!

Posted on Dec 31 2007 - 10:19am by Angela

Harmless photos of Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus goofing around with one of her gal-pals has everyone talking about whether the teen sensation is destined to become the next Britney Spears. The photos which appear to be quite innocent, have left the 15-year-old singer upset.
"They're nothing bad," Miley tells New York's Z100 radio station.

Miley Cyrus:"There was nothing wrong with it. It's two girls at a sleepover. And if all of a sudden that's bad, then what is the world coming to?"

The photos show Miley and her friend sharing a piece of candy, posing together and goofing around.

Vanessa Hudgens' nude photos were leaked and she barely experienced as much scrutiny as Miley.

Leave the girl alone. She's fifteen and was having fun with her friends.

When I see pictures of her drinking, smoking and getting arrested, then I'll be worried.
There are too many bad girls in Hollywood right now - we don't need to go out of our way to make a good girl look bad.

To see the photos go to CrazyDaysandNights.net.

Benazir Bhutto killed in suicide bombing

Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani opposition leader and former Prime Minister, has been killed in a suicide bombing on her political rally today.

Ms Bhutto had been addressing crowds at the garrison city of Rawalpindi, ahead of Pakistan's general election next month, when the bomber detonated his explosives, killing around 20 people. She was taken to hospital, but could not be saved.

"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Ms Bhutto’s party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital.

Rehman Malik, a security adviser for her Pakistan People's Party, suggested that the killer opened fire as she left the rally, hitting her in the neck and chest, before blowing himself up. He blamed the government for failing to protect Ms Bhutto.


"We repeatedly informed the government to provide her proper security and appropriate equipment including jammers, but they paid no heed to our requests," said Mr Malik.

The exact nature of the attack remained unclear, however. "It may have been pellets packed into the suicide bomber’s vest that hit her," Javed Cheema, an interior ministry spokesman said.

Russia and the United States both swiftly issued condemnations of the atrocity, which was being blamed on Islamic militants. A Russian foreign ministry spokesman predicted that it would bring fresh instability to the region, and trigger a fresh round of terrorist attacks.

"The attack shows that there are still those in Pakistan trying to undermine reconciliation and democratic development in Pakistan," said an official from the US State Department.

As news of her death filtered out, Ms Bhutto's supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog," referring to Pakistan’s President, Pervez Musharraf. Some of them smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears.

Islamic militants have vowed to kill Ms Bhutto, anathematising her as a supporter of Washington's war on terror, a proponent of women's rights, and as a secular politician who returned to Pakistan in October to contest parliamentary elections. Today's bombing is the second major attack on her since her return.

A suicide bomber killed nearly 150 people on October 18 as Ms Bhutto paraded in an open-topped bus through the southern city of Karachi after returning home from eight years in self-imposed exile. On that occasion she missed injury by seconds after leaving the top deck of her bus to give an interview.

The latest bombing was the second outbreak of political violence in Pakistan today. Earlier, gunmen inside the offices of a political party that supports Mr Musharraf opened fire on supporters of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, killing four, police said.

Mr Sharif was several kilometres away from the shooting and was on his way to Rawalpindi after attending a rally.

Ms Bhutto, 54, served twice as Pakistan’s prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She was born on June 21, 1953, into a wealthy landowning family. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and was president and later prime minister of Pakistan from 1971-77.

After gaining degrees in politics at Harvard and Oxford universities, she returned to Pakistan in 1977, just before the military seized power from her father. She inherited the leadership of the PPP after her father’s execution in 1979 under military ruler General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq.

First voted in as prime minister in 1988 - the first woman ever to serve as prime minister of a Muslim country - Ms Bhutto was sacked by the then-president on corruption charges in 1990. She took power again in 1993 after her successor, Mr Sharif, was forced to resign after a row with the president.

But Ms Bhutto was no more successful in her second spell as prime minister, and Mr Sharif was back in power by 1996. In 1999, both she and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, were sentenced to five years in jail and fined $8.6 million on charges of taking bribes from a Swiss company hired to fight customs fraud. A higher court later overturned the conviction as biased.

Ms Bhutto, who had made her husband investment minister during her period in office from 1993 to 1996, was abroad at the time of her conviction and chose not to return to Pakistan.

Mr Sharif meanwhile was deposed by General Pervez Musharraf in a military coup, and went into exile from which he too only returned in the last few weeks.

In 2006 Ms Bhutto joined an Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy with her arch-rival Mr Sharif, but the two disagreed over strategy for dealing with President Musharraf. Ms Bhutto decided it was better to negotiate with him, while Mr Sharif refused to have any dealings with the general.

Both had recently thrown themselves into campaigning for the multi-party parliamentary elections due to be held in Pakistan on January 8.

Global stock markets fell on news of the killing, and the price of gold and government bonds rose.

Article Provided By:TimesOnline

Web site aims to 'Ruin Romo'

By WALT ZWIRKO / WFAA.com

Can the face of a 27-year-old singer/actress bring down the mighty Dallas Cowboys? A California real estate agent has launched a new Web site targeting a perceived weakness of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

RuinRomo.com encourages fans of Cowboys opponents to print a mask of Jessica Simpson they can then hold up during a game to distract the play-caller who has led Dallas to a 12-2 record.

Romo seriously faltered for the first time this season in Sunday's game against a 5-8 Eagles team as Simpson—wearing a pink jersey bearing Romo's number—watched from a luxury box at Texas Stadium.

"Help your team to victory by letting him know the love of his life is in the stands!!!" implores the RuinRomo site, which was started by Matthew Sorensen, a real estate agent in San Diego who says he and his wife are big fans of the Green Bay Packers.

"After Dallas beat the Packers and [quarterback Brett] Favre got hurt, Romo just seemed to be a little too big for his britches," Sorenson said. "Romo and I are both Wisconsin born, and if anything, there is a little jealousy that a Wisco boy could land a girl like Jessica."

Sorenson said his wife provided the inspiration for RuinRomo.com. "My wife does a radio show here in San Diego and mentioned that all an opposing team would need to do is bring a Jessica Simpson mask to the game and Dallas would lose for sure after Romo's last two attempts to bring girls to the game," he said. Romo also lost a game to the Eagles last season when friend and singer Carrie Underwood was in the stands.

Sorenson's site is selling "Ruin Romo" caps, T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring the Simpson mask design. He said he hopes that the income might be used for a good cause.

"Last night it hit me that this could be a really good thing," he said. "I would love to raise some money on the site and extend an olive branch to Mr. Romo and even start up the Tony Romo Foundation where kids can have the opportunity to play sports... honestly!"

Sorenson said he's "100 percent" surprised by the impact of RuinRomo.com, and added that while he hopes his Packers will go to the Super Bowl, he is just hoping for a good game.

"So if that means Dallas is there, I will be the first one cheering on Romo and T.O.," Sorenson said.

People making news

LAW

Andrey Tomkiw, a partner with the Royal Oak law firm of Tomkiw Dalton, has been named to the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce executive committee. A member of the chamber's board since 2003, Tomkiw will work directly with the organization's executive director and president.

Jonathan S. Berg and Michael N. Pappas have joined the Detroit-based law firm of Kerr, Russell and Weber. Berg practices in various areas of litigation and corporate law and Pappas practices in business law, estate planning and commercial litigation.
Tax attorney Jay A. Kennedy has joined Warner Norcross & Judd's Southfield office as senior counsel. Kennedy has nearly 30 years of corporate, nonprofit and individual tax-planning experience.

INSURANCE

Fausto Jose Martin of Canton has been appointed vice president and chief claims officer for the Auto Club Insurance Association (ACIA). Martin previously served as national physical damage claims assistant vice president and national director of property claims for Safeco Insurance Company of America.

TECHNOLOGY

Farmington Hills resident Doug Rossman has joined Osiris Innovations Group in Auburn Hills, a provider of e-business solutions, as vice president of procurement services. Rossman is responsible for the development and execution of procurement strategies for the Osiris customer base.

ACADEMIC

Eric Mayes has been appointed associate director of the Merrill-Palmer Skillman Institute (MPSI) and executive director of its child development lab at Wayne State University. He also is an adjunct assistant professor at WSU. In 1997, Mayes was cocaptain of the University of Michigan's national championship football team. He graduated from Howard University in 2006 with a PhD in educational psychology from the department of human development and psychoeducational studies.

MEDICAL

Brian D. Jepson of Grand Rapids has joined Metro Health as executive vice president of growth strategies. Jepson has more than 12 years of health care management experience. He will be responsible for developing programs designed to grow Metro Health's presence in western Michigan.

ARCHITECTURE

Richard B. Borrelli has joined Hobbs+Black Associates Inc. as a senior associate at the Ann Arbor architectural firm. He has more than 22 years of planning and design experience in education and health care. Donald J. Smith has joined the firm as resident construction specifier. He has 41 years of experience in commercial, health care, education and municipal projects. Daniel E. Kohler joined the firm as a project architect. Kohler has 28 years of experience in commercial office, retail and high-end custom residential projects.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Troy-based John Bailey & Associates Inc. public relations firm has named Kirsten Ussery of Detroit account executive. Ussery will work on several of the agency's automotive accounts. She was with Yazaki North America, a global Tier 1 automotive supplier, where she worked as a public relations specialist.

Article Provided By:FreeP.com

Google offers 360-degree Street View of Metro Detroit

By MIKE WENDLAND


FREE PRESS TECHNOLOGY COLUMNIST


Google is now taking it to the streets of metro Detroit.
A new feature called Street View went live this morning on the Google Maps area of the popular search site, allowing users to get real 360-degree street imagery of metro Detroit streets, buildings and neighborhoods.


Google camera crews drove metro Detroit communities for several weeks early last year, capturing panoramic images that have been programmed into the search site, stitching together views that users can then pan and zoom in on as if they were in the street themselves.
How detailed are the photos?


Enough to read street signs, addresses and even recognize people if they happened to be visible as the Google camera crews drove public streets.


In San Francisco, where Google debuted the service in May, the detail on the map-photos was so great that privacy issues were raised. An attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation was unknowingly caught on an image smoking a cigarette, something he didn't want people to know he did.


Another image found on the San Francisco Street View was of a young woman who happened to be bending over near a pickup truck when the Google camera team passed by, inadvertently baring her thong.


Both images have since been removed.


Stephen Chau, product manager for Google Maps Street View, told me on Monday that anyone concerned about an image of themselves, their house address or license plate being recognizable can flag the photo and ask Google to remove it.


"At Google, we take privacy very seriously," he said, noting that identifying photos of domestic abuse shelters, for example, don't appear on the Street View images. He stressed, however, that Google crews drove public roads and only took photos of what was visible from the street.


Besides Detroit, seven other cities go live with the Street View feature today - Dallas; Ft. Worth, Texas; Boston, Providence, R.I.; Indianapolis; Minneapolis, and St. Paul, Minn.


They bring to 23 the total of cities now covered by the feature and Chau said Google plans to keep adding and expanding the service across the U.S., eventually to other countries.


Okay you eagle-eyed Freep readers, check out the new Detroit Street Level images service and let me know what you find that may raise an eyebrow or two. Try and get a screen grab and we'll post the best.


To See How It Works

Holzapfel hopeful dream of playing for Canada comes true

John Down , CanWest News Service; Calgary Herald
Published: Monday, December 10, 2007CALGARY -

Riley Holzapfel has been waiting what seems like a lifetime for the chance.

Now the 19-year-old winger has four short days to get the job done, to make enough of an impression to win a spot on Canada's world junior team roster.

The five-foot-11, 189-pounder from Regina will be one of 37 players vying for 22 spots when the team selection camp opens today at Father David Bauer Arena.

"Obviously it isn't going to be easy to make the team," submitted the feisty captain of the Western Hockey League's Moose Jaw Warriors. "Canada always has a solid team and I'm sure they'd be able to put a couple of good teams together from all the good players from around the country.

"So you just have to play the game that got you there and hopefully so something that'll make you stand out."

There are few shifts, few games where Holzapfel doesn't stand out at some point. He takes on the game full speed ahead and brings sandpaper, sometimes with a little too much grit and reckless abandon.

That kind of play led to an early-season concussion that caused him to miss two weeks. No sooner had he returned than he was suspended for two games for doing a dastardly deed.
It's almost like he feels like he still needs to carry the team as he did for most of last season while it underwent a major makeover.

"Riley's a good hockey player but what I think he needs to learn is that he doesn't have to carry our team on his shoulders," said Moose Jaw coach Dave Hunchak. "He needs to learn he's a part of our team and that we don't rely on him solely to score goals."

Holzapfel's play, nevertheless, hasn't gone unnoticed by the Team Canada scouting and coaching staff. He was a last-minute invite to last summer's camp when a player went down with an injury and suited up with Team WHL for last month's two ADT Canada-Russia Challenge games.
Thrown onto a line with Calgary's Ryan White, the two formed some instant chemistry and both received their first invitations to this week's main selection camp. But the two have been split up for camp opening, White on Team White and Holzapfel on Team Red.

"Obviously it's been a dream to play for my country," said Holzapfel, "and I really haven't had the chance outside of the two Canada-Russia games this year and one I played last year.
"I haven't had the chance to don the Canada jersey but this is an excellent chance to put it on. I'm pretty excited to get there and can hardly wait to get on the ice with all the guys come Monday.

"I'm pretty sure it'll be pretty intense and a lot of fun."
jdown@theherald.canwest.com
Calgary Herald

People in the News: Mix of drugs killed Smith's son

A pathologist has determined how Anna Nicole Smith's 20-year-old son died: a lethal combination of methadone and the antidepressants Zoloft and Lexapro.

Daniel Smith died Sept. 10, 2006, while visiting his mother in the Bahamas, where she had given birth just three days before to daughter Dannielynn. Anna Nicole Smith died at the age of 39 in February as a result of an accidental drug overdose.

People magazine reports Dr. Govinda Raju, who performed the official autopsy on Daniel Smith, said this particular drug cocktail can kill within five hours. The drugs are used to treat pain and depression.

An inquest on Daniel Smith's death is under way in the Bahamas.

Guitarist Eddie Van Halen got a little taste of what folks in Chehalis and Centralia have been going through. The Associated Press reports Van Halen returned to Los Angeles Monday after playing a concert in Edmonton, Alberta, Sunday night to find his yard ruined and his pool buried in mud.

"It could have been a lot worse," said Janie Liszewski, Van Halen's publicist and live-in girlfriend. The mini-disaster wasn't natural. A broken water main in Studio City sent thousands of gallons of water flowing down Van Halen's street. His house was the only one affected. The fire department said sandbags placed around the house prevented any water from getting inside.
Former Detroit police officers and the press secretary for former Mayor Dennis Archer will not have their day in court with Dr. Dre, now that a judge has dismissed invasion-of-privacy charges against the rapper and producer, reports the AP.

Dre was accused of improperly videotaping a backstage conversation at a show in 2000 and then releasing it as part of a DVD. The judge ruled the city workers should not have had any expectation of privacy.
-- P-I reporter Athima Chansanchai
Seattle PI

Buck Ortega and Others Remember Sean Taylor

NFL veterans from Miami speak of area's dangers

Posted Sunday, December 2, 2007

Max Jean-Gilles never goes back home. He was born and raised in Miami but owns two houses, one in New Jersey, another in suburban Atlanta.

Miami?

"Pretty much, I just don't get back," the Eagles second-year guard said.

Many of us associate Miami with neon lights, crystal ocean water and the eclectic sounds emanating from South Beach's nightclubs and posh restaurants. Nothing like pristine, sunny skies and tropical temperatures to help us forget the harsh winter about to settle in.

But that's a surreal world for Jean-Gilles, along with countless NFL players from the Miami area.

The Miami recalled by Buck Ortega is where drugs, gangs and gun violence lurked around every corner. Those fortunate enough to rise above it wear the target.

Ortega, a tight end on the New Orleans Saints practice squad, attended Miami's Gulliver Prep and later the University of Miami with Redskins safety Sean Taylor, who died early Tuesday of a gunshot wound suffered when intruders broke into his Miami home a day earlier.

"He didn't have any trouble. Trouble followed him," Ortega said of Taylor. "Miami is a rough place. A lot of people have been in trouble in Miami. It's not the greatest environment."

Said Jean-Gilles: "Guys down there have nothing to live for. There's no jobs down there. Nothing's out there, so they feel like they got to rob and steal to make something of themselves. It's like that everywhere, but it's more glorified there."

Jean-Gilles' mother, Sorisena, relocated to North Carolina before the Eagles drafted her son in the fourth round in 2006. Jean-Gilles said the family's Miami home was burglarized during his junior year at the University of Georgia.

"They tried to steal my car and everything," he said.

Eagles center Jamaal Jackson, from Miami's rough Overtown section, often speaks about the difference between the Miami people perceive and the mean streets across the causeway.

The numbers game

•No team had returned three interceptions for a touchdown in one game against the Giants until last Sunday, when the Vikings scored 21 points off three Eli Manning interceptions.

Amazingly, Minnesota fell one TD return short of the NFL record. Seattle returned four Kansas City interceptions for a touchdown on Nov. 4, 1984.

•Jacksonville's David Garrard has thrown 209 passes without being intercepted, the NFL's only quarterback with at least 159 passes to not be picked off this season.

•The Saints leapfrogged New England into the top spot for the NFL's most efficient red-zone offense by scoring a TD on all four trips inside the 20-yard line last Sunday against Carolina. New Orleans has scored 26 TDs on 35 red-zone possessions this season, a success rate of 74.3 percent.

Quote of the Week I

"I did not, in my worst moment, ever think I would be standing here talking about history repeating itself, but it did. As I said, I would have liked to have seen how ... this game would have played out had we not provided them with a gift-wrapped win." -- Giants coach Tom Coughlin, on Minnesota's three touchdowns off interceptions in its 41-17 win over New York. The Vikings picked off Eli Manning four times for the second time in two games since 2005.

Quote of the Week II

"It was announced as a foot? Then we'll leave it with that announcement. Was that what [we] announced? If that's what [we] announced, then we'll stand by that announcement." -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick, discussing the mysterious injury that put linebacker Rosevelt Colvin on injured reserve.

Good call

To former University of Delaware tight end Ben Patrick, who outjumped cornerback Nate Clements to reel in his first NFL touchdown pass in Arizona's 37-31 overtime loss to San Francisco last Sunday. Patrick's TD came on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, with Arizona down 24-21.

Bad call

To Miami Dolphins coach Cam Cameron, who wasted no time getting running back Ricky Williams back into action on a rain-slogged field at Pittsburgh last Monday. Williams, returning from a 11¼2-year suspension for violating the league's drug policy, tore his right pectoral muscle on his sixth carry and was placed on injured reserve.

Contact Geoff Mosher at gemosher@delawareonline.com.

Originally Published on Delaware Online

Don Imus Returns To Morinings

Barack in the saddle? Repentant Don Imus returns to mornings

Don Imus was back on the air Monday, 234 days after he was fired by CBS and MSNBC for his remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team.

And while much of “Imus in the Morning” sounded just as it did when it signed off in April, there were moments when the star sounded less like a divisive shock jock and more like a presidential candidate pontificating about the need for America to heal its racial wounds.

“There isn’t any reason we can’t learn how to talk to one another, and so I pledge that I’ll do that, and you’ll see demonstrated on this program,” Imus said from the stage of New York’s Town Hall theater during the first hour of his program, which debuted on WABC-AM in New York and was simulcast on RFD-TV. Only the Dish network makes RFD available locally, but the audio can be streamed live at wabc radio.com.

By “we,” Imus meant white people and African-Americans — such as the two who were conspicuously featured in the first hour of “Imus in the Morning.” Tony Powell, his new sportscaster, is a black comedian who has performed standup at college campuses around the country, including Rutgers.

“It’s a thrill to be here on the Tyler Perry version of the ‘Imus in the Morning’ program,” Powell joked.

And a female comic, Karith Foster, has joined the hitherto all-white panel of resident comics who josh the I-Man in some of the show’s most politically incorrect comedy segments.

Much less conspicuous was the man to whom Imus’ studio audience gave the most rousing round of applause Monday morning: Bernard McGuirk, his longtime producer and expert ad-libber, who once said (off the record, he thought) to “60 Minutes” his role on the show was to supply N-word humor.

McGuirk, news reader Charles McCord and pretty much all the core members of the Imus team followed him from WFAN to WABC. And indeed, Imus was quick to note that other than adding Powell and Foster to the team, “nothing has changed — Dick Cheney is still a war criminal, Hillary Clinton is still Satan and I’m back on the radio!” he declared to cheers from his audience.

Still, as Imus recounted the events of April 12 — the day he was dropped by CBS Radio and met for four hours with the Rutgers women — he clearly wanted to be seen as having gone through a come-to-Jesus experience similar to his famous trips into rehab.

“If I had been there speaking to them and apologizing to them and offering them these excuses and still had my job,” Imus said, “they would’ve thought that I was there to try to save my job. That might have been true. But I was there to try to save my life. I’d already lost my job.

“They forgave me, they accepted my apology and they said they would never forget. And I said that I would never forget. And I analogized it to being an alcoholic and a drug addict, which I also am. If you get into recovery, as I am for some 20 years now, you have the opportunity to be a better person, to have a better life than you ordinarily would have. And that’s true in this situation.”

Only time will tell whether Imus intends to do more than change the window dressing at his radio program, which has always been popular among older, affluent white listeners, but proved resistant over the years to critics who said Imus had a double standard when it came to jokes about minorities.

But Monday, it was all about accentuating the positive and taking note of the I-Man’s need to repent. He runs a million-dollar ranch for sick children in New Mexico, about 40 percent of whom are minorities, he noted during the show. About comparing the Rutgers players to hookers, Imus admitted, “I had some ’splainin’ to do” to African-Americans at the Imus Ranch.

At times his more irritable side broke through, as it will no doubt in the days and months to come. He was especially scornful of the media hubbub that blew up, and then just as quickly died down, over race in America during the Rutgers contretemps.

“I know the national media was saying as soon as they could get me out of the room they were gonna have this national dialogue on race relations in the major media and what could or couldn’t be said on radio or television,” said Imus, adding, “I must have missed that.”

But he was notably gracious toward his loudest critic, the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose low-wattage radio program benefited hugely from having Imus on to apologize during the Rutgers storm.

“I don’t know what you think of Al Sharpton, but if I’m gonna pick somebody to be in a foxhole with I’m picking Al Sharpton before I pick a lot of them people,” Imus said.

And he had nothing but kindness for Harold Ford Jr., who was possibly the quietest of all Imus allies last April, despite the fact that Imus had eagerly boosted the African-American congressman’s Senate campaign in 2006 with numerous on-air appearances and mentions. The audience in New York loudly booed Ford’s name when Imus mentioned it Monday.

But he would have none of it, telling the crowd that there were “a lot worse people on this planet than Harold Ford.”

Still, Imus made clear that he was the same bitter old coot with the inexplicably hot wife and important political and literary friends who was shown the door eight months ago. Gracing his program on the first day were author Doris Kearns Goodwin and presidential contenders John McCain and Christopher Dodd.

“We signed for five years, and one reason I did is it’s going to take that long to get even with everybody,” he said, as his audience at Town Hall laughed and cheered.

Originally Published by the Kansas City Star

Sean Taylor of the Washington Redskins Laid To Rest

Our heartfelt condolences go out to Sean Taylor's family, teammates and friends. He will be greatly missed.

-------------------------
Thousands attend funeral for Redskins star Taylor

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:13 PM EST, December 3, 2007

MIAMI

Thousands filled a university arena for Sean Taylor's funeral Monday, with his coach praising his "excitement for life" and the NFL commissioner telling mourners the Washington Redskins star "loved football and football loved him back."

The funeral comes a week after Taylor was shot in his home and days after four men were charged with killing him during the robbery. A lawyer for one of the suspects confirmed there was a fifth suspect.

Taylor's casket was surrounded by bouquets while a video display behind it showed Taylor from his days with the Redskins, Miami Hurricanes and high school.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said it had been a "sad week" for the league family.

"It's times like this that all of us struggle to find meaning in life," Goodell told the mourners. "The NFL was proud of Sean Taylor. He loved football and football loved him back. But more importantly, it was what he was as a man and what he was becoming as a man."

Redskins coach Joe Gibbs spoke to Taylor's growing spirituality.

"I think he's going to have 100-year football games," Gibbs said. "He had excitement for life and certainly he can still live forever. For me personally, I want to play on Sean's team."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson sat with the athlete's father, Florida City police Chief Pedro Taylor, then took the podium and called for an end to violence.

Clinton Portis, a Redskins running back and close friend of Taylor's, said seeing Taylor tackle another player was invigorating, earning chuckles from the audience.

"It was exciting to have Sean on your team," Portis said. "He would always be there no matter what."

Portis also spoke to the change everyone saw Taylor undergo with his daughter's birth. "Sean was living for his child, living for his girl," he said.

"I never wanted you to leave, my heart that loves you will always grieve," Taylor's sister, Jazmin, said.

Actor Andy Garcia was also among the mourners. His niece, Jackie Garcia, was Taylor's girlfriend and was in the home when he was shot.

Former Hurricanes coaches Larry Coker and Butch Davis sat in the front row, along with current coach Randy Shannon. The Redskins organization filled one section of the building.

The remembrances for the 24-year-old player began Sunday night. Thousands paid respects at a wake at Second Baptist Church and at a vigil at the University of Miami.

Meanwhile, four young men charged with killing Taylor sat in jail cells on the other side of the state in Fort Myers. The suspects are expected to be transported to Miami after the funeral, said attorney Sawyer Smith, who is representing suspect Jason Mitchell, 19.

"Out of respect for the Taylor family, they're waiting for that to occur so that the arrival of these boys does not distract from the grief the Taylor family is suffering," Smith said.

Also charged are Eric Rivera, 17; Charles Wardlow, 18; and Venjah Hunte, 20. All face charges of unpremeditated murder, home invasion with a firearm or another deadly weapon and armed burglary.

Smith said there is a fifth suspect but declined to elaborate. Miami-Dade police spokesman Juan Villaba refused to confirm that.

Probable cause affidavits for Mitchell and Rivera obtained by The Associated Press said the two confessed to participating in armed burglary. According to the reports, Mitchell and Rivera admitted entering the home and said someone had a gun and shot Taylor, but they didn't identify who. Police and attorneys also have said some of the young men confessed, though they wouldn't elaborate.

Taylor died Nov. 27, one day after being shot at his home in an affluent Miami suburb. Police said the suspects were looking for a simple burglary, but it turned bloody when they were startled to find Taylor home.

The suspects all have prior arrests, according to police, including drug, theft and gun charges, though friends and family have defended them.

Police remain tightlipped about how the suspects wound up at Taylor's home. But his former attorney Richard Sharpstein said Taylor's sister was dating a relative of Wardlow and that one or more people tied to the suspects may have attended her 21st birthday party at the athlete's home.

Miami-Dade police wouldn't confirm any of the possible links.

The day of the robbery, Taylor and Garcia were awakened by loud noises and within moments he was shot. Neither the couple's 18-month-old daughter, also named Jackie, nor Garcia were injured, but the bullet hit the femoral artery in Taylor's leg, causing significant blood loss. He never regained consciousness.

Authorities haven't said whether they've linked the suspects to a break-in at Taylor's home eight days before the shooting.

------

Associated Press Writers Rasha Madkour, Sarah Larimer and Matt Sedensky contributed to this report.

Originally Published in Newsday

Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.

Evel Knievel Dies - The Passing Of A Legend

Daredevil motorcyclist Evel Knievel dies at the age of 69

SHÂN ROSS (sross@scotsman.com)

EVEL Knievel, the motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s died yesterday aged 69.

Knievel's death was confirmed by his grand-daughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.

Knievel had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, probably contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.

Knievel, whose trademark was his red, white and blue spangled jumpsuit, suffered nearly 40 fractures before retiring in 1980.

Among his notable feats was a failed but spectacular attempt to leap the Snake River Canyon on a rocket-powered motorcycle in 1974, sailing over 13 Mack trucks in 1974 and jumping 13 double-decker buses in London in 1975.

Billy Rundel, a longtime friend and promoter, said Knievel had trouble breathing at his Florida condominium and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital.

"It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it. Superman just doesn't die, right?" Mr Rundel said.

Knievel's death came just two days after it was announced he and rapper Kanye West had settled a lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video.

In an interview in May last year, Knievel said: "No king or prince has lived a better life. You're looking at a guy who's really done it all. There are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved."

Immortalised in Washington's Smithsonian Institution as "America's Legendary Daredevil," Knievel was best known for the Snake River Canyon jump and a spectacular crash at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

"They started out watching me bust my ass, and I became part of their lives," Knievel once said. "People wanted to associate with a winner, not a loser. They wanted to associate with someone who kept trying to be a winner."

Born Robert Craig Knievel in the copper mining town of Butte on 17 October, 1938, Knievel worked in the Montana copper mines and served in the army. He claimed to have also been a swindler, a card thief, a safe cracker and a hold-up man.

He began his daredevil career in 1965, forming a troupe called Evel Knievel's Motorcycle Daredevils, performing stunts such as riding through fire walls and jumping over live rattlesnakes and mountain lions.

In 1966, he began touring alone, increasing the length of jumps until, on New Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 151ft across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace.

Knievel retired after a stunt in which he was again seriously injured, attempting to jump a tank full of live sharks in the Chicago Amphitheater.

He continued with smaller exhibitions with his son, Robbie.

Knievel married Linda Joan Bork in 1959 but they separated in the early 1990s. They had four children.

He lived with longtime partner, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel. Married in 1999, they divorced, but remained together.

PRISON NICKNAME GIVEN A TWIST

• A PRISON warder in Montana was responsible for Knievel's nickname. As a youth, he had several run-ins with police and the warder dubbed him "Evil Knievel". In order not to be perceived as a bad guy, Knievel later changed the spelling to "Evel".

Knievel played himself in the 1977 film Viva Knievel! The plot featured a rival trying to kill Knievel and use his 18-wheel truck to smuggle cocaine. George Hamilton portrayed him in a 1971 film and George Eads played him in a 2004 television movie.

• Knievel starred in track and field, hockey and ski-jumping while at school.

This article: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1880722007

Last updated: 01-Dec-07 01:19 GMT

Leeland Eisenburg Gives Clinton Staff Relief From Daily Grind

Now Revealed: Eisenberg, Hostage Taker at Clinton Office, Called CNN During the Crisis

By E&P Staff

Published: November 30, 2007 6:40 PM ET

NEW YORK Leeland Eisenberg, who held several campaign workers hostage all afternoon at a Hillary Clinton storefront in Rochester, N.H., surrendered to police at 6:15 this evening. Cable news caught the arrest as it happened, with Lee Eisenberg, in a white shirt and tie, emerging, going to his knees, getting handcuffed and taken to a police car.

No one was hurt in the entire affair. Three or four hostages had been released over time. Sen. Clinton was in Virginia.

Minutes later, Wolf Blitzer on CNN's Situation Room revealed that the man had called the CNN bureau in Washington during the crisis and talked to staffers -- not Blitzer. The CNN anchor also said that Eisenberg had called another CNN office, which he did not identify, as well.

He said the cable news network decided not to reveal this before so it would not interfere with any negotiations.

Police and the media have suggested that the man who took the hostages has had "issues" with local law enforcement. E&P has found one specific case involving the local man, who reputedly has some mental problems.

Back on March 16 this year, local media reported on
Rochester police coming up with a novel idea for fighting auto theft. But some residents -- including Eisenberg -- were outraged at their plan.

The plan: checking car doors, and if unlocked, leaving behind a warning flyer.

"It's an outrage, it's an absolute outrage," said Eisenberg in one report. He claimed the intrusion into his Chevy violates the Fourth Amendment, and raised such a fuss that his picture appeared in a local newspaper.

"That's a crime. They violated my civil rights and the rights of many citizens in this city that are not even aware of it," said Eisenberg, who was now asking state and federal authorities to investigate the Rochester police.

Eisenberg said he thinks police searched his car illegally, because it was clean when he parked it for the night and dirty with ash from the ashtray the next morning, when he found the flier.

He said he complained to the state attorney general, the governor and the U.S. attorney. Police later said they were re-thinking the idea.
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