Breaking News Thread Version 2.0

[Colorado700R]

Epic Fail!!!!......Again!!!!!!!!!!!!

DALLAS -- Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf posted a $45,000 bond Wednesday in Washington state for drug and burglary charges out of Texas after being arrested by customs agents as he returned to the United States from Canada.

James Farren, the district attorney in Randall County in West Texas, said Leaf was arrested Wednesday by federal customs agents. Legal assistant Jennifer Bonstein said Leaf declined to waive extradition during a hearing Wednesday afternoon in Bellingham, Wash., about 90 miles north of Seattle.

Wendy Jones, chief corrections deputy for the Whatcom County Jail, confirmed that Leaf posted bond Wednesday evening.

Leaf's attorney in Washington told the court Leaf would post the bond and return to Texas by himself. Leaf was also to come back to court in Whatcom County on July 16, Bonstein said.

Bill Kelly, Leaf's attorney in Texas, said his client was returning to Texas to turn himself in by a Thursday deadline.

"I assume when he was crossing the border, they picked him up," Kelly said.

The ex-Washington State University and San Diego Chargers quarterback is charged with burglary to a habitation, a second-degree felony. Leaf was also indicted on seven counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of delivery of a simulated controlled substance.

Leaf coached quarterbacks at West Texas A&M in Canyon, where the indictment was returned in May.

Leaf, who resigned from West Texas A&M after being investigated for drug crimes in November, was working in British Columbia, his attorney said. Kelly, a former head football coach at the college, said Leaf "has been to rehab and successfully completed it."

Leaf, who coached for three seasons at West Texas A&M, spent four seasons in the NFL after being chosen with the No. 2 pick in the 1998 draft by the Chargers.

In his NFL career, which included stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys, Leaf had 14 touchdowns and 36 interceptions. He was better known for outbursts directed at teammates, coaches, fans and reporters.

[disco]

not really news but what was she thinking?

http://www.hulu.com/watch/78294/nbc-today-show-teen-sues-for-tattoo-gone-wrong

[Krandall]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_koreas_nuclear
N. Korea ship, maybe with weapons, passes Shanghai

SEOUL, South Korea – A North Korean ship suspected of carrying illicit weapons cruised through waters off Shanghai on Tuesday en route to Myanmar, a news report said, as regional military officials and a U.S. destroyer kept a close eye on the vessel.

Washington's top military commander in South Korea, meanwhile, warned that the communist regime is bolstering its guerrilla warfare capacity.

Gen. Walter Sharp, who commands the 28,500 U.S. troops positioned in South Korea, said the North could employ roadside bombs and other guerrilla tactics if fighting breaks out again on the Korean peninsula. The two Koreas technically remain at war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953.

North Korea is believed to have begun boosting its urban, nighttime and special operation capabilities in the wake of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, South Korea's Defense Ministry said. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq, North Korea claimed it would be the next target.

With 1.2 million troops, North Korea's army is one of the world's largest. Some 180,000 are special operation forces.

Last Wednesday, a North Korean-flagged vessel left the port of Nampo and was being trailed by a U.S. destroyer, a U.S. official said. It the first ship being monitored under the U.N. sanctions imposed earlier this month following North Korea's defiant underground nuclear test in May. The new resolution seeks to strengthen efforts to stop North Korea from developing its nuclear and missile programs and selling its technology.

The Kang Nam, accused of transporting illicit goods in the past, is believed to be carrying banned small arms to Myanmar, a South Korean intelligence official said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

However, analysts say a high-seas interception — a move North Korea has said it would consider an act of war — is unlikely.

The resolution calls on U.N. member states to inspect North Korean vessels if they have "reasonable grounds" to believe that its cargo contains banned weapons or materials. But it must first get the consent of the nation whose flag the ship is flying — in this case, North Korea's.

The North, however, is unlikely to allow any inspection of its cargo, said Hong Hyun-ik, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank outside Seoul.

If Pyongyang refuses, authorities must direct the vessel to a port. U.N. members have been ordered not to provided suspected ships with services such as fuel.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China will "strictly observe" and implement the resolution. He urged other nations to also heed the U.N. guidelines.

"Under the current circumstances, we call upon all parties to refrain from acts that might escalate the tension," he said Tuesday.

Singapore, the world's busiest port and a top refueling center, said officials would "act appropriately" if asked to confront a North Korean ship believed to be carrying banned cargo.

"Singapore takes seriously the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery and related materials," a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said Tuesday on condition of anonymity according to ministry policy. "If the allegation is true, Singapore will act appropriately."

The South Korean broadcaster YTN said the ship was traveling in waters 200 nautical miles (230 miles; 370 kilometers) southeast of Shanghai at a speed of about 10 knots (11.5 miles per hour; 18.5 kilometers per hour).

The Kang Nam is expected to dock at Myanmar's Thilawa port, some 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Yangon, in the next few days, according to the Irrawaddy, an online magazine operated by independent exiled journalists from Myanmar, citing an unidentified port official.

North Korea is believed to have sold guns, artillery and other small weapons to Myanmar, said Kim Jin-moo, an analyst at Seoul's state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

An American destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, is relatively close to the North Korean vessel but had no orders to intercept it, a senior military official told The Associated Press last week on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and North Korea's neighbors were discussing how to deal with the increasingly defiant country amid signs it may be preparing a long-range missile test.

Ambassador Kathleen Stephens said the U.S. "remains willing and eager to engage North Korea" through diplomacy. But she said Washington and its allies have begun outlining defensive measures should the North continue with provocative acts.

"We're committed to do what is necessary to protect" the American people and their allies, she said at a Seoul forum also attended by ambassadors from China, Japan and Russia.

The vice defense ministers of Japan and South Korea also met Tuesday in Seoul, nuclear envoys from South Korea and Russia were slated to hold talks Wednesday in Moscow and a U.S. defense official was in the region for talks this week in Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo.

[Hefe]

ok.. WTF, First Ed McMahon dies, then Farah, and now I hear Michael Jackson might be dead..

can anyone confirm this?

[Colorado700R]

CNN:

Report: Michael Jackson suffers cardiac arrest
Entertainer Michael Jackson was taken to a hospital on Thursday, according to a Los Angeles Fire Department official. Fire Capt. CNN affiliate KTLA reported Jackson suffered cardiac arrest and was not breathing when paramedics arrived. Steve Ruda told CNN a 911 call came in from a west Los Angeles residence at 12:21 p.m. and the patient was treated and transferred to the UCLA Medical Center

Millions of young boys 8-15 sigh of relief

[socalrappy700]

TMZ.com is saying he's dead.  And Harvey Levin has an in on everything. 

[Hefe]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31552029/ns/entertainment-music/

they are calling him dead

[Krandall]

could be a HUUUUGE Breakthrough!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090626/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_overhaul

WASHINGTON – Senators working to give President Barack Obama a comprehensive health care overhaul said Thursday they had figured out how to pare back the complex legislation to keep costs from crashing through a $1 trillion, 10-year ceiling.

The announcement from Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and other lawmakers amounted to a small, parting gift to Obama on his top domestic priority as Congress prepares to leave town for its weeklong July 4 recess. It moved Congress a bit closer to a deal on legislation to lower costs and provide coverage to nearly 50 million Americans who lack it.

It also capped two weeks of tough going for health care negotiations on Capitol Hill as price tags as high as $1.6 trillion over 10 years sent senators back to the drawing board and forced deadlines to be repeatedly reset.

"We have options that would enable us to write a $1 trillion bill, fully paid for," Baucus said at a news conference.

Baucus declined to detail how the costs were being cut, but options included difficult sacrifices like potentially delaying an expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state program for the poor.

Others have said the changes made in recent days would lower the cost of government subsidies for those who cannot afford insurance, as well as pare back a planned 10-year series of rate increases for doctors serving Medicare patients.

Aides said the Congressional Budget Office had estimated that the elements under consideration would extend coverage to 97 percent of the population, excluding illegal immigrants.

But even Democrats acknowledged that Thursday's announcement fell fall short of a final deal on legislation to meet Obama's goals.

"There's not a final bill that's agreed to. What there is now is a clear path to having a bill that is paid for," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., one of seven Republican and Democratic Finance Committee senators who've been working closely on the deal.

Baucus has dubbed the group "the coalition of the willing." All seven issued a brief, joint statement later Thursday claiming progress, even though some Republicans involved made no secret of their skepticism.

"We have not seen language (of legislation) in any way shape or form," said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. He questioned how costs could be cut before bill language was written, calling it "gimmickry."

The Finance Committee had hoped to pass a bill by now, but given the setbacks of recent weeks Thursday's announcement was seen as progress. Of the five House and Senate panels writing health care bills, Finance is the only one with a real chance of producing a bipartisan bill, something Obama has repeatedly said he wants.

The committee will resume work when lawmakers return to Washington after July 4. On Thursday they discussed whether to give more power to MedPAC, a commission that makes recommendations to Congress on Medicare payment rates, Baucus said.

The House also will continue work on a partisan bill that embraces Democratic priorities, and similar legislation is taking shape in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Health Committee lawmakers Thursday defeated an amendment offered by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would have allowed cheaper prescription drugs to be imported from Canada.

All the bills envision new requirements for all Americans to have health insurance, and prohibitions against insurance companies denying people care.

Still unsettled are the divisive questions of whether to create a new public plan to compete against private insurers, and what types of requirements employers should face to offer coverage to their workers.

Across from the Capitol on Thursday, hundreds of people, including actress Edie Falco, rallied for a health care overhaul.

Organizing for America, Obama's political operation within the Democratic National Committee, plans thousands of service events around the country Saturday aimed at building support for health care overhaul among a restive public wary of higher costs, lower quality and a giant price tag.

[Krandall]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0624091chips1.html

JUNE 24--Meet Lahoma Sue Smith. The Oklahoma woman, 36, copped a plea last week to a prostitution charge for accepting a box of Frito-Lay chips in exchange for oral sex. According to the below Oklahoma City Police Department report, john Faron Johnson told cops that he informed Smith that he did not have any money, but that she "agreed to give him a 'blow job' meaning oral sex, for a box of chips." Johnson, a Frito-Lay employee, provided Smith with a case of chips he valued at $30. Following her February arrest, Smith, pictured in the mug shot at right, told police that she had a few prior prostitution busts. At her sentencing last week, Smith was ordered to pay a $1142 fine. Last July, with gasoline prices climbing, a Kentucky woman was arrested for accepting a $100 gasoline card in exchange for sexual favors. (3 pages)

[disco]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0624091chips1.html

From TSG:    Chips And Dip   


Remember tattoo girl from my previous post?  Now she admits to lying about it.  Check the video to see the artist that did it.  Wow.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-tattoo-girl-stars,0,5070710.story

BELGIUM -- An 18-year-old girl who initially claimed she fell asleep while being tattooed with 56 stars now admits she lied about the incident.

"I asked for 56 stars and initially adored them. But when my father saw them, he was furious. So I said I fell asleep and the that the tattooist made a mistake," 18-year-old Kimberley Vlaminck said.

She even threatened to sue tattoo artist, Rouslan Toumaniantz, for the $14,000 she needed for laser surgery to have them removed.

Toumaniantz, who himself is covered from head to foot in tattoos and piercings had consistently denied he had made a mistake and always insisted Vlaminck wanted all 56 stars, reported The Daily Telegraph.

After his recent experience, Toumaniantz says he will get written consent from clients before undertaking any design.

[Peelz]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0624091chips1.html

JUNE 24--Meet Lahoma Sue Smith. The Oklahoma woman, 36, copped a plea last week to a prostitution charge for accepting a box of Frito-Lay chips in exchange for oral sex. According to the below Oklahoma City Police Department report, john Faron Johnson told cops that he informed Smith that he did not have any money, but that she "agreed to give him a 'blow job' meaning oral sex, for a box of chips." Johnson, a Frito-Lay employee, provided Smith with a case of chips he valued at $30. Following her February arrest, Smith, pictured in the mug shot at right, told police that she had a few prior prostitution busts. At her sentencing last week, Smith was ordered to pay a $1142 fine. Last July, with gasoline prices climbing, a Kentucky woman was arrested for accepting a $100 gasoline card in exchange for sexual favors. (3 pages)

A bag of chips?  Damn. That's hot.

[Hefe]

a CASE of chips!

[Peelz]

a CASE of chips!

Does that mean I am cheap if I'd do it for a bag?

[Krandall]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0624091chips1.html

From TSG:    Chips And Dip   


Remember tattoo girl from my previous post?  Now she admits to lying about it.  Check the video to see the artist that did it.  Wow.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-tattoo-girl-stars,0,5070710.story

BELGIUM -- An 18-year-old girl who initially claimed she fell asleep while being tattooed with 56 stars now admits she lied about the incident.

"I asked for 56 stars and initially adored them. But when my father saw them, he was furious. So I said I fell asleep and the that the tattooist made a mistake," 18-year-old Kimberley Vlaminck said.

She even threatened to sue tattoo artist, Rouslan Toumaniantz, for the $14,000 she needed for laser surgery to have them removed.

Toumaniantz, who himself is covered from head to foot in tattoos and piercings had consistently denied he had made a mistake and always insisted Vlaminck wanted all 56 stars, reported The Daily Telegraph.

After his recent experience, Toumaniantz says he will get written consent from clients before undertaking any design.

ERMAHGERD! 

[socalrappy700]

TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obit_billy_mays


TAMPA, Fla. – Billy Mays, the burly, bearded television pitchman whose boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean made him a pop-culture icon, has died. He was 50.

Tampa police said Mays was found unresponsive by his wife Sunday morning. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m. It was not immediately clear how he died. He said he was hit on the head when an airplane he was on made a rough landing Saturday, and Mays' wife told investigators the TV personality didn't feel well before he went to bed that night.

There were no signs of a break-in at the home, and investigators do not suspect foul play, said Lt. Brian Dugan of the Tampa Police Department, who wouldn't answer any more questions about how Mays' body was found because of the ongoing investigation. The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by Monday afternoon.

Mays' wife, Deborah Mays, told investigators that her husband had complained he didn't feel well before he went to bed some time after 10 p.m. Saturday night, Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," Deborah Mays said in a statement Sunday. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."

U.S. Airways confirmed Sunday that Mays was among the passengers on a flight that made a rough landing on Saturday afternoon at Tampa International Airport, leaving debris on the runway after apparently blowing its front tires.

Tampa Bay's Fox television affiliate interviewed Mays after the incident.

"All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping," MyFox Tampa Bay quoted him as saying. "It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."

McElroy said linking Mays' death to the rough landing Saturday afternoon would "purely be speculation." She said Mays' family members didn't report any health issues with the pitchman, but they said he was due to have hip replacement surgery in the coming weeks.

Born William Mays in McKees Rocks, Pa., on July 20, 1958, Mays developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other "as seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.

After meeting Orange Glo International founder Max Appel at a home show in Pittsburgh in the mid-1990s, Mays was recruited to demonstrate the environmentally friendly line of cleaning products on the St. Petersburg-based Home Shopping Network.

Commercials and informercials followed, anchored by the high-energy Mays showing how it's done while tossing out kitschy phrases like, "Long live your laundry!"

Recently he's been seen on commercials for a wide variety of products and is featured on the reality TV show "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel, which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs. He's also been seen in ESPN ads.

His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty of fans. People line up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stop him in airports to chat about the products.

"I enjoy what I do," Mays told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. "I think it shows."

Mays liked to tell the story of giving bottles of OxiClean to the 300 guests at his wedding, and doing his ad spiel ("powered by the air we breathe!") on the dance floor at the reception. Visitors to his house typically got bottles of cleaner and housekeeping tips.

As part of "Pitchmen," Mays and Sullivan showed viewers new gadgets such as the Impact Gel shoe insert; the Tool Band-it, a magnetized armband that holds tools; and the Soft Buns portable seat cushion.

"One of the things that we hope to do with 'Pitchmen' is to give people an appreciation of what we do," Mays told The Tampa Tribune in an interview in April. "I don't take on a product unless I believe in it. I use everything that I sell."

Discovery Channel spokeswoman Elizabeth Hillman released a statement Sunday extending sympathy to the Mays family.

"Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth," Hillman's statement said. "Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend."