Cher's 'son' Chaz speaks out about sex change and reveals: 'I always felt like one of the boys'

Chaz Bono, the son of singer Cher, has said that his gender reassignment is 'the best decision I've ever made.'

The 40-year-old was born as a girl to Cher and her former husband and singing partner Sonny Bono, but said he is now living the life he always wanted.

The writer, activist and reality TV star said he is eight months into the transformation from Chastity to Chaz as he appeared on ABC's Good Morning America show.

'Best decision I've ever made': Cher's child Chaz Bono discussed his gender reassignment on Good Morning America and said he is now living as he wants

One of the boys: Chaz said he had always felt male

Chaz, who was formerly called Chastity, said: 'I feel so much more comfortable that I've ever been.

'I've felt male as far back as I can remember. Life is short and life is precious. This is who I am. I need to finally be who I am.'

He said he always felt like a boy growing up and came out as a lesbian 11 years ago.

Now he's undergone gender-reassignment surgery and hormone therap.

Leaving the show with girlfriend of four years Jennifer Elia

Cher has vowed to stand by Chaz

But he explained that the entire process of transitioning from female to male will take about four to five years.

So far, he's received hormone treatments that have caused his voice to deepen and has had his breasts removed.

And, to his delight, he's even begun shaving his face.

'This was a very difficult decision to make, but it was the best decision I've ever made,' he explained.

But he added: 'To me, gender is between your ears, not between your legs.'

Chaz, who lives with girlfriend of four years Jennifer Elia, revealed his mother had vowed to support his decision.

Before: As Chastity Bono at home in San Francisco in 1996

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The week I tried to unfriend Facebook: Could you log off from your entire online life?

By Flic Everett

Reformed: Twitter addict Lily Allen has logged off to spend more time with her boyfriend

Oh no, not another one. . . that's the fourth in a week,' sighed a friend recently, studying her Facebook page.

Her mates, it appeared, were doing what would have been unthinkable just a few months ago - and saying farewell to Facebook and ta-ra to Twitter.

Perhaps they were inspired by Lily Allen, who recently quit Tweeting to spend more time with her boyfriend.

Or Stephen Fry, who threatened to. Or perhaps they were alarmed by a survey which revealed that social networking sites are costing Britain more than £1.3 billion a year in lost working hours.

Or maybe the novelty of following other people's pedestrian updates has simply begun to pall.

As a freelance writer, who spends most days home alone, I, too, am a Facebook addict.

Recently, my craving reached the point where I could barely log off for fear that I'd accidentally miss some new update or trivial comment.

Even Saturday nights became a Facebook frenzy as my 30-plus friends debated the merits of Jamie Afro versus Danyl Johnson on The X Factor.

And if I couldn't get to the laptop (because my husband or son had swiped it to do their own social networking), there was always the ping of the BlackBerry announcing a new email or MSN message.

Basically, I couldn't imagine living without the power to connect instantly with the world - even if it's only to tell them that I'm watching Flash Forward and eating a curry.

As for emails, I'm so terrified of missing work commissions that I check them as often as I check my watch.

So the idea of living without a laptop, Facebook and BlackBerry for a week felt as unnerving as being sent into space. Would things change? Would I have any friends left when I returned? And, most terrifyingly, what would I be missing?

In a bid to break my growing addiction, I gritted my teeth, sent a final goodbye message, and logged off . . .

DAY ONE

Going offline: Flic tested if she could cope without the internet for a week

I'm working at home all day and, after about 20 minutes of typing, I feel a growing urge to see what's happening on Facebook. Have I had any responses to my goodbye message?

I'm desperate to know what other people think. I'm also slightly worried that my friend, who's having a birthday party next week, will change the details and I'll end up in the wrong place, like an off-grid Billy-No-Mates.

As for emails, I've left an out-of-office message telling people to ring me on the home phone or, for urgent work, the ancient, clunky mobile I've fished out of the kitchen drawer.

I feel like those people who move to darkest Wales and live in tepees. The difference is that they do it willingly.

The home phone rings and I have to brush dust off the receiver to answer it. It's my mum, asking how the experiment is going. I'm desperate for human contact and arrange to meet her for coffee in town.

Normally, we'd have a quick chat on Facebook and I'd get straight back to work. I can't stop thinking about my little, shiny Blackberry, full of inaccessible new information. I'm starting to suspect I'm much more addicted than I thought.

DAY TWO

I'm struggling with a tricky bit of work, and not being able to give myself a quick boost with an online chat or a nosy through other people's photos is agony.

Of course, I could just call a friend. But while it's easy to log on to Facebook or Twitter at work sneakily (and 57 per cent of users do so every day), it's not so simple for them to engage in a long, trivial gossip in the middle of the office.

I make do with sending a couple of texts on the old mobile, which reminds me of how ridiculously long-winded texting used to be before the BlackBerry and the iPhone provided full keyboards.

I end up telling my best friend that I'm having a 'remfly hrd tiiimm' and have to ask my son for help. By evening, I feel as though I'm in solitary confinement.

DAY THREE

Nobody's needed me urgently enough to call. And when my husband and fellow-Facebook addict comes home from work, he's full of gossip about everyone's online doings.

'Did you see the pictures of Neil's party?' he asks. 'Oh, and Rob left a really funny status update . . .'

I'm reduced to telling him how three of the cats tried to cram themselves into the same small box. It was hilarious, but I had no way of telling anyone about it - or even taking a picture on my phone. This is no fun at all.

DAY FOUR

Shamefully, this is the day that I crack. Last night, I was eyeing my husband's iPhone like a dieter in a cake shop, and this morning I'm plagued by visions of lost work commissions, missed chats and abandoned social arrangements.

I tiptoe to the laptop, as though it's a ticking bomb, and log on in a sudden rush of euphoric disobedience. I have 72 emails, and my heart is pounding.

Shame then, that 57 turn out to be junk messages, and the rest are either PRs promoting their Christmas products or work contacts saying: 'Don't worry, good luck with your experiment.' Oh. After that, I don't have the heart to cheat with Facebook as well.

Social network obsessed: We have become addicted to checking our friends' status updates

DAY FIVE

It's Saturday. Normally, I'd check the headlines online, then have a quick social-networking scan to see what everybody's doing this weekend.

I'm also dying to check my new blog page (www.wordpress.com/ travelsinmyhouse) to see if anyone's looked at it, but I'm forced to accept they probably haven't.

However, after a morning with the papers, I'm finding it quite relaxing not to be anywhere near the computer. I make an arrangement to meet friends for a drink later by using the home phone - even though I have to look their numbers up on the mobile first.

But when we want to go to the cinema, instead of a quick check for times on the BlackBerry, I'm forced to sit through an expensive and annoying dialogue listing at least 15 films I don't want to see.

It reminds me how quickly we've accepted the ease that technology brings, and how arduous life suddenly seems without it.

DAY SIX

It's a boring Sunday, everyone's out, and I'm sick of watching TV. I love the immediate engagement of Facebook - the fact that you can comment on a friend's photo or engage in a silly chat.

I even like the quizzes. Most of all, I like the way it keeps me involved with people I'd otherwise have lost sight of years ago.

Facebook is like the magic mirror in Snow White: it lets you see what everybody's doing without having to be there.

So, yearning for my fix, I break the rules and log on. A quick scan of the updates shows that X Factor's John and Edward are as unpopular as ever, various pals have posted holiday photos, and I have a long message from an old friend who probably thinks I'm ignoring her.

Other than that, nothing has changed. I'm suddenly aware that, taken as a whole, Facebook and Twitter are fairly dull snapshots into daily life.

The reason I find it so gripping is simply because regular visits mean there's always something new popping up. I am shocked to realise that if I logged on to Facebook only weekly, then I might not see the point. Like any addiction, it requires constant commitment.

DAY SEVEN

The experiment is over. In parts, it was torture. I felt entirely left behind as the world's swift current raced on, carrying news, messages and work away from me.

Ironically, today's the day I finally get a call from about a job. 'Were you on holiday? I've been trying to email you.'

'No, I was just having a break from technology,' I explain.

'That sounds an amazing idea,' says my editor. 'I bet it was really peaceful.'

In retrospect, she's right. It was. I made arrangements to see friends I might otherwise just have emailed, and I stopped going back into my office in the evening.

I found I could live without constant use of the Facebook 'Like' button, and switching off the BlackBerry felt daringly subversive.

Deep down, I enjoyed not being instantly contactable, and I realised how beholden we've become to the exhausting idea of being available 24/7.

But I missed the communication - the little lift that connecting with friends online offers, and the thrilling ping of a new email.

I'm now back online - but somehow it feels different. I can go for hours without wondering whether someone's commented on my status or checking the news feed.

I can even start to believe that if someone really needs to get hold of me, they'll ring.

But even if Facebook is for narcissists, and emails are the thieves of time, I'm glad to have the choice.

And if there was a 'Like' option for social networking, unlike Lily Allen, I'd still click on it.

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Tragedy at Ft. Hood: A catalyst for change?

By Alan Sabrosky

The incident at Ft. Hood was a genuine tragedy. I’m only surprised it didn’t happen sooner, there or somewhere else. It is going to take time for the details to be sorted out.

Generalizing from a single incident is always dangerous, no matter how compelling it seems. Sometimes an isolated tragedy is just that, an outpouring of individual dementia rather than a wide-ranging political statement.

(usatoday.com) The incident at Ft. Hood was a genuine tragedy. I’m only surprised it didn’t happen sooner, there or somewhere else.

But that generalization is already happening, with people across the political spectrum musing about assorted conspiracies. There is the instant and renewed Ziobabble demeaning Muslims generally and Arabs in particular, all false but popular in America today. And there are dire warnings about Mossad “false flag” operations, no matter how unlikely a candidate the shooter was for such a role.

• Precedents

So let’s look at this issue from a broader perspective while assorted conspiracy theorists have another day in the sun. This is certainly the first incident involving an American Muslim (I am discounting the so-called “Black Muslim” sect), but in the 1960s and 1970s the US generally faced eruptions of black violence, with cities burning in the “long hot summers” and troops deployed to combat it.

Nor was the US military immune. Many units in combat in Vietnam encountered extensive racial divisions and violence, almost all of it initiated by “black power” militants. Several warships had mutinies from the same sources. US bases around the world were littered with similar racially motivated tensions and incidents for years. There were many specific reasons, but generally it was because many black Americans felt the government they served was not serving them.

To their great credit, that simply has not been the experience of American Muslims in US society or in the US armed forces. Certainly, few American Muslims in or out of uniform give even a small fraction of the political allegiance to their countries of origin, that so many American Jews give to Israel as dual Israeli-US citizens or under the false and hypocritical rubric of “dual loyalty.” The allegiance of the American Muslim community has been steadfast.

But their frustration with events must be great. They have been the victims of widespread and carefully contrived anti-Muslim sentiment before and after the events of 9/11, whatever their origin. And they have been tested severely by the actions of a US Government in thrall to Israel, in whose interest it has killed, wounded or dispossessed literally millions of people to date in Iraq and Afghanistan, with comparable plans for Iran in play from the same people who brought us those wars and 9/11 besides.

At some point and in some place, someone was going to lash out. At Ft. Hood, whether alone or not, incited or not, affected by an impending deployment or interviews with returning veterans (or both), someone did.

• Portents

It must be terribly difficult for American Muslims, especially those of Palestinian heritage, to serve a US Government that is an indictable accessory of Israel, a country whose abuses, war crimes, and crimes against humanity are well known and copiously documented everywhere except in the US.

In their place, I could not do so, despite a decade of service in the US Marines and a lifelong commitment to supporting the US on campuses and in public forums when it was not popular at all to do so.

But my country is more important than my government, and the American people are more important to me than a relative handful of elected and appointed officials whose words and actions violate both the letter and the spirit of their oaths.

A US Government hostage to a lobby serving the interests of a foreign country has lost all legitimacy. It is in violation not only of the Constitution, but also of the tenets of the Declaration of Independence, which is the distillation of the spirit of the land, and specifies the ends for which government is instituted.

This is the stuff of tragedy and death, and if America does not alter the way it does its business in the world, what we have experienced at Ft. Hood may well be only a portent and not an isolated event. No one likes or tolerates indefinitely a government indifferent to the fate of their families overseas, and manipulated by a foreign country that is the agent of their misery.

None of this excuses Hasan’s act. Over 50 people are dead or wounded because of him, and I do not and would never condone that. I also do not and would never condone 60,000 Americans killed or wounded so far because of the 9/11 tragedy and our ongoing wars fabricated by the Zionists in Israel’s interest. What Hasan did was murder, pure and simple. What the neo-cons and their allies have done and are doing is treason, pure and simple. Both are crimes, and both should be punished.

Sometimes tragedy can be a catalyst for change. What happened at Ft. Hood may open a long overdue debate that will be such a catalyst for American policy in the Middle East, transforming Obama’s excellent words at Cairo into equally admirable actions that have so far been woefully absent.

Let us make it so.

-- Alan Sabrosky (Ph.D, University of Michigan) is a ten-year US Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the US Army War College. He can be contacted at docbrosk@comcast.net .

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Nicolas Cage's 'Gatsby-esque' spending is to blame for his financial problems, claims star's former business manager in counter lawsuit

Actor Nicolas Cage is being sued by his former business manager, who claims lavish spending, not his advice, is to blame for the actor's financial problems.

Samuel J. Levin filed a countersuit in Beverly Hills on November 12, less than a month after the 'National Treasure' star filed a $20million lawsuit against him for fraud and claimed he had led him toward financial ruin.

Levin's suit says he tried to warn Cage when he was hired in 2001 that Cage was outspending even his large Hollywood paychecks. He is seeking a declaration that he acted properly, didn't excessively charge Cage for his services, and is owed $129,000 for work he did after he was fired in 2008.

The filing states Levin enacted a plan that resulted in Cage selling a dozen automobiles and a $1.6m comic book collection.

Marty Singer, Cage's attorney, said the claims made in the countersuit were absurd.

He said it was a breach of privacy for Levin to release details about Cage's asset sales. In addition, Levin has been paid $1.3m in the past 18 months, Singer said.

Cage is facing tough financial times and has been forced to sell some of his property, according to his original court filing against Levin. The Internal Revenue Service has filed more than $6.6m in tax liens against the actor this year, records show.

Levin claims he advised Cage years ago that he would need to earn $30m a year to maintain his lifestyle. The lawsuit states he warned Cage not to buy a castles in England and Bavaria.

Referring to Cage by his birth surname of Coppola, Levin's lawsuit states the actor in 2007 alone bought $33m in property, 22 automobiles and nearly 50 pieces of expensive jewellery, art and other exotic items.

Cage has reportedly sold Midford Castle, near Bath, which he bought for £5m in 2007

The action star sold his Bavarian castle, Schloss Neidstein, in April, according to the regional daily newspaper Mittelbayerische Zeitung. It is understood he never lived in the 28-room property

'Coppola also spent huge sums taking his sizable entourage on costly vacations and threw enormous, Gatsby-scale parties at his residences,' the lawsuit states, referring to the character in the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.

Singer said it was ultimately up to Levin to properly manage Cage's finances.

'You're a business manager,' Singer said. 'You need to say no.'

Cage's lawsuit against Levin claimed the actor didn't find out about his financial woes until after changing business managers in 2008.

Removal men carry items out of Cage's New Orleans mansion, which was sold at auction earlier this month

Public records show Levin has been a licensed certified public accountant in California for nearly 25 years and has no public record of disciplinary actions.

An Oscar-winning actor, Cage is known for his dramatic roles in films such as 'Leaving Las Vegas' and 'Adaptation' as well as action turns in 'The Rock' and 'Con Air.'

Also a UN Goodwill ambassador, he is currently on a tour of East Africa and yesterday visited the Shimo La Tewa Prison near the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa to speak to inmates.

Cage, who won an Oscar for his role in Leaving Las Vegas, owns many vintage cars, including this Cadillac

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Jacko molestation case dad commits suicide

A tormented New Jersey dad, who spent nearly two decades grappling with his son's sensational molestation claims against Michael Jackson, finally ended his pain with a gunshot to the head, authorities said yesterday.

The body of Evan Chandler, 65, the father of Jordan "Jordy" Chandler, was found in his luxury Jersey City apartment on Nov. 5 -- still holding his .38-caliber revolver as he lay in bed, officials said yesterday.

Splash News

HAUNTED: Evan Chandler (above), whose son Jordan was paid $20 million by the King of Pop to silence his claims of molestation, shot himself in the head at Liberty Towers in Jersey City.

There were five different prescription drugs in the home. No suicide note was found.

Chandler died a broken man, gravely ill and estranged from his entire family, loved ones said, living out his days in sad isolation 17 years after Jackson first infected his world.

Once a stunningly handsome and prominent Beverly Hills dentist, Chandler saw his life turned upside down by his son's claims -- enduring the collapse of his practice and physical assaults, and driven to disguise himself with repeated plastic surgeries to avoid abuse from rabid Jacko fans.

Jackson was never charged with a crime, paying Jordan a staggering $20 million to end the probe into allegations he had molested the boy at Neverland Ranch and various other LA locations.

The accusations initially tore Jordan, now 29, apart from his mom, June Chandler, who was blamed for getting him mixed up with Jackson.

But in recent years, that changed, with Jordan reconnecting with his mother at the same time he cut off ties with his father, family sources said.

Jordan claimed his dad attacked him with a dumbbell and got a restraining order against him in fall 2006. They never spoke to each other again.

"Over the years, [Evan] began to develop tremendous mood swings. He was always depressed," a family member said.

"He stopped coming to family events because he was afraid of being recognized, like anyone in the family would care. That eventually turned into permanent estrangement from his family."

Chandler's son was 12 when he first met the King of Pop in 1992, after Jackson's car broke down near the Los Angeles rental-car agency owned by the boy's stepfather. His parents had long been divorced.

From the outset, Chandler was suspicious of MJ's relationship with his son, who often stayed in the boy's bedroom during creepy sleepovers.

Then a Beverly Hills dentist, Chandler put Jordan under anesthesia to remove a tooth -- and that's when Jordan first admitted Jackson had touched him inappropriately.

The youngster later repeated those claims to a psychologist, launching the massive probe in LA and Santa Barbara.

Chandler and his son remained tight for years after the settlement, and lived together as recently as 2006 in New Jersey before becoming estranged.

As much as Chandler loathed Jackson, the dad ended up going down the same freaky plastic-surgery path as Jackson, his family said.

Over the years, Chandler subjected himself to a series of cosmetic procedures, satisfying his own vanity and paranoia that Jackson's fans were coming after him, family sources said.

Years of nips and tucks rendered Chandler virtually unrecognizable from the way he looked in the '90s.

Chandler regularly self-administered Botox and cosmetic facial fillers.

"He was a handsomer version of Rob Lowe, that's how drop-dead handsome he was," a loved one said. "Since he was such a handsome guy, as he got older, he became more obsessive-compulsive about his looks."

Former Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Thomas, who was in office when Jackson was investigated for touching Jordan, said he never held it against the family for taking the money.

Thomas said he feels bad for everyone in Chandler's family.

"I don't know that anybody came out of this in a better way," he said.

Family members said Chandler owned at least one gun -- and feared the weapon he used to kill himself was the firearm he purchased after being beaten up in a Southern California parking garage in the 1990s.

The family always suspected Jackson fans were responsible for the beatdown.

More recently, Chandler was a patient at the Colanta Hematology & Oncology Center in Bayonne, NJ.

The day he was found dead, Chandler had missed an appointment there, prompting doctors to call his apartment at Liberty Towers.

A concierge let himself into Chandler's unit and found his body in the master bedroom, police said.

Chandler was suffering from a serious illness and had at least five different prescription medications in his home, sources said.

Doctors and cops declined to elaborate on Chandler's ailment.

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Pure Digital Sensia radio goes on Facebook, Twitter

The Sensia radio took four years to develop, according to the manufacturer. Picture: Pure Digital.

A WORLD-first digital radio that lets users access social networking sites Facebook and Twitter is about to go on sale in Australia.

The makers of the Sensia, which also has a virtual keyboard, claim it will change the face of radio.

Would you tweet from a radio? Tell us below

Pure Australia managing director Graeme Redman said the internet-connected device, which also doubles as a digital photo frame, will light a fire under sluggish digital radio sales in Australia.

"This one is the future of radio," Mr Redman said.

"This will do for radio what the iPhone has done for mobile phones."

The roll-out of digital radio content in Australia began this year, but has failed to capture the public's imagination.

Along with delivering better sound, the technology uses vision and text such as traffic and weather reports, radio station competitions and music artist and track details.

Mr Redman said the arrival of the Sensia would change the radio landscape by harnessing the popular social networking phenomena and delivering it on an interactive radio with music.

Just as downloadable applications helped fuel the popularity of Apple's iPhone, Mr Redman said social networking via radio was only the beginning.

A dedicated internet portal will allow users to buy and download applications, which may eventually include anything from tools allowing the monitoring of electricity use in the home to home security functions.

He said more interactive applications would become available, "which is an entirely new concept as far as radio is concerned".

The unit can also broadcast FM and internet radio, news and weather and wirelessly stream media such as music stored on a home computer.

Mr Redman defended the $749 cost of the Sensia, which he said took four years to develop and compared favourably with popular digital devices such as the iPod and iPhone, games consoles and personal digital assistants.

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Obama's Half Brother Makes a Name for Himself in China

Mark Ndesandjo, one of President Barack Obama's half siblings, who has penned a semiautobiographical novel describing a physically abusive father patterned on Barack Obama Sr.

On the streets of Guangzhou and nearby Shenzhen, Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo is turning heads. Since holding a press conference for his semiautobiographical novel Nairobi to Shenzhen: A Novel of Love in the East on Nov. 4, Ndesandjo, the half brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, has appeared on television in Hong Kong, and his picture has been splashed on the front pages of the China Daily, the South China Morning Post and other regional newspapers.

Ndesandjo had shunned the limelight until now. He is one of two children born to Barack Obama Sr. and his third wife, an American teacher named Ruth Nidesand, whom Obama Sr. met while the two were students at Harvard. Tall and slim like the President, Ndesandjo had avoided any association with the Obama name. For most of his life, he used only his stepfather's Tanzanian surname Ndesandjo, but he's now added Okoth, a word from the language of his father's Kenyan tribe, the Luo, as well as his original surname, Obama.

His novel, written in diary form, is based on his own experiences growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father and moving to China where he fell in love with a Chinese woman and began working with orphans. President Obama's name is mentioned just once, when Ndesandjo thanks several people, including "Barack," in the foreword. With this book, Ndesandjo says he's stepping into the public eye in order to raise awareness of domestic violence, promote volunteerism and share his tale of starting a new life in a new land. "I am an Obama, and a large part of my life was a repudiation of that," Ndesandjo tells TIME. "To a certain extent, my brother ... opened my eyes to things that I had left behind for a long time." (Ndesandjo is still reticent about detailing his personal life beyond the fictionalized account, saying he may save that for a second book, a true autobiography.)

Ndesandjo's life was hardly ordinary even before the world discovered his connection to the President of the United States. Educated in international schools in Nairobi, Ndesandjo, an American citizen, moved to the U.S. after high school, where he earned physics degrees from Stanford and Brown as well as an executive M.B.A. from Emory University. Soon after 9/11, he was laid off from his marketing job at telecommunications-equipment maker Nortel Networks in Atlanta. He decided to reinvent himself by moving to China, a country he had visited with classmates while at Emory. Since 2002, he has taught English and worked as a business consultant in Shenzhen, a 14 million–strong metropolis in southern China, just across the border from Hong Kong.

His self-published book was released just days before his brother's visit to China. Ndesandjo says he plans to introduce his wife, a native of Henan province whom he married last year, to his brother before he leaves China on Wednesday. During the course of TIME's interview in Guangzhou, Ndesandjo, who speaks fluent Mandarin and practices Chinese calligraphy, was overwhelmingly positive about his life in China, the Chinese people and culture. "I'm so happy my brother is coming to China because I've experienced the warmth and the graciousness of the Chinese people," he says. "If we can continue seeing the mutual positive points in these two great cultures, I think it'll be good for the world in general."

The two brothers have met a handful of times in their lives, the last of which was during Obama's inauguration in Washington. In his 1995 memoir Dreams from My Father, Obama describes his first encounter with his brother, an ambitious student who had severed ties with his father's side of the family as well as his African roots. "I don't feel much of an attachment [to Kenya]. Just another poor African country," Ndesandjo says in Dreams. He goes on to say, "You think that somehow I'm cut off from my roots ... Well, you're right."

One of Obama Sr.'s eight children with four women, Ndesandjo was raised by both birth parents until their divorce in the early 1970s. He has refused to tell reporters his age, but he is likely to be in his early 40s. Ndesandjo says his father was brilliant, but that alcoholism drove him to beat his wife and children. "The relationship I had with my father was a difficult one," he says, fighting back tears. "I didn't have positive memories of my dad because of domestic violence."

Ndesandjo says his mother, who runs a kindergarten in Nairobi, inspired him to work with children. A trained pianist, he has given piano lessons to Chinese orphans and performed at an event in January that raised $37,000 to alleviate poverty in China. Harley Seyedin, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China, the organization that sponsored the charity event, has been a close friend of Ndesandjo's for the past six years, but only learned of his friend's relationship with the President last year when reading news reports. "He's a very private person and he wanted to continue to live his modest lifestyle," says Seyedin. "But his primary message is raising awareness of domestic violence and to get the message out, you have to go public." To underline this message, Ndesandjo has arranged for 15% of the proceeds from book sales to be used to help orphans in China.

As a Kenyan-American in China, Ndesandjo is part of a growing community of Africans migrating to cities like Guangzhou to do business. Ethnic strife in China has made headlines in recent months after 200 Han and Uighur Chinese were killed in July, in the worst ethnic violence in decades. That same month, a Nigerian man was critically injured trying to escape one of many visa checks in Guangzhou's sizeable African neighborhood. Also this year, a half–African American, half-Chinese contestant on a Chinese reality-TV show and a half–South African, half-Chinese athlete on China's national volleyball team became the subject of a flurry of racist comments in China's blogosphere. But Ndesandjo is optimistic about ethnic-minority life in China, saying, "If you make an attempt to understand where these attitudes come from, it can really help."

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Cat Stevens booed on comeback

FANS of the musician formerly known as Cat Stevens rallied round overnight after he was booed by a small number of people at the first gig of a long-awaited comeback tour.

A small number of people walked out when Yusuf Islam, staging his first tour since 1976, interrupted his performance in Dublin on Monday for a 40-minute presentation of a new London stage show, media reports said.

Fans, some of whom slow-handclapped and chanted "We're bored", were apparently angry because they wanted to hear more of him singing his old Cat Stevens hits, including Wild World, Moonshadow and Father and Son.

Making light of the incident, Islam - who also played songs from his new albums - quipped: "Now I know how Bob Dylan must have felt" - a reference to the infamous incident when a fan blasted Dylan as "Judas" for turning electric.

And fans have since then deluged his website to defend him.

"I know there is no excuse for stupid, rude behaviour. But in a way the crazys just wanted all of you all of the time... So I hope you saw past the few bullies, and heard us shouting your name," wrote Ailish Faulkner, from Dublin. "I was also at Dublin concert and apologise for some of the barbarians," wrote Jamie Young, adding: "I look forward to your musical but also hope you can bear to appear and sing some old memories in Ireland again."

Tom Nelligan said: "I really hope Yusuf doesn't think that we're all like those ignorant people in the audience... I was in the front row and it was fantastic."

A spokesman for the singer - who is to play three more dates in Birmingham, Liverpool and London this month and next in the Guess I'll Take My Time Tour - did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 61-year-old was born in London as Steven Georgiou and had hits in the 1960s and 1970s as Cat Stevens, before changing his name and retreating from the pop stage, devoting himself to education and philanthropy.

He gradually returned to music in the 2000s and released the pop album An Other Cup in 2006, his first in 28 years, under the name Yusuf, followed by a new album this year, Roadsinger.

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Sophia Loren steals the show in traffic-stopping red suit as she leaves younger co-stars in the shade

Sophia Loren gave her younger co-stars a lesson in glamour at a breakfast promotion for her new film Nine yesterday.

The 75-year-old actress stole the show in a traffic-stopping red trouser suit, teamed with a neck scarf that left her contemporaries in the shade.

With her hair perfectly styled, the Italian star lived up to her reputation as a Sixties sex symbol as she swept into New York to plug the musical flick.

Looking good: Sophia Loren stood out from her contemporaries in a glamorous red trouser suit at a promotional breakfast for her new film Nine in New York

Her co-stars Nicole Kidman and Kate Hudson, however, played it casual with Kidman opting for dull grey trousers and top and Hudson plumping for a blue suit.

The normally glamorous Penelope Cruz went for a plain black dress, while Dame Judi Dench dressed in a white trousers and top and a long grey cardigan.

Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie, who also stars in the movie, went for her usually revealing look, but wrapped up in a three-quarter-length black coat.

Nicole Kidman opted for a dull grey while Penelope Cruz went for a plain black dress at the event yesterday

Nine is an American musical film directed by Rob Marshall and is based on Arthur Kopit's book for the 1982 Tony Award-winning musical of the same name.

The principal cast consists of Academy Award winners Daniel Day-Lewis, Dench, Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Cruz, and Loren.

Having reached the age of forty, director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) is facing a midlife crisis that is stifling his creativity and leading him into a variety of complicated romantic involvements.

Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie, who also stars in the musical film, put her legs on show but wrapped up in a black coat

As he struggles to complete his latest film, he is forced to balance the numerous formative women in his life, including his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Cruz), his film star muse (Kidman) and his confidant and costume designer (Dench)

Hudson stars as an American fashion journalist in the flick while Loren plays Day-Lewis's on-screen mother.

It is scheduled for release next month.

Kate Hudson dressed down in a blue suit while Dame Judi Dench went casual in white trousers and top and a grey cardigan

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Survivor, the Disabled Version, Comes to U.K. TV

To television executives depressed over the dwindling audiences for reality TV shows and looking for ways to reinvigorate the once hugely profitable genre, the following pitch might be compelling. "We've got this great show for you. We're going to take six strangers and strand them somewhere really remote; we'll film them as they struggle to survive. You say it's already been done — there's I'm a Celebrity — Get Me Out of Here! and Survivor and, here in Britain, Castaway. But here's the twist: our participants will be ... disabled! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Cast Offs, a uniquely challenging reality TV show."

As the scale of that unique challenge dawns on the contestants in the hours after they are deposited on a lonely island, one of the castoffs coins a more succinct description of the show. "This is going to be Lord of the Flies on crack," says Tom.

The blind, pathologically lazy 38-year-old is half right. Unlike the schoolboy protagonists of William Golding's dystopian novel, Tom and the rest of the castoffs won't actually end up committing murder, but few other taboos will be left standing by the conclusion of the series. And, just like Lord of the Flies, Cast Offs is fictional. The show, scheduled to begin airing on Britain's Channel 4 on Nov. 24, is a mockumentary-style drama that apes the reality format it satirizes and seethes with sex, profanity and gloriously politically incorrect dialogue. But it stars actors who in real life share the same disabilities of the characters they portray.

It's the twisted brainchild of producer Joel Wilson, whose previous oeuvres include the 2003 British TV show spoof Osama and U.S., in which Wilson and his regular collaborator Jamie Campbell try to solve their financial problems by finding Osama bin Laden and claiming the reward. Wilson originally envisaged Cast Offs "as something broadly satirical that would poke fun at the way disability is generally viewed ... We wanted to show the disabled were no more and no less f___ed up than anyone else." When writer Jack Thorne came on board — he's the creative talent behind the edgy, teen-drama series Skins and Shameless, a comedy about a wildly dysfunctional working-class family — he took the project in a more sophisticated direction, creating a layered story line that lures viewers into caring about the characters even as they laugh at the stupidity of anyone who voluntarily consigns him- or herself to the human zoo that is reality TV.

In his early 20s Thorne developed chronic cholinergic urticaria, a condition that makes him allergic even to the heat generated by his own body. "When I became disabled, I didn't become a better person. I just became a different person," he says. He shares with the disabled cast a desire to get away from the archetypes of disability that populate film and television. The castoffs aren't noble minds trapped in unusual bodies. Indeed, they soon reveal their true colors by endlessly complaining, shirking responsibility and squabbling with one another.

Gabriella, 32, profoundly deaf and several months pregnant, refuses to try to understand Carrie, a 28-year-old with dwarfism, telling her that her mouth is simply too small to lip-read. "People speak of the disabled community, but we're the most diverse community," says Kiruna Stamell, the Australian actress who plays Carrie. "Even with short-statured people, we come from different backgrounds, different cultures. The shared experience we have is social discrimination."

Each episode focuses on a different contestant. There's Will, a man long on bitterness and — like many of the children of mothers who were prescribed Thalidomide to prevent morning sickness — short of limb. The character is brought to the screen by Mat Fraser, a performer so determined to transcend his disability that he became a rock drummer before turning to acting. April, a research scientist suffering from cherubism, a condition that causes severe facial disfigurement, is played by first-time actor and cherubism sufferer Victoria Wright. Peter Mitchell, another debut performer, had looked forward to a career as a top-flight soccer player before a car crash redesigned his life. He plays Dan, the wheelchair-using focus of Carrie's burgeoning lust. "My sexual relationship with Dan will really challenge people," says Stamell.

British audiences had better get used to being challenged on their assumptions about how TV actors and presenters should look. Stamell already appears on the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders as a teacher —her disability is incidental to the plotline. In addition, BBC is launching a drive to find new disabled talent for its programming, and another broadcaster has hired a facially disfigured man to present its news bulletins this week.

Where Britain leads, at least on television, others follow. In recent years, programs as diverse as The Office and Strictly Come Dancing have made comfortable transitions across the Atlantic, and reality TV show formats have found multiple berths abroad. If viewers succumb to the charms of six disabled characters behaving badly, the rest of the world may soon be scrambling to recondition Cast Offs, too.

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Cannibals nabbed selling corpse to kebab house

Russian police have arrested three homeless people suspected of eating a 25-year-old man they had butchered and selling other bits of the corpse to a local kebab house.

Police have arrested three homeless people suspected of eating a 25-year-old man they had butchered and selling other bits of the corpse to a local kebab house / Reuters.

Suspicions were raised when dismembered parts of a human body were found near a bus stop in the outskirts of the Russian city of Perm, 1,150 km (720 miles) east of Moscow.
Three homeless men with previous criminal records have been arrested on suspicion of setting upon a foe with knives and a hammer before chopping up his corpse to eat, local investigators said in a statement on their www.susk.perm.ru Web site.

"After carrying out the crime, the corpse was divided up: part was eaten and part was also sold to a kiosk selling kebabs and pies," the Prosecutor-General's main investigative unit for the Perm region said on Friday.

It was not immediately clear from the statement if any of the corpse had been sold to customers.
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Surgery successful on conjoined twins Trishna, Krishna

Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital head of surgery Leo Donnan emerged from the hospital shortly after 1pm to announce the twins had been successfully separated after almost 27 hours of complex surgery.

The final separation of the girls, who were joined at the head, occurred at 11am, the Herald Sun reports.

Plastic surgeons will now work to reconstruct the girls' skulls and and replace the skin over their heads.

Mr Donnan said surgeons were pleased with the way the surgery was going but said there was still a lot of work to be done.

“The main thing is that the girls are healthy which is the main indication that things are going the right way," he said.
He said monitoring had been “been perfect the whole way through”.

"The girls will be kept sedated and in intensive care until we’re sure that they’re safe and then they will be slowly woken up."

He said there was relief that the surgical team had now progressed to the next stage.

“The moment of separation was a rather surreal moment. It was a relief. But, everyone realises there is a long way to go and the girls have a difficult time ahead of them.”

He described Moira Kelly’s reaction as a mixture of relief and joy, and all the emotions flooding out.

He said the reconstruction team had been on hand during the first phase of the operation, and had taken over “seamlessly” into the next stage.

“Everything is in place for a successful outcome.

He also said the girls had actually improved during the operation itself, as their physiological processes were changed.

He said the surgical team was very tired after the marathon effort, which went much longer than planned, but the mood had definitely lifted.

“It’s been a very nice stage to move into.”

He said whether the girls had suffered brain damage, “won’t be known for a long time”

The twins guardian Moira Kelly has thanked people for their support, and asks everyone to "keep the prayers coming" as the surgery continues.

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Actor Edward Woodward, 79, dies

Edward Woodward, the actor best known for his roles in The Wicker Man and The Equalizer, has died aged 79.

Woodward had been suffering from various illnesses including pneumonia, and died at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, his agent Janet Glass said on Monday.

Edward Woodward: Janet Glass released a statement praising his 'brave spirit and wonderful humour' Photo: HEATHCLIFFE O'MALLEY

She released a statement praising his "brave spirit and wonderful humour".
It said: "Universally loved and admired through his unforgettable roles in classic productions such as Breaker Morant, The Wicker Man, Callan, The Equalizer and many more, he was equally fine and courageous in real life, never losing his brave spirit and wonderful humour throughout his illness.

"He was further sustained by the love of his wife, Michele, children, Tim, Peter, Sarah and Emily, his grandchildren and numerous friends. His passing will leave a huge gap in many lives."

Woodward continued working until he fell ill. Earlier this year he starred in six episodes of EastEnders, the BBC One soap, as well as a feature film A Congregation of Ghosts, that was shot in Cornwall, where he lived.

Barry Norman, the film critic, praised Woodward, who started out on the stage, as a "very versatile actor".

He said: "He started off as a Shakespeare actor and was pretty good at that. He was a very good stage actor."

Norman thought that Woodward was "maybe too versatile" and that his preference of playing a wide range of parts had stopped him becoming a truly household name.

"If he hadn't done that, he might have established himself in the way that David Jason did as a big star on television," he said.

Woodward rose to fame in the 1960s and early 1970s in the television spy series Callan.

The cult film The Wicker Man, saw him play a devout Christian police officer drawn to investigate the disappearance of a young girl in a sinister community.

In the 1980s he gained international attention in the hit US TV series The Equalizer, playing a former spy turned gun-for-hire.

Woodward recently joined EastEnders for a short stint as Tommy Clifford, whose character drew out details of Patrick Trueman's past.

Speaking about the role to What's On TV earlier this year, Woodward said: "I was very pleased. I only like to do a few jobs each year and I pick the ones I can't turn down. I liked the character and six episodes suited me."

He said that as well as working on an autobiography, he had been spending time painting watercolours, adding modestly: "I am not very good at it, but my friends and family all get a copy."

Woodward lived in the Padstow area of Cornwall, with his wife, actress Michele Dotrice, who is known for playing Frank Spencer's long-suffering wife Betty in the classic sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.

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Gangs Hit UK With Fake Swine Flu Drugs

Russian criminal gangs are making millions by selling counterfeit Tamiflu online to paranoid Britons.

Criminal gangs have been preying on fears of drug shortages

People anxious they may not be able to obtain the drug through the NHS may be lining the pockets of overseas conmen, it is claimed.

Research by computer security firm Sophos found that organised criminal networks are driving online shoppers to fake virtual pharmacies in return for a share of the profits.

Investigators believe thousands of fraudsters, mostly based in Russia, work around the clock to promote the medicines which could be counterfeit or substandard.

They found the top five countries trying to purchase Tamiflu and other drugs are the US, Germany, UK, Canada and France.

Graham Cluley, of Sophos, said: "The criminal gangs working behind the scenes at fake internet pharmacies are putting their customers' health, personal information and credit card details at risk.

"They have no problem breaking the law to promote these websites, so you can be sure they'll have no qualms in exploiting your confidential data or selling you medications which may put your life in danger.

"If you think you need medication go to your real doctor, and stay away from quacks on the internet."

Sophos said crime gangs can earn between £10,000 and £60,000 every day and continuing concerns about swine flu could drive their profits even higher.

The Department of Health said: "There's no need to jump the queue or pay for antivirals. They are free on the NHS and being offered to all who need them."

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Berlusconi's only fear... Divorce!

Silvio Berlusconi is so far above the law he's practically in orbit. He's not afraid of judges, prosecutors, police, traffic cops, dog wardens or even criminals. There's only one person in Italy who scares him: his wife of 19 years, Miriam Bartolini, better known by her nom d'arte, Veronica Lario. And this weekend, she's preparing to unleash the weapon that could at last do him serious damage – an acrimonious, contested divorce.

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Veronica Lario knows where Berlusconi has buried the political bodies

The second Mrs Berlusconi has three ways to hit him. She can be awarded a large slice of his €10bn (£9bn) fortune. She can complicate the Berlusconi inheritance by winning for her three children with him the right to be involved in running his many companies. And she, above all, knows where the bodies are buried. Already, Italians are asking what new and politically devastating Berlusconi skeletons she will produce in an attempt to secure her children's inheritance.Italian papers announced on Friday that Ms Lario, 53, had filed for separazione con addebito – the first official step towards a divorce in which she will claim that her husband, 73, is to blame for the failed marriage. Her lawyers will likely dwell mercilessly on the nature of Mr Berlusconi's numerous relationships with starlets, show girls and prostitutes.

Soon afterwards, it emerged that Ms Lario had not yet filed the claim. But no one in Italy doubts that a court, probably in or near Milan, will receive the papers within days – unless the Prime Minister has an uncharacteristic last-minute change of heart. Since the summer, Ms Lario has been waiting for an offer of an out-of-court settlement that never arrived. The final deadline, set for the end of October, has now elapsed.

Ms Lario, whose property alone is worth €20m, is not driven by concern for her bank balance. Aside from the threat of dragging politically lethal skeletons from the closet, the divorce will decide who inherits the mogul's vast wealth.

Cesare Rimini, a celebrated divorce lawyer from Milan, told La Stampa newspaper that the real battle would be over who inherits what from the mogul's media and entertainment group. Mr Berlusconi, has three children with Ms Lario; Barbara, 25, Eleonora, 23, and Luigi, 21. But it is his two children by his first marriage who play the most prominent roles in his business empire. His son Piersilvio, 40, is vice-president of the Mediaset TV group, while his daughter Marina, 43, chairs the holding company Fininvest, which contains the family stakes in Mediaset, as well as AC Milan football club, Mediolanum financial services and the Mondadori publishing house.

Ms Lario is demanding equal treatment for her children. Victory in court would allow this. But against Mr Berlusconi's wishes, it would diminish the standing of the older, more powerful children. Already the expectations of Ms Lario's first child, Barbara, of a heavy-hitting job in her father's empire are becoming obvious. It's no secret she wants to run Mondadori. But nor is it a secret that the formidable Marina is opposed to this.

The simmering family tensions will make it difficult for a peaceful and consensual carve-up of the empire, the Corriere della Sera newspaper noted. Experts say that the empire's strength has until now been the close family co-operation, and obeisance to the man who created it. The approaching divorce, which might prove ruinous personally and financially, could end all that.

The court papers haven't yet been served. But it's now gone five minutes to midnight. And Mr Berlusconi, the man who never backs down, will have to do just that – or face a battle which, for the first time in his life, he knows he can't win.<source>

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Fort Hood shooting suspect is paralysed from waist down

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the army psychiatrist charged with 13 counts of murder in the Fort Hood Army base shootings, is permanently paralysed from the waist down, his lawyer said Friday.

Maj.or Nidal Malik Hasan, the US army doctor named as a suspect in the shooting death of 13 people and the wounding of 31 others at Fort Hood, Texas Photo: Getty

Hasan, 39, was shot several times after he allegedly opened fire on a crowd of his fellow soldiers. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

More than 100 bullets were fired in the troops readiness centre and 42 other people were injured.

Hasan regained consciousness this week but remains in intensive care at a military hospital in Texas.

Hasan's doctors told him days ago that he will never walk again, said John Galligan, Hasan's lawyer.

Hasan does have some feeling in his hands and is in "significant pain" from his injuries, Mr Galligan said.

"His medical condition is still extremely serious," he said, adding Hasan appeared confused and his speech is a "little garbled".

Asked whether Hasan expressed remorse, Galligan said: "We didn't get into that."

Hasan, who is being investigated for links to militant Islam, will be tried in a military court for the fatal shootings of 12 soldiers and one civilian.

Further charges are expected.

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John Travolta breaks down in tears during first TV interview since son Jett's tragic death

John Travolta broke down in tears on a chat show in his first television interview since the death of his son Jett.

The actor was overcome as he thanked fans for their support in the wake of the tragedy.

Jett, 16, died in January after suffering a fatal seizure at the family holiday home in the Bahamas.

Travolta wiped away the tears as he told chat show host Ellen DeGeneres how the family had been strengthened by countless messages of support.

Emotional: The tears flowed as John Travolta introduced daughter Ella Bleu to Ellen DeGeneres in his first interview since the death of son Jett

Accompanied by his nine-year-old daughter Ella Bleu, he said: 'I just want to take one moment to thank each and every one of you throughout this country, throughout the world, for all your support and all your love for our family. Thank you very much.'

His emotions were also close to the surface as Travolta introduced his daughter, who stars with him in the upcoming Disney film Old Dogs, for her first talk show appearance.

Telling the audience of his pride in Ella, he said: 'I'm holding back the tears.

'No, really you're not,' quipped host Miss DeGeneres, offering him a box of tissues.

Travolta's actress wife Kelly Preston also appears in the film, which also stars Robin Williams.

Holding back the tears: Travolta and daughter Ella, who stars with him in the Disney film Old Dogs

We're here for you: John Travolta with chat show host Ellen DeGeneres

Travolta, known for his classic movie performances in Grease, Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction, pulled out of a publicity tour for his last film, The Taking of Pelham 123, in the wake of his son's death.

Speaking of how he dealt with the tragedy, Travolta, a Scientologist, said grief counselling through his church had been a help.

He said that he had also taken up tennis, admitting that he even plays in the dead of night. 'I play every day,' he said.

'I play at midnight, kind of vampire-style with members of our staff.

'The house manager and the house maintenance person. At midnight, we go to the local tennis court.'

Laughter after the tears: Travolta told Ellen he played tennis at night 'vampire style' with his staff

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MoD Probes More Claims Of Torture In Iraq

Defence chiefs are investigating more than 30 claims British soldiers abused Iraqi civilians, it has been revealed.

Baha Mousa died after suffering 93 separate injuries while in UK military custody

Reports of abuse include claims of rape, the use of torture techniques and physical assault, according to the Independent newspaper.

A pre-action protocol letter with 33 claims was served on the Ministry of Defence last week by Phil Shiner, the lawyer representing the Iraqis, the newspaper said.

Armed forces minister Bill Rammell confirmed "formal investigations" would be carried out "without judgments being made prematurely".

He added: "Over 120,000 British troops have served in Iraq and the vast, vast majority have conducted themselves to the highest standards of behaviour, displaying integrity and selfless commitment.

Bill Rammell: probe launched

"While there have been instances when individuals have behaved badly, only a tiny number of individuals have been shown to have fallen short of our high standards.

"Allegations of this nature are taken very seriously, however allegations must not be taken as fact and formal investigations must be allowed to take their course without judgments being made prematurely."

In the legal letter to the MoD, reported in the newspaper, Mr Shiner said: "Given the history of the UK's involvement in the development of these techniques alongside the US, it is deeply concerning that there appears to be strong similarities between instances of the use of sexual humiliation."

Over 120,000 British troops have served in Iraq and the vast, vast majority have conducted themselves to the highest standards of behaviour, displaying integrity and selfless commitment.

Armed forces minister Bill Rammell

One claimant alleges he was raped by two British soldiers, while others say they were striped naked, abused and photographed, the newspaper said.

In September 2003, Iraqi prisoner Baha Mousa died after suffering 93 separate injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken nose, while being in UK military custody in Basra, southern Iraq.

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Lindsay Lohan's Mother Announces She Will Take Lindsay's Place

HOLLYWOOD HILLS - In a dramatic and highly unprecedented move Lindsay Lohan's beautiful look-a-like mother, Dina Lohan has announced to the entertainment media that she will be taking her daughter's place.

The elder Lohan stated that for the past year her daughter has seemed to just go from one messy incident into another messy incident.
Lindsay Lohan's look-a-like Mom, Dina, same great looks but minus the B.S.

Dina Lohan, an ex-New York City Rockette, Hooters Girl, and part-time Avon Lady told famed Internet blogger Perez Hilton that her daughter needs to take some time off from the limelight.

She added that Lindsay has spent so much time in the spotlight that she has actually gotten a third degree burn from it.

"Lindsay is not herself anymore" said a concerned Mrs. Lohan. She went on to say that it is as if she has become a Courtney Love - Amy Winehouse clone.

The 47-year-old Dina said that due to the continuous stress her daughter has been through lately she has gotten down to a sickly-looking 84 pounds. She remarked that she looked like Calista Flockhart, but only without Harrison Ford.

When Lindsay was asked to comment on her mother's remarks LiLo replied, "Yeah, what Mom said."

Mother and daughter have both agreed that Lindsay will be checking into The Happy Acres Home For The Tired & Stressed Out in Sausalito, California.

There she will go through a rigorous, two month, 27-step program. And when she leaves Happy Acres she will be her old happy-go-lucky self again; rested, refreshed, and minus $237,000, but hey she's rich.

Dina Lohan says that unlike her daughter she will not be lip-syncing when she performs Lindsay's songs such as "Confessions Of A Broken Heart," "Rumors," and "Symptoms Of You."

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The story above is a satire or parody. It is entirely fictitious.

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Barack Obama and Mikhail Gorbachev: Mystical Resemblance

It has been exactly a year since the election of the 44th US President on November 4, 2008. What did the number “4” mean for the world, Russia, the USA, and Barack Obama himself?
Perhaps, Obama has done more for the world than the US. The current President is more popular in many other countries rather than in the USA.

It can be said that Obama has chosen a role of a pop-idol in politics. It is not easy to throw stones at him. He has not made any foreign policy issues more rigorous, has not gotten into a fight with anyone, smiled a lot, and let everyone meet his wife Michele.

He even managed to please Cuba and Russia. He delegated all tasks that require unpopular measures to his assistants, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

This makes the resemblance of Barack Obama and Mikhail Gorbachev almost mystical. Now, let’s consider the details.

Moscow is charmed and disarmed
What is your most painful issue? As if Obama asked Russia before his visit to Moscow in July, 2009. The answer was: of course, your disgusting, horrible missile defense system that you are planning to build in Poland and Czech Republic.

No problem, Obama said, and put away the main scarecrow, the missile defense system, away from Russia’s eyes. He did not ask anything in return. It usually happens when someone wants to fully convert a potential enemy, not just receive a concession. Why not?

The Russian government understands very well that competition with the USA is no longer realistic. Russia is not the USSR. The current Russian economy is only 1/25th the size of the American economy. However, Russia still wants to maintain the image of a great power.

Therefore, it is much more beneficial for Moscow to be the USA’s ally without showing it directly. De jure, Russia is a new potential center of the multi-polar world opposing Washington. De facto, Russia is an ally of the US, apart from small painful splinters like Kosovo, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and such. Obama easily endowed Moscow with this status.

In July 2009, Obama came to Moscow for a visit.

After Obama’s visit, Russia stands ready for many things. This includes support of Iran sanctions, suspension of locating the ballistic missile system Iskander near Kaliningrad, and letting American planes fly to Afghanistan over Russia (along the same route where Gary Powers, an American spy, was hit by Soviet missiles in 1960). Of course, the United States did not back off from their interests one bit, as Vice President Biden traveled to Georgia to calm down Saakashvili.
Hillary Clinton is responsible for Kosovo. She is hard-nosed in her intentions to convince other countries that they would regret their decision to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia, whereas it would be wonderful if they recognized Kosovo.
Her husband Bill is the one who traveled to Kosovo, and whose monument was erected by Kosovans in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, to honor him for launching NATO's bombing campaign against Serbia. Obama, however, remains a peacemaker.

He is a smart cookie compared to his predecessor, unpolished political redneck George Bush.

Obama practically demolished a virtual Berlin Wall between Russia and the USA, like Gorbachev did in his times. We, however, are well aware of what has happened to Gorbachev and the Soviet Union along with its social camp.

America is sad and confused

Surprisingly, Obama’s approval ratings in the US keep dropping. Americans cannot forgive Obama for not keeping his promises. He failed to withdraw troops from Iraq, and is getting increasingly involved in the Afghan war. He loosened Cuba boycott, but has not cancelled it altogether and failed to make Fidel Castro leave the political arena.

American Magazine Time named Obama the Person of the Year 2008

Obama criticized Bush for giving money away to bankers who were getting fat during the crisis. When in power, he started solving economic issues with even greater money inflows given to the same “fat cats” of the financial and industrial sectors. The end of the crisis in the US is not on the horizon. Of course, the situation is not nearly as bad as what happened in Russia in the last years of Gorbachev’s government. However, Americans, who are used to living large, do not understand why they have to refuse this lifestyle now. Unemployment rate is not going down, mortgage crisis is still there, and the health reform has not been yet implemented.

Fine words are abundant, actions are scarce. Obama’s election campaign slogan “Yes, We Can!” that charmed the Americans earlier is now ridiculed by many.

It goes without saying that the talks about Obama’s lack of actions are exaggerated by the Republicans, Obama’s internal political competitors. This is only natural under the US democratic system.

At least, this system will save America from a collapse similar to the one that happened in the USSR, where there was no political alternative to the Communist Party.
Fortunately, America will not collapse. We say fortunately, because if it happened, the entire global structure would collapse. The planet, left without the “world gendarme” and “dollar emitter,” would plunge into redistribution, local wars, and economic chaos. The current financial crises would seem an innocent joke.
However, Barack Obama has enough time to take some decisive steps, firstly, in his own country. It would not hurt to be more careful outside of the United States.

The 44th American President has three years of presidency ahead of him. Although, it is more realistically 18 to 24 months, since the last year of the presidency is traditionally spent on the next election campaign.

If Obama continues to do what he has done in the past year, he will be awarded with the same honors as Mikhail Gorbachev who is respected in the world, but perceived with controversy in his own country. The only difference is that Gorbachev received his Nobel Prize for what he has done, and Obama – for what he will do. This Prize could serve as a certain mark cautioning against repetitions.
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Study links BPA in plastics to erectile dysfunction

Bisphenol-A, a chemical found in hard, clear plastic used to make everything from baby bottles to food packaging, may increase the risk of erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems in male factory workers exposed to large amounts of the substance, according to a study conducted in China.

The health effects of BPA have been hotly debated; although some studies have linked BPA to a risk of brain damage, birth defects, hyperactivity, heart disease, early puberty, obesity, and prostate cancer, other research suggests that the low level of exposure from plastics doesn't pose a health risk to adults. (The picture is less clear for children.)
Part of the problem is that much of the research has been conducted in mice and other animals, and its validity in humans is controversial. Although not conclusive, the potential health effects have caused some baby-bottle and water-bottle manufacturers to stop using the chemical, at least in part because of public concern. BPA is not found in soft, pliable plastic used in most water bottles.

Now, the new study -- one of the first to be conducted in humans -- seems to support a finding previously reported only in animal research.
Among the men who work with BPA, the risk of having difficulty ejaculating was seven times greater than it was among the non-exposed group, and the risk of erectile problems was more than four times greater. The BPA-exposed workers also reported higher rates of low sex drive and lower overall satisfaction with their sex lives, according to the study, published this week in Human Reproduction and funded by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

Health.com: Why erectile dysfunction is so common in men with diabetes

Researchers compared the rates of sexual dysfunction in two groups of workers in China -- 230 men who worked at factories that produce BPA or epoxy resin (which contains the chemical), and some 400 men, including workers in other industries, who were not exposed to abnormally high levels of BPA. Epoxy resin is used in the lining of canned foods and is another potential source of BPA in addition to hard, clear plastic.

The men who worked in the BPA and epoxy-resin factories were exposed to levels about 50 times higher than average.
The greater a worker's exposure to BPA -- which was measured using spot air and urine samples -- the more likely he was to have sexual dysfunction. Yet the dysfunction was apparent even in workers who had worked in a BPA factory for one year or less.

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"This was a very compelling study," says Dr. Rebecca Sokol, the director of the andrology program at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, who specializes in the effects of toxins on the reproductive system. "It's not cause and effect, but when you have the kind of ambient air quality assessment that they made, it comes pretty close to cause and effect."

In the past, the scientists and industry representatives who have argued that BPA is safe at the low level of exposure that occurs for most people have pointed to the lack of BPA research in humans, says the lead author of the study, Dr. De-Kun Li, a reproductive epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research, in Oakland, California.

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"They keep arguing, 'Where's the human data? Where's the human data? You can't extrapolate animal studies to humans,'" Li says. "Which is true, sometimes. But now we have human data."

The findings of Li and his colleagues are consistent with the hypothesis that BPA, when it enters the body, can mimic the effects of estrogen and may block male sex hormones (including testosterone). The study has implications beyond male sexual dysfunction, however, since sexual dysfunction is often associated with broader reproductive health problems.

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And the fact that a health effect observed in animal studies has been seen in humans, says Li, suggests that the other findings of animal studies -- an increased risk of cancer and obesity, for example -- need to be taken more seriously. "We cannot dismiss them anymore," he says.

Experts caution that the results need to be replicated in other studies, and also in the United States.

The study "opens a new front in [BPA] research," says Peter Myers, a BPA expert and the chief scientist at Environmental Health Sciences in Charlottesville, Virginia. "But as is absolutely necessary when a new front like this is opened up, we need to see replication."

It's unclear, for instance, whether the everyday exposure to BPA that people receive from food packaging and other plastics is significant enough to produce the sexual dysfunction seen in workers who were inhaling the chemical all day.
The BPA levels measured in the study were "extraordinarily high," says Sokol, and they may have little or no relevance to "somebody drinking water out of a bottle."

But, she adds, "We need to be prudent and cautious about whether this chemical actually is impacting reproduction. People have to stop and say, 'Whoa, now we're starting to get data in animals that is manifested in humans.'"

The study did have some weaknesses. It was relatively small for an epidemiological study, according to Sokol, and the rate of erectile difficulty among the BPA workers was still relatively low overall -- a little more than 15 percent.

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This study comes amid mounting concerns over the safety of BPA from consumers, scientists, and public officials. In the summer of 2009, Canada said it was moving towards a ban on the sale and import of BPA-containing baby bottles. A number of states and cities, including Minnesota and Chicago, have passed similar bans or have taken steps to do so. Several companies have also announced that they will voluntarily phase out the chemical from their products.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also in the midst of reconsidering its stance on BPA. In August 2008, largely on the basis of research funded by the chemical industry, the agency issued a draft assessment on the safety of BPA in food packaging, concluding that "an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA at current levels of exposure" from those sources.

The FDA report caused an uproar in the scientific community and was soon contradicted. The National Toxicology Program (NTP), a federal agency that advises the FDA on chemicals and other environmental toxins, released its own report expressing "some" concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brains, behavior, and prostate glands of fetuses, infants, and children, as well as "minimal" concern about earlier puberty for girls.

The NTP classified its concerns over reproductive effects from workplace BPA exposure as "minimal."

Soon after, the FDA's own Science Board released a report that cited the FDA's exclusion of a large number of animal studies on BPA, and concluded that the agency may have overestimated the safety of the chemical. Following the release of these reports and a spate of media attention, the FDA announced that it would reconsider its assessment. In mid-August 2009, the agency indicated that it will continue to review the research on BPA effects in humans and will "decide next steps" by the end of November 2009.

Although the study of Li and his colleagues isn't likely to drastically change the course of the debate (additional studies will be needed for that to happen), it will help keep the spotlight on the health effects of BPA.

"This study forces some new questions into the arena that need to be answered," says Myers.

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