Michael Jackson begged for sleep drug Propofol says doctor

Michael Jackson begged for the sedative Propofol to help him sleep, Dr Dwayne James, one of his doctors, has claimed. By Urmee Khan, Digital and Media Correspondent

Dr James said Jackson had pleaded for the drug – known as the "milk of amnesia" – despite all warnings. He said: "Michael said he desperately wanted to get hold of the drug। I immediately told him that Diprivan was dangerous and he should never take it at home, it could kill him।

"He said, 'But I've had it before, I slept so well, like a baby। It knocked me out, I love it, it's great, can't you give me some?' He kept saying that the day after taking Diprivan he felt so rested and had a lot more energy.

"He didn't seem to care that I was telling him it was dangerous," he told The Mirror.

Dr James, 61, the director of NutriMed Health Care Porterville, California, added: "There was no convincing him. What struck me was that he didn't seem to have any fear about taking Diprivan, despite everything I was saying."

Jackson made the demands in a phone call from his Los Angeles home, just months before his death, which is being linked to Propofol, also called Diprivan.

Diprivan, which is given to patients before surgery, is believed to be the main focus of the investigation into Jackson's death. It was allegedly discovered at his house and may have triggered his heart attack.

Dr James revealed that the 50 year old singer had repeatedly asked for the drug. He disclosed that he spoke to Jackson's nurse Cherilyn Lee just four days before he died to ask for Propofol.

Ed Winter, assistant chief coroner, seized Jackson's medical records from Cherilyn's office on thursday.

Other reports claimed Jackson travelled with an anaesthetist on his HIStory world tour in the mid-90s to help him cope with chronic insomnia.

Telegraph.co.uk

Michael Jackson's Last Laugh

Michael Jackson's death will be a JFK-Elvis-Diana memory for decades. "I remember where I was, who I was with, and how I found out Michael Jackson died," will become part of the vernacular into the 22nd century. Modern technology allowed us to be intimate with Michael from afar, and now he is gone. Michael Jackson is dead. It's hard to grasp, like yellow not being a bright color.

Celebrity death is tough on the public. Instinctively we want to run to help those we know and love, but with a famous person, all we can do is run to a television. It's a connected disconnected with emotional strings tied into a knot. When I heard Jackson was dead, I was knocked off center by the switch that occurred among millions of neurons in my brain. I just can't imagine Michael Jackson - dead. Like Diana's death twelve years ago, the cultural getting-used-to will take some time.

I met Jackson twice, most recently at a Carousel of Hope Ball in Beverly Hills. He was timid and gracious but still bigger than life. We hugged the hug he probably had given to hundreds of thousands of fans. I told him I missed his performing, but he told me he was performing every time he stepped out of the house. As he stood there in his spangles and epaulets, it was easy to understood what he meant.

Last December when I heard Jackson moved yards from my home, I was hopeful he might be reigniting his career. Surprisingly the infamous recluse had chosen the corner of Sunset Boulevard that most screams "I'm back!" I'd drive by his home daily, consistently amazed by the legions of die-hard fans camped across from his gate. Just days after Christmas I remember how simply normal I thought it was so see empty toy boxes poking out of his recycle bin - an ordinary holiday for an extraordinary American.

By very late January Michael Jackson still had his Christmas wreaths hanging on his gates. It was slightly odd, so I made a video about it. Michael Jackson was in a neighborhood - I was not about to let him think that he wasn't part of our tribe. About three weeks after I put the video on OVGuide.com, a blocked call rang on my cell phone. "Hello, this is Tom," I said. All I heard in the receiver was the sound of my own voice playing from the video and a soft giggle. Then the voice said, "man, you're crazy." I laughed and asked who it was but all I heard was more giggling until the end of the video when I heard "thanks...crazy" and then the phone went dead.

I made videos two and three, expecting I would tape number four on the pivotal Fourth of July date. I had planned to bring a reindeer and/or Santa along to help me plead my case for Jackson's Christmas wreaths coming down. I suspect Michael would have tuned in to see the fiasco I had invented. As it is, the Christmas wreaths that Michael might have left up for my silly videos got their real claim to fame by overtly hanging on his gates the day he died.

As we fight the war on economic meltdown, terrorizing attacks, and common household germs, Jackson's shocking death reminds us to live life fully now. Time seemingly moves faster and faster ever year. Death is the end of the tracks. What will you do with your life if this is your last day?

In Michael Jackson's case, he lived life out loud his own way, not because had the money, but because he knew none of us have time to waste.


The painting below is by my pal, soap star Thom Bierdz. It seems more real to me today.

Obama orders review of NASA plan to return to moon

NASA's human spaceflight program gets top-level review

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 7 (Reuters) - The Obama administration has ordered a top-level review of the U.S. human spaceflight program that has been focused on returning astronauts to the moon by 2020, officials said on Thursday.

Former Lockheed Martin (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chairman and Chief Executive Norm Augustine will head a blue-ribbon panel charged with assessing NASA's progress on a space transportation system to replace the retiring space shuttle fleet.

"Clearly if we're on the wrong path, we should change, but if you're asking me do I think we're on the wrong path, the answer is no," Chris Scolese, NASA's acting administrator, said at a news conference to unveil the agency's $18.7 billion spending plan for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

The review, which is due by August, will focus on the U.S. space agency's Ares rocket program and the Orion capsule that is being designed to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station as well as to the lunar surface.

Prime contractors for the shuttle replacement program include Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Alliant Techsystems Inc (ATK.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) unit, which are building the new Ares rocket; and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which is developing the Orion capsule spacecraft.

The space shuttles are due to be retired by Sept. 30, 2010, after eight more flights to assemble and outfit the space station and a final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope that is scheduled for launch on Monday.

The $3.2 billion budget request for space shuttle operations includes funds for an added flight to carry the $1.5 billion Alpha Magnet Spectrometer particle physics experiment to the station for installation and operation.

Scolese said the review panel also will address extending NASA support of the space station beyond 2016 and possibly the lunar initiative.

BUSH'S MOON PLANS

In January 2004, President George W. Bush announced plans for the United States to return to the moon by 2020 and build a way station there for flights to Mars. NASA's last human flight to the moon was in 1972.

The agency also is requesting $150 million to help foster a commercially developed capsule to fly crew members to the space station.

Space Exploration Technologies, a California firm known as SpaceX, has been working under a NASA contract to develop its Dragon capsule to haul cargo to the outpost. The contract includes an option for a passenger system, which NASA said it intends to exercise.

NASA's spending plan is $2 billion richer than the budget it received two years ago, largely the result of federal economic stimulus dollars.

In part, the extra funding will go toward an expanded global climate change research program, a new initiative to develop environmentally more benign aviation technologies, and new science programs including a joint U.S.-European mission to Jupiter's ocean-bearing moon Europa.

(Editing by Jane Sutton and Will Dunham)

Google's Latest Domination

By chris.thompson - The Big Money

<. But you haven't been looking at mobile Internet devices, which everyone agrees will be the most dynamic and explosive piece of the online world for years to come. According to a new report from the Internet marketing firm Net Applications, Google accounp>You may think Google (GOOG) dominates the search market, with 63.7 percent of all searches conducted in the United States compared with Yahoo's (YHOO) 20 percentts for 97.5 percent of all mobile phone searches. 97.5 percent. Now that's what we call dominance.

And the company's fortunes keep rising elsewhere as well. BusinessWeek spreads around a rumor that Dell (DELL) is exploring the option of using the Android operating system for a new line of cheap laptops. This makes Dell the second major computer manufacturer to flirt with abandoning Windows for Android; Hewlett-Packard announced it was looking into Android a few months back. Google has an outright monopoly on mobile search, and it's threatening to eat into Microsoft's (MSFT) core business. What does it do for an encore?

Ah, yes: Twitter. For months, gossipmongers like us have been spreading word that Google might snatch up the microblogging company for a few hundred million. After all, Twitter's main potential value lies in searching all those tweets in real time and the advertising that could accompany the search results. What business model does that sound like to you?

And Google's not alone in reportedly salivating over all that searchable data. Apple has reportedly offered $700 million to make Twitter a part of the Steve Jobs family. In fact, Twitter Vice President of Operations Santosh Jayaram (who just happens to be Google's former head of search quality) just announced a new breakthrough in searching tweets. Now, Twitter's search engine will also crawl over each tweet, find any links people embedded in them, scan the linked page, and index the content to produce even more accurate results. In addition, Twitter's search engine will also rank results according to whatever Internet or cultural trend is hot at the moment, as well as the popularity of each twitterer. Now everyone searching on Twitter gets to know what Ashton Kutcher thinks, whether they want to or not.

Sounds perfect for Google, right? They've got the search know-how, and Twitter's got the next big thing. Nonetheless, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone maintains that he won't sell the company—to Google or anyone else. In case anyone didn't get the message, he even went on The View to tell Barbara Walters. Got that, Eric Schmidt? Twitter's not for sale. Until it is, of course.

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

New Documentary Gives Inside Look at Alzheimer's

Maria Shriver Talks About How the Disease Touched Her Life

By IMAEYEN IBANGA

When her father was diagnosed six years ago with Alzheimer's disease, California first lady Maria Shriver learned firsthand just how devastating it can be.

"At the age of 93, my dad still goes to Mass every day. And believe it or not, he still remembers the Hail Mary. But he doesn't remember me, Maria. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that still makes me cry. "

Shriver has become so passionate about the issue that she even testified before congress. Afterward, she said her office was inundated with letters from people who could relate to what's happening to her family and her father, Sargent Shriver.

Now, the author and journalist is giving others the opportunity to get the same look at the disease with her documentary "The Alzheimer's Project."

Shriver, who executive produced the program that will air on HBO beginning May 10, hopes to reach a broad audience.

Watch Maria Shriver live on "Good Morning America" Thursday as she talks about "The Alzheimer's Project."

The four-part series will tackle topics like memory loss, living with Alzheimer's disease and the science of finding a cure.

The Future of Alzheimer's

Someone gets Alzheimer's disease every 70 seconds and, currently, 5.3 million people in the United States live with the condition, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

The fight to learn more about the disease and pinpoint a cure has become more fevered as a bevy of baby boomers quickly march toward their senior years. It all adds up to a heavy burden on the health care system.

The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias to Medicaid and Medicare amounts to more than $148 billion annually, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

The financial burden also falls to those caring for an Alzheimer's patient.

Alzheimer's Resources

Click here for more information and resources from ABC News on Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's Association CareSource offers resources to help manage caregiving responsibilities, such as financial decisions and skills for caring for loved ones every day.

On the organization's Web site, you can find message boards, create a calendar to keep track of tasks with your family, and locate assisted living facilities in your area.

The Alzheimer's Association offers a Doctor's Appointment Checklist to help family members prepare for effective doctor visits and keep track of questions.

Google CEO Says Staying on Apple Board

By SCOTT MORRISON

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said Thursday he had not considered resigning from Apple Inc.'s board, despite news that the Federal Trade Commission is looking into whether the overlap of directors on both companies' boards violates antitrust laws.

"I don't think Apple sees Google as a primary competitor," he told reporters before the company's annual shareholder meeting.

Mr. Schmidt has previously said he recuses himself from the boardroom when Apple's directors discuss the company's popular iPhone. Google makes Android software that powers phones made by Apple rivals.

David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, said the company feels confident that Mr. Schmidt's presence on Apple's board doesn't violate the test of "overlapping revenue."

Google makes Android available to hardware partners free.

Write to Scott Morrison at scott.morrison@dowjones.com

Let's Make Mother's Day a Global Reality

Progress is being made to save the lives of mothers and newborns around the world. Still, every minute, a woman dies of complications in pregnancy and childbirth, leaving her baby more likely to die within two years. Most of these deaths could be prevented. Join The Huffington Post and the Mothers Day Every Day campaign in the global movement to call upon world leaders to invest in health workers and strengthen health systems so that every day, everywhere in the world, all women and newborns have access to lifesaving care.

There is a saying in Africa that to find out you are pregnant is to have one foot in the grave. It must sound strange to Americans, since becoming a mother is so celebrated here. But in the developing world, more women die from pregnancy and childbirth than any other cause. In my native Ethiopia, children are treasured, yet dying in childbirth is a fact of life. I now live in the U.S. and had my two children here, where death in childbirth is almost nonexistent, so I've lived the difference. That difference leaves me haunted by what pregnancy and childbirth means for so many women in places like Ethiopia.

Every minute, a woman dies in childbirth, mostly from preventable causes. Ninety-nine percent of those deaths occur in the developing world. No other health disparity is so stark; virtually every woman who dies giving birth lives in a poor country. And as horrific as this statistic is, it hides the true scope of the problem. For every woman who dies in childbirth, twenty more will suffer debilitating and often lifelong injuries. Injuries such as fistula -- literally a hole between the mother's vagina and her bladder or rectum that is caused by obstructed labor and avoided in the developed world through medical intervention -- often leave women isolated, rejected by their communities and unable to support themselves.

When a mother is harmed, her community is devastated. Her children are up to ten times more likely to die within two years. They are less likely to be immunized, more likely to be malnourished, more likely to contract HIV and more likely to be exploited. Older children are denied an education because they must care for siblings or work to feed their families. Much attention is justifiably paid to children's health issues but one of the best ways to protect a child's health and future is to protect his or her mother.

Maternal mortality isn't just a family tragedy or a problem for the developing world. It affects us all. We can't end poverty if we fail to save the lives of our world's mothers. USAID estimates that the world economy loses $15.5 billion dollars each year because of preventable maternal deaths. When we lose our mothers, we lessen productivity, deepen gender inequality and destabilize societies. When our mothers are alive and healthy, they do extraordinary things...like the mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who marched in Argentinean plazas, defying the military junta dictatorship and demanding the whereabouts of their abducted children...or the Liberian mothers who faced down civil war armed only with T-shirts and courage. If we are going to solve the unbelievable global challenges that face us all, we're going to need our mothers.

The good news is that we can prevent these deaths. The solutions are known and relatively inexpensive. The developed world has proven that eradication is possible over time, but other countries have demonstrated that serious progress is within reach quickly. Thailand, Egypt, Nepal and Honduras have each dramatically reduced maternal mortality in the last decade -- in stark contrast to the worldwide rate, which has fallen by less than one percent since 1990. Their individual programs varied, but each country shared an overriding strategic objective: a national commitment to reducing maternal mortality.

The United States has a historic opportunity to lead the fight against maternal deaths and we should seize it. There is a bill in the House of Representatives right now -- the Newborn, Child and Mother Survival Act of 2009 -- which would put saving mothers' and children's lives at the center of U.S. foreign aid. The Newborn, Child and Mother Survival Act of 2009 (H.R. 1410) establishes a comprehensive strategy to reduce deaths and bring cost-effective health tools within reach for the world's poorest nations. However, the bill won't even come up for a vote until our representatives know that voters understand that saving the lives of mothers must be central to our investments in the developing world. And governments won't invest in women's health until they know it is a voter priority. Call or write your representative and tell them that you expect them to support this bill.

And there are other ways to get involved. You can check out my Foundation's website -- www.theliyakebedefoundation.org or learn more from the Mothers Day Every Day U.S. advocacy campaign sponsored by the White Ribbon Alliance and CARE - www.mothersdayeveryday.org.

Investing in women's lives is an investment in sustainable development, in human rights, in future generations -- and consequently in our own long-term national interests.

Mother's Day is May 10th. This Mother's Day, remember to thank your mother, but also take a moment to voice your support for the health and safety of mothers worldwide.

The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and CARE, two organizations at the forefront of global women's health issues, have joined Secretary Donna Shalala and UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman and a distinguished group of advocates to promote Mothers Day Every Day, a campaign that raises awareness and advocates for greater U.S. leadership to improve maternal and newborn health globally. To learn more, visit www.mothersdayeveryday.org.

Check out the rest of our Countdown to Mother's Day series by clicking here

Michael Jackson sued for $44m by former spokeswoman

Michael Jackson is being sued for $44 million (£29m) by his former spokeswoman Raymone Bain, who claims the singer breached an employment contract.

By Caroline Hedley in Los Angeles

The singer, who is currently rehearsing for a series of 'comeback' live dates in London in July, has been served with a lawsuit by Bain, who worked as Jackson's publicist for five years.

In a video statement released on the internet, Bain alleged that her erstwhile employer "elected not to honour the financial obligations of our contractual relationships", despite her "numerous attempts" to amicably resolve the matter.

She added that she was "sincerely disappointed in Mr. Jackson's failure to honor his obligations".

Blain worked as Jackson's representative during one of the most turbulent periods of his career - including his 2005 child abuse trial.

She added: "It is with deep regret that I find myself at this place, having to file a lawsuit against my longtime employer, and someone whom I have greatly admired and respected, Michael Jackson".

Jackson's much-vaunted comeback - over a million tickets have been sold for 50 shows at London's O2 arena - has been marred by a string of legal troubles.

He recently went to court to prevent a Los Angeles auction firm from selling the contents of his now-defunct former residence, Neverland.

Earlier this year, Jackson was sued by the director of his iconic Thriller music video. John Landis claims the 'King of Pop' failed to provide any accounting for the Thriller profits for the past four years 'and earlier', "and failed to pay Landis his 50 per cent cut of the net proceeds".

Last year, the beleaguered star was sued for $7 million (£4.6m) by a Bahraini prince, who accused him of failing to deliver an album he had financed.

Jackson has yet to comment on the latest lawsuit.

Sufi Mohammad’s son killed in Lower Dir shelling

LOWER DIR: Sufi Mohammad’s son Kifyatullah has been killed in shelling during the security forces’ operation in Lower Dir’s Maidan area, said family sources. Meanwhile, intense clashes between militants and security forces continued in Maidan as 15 troops went missing in the district.

‘I have been informed by the family of Maulana Sufi Mohammad that his son, Kifayatullah, has died and his brother-in-law is seriously injured,’ said the TNSM spokesman, Ameer Izzat Khan.

The TNSM chief, Sufi Mohammad, has been calling for an end to the military operation in the area since it started, threatening to abandon the peace deal with the government and making numerous objections to the implementation of the Nizam-i-Adl.

Following this event it is uncertain how the TNSM chief will react, making the future of the peace deal highly sketchy.

On the other hand, a militant commander in Maidan, Mifthahuddin, talking to DawnNews, claimed that they had killed at least 12 security personnel in Gumbar and their bodies were lying in the bazaar.

Security officials and independent sources are yet to confirm the death of the security personnel but have confirmed that a fierce gun battle had erupted between the militants and security forces in Gumbar and casualties were feared.

Maine becomes 5th state to allow same-sex marriage

By GLENN ADAMS
Associated Press Writer

AUGUSTA, Maine -- Maine's governor signed a freshly passed bill Wednesday approving gay marriage, making it the fifth state to approve the practice and moving New England closer to allowing it throughout the region.

New Hampshire legislators were also poised to send a gay marriage bill to their governor, who hasn't indicated whether he'll sign it. If he does, Rhode Island would be the region's sole holdout.

The Maine Senate voted 21-13, with one absent, for a bill that authorizes marriage between any two people rather than between one man and one woman, as state law currently allows. The House had passed the bill Tuesday.

Democratic Gov. John Baldacci, who hadn't previously indicated how he would handle the bill, signed it shortly afterward. In the past, he said he opposed gay marriage but supported civil unions, which provide many benefits of marriage.

Debate was brief. Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, turned the gavel over to an openly gay member, Sen. Lawrence Bliss, D-South Portland, to preside over the final vote.

Republican Sen. Debra Plowman of Hampden argued that the bill was being passed "at the expense of the people of faith."

"You are making a decision that is not well-founded," warned Plowman.

But Senate Majority Leader Philip Bartlett II said the bill does not compel religious institutions to recognize gay marriage.

"We respect religious liberties. ... This is long overdue," said Bartlett, D-Gorham.

Maine is now the fourth state in New England, to allow same-sex marriages. Connecticut enacted a bill after being ordered to allow gay marriages by the courts, and Vermont passed a bill over the governor's veto.

New Hampshire's House was also expected to vote on a bill Wednesday and send it to Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat.

Massachusetts' high court has ordered the state to recognize gay marriages. In Rhode Island, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage has been introduced but is not expected to pass this year.

Outside New England, Iowa is recognizing gay marriages on court orders. The practice was briefly legal in California before voters banned it.

WHO, experts to discuss making swine flu vaccine

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

The World Health Organization on Wednesday said it will meet with flu experts next week to discuss whether drug companies should switch from making regular flu vaccines to ramping up for an H1N1 vaccine.

WHO on Wednesday confirmed 1,658 cases of the H1N1 influenza in 23 countries, including 30 deaths, as the virus continued to spread.

Marie-Paula Kieny, WHO's Director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research, said the group will hold a teleconference May 14 of its vaccine advisory committee, vaccine producers and country regulators to discuss whether there is enough evidence to recommend that manufacturers should start large scale manufacturing of the H1N1 vaccine, and make "a recommendation towards stopping seasonal production for vaccine."

Seasonal flu kills up to 500,000 people a year, giving WHO a strong reason to hesitate. Experts are still unsure how deadly the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, strain is, but because production takes months, a decision needs to be made soon.

WHO Director General Margaret Chan and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon have called for a meeting May 19 in Geneva with the heads of all the companies worldwide who make influenza vaccine.

The meeting would address production of the new vaccine and how it would be distributed around the world.

"This will be a high-level discussion with the manufacturer appealing to corporate responsibility and to working together toward increased equitable access" to ensure developing countries can acquire vaccines too, Kieny said.

Kieny said the world's vaccine producers could make about 1 to 2 billion doses of the H1N1 vaccine a year.

She said it would take between 4 to 6 months to go from having a culture of the flu virus to having shots ready for the public.

Currently, WHO is recommending "all manufacturers to put everything in place to be able to start manufacturing a vaccine," Kieny said.

WHO reported Wednesday that Mexico still has the most cases of the virus with 946 people infected throughout the country. Cases are continuing to increases in some countries, including Canada, France, Guatemala, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday there are 642 confirmed cases of the flu in 41 states.

Two people have died in the United States and 35 people have been hospitalized.

Contributing: Associated Press

Topless Photos of Miss California Could Cost Her Crown

Carrie Prejean's Work Opposing Gay Marriage May Also Violate her Contract

By LUCHINA FISHER and SHEILA MARIKAR

Miss California Carrie Prejean stands to lose her title by working for a group that opposes gay marriage and posing semi-nude for pictures when she was a teenager.

The directors of the Miss California USA pageant are currently looking into whether Prejean violated the 12-page contract all contestants are required to sign before the November state contest.

The document prohibits whoever holds the title of Miss California from making personal appearances, granting interviews or making commercials without permission from pageant officials and gives the pageant's directors the right to revoke her crown for breaching any of the document's provisions.

Since being chosen runner-up at the Miss USA pageant, Prejean has made televised appearances at her San Diego church and on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage, a group that is opposed to same-sex marriage.

An advertisement the group created based on Prejean's controversial answer at the Miss USA pageant about whether she supported gay marriage remains on the NOM Web site, despite a written request from the Miss Universe Organization, which owns the Miss USA pageant, to remove it.

Last week when Prejean was in Washington to announce her support for the new ad, Keith Lewis, co-director of the California contest, expressed concern to The Associated Press.

"There is a contract that all participants sign that is very involved and very intricate and limits a lot of their activities," Lewis told the news agency.

Also of concern are semi-nude photos of Prejean that surfaced on the Internet earlier this week.

A racy photo of Prejean wearing only pink panties was posted on gossip blog TheDirty.com on Monday.

Prejean's contract contains a clause that asks participants whether they have conducted themselves "in accordance with the highest ethical and moral standards." For example, it asks if they have ever been photographed nude or partially nude.

"As you can see from the contract, she violated multiple items," Miss California pageant spokesman Roger Neal said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Prejean's spokeswoman did not respond to questions about the possible breach of contract.

On Tuesday, Prejean said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press that the Web site which posted the photo and claims to have others is trying to belittle her religion.

She says the photos, which were taken of her as a teenager, had been released "surreptitiously to a tabloid Web site that openly mocks me for my Christian faith."
In the statement, Prejean also says the attacks on her and others who "speak in defense of traditional marriage" are intolerant and offensive.

She also defended the photos: "I am a Christian, and I am a model. Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos."

NOM President Maggie Gallagher also defended Prejean and said the picture did not disqualify her as a traditional marriage advocate.

"Of course Carrie is not perfect," Gallagher said in a statement Tuesday to AP. "On a personal note, as a former unwed mother, I want to say to Americans: You don't have to be a perfect person to have the right to stand up for marriage."

Also coming to Prejean's defense was Donald Trump, who owns the Miss USA pageant. Appearing on ABC's "The View" on Tuesday, he said her answer to the question of gay marriage posed during the televised pageant was not so far off base.

"That's the belief of 70 percent of the people, so it wasn't a horrible answer," he told the women on "The View." "That was her belief and she's taken hard hits. She's more famous because of it. No one is talking about the young woman who won. Nobody knows who she is."

Trump also said, contrary to popular belief, Prejean's answer did not cost her the title. "We went back and added up the scores," he said, "and she would not have won anyway. So that makes me feel better because it was a tough question."

Miss California's New Role

Last week, Prejean told NBC's "Today" show that she was going to Washington to work with the National Organization for Marriage, saying the union between a man and a woman is "something that is very dear to my heart."

While Prejean was talking about her values, others were dropping bombshells about her body.

Shanna Moakler, co-executive director of the Miss California Organization, confirmed to "Access Hollywood" Wednesday that the group paid for Prejean's breast implants weeks before she competed in the 2009 Miss USA pageant.

"It was something that we all spoke about together," Moakler said referring to herself, Carrie Prejean and Keith Lewis, who also serves as co-executive director for the organization. "It was an option and she wanted it. And we supported that decision."

The beauty queen's family is also voicing their support for her. More than a week after Carrie Prejean spoke out against "opposite marriage" at the Miss USA pageant, her "gay activist" sister came to her defense and lashed out at Perez Hilton, the judge who questioned Prejean about gay marriage during the competition and subsequently bashed her on his blog.

"Considering what she was going through, the circumstances of being put on the spot, given such a short amount of time to think and respond … she said what she felt in her heart would be the best answer," Christina Prejean told ABCNews.com. "She and I have talked about this subject; we both respect each other's views. I support civil unions that would give same sex couples equal, legal rights and privileges."

At the pageant, Prejean seemed initially tongue-tied answering to Hilton's question before saying that marriage should be between a man and a woman, drawing a mixed reaction from the audience and a look of thinly veiled disgust from Hilton.

In the days afterward, Prejean attempted to quell criticism of her marriage views by saying that her sister is a gay activist.

"My sister is a second lieutenant in the Air Force and she is a gay rights activist," Prejean told "Access Hollywood" last week, adding that Christina is not gay. "She supports gay people, she supports gay marriage. My beliefs have nothing to do with my sister or my mom, or whatever."

Christina Prejean, 22, admitted she was surprised to hear the beauty queen, 21, call her a gay activist.

"I have never even given myself that title. I was kind of surprised that she mentioned it, but I think she wanted to get the point across that our family is tolerant," Christina Prejean said, adding that she only recently got involved in gay rights activism.

"A couple weeks back, I attended a public forum in Idaho about protecting the LGBT community against discrimination," she continued. "That was the very first thing I attended, and I told her about it on the night of the pageant, after she said she felt bad that people might be offended by her response. … But that's obviously such a hot topic that either way, someone was going to be offended."

Miss California's Sister 'Appalled' by Perez Hilton

Christina Prejean said she is offended by Hilton's (real name: Mario Lavandeira) treatment of her sister after the pageant, whom he called a dumb b**** in a video posted on his blog. (Hilton later apologized on his blog, offering to take Prejean out for coffee and a "talk.")

"I was disappointed and appalled by his unprofessional behavior. He used language that's offensive not only to my sister but to all women," she said. "It showed his own hypocrisy because he speaks out about how people should be more tolerant, but at the same time he puts down people who don't share his own opinion."

Asked to respond, Hilton said simply, "I am praying for both her and her sister."

Since the fallout from the Miss USA pageant, Carrie Prejean, who finished as first runner-up, has defended her stance on gay marriage through the media and in church appearances, notably at San Diego's The Rock Church, which was active in the campaign to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriages in California last year. She was the guest of honor at morning services Sunday, where she recounted her side of the story to the congregation.

She said pageant officials counseled her to apologize, saying, "'You need to apologize to the gay community. You need to not talk about your faith. This has everything to do with you representing California and saving the brand,'" she recalled. "I was representing California. I was representing the majority of people in California." Lewis, co-executive director of the Miss California Organization, responded with the following statement:

"Given the fact that Carrie Prejean's first act upon returning to California was to headline five services at a church that promotes homosexuality as both unnatural and abnormal, we stand by our concern for her individual image and look forward to a time in the near future when she can put down her personal agenda and assume the responsibilities associated with being Miss California USA."

Some, including "The View's" Elisabeth Hasselbeck, have suggested Carrie Prejean might make the prefect poster child for conservative values.

Prejean's sister agrees.

"She wants to be a role model," Christina Prejean said. "Before the pageant, she said she wanted to explore modeling or be a teacher for children with special needs, but she is open to political opportunities. I know she doesn't want to close the door to anything."

And with her new role with the National Organization for Marriage, it looks like Carrie Prejean won't shy away from Washington.

Phone home and call likely answered on the cell

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a high-tech shift accelerated by the recession, the number of U.S. households opting for only cell phones has for the first time surpassed those that just have traditional landlines.

It is the freshest evidence of the growing appeal of wireless phones.

Twenty percent of households had only cells during the last half of 2008, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released Wednesday. That was an increase of nearly 3 percentage points over the first half of the year, the largest six-month increase since the government started gathering such data in 2003.

The 20 percent of homes with only cell phones compared with 17 percent with landlines but no cells.

That ratio has changed starkly in recent years: In the first six months of 2003, just 3 percent of households were wireless only, while 43 percent stuck with only landlines.

Stephen Blumberg, senior scientist at the CDC and an author of the report, attributed the growing number of cell-only households in part to a recession that has forced many families to scour their budgets for savings. People who live in homes that have only wireless service tend to be disproportionately low-income, young, renters and Hispanics.

"We do expect that with the recession, we'd see an increase in the prevalence of wireless only households, above what we might have expected had there been no recession," Blumberg said.

Six in 10 households have both landlines and cell phones. Even so, industry analysts emphasized the public's growing love affair with the versatility of cell phones, which can perform functions like receiving text messages and are also mobile.

"The end game is consumers are paying two bills for the same service," said John Fletcher, an analyst for the market research firm SNL Kagan, referring to cell and landline phones. "Which are they going to choose? They'll choose the one they can take with them in their car."

In one illustration of the impact these changes are having, Verizon Communications Inc. had 39 million landline telephone customers in March 2008 but 35 million a year later. Over the same period, its wireless customers grew from 67 million to 87 million, though 13 million of the added lines came from the firm's acquisition of Alltell Corp., according to figures provided by Verizon spokesman Bill Kula.

Another Verizon spokesman, Eric Rabe, said he wasn't sure the overall drop in landlines was directly related to the stalled economy, although he said the company has lost some landline business customers because companies are closing some of their locations.

"For somebody who's mobile and not planning to be in the same apartment for more than a year, it's very appealing to go with a cell," Rabe said.

Further underscoring the public's diminishing reliance on landline phones, the federal survey found that 15 percent of households have both landlines and cells but take few or no calls on their landlines, often because they are wired into computers. Combined with wireless only homes, that means that 35 percent of households — more than one in three — are basically reachable only on cells.

The changes are important for pollsters, who for years relied on reaching people on their landline telephones. Growing numbers of surveys now include calls to people on their cells, which is more expensive partly because federal laws prohibit pollsters from using computers to place calls to wireless phones.

About a third of people age 18 to 24 live in households with only cell phones, the federal figures showed, making them far likelier than older people to rely exclusively on cells. The same is true of four in 10 people age 25 to 29.

About three in 10 living in poverty are from wireless-only households, nearly double the proportion of those who are not poor. Also living in homes with only cell phones are one in four Hispanics, four in 10 renters and six in 10 people living with unrelated adults such as roommates or unmarried couples.

One in 50 households has no phones at all.

The data is compiled by the National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the CDC. The latest survey involved in-person interviews with members of 12,597 households conducted from last July through December.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Windows 7's "XP Mode" Won't Run on Some CPUs

Ian Paul

Hoping to use Windows 7's XP Mode on your new laptop? Better check your specs, because many big-name, Intel-powered notebooks including Asus, Dell Studio, HP Pavilion, Sony Vaio, and Toshiba Satellite models may not have what it takes to run Windows 7's XP mode. Featured in the recent Windows 7 release candidate, XP mode allows XP-specific applications to run inside Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise versions of Windows 7. Microsoft included XP mode to entice business customers to upgrade to Windows 7 even if they're using custom-made programs that run only on XP.

To run XP Mode, your Intel-powered computer must support Intel Virtualization Technology. Problem is, many Intel laptops found on retail shelves aren't packing Intel VT. Affected chips include Intel Celeron, Pentium Dual-Core, Pentium M, and Atom 270 and 280 processors. If you've got a Pentium D, Core, or Core 2 Duo chip you'll need to check your model number because P7350/7450, T1350, T2050/2250, T2300E/2350/2450, T5200/5250/5270/5300/5450/5470/5550/5670/5750/5800/5850/5870/5900 and T6400/6570 do not support VT, according to ZDNet. AMD-powered computers may also find difficulties running XP mode since Sempron processors and some Athlon 64 chips don't support virtualization.

That's a pretty big list of processors that can't support virtualization, so it's no surprise that many laptops will be frozen out of Windows 7's XP mode. However, for the everyday user this may not be as big an issue since XP Mode is targeted at a small segment of the market anyway -- gamers take note that XP mode was not built to support video games.

If you are a part of the XP-specific minority running a custom application or another XP-specific program, you'd better make sure your processor supports virtualization before making the switch to Windows 7.

Can't find your processor's model number? Run GRC's Securable a free app that can tell you if your processor supports virtualization.

Connect with Ian Paul on Twitter (@ianpaul).

British man Ben Southall Wins "Best Job In The World"

SYDNEY — A bungee jumping, ostrich-riding British charity worker was named the winner Wednesday of what's been dubbed the "Best Job in the World" _ a six-month contract to serve as caretaker of a tropical Australian island. Ben Southall, 34, of Petersfield, beat out nearly 35,000 applicants from around the world for the dream assignment to swim, explore and relax on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef for while writing a blog to promote the area.

He was selected for the 150,000 Australian dollar ($111,000) gig by officials from the tourism department of Queensland state.

Southall and 15 other finalists spent the past four days on the island for an extended interview process, which required applicants to snorkel through crystalline waters, gorge themselves at a beachside barbecue and relax at a spa. The finalists also had to demonstrate their blogging abilities, take swimming tests and sit through in-person interviews.

The job is part of a AU$1.7 million tourism campaign to publicize the charms of northeastern Queensland, and officials say it has already generated more than AU$110 million worth of publicity for the region. It quickly became a viral marketing hit, spreading quickly across the world via YouTube and social networking sites such as Facebook.

"I hope I can sell the reef as much as everybody is expecting," Southall said after he was crowned the winner at a ceremony on Hamilton Island. "My swimming hopefully is up to standard."

Southall once worked as a tour guide in Africa, but most recently has worked as a charity fundraiser. In his application video, he expressed a love for adventure, and featured photographs of himself riding an ostrich, running a marathon, scuba diving and kissing a giraffe.

"From the time he was announced in the Top 50, and then the Top 16, Ben has excelled in showing a true passion for Queensland," Queensland Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said in a statement. "His ideas for how he will make the role his own ... plus his initiative and ability to rise to a challenge impressed the selection panel and secured his place in the top job."

Although unquestionably a publicity smash success, the contest also attracted a fair bit of scandal since it was unveiled in January.

First, the job's Web site crashed due to a deluge of visitors, angering many hopefuls who couldn't access the site to lodge their video applications. Later, the tourism department was forced to admit it had created a popular video "application" showing a woman apparently getting a tattoo expressing her love of the Great Barrier Reef.

Then one finalist was ousted after it was revealed she had connections to the adult entertainment industry. And a prankster identifying himself as terror mastermind Osama bin Laden posted a video of himself on YouTube reciting reasons why he was the best pick for the job.

Southall will live for free in an airy, three-bedroom oceanfront villa with a private pool and sweeping views of the surrounding islands. He plans to bring his Canadian girlfriend with him to the island for the duration of the job.

Southall starts "work" on July 1.

Face-transplant patient reveals herself

Connie Culp, who underwent the groundbreaking procedure in December after her husband shot her four years earlier, praises the medical staff that made her new face possible.

Associated Press

Connie Culp, after an injury to her face, left, and then as she appears today.

Cleveland -- Five years ago, a shotgun blast left a ghastly hole where the middle of her face had been. Five months ago, she received a new face from a dead woman.

Connie Culp stepped forward Tuesday to show off the results of the nation's first face transplant, and her new look was a far cry from the puckered, noseless sight that made children run away in horror.

• 

  Before her injury

Culp's expressions are still a bit wooden, but she can talk, smile, smell and taste her food again. Her speech is at times a little tough to understand. Her face is bloated and squarish, and her skin droops in big folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating her new muscles.

But Culp, a 46-year-old from Unionport, Ohio, had nothing but praise for those who made her new face possible.

"I guess I'm the one you came to see today," she said at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic, where the groundbreaking operation was performed. But "I think it's more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person's face."

Until Tuesday, Culp's identity and how she came to be disfigured were a secret.

Culp's husband, Thomas, shot her in 2004, then turned the gun on himself. He survived, and was sent to prison for seven years. His wife was left clinging to life. The blast shattered her nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. Hundreds of fragments of shotgun pellet and bone splinters were embedded in her face. She needed a tube into her windpipe to breathe. Only her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin were left.

A plastic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Risal Djohan, got a look at her injuries two months later. "He told me he didn't think, he wasn't sure, if he could fix me, but he'd try," Culp recalled.

She endured 30 operations to try to repair her face. Doctors took parts of her ribs to make cheekbones and fashioned an upper jaw from one of her leg bones. She had countless skin grafts from her thighs. Still, she was left unable to eat solid food, breathe on her own, or smell.

Then, on Dec. 10, in a 22-hour operation, Dr. Maria Siemionow led a team of doctors who replaced 80% of Culp's face with bone, muscles, nerves, skin and blood vessels from a woman who had just died. It was the fourth face transplant in the world, though the others were not as extensive.

"Here I am, five years later. He did what he said -- I got me my nose," Culp said of Djohan, laughing.

In January, she was able to eat pizza, chicken and hamburgers for the first time in years. She loves to have cookies with a cup of coffee, Siemionow said.

No information has been released about the donor or how she died, but her family members were moved when they saw before-and-after pictures of Culp, Siemionow said.

Culp said she wanted to help foster acceptance of those who have suffered burns and other disfiguring injuries.

"When somebody has a disfigurement and don't look as pretty as you do, don't judge them, because you never know what happened to them," she said. "Don't judge people who don't look the same as you do. Because you never know. One day it might be all taken away."

It's a role she has already practiced, said Dr. Kathy Coffman, the clinic psychiatrist.

Once while shopping, "she heard a little kid say, 'You said there were no real monsters, Mommy, and there's one right there,' " Coffman said. Culp stopped and said, "I'm not a monster. I'm a person who was shot," and pulled out her driver's license to show the child what she used to look like, the psychiatrist said.

Culp told her doctors she just wanted to blend back into society in Unionport, a small town near the Pennsylvania line. She has a son and a daughter who live near her, and two preschool grandsons.

The clinic expects to absorb the cost of the transplant because it was experimental, doctors said. Siemionow estimated it to be $250,000 to $300,000. That is relatively inexpensive, considering that other surgeons estimate it costs them $1 million to treat severely disfigured people with dozens of separate operations, she said.

First 100 days of first lady fashion

With looks from J.Crew to Jason Wu, Michelle Obama is worth watching

BY AUDRA D.S. BURCH

aburch@MiamiHerald.com

In her first 100 days in the White House, Michelle Obama has stylistically transformed what it means to be a first lady, with a cultivated, accessible look, from basic J.Crew tees to designer Jason Wu's dreamy inauguration ball gown.

In just a couple short fashion seasons, Obama has already inspired the I-word -- iconic -- gracing the covers of magazines from Vogue to People, and becoming the subject of at least two style books due out this year; the first, Michelle Style by Mandi Norwood, debuted Tuesday. A comic book biography and a website devoted to tracking her daily ensembles have already been launched.

And she has drawn the obvious, if not clichéd, comparisons to Jacqueline Kennedy. Not since Kennedy has a first lady's fashion sense been so widely deconstructed.

''Michelle Obama will be one of history's most vibrant first ladies. She has a distinctive style that every American woman can aspire to whether the consumer is a Target shopper or someone more likely to be found on Miracle Mile,'' said Carrie Feron, vice president of Avon, which plans to release a Michelle Obama style guide this year.

From the campaign trail to the inauguration to her first few months of being first lady, Obama's fashion sensibilities demonstrate a unique understanding of the force of imagery. She has carefully constructed hers as that of an independent, contemporary woman, wife, mother -- like her or not.

Perhaps, most powerfully, she comes across as human, subject to good and bad days. Sometimes her hair is wind-swept and her outfits are remarkably ordinary. Other days, she is camera ready, from flawlessly applied makeup to tailored dresses that flatter her body type.

Obama -- who passionately supports organic diets and assisting military families -- has shunned traditional White House costumes, opting for a modern cocktail of off-the-rack staples and couture wear. She has made a signature of sleeveless sheaths, even showing her toned arms in the official White House portrait -- generating a national discourse, however irreverent, on the first lady's right to bear arms.

She has embraced obscure, emerging designers and American designers such as Wu, and Isabel Toledo, who designed the memorable lemongrass dress she wore at her husband's swearing-in. But she has also fearlessly worn ready-to-wear basics that a recession-worn nation can appreciate.

So after her first 100 days, we give Obama's fashion policy a great approval rating.