What began as a troubling year for Bush, facing a new, energetic Democratic Congress, ended in triumph for the president as frustrated Democrats nursed their losses. Democrats failed in their No. 1 objective to stop the war in Iraq and bowed to Bush and his veto threats on tax policies, energy legislation, children's health insurance and general spending. After months of bitter fights, Bush said the year was ending on a high note.
One of three top suspects in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway wrote during an Internet chat session that the teenager was dead, Aruba's chief prosecutor said Thursday. Prosecutor Hans Mos refused to identify the person who wrote the message but said its discovery had contributed to the decision to re-arrest Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe last month. The men were subsequently released after they refused to speak to authorities about newly uncovered evidence.STY: Oh...well, if they refuse to speak then by all means, let them go.
ns a year by 2022. The bill also calls for improved energy efficiency of appliances such as refrigerators, freezers and dishwashers, and a 70 percent increase in the efficiency of light bulbs. It also calls for energy efficiency improvements in federal buildings and construction of commercial buildings. The new lighting standards alone are projected to lower consumers' annual electricity bills by $13 billion in 2020, remove the need for 60 mid-size power plants and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas, by 100 million tons a year, said the advocacy group Alliance to Save Energy. Democrats said the fuel economy requirements will save motorists $700 to $1,000 a year in fuel costs and reduce oil demand by 1.1 million barrels a day when the fuel-stingy vehicles are widely on the road. 
Florida voters may have a chance next year to approve a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Voters may decide next year whether Florida will become the 28th state to place a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Sponsors of the proposed ban claim that they have gathered the required 611,009 signatures necessary for a referendum vote, but Florida's Division of Elections website shows the group is 253 signatures short of its goal, the Associated Press reported Friday. An election official has yet to formally verify the signatures. Florida currently prohibits same-sex marriage, but John Stemberger, an Orlando attorney heading the group opposed to marriage equality, said a constitutional ban would prevent judges from overturning the law. Who's talking about kids? I thought we were talking about marriage? Somebody get Jamie Lynn Spears on the phone -- STAT!
In a year in which most films dealing with conflicting world cultures have failed to excite moviegoers, the makers of "The Kite Runner" hope to win audiences by bridging the divide of race and ethnicity. 
Pamela continued, "I didn't want to be rash or anything. Some people get married right away like it totally means nothing. I wasn't like that with my first marriage. Or my second. And I'm not going to be like that with my third, fourth, or fifth. Besides, Rick and I haven't gotten OUR sex tape out on the Internet..."
Seeing Daughtry in concert was spectacular. The man knows how to put on a great show and has the fantastic voice to back it up. 
Y
ou go, girl! If you want to name your child something stupid because you can't think of anything other than to name the baby after the day on which he was born, then you go right ahead. That's your prerogative. By the way, I hear K-Fed is looking to spread his seed some more. Interested?
Walt Disney Co. became the first major Hollywood studio to ban depictions of smoking, saying there would be no smoking in its family-oriented, Disney-branded films and it would "discourage" it in films distributed by its Touchstone and Miramax labels. Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger also said in a letter to U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, whose committee last month held hearings on the effects of movie images on children, that the studio would place anti-smoking public service announcements on DVDs of any future films that feature cigarette smoking.
A Chinese couple tried to name their baby "@", claiming the character used in e-mail addresses echoed their love for the child, an official trying to whip the national language into line said on Thursday. The unusual name stands out especially in Chinese, which has no alphabet and instead uses tens of thousands of multi-stroke characters to represent words. "The whole world uses it to write e-mail, and translated into Chinese it means 'love him'," the father explained, according to the deputy chief of the State Language Commission Li Yuming. While the "@" simple is familiar to Chinese e-mail users, they often use the English word "at" to sound it out -- which with a drawn out "T" sounds something like "ai ta", or "love him", to Mandarin speakers.
Synopsis: A disgraced former ping pong champion is drawn back into the world of high-stakes underground table tennis to carry out a top-secret mission. Far removed from the rigidly regulated world of professional sports, clandestine ping pong tournaments offer thrilling competition where only the strong survive. There was a time when the mere mention of the name Randy Daytona was enough to make even those most hardened ping pong player cower in fear, but these days Randy has fallen out of favor with ping-pong fans. The former champ soon receives a much-needed shot at redemption, however, when he is recruited by a determined FBI agent named Rodriguez to win a coveted spot in the upcoming underground table tennis tournament and ferret out the nefarious Feng, whose thriving criminal empire has transformed him into a true menace to society.
Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho may reconsider his resignation if he is cleared of a disorderly conduct charge to which he pleaded guilty last month, his spokesman said Tuesday. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, announced his resignation Saturday in Boise, Idaho. Dan Whiting said it was still the GOP senator's intention to resign effective September 30, "however, he is fighting these charges and should he be cleared before then, he may -- I emphasize may -- not resign." Craig on Saturday announced his intention to resign after almost a week of speculation. But in a voice mail obtained by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, Craig appears to tell his attorney before that announcement that that he is going to change his statement.
The skeleton of what is believed to be a new dinosaur species — a 105-foot plant-eater that is among the largest dinosaurs ever found — has been uncovered in Argentina, scientists said Monday. Scientists from Argentina and Brazil said the Patagonian dinosaur appears to represent a previously unknown species of Titanosaur because of the unique structure of its neck. They named it Futalognkosaurus dukei after the Mapuche Indian words for "giant" and "chief," and for Duke Energy Argentina, which helped fund the skeleton's excavation.
The American Red Cross ousted its president, Mark Everson, after learning that he had engaged in a "personal relationship" with a subordinate employee. Everson, the former commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, took the Red Cross job last May as the charity sought to restructure itself after sharp criticism of its response to Hurricane Katrina. In a statement, the Red Cross said its board of governors asked for and received Everson's resignation, effective immediately, after learning within the past two weeks of the relationship with a woman on the Red Cross staff. The Red Cross also released a statement from Everson, who is married and has two children."I am resigning for personal and family reasons, and deeply regret it is impossible for me to continue a job so recently undertaken," he said. The development was a blow to the Red Cross as it was making progress in overcoming image problems arising from its response to Katrina and the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.Coming from the organization that won't accept blood donations in times of need (such as 9/11) from gay men...
KHARTOUM, Sudan - British teacher Gillian Gibbons was convicted of insulting Islam for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad and sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation from Sudan, one of her defense lawyers said Thursday. Ali Mohammed Ajab, of Gibbons' defense team, said she was found guilty of "insulting the faith of Muslims in Sudan" under Article 125 of the Sudanese criminal code, a lighter conviction than the original charge of inciting religious hatred. A charge later confirmed by a judge leaving the closed court session. "It's a very fair verdict, she could have had six months and lashes and a fine, and she only got 15 days and deportation," said Robert Boulos of the Unity High School, confirming there would be no appeal. He noted that she would only spend 10 days in prison, having already served five.
Don't bring her to the U.S.! She'll go crazy and name her dog Jesus or something!
Paris Hilton is making a personal contribution to protecting the environment. "I changed all the light bulbs to energy-safe light bulbs and I'm buying a hybrid car right now," the 26-year-old celebrity heiress said Wednesday.
Growing up, my family always purchased Peter Pan peanut butter. To this day, it's remained my favorite. It seems to have more peanutty taste and doesn't taste as dry as other peanut butters. Therefore, I was sad and disappointed to learn that Peter Pan peanut butter was pulled from the shelves in February 2007 due to salmonella poisoning. It's been almost six months now, and while I haven't gone peanut butterless, I do miss my Peter Pan. 
"Paris' attitude is, 'I'm going to come in here, I'm going to do my time, get it over with, and I'm going to show the world who I really am,'" her spokesperson said.
Paris Hilton was doing well after spending her first night of her probation sentence in solitary confinement at a Los Angeles County jail, her lawyer said Monday. 
The Italian cinema industry is up in arms after recent comments from director Quentin Tarantino, who called the current state of the film industry "depressing." Italian newspapers on Monday and over the weekend were full of reaction to the American director's comments, which came less than a month after it was revealed that he would co-present a series of Spaghetti Westerns in a special sidebar at this year's Venice Film Festival. Tarantino is known to be a fan of old Italian films, but according to his recent comments published in Sorrisi & Canzioni -- the country's leading television magazine -- his love for the country's film productions does not extend to more contemporary cuts. "New Italian cinema is just depressing," Tarantino said. "Recent films I've seen are all the same. They talk about boys growing up, or girls growing up, or couples having a crisis, or vacations of the mentally impaired."
Just hours after strolling the pink carpet at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, Paris Hilton reported for jail late Sunday night, two days before the court-ordered deadline. Hilton will be calling Lynwood's Century Regional Detention Facility home for the next 23 days—assuming she behaves herself—where she will be paying the piper for driving with a suspended license while on probation for a drunken driving charge. Hilton originally surrendered at Men's Central Jail and was then transported to the Lynwood facility.
Astronomers have discovered 28 new planets outside of our solar system, increasing to 236 the number of known exoplanets, revealing that planets can exist around a broad spectrum of stellar types-from tiny, dim stars to giants. "We added 12 percent to the total in the last year, and we're very proud of that," said one of the study team members Jason Wright of the University of California at Berkeley. "This provides new planetary systems so that we can study their properties as an ensemble." The planets are among 37 new objects spotted within the past year. Seven of the objects are failed stars called brown dwarfs, with masses that dwarf the largest, Jupiter-sized planets but too small to sustain the nuclear reactions necessary for stellar ignition.
Actress Lindsay Lohan has returned to rehab after a weekend drunken-driving arrest, her publicist said on Tuesday, raising questions about whether she can start shooting her latest film as planned. Official word that Lohan was back in treatment came hours after entertainment trade paper Daily Variety said she had just joined the cast of "Poor Things," a comedy starring Oscar winner Shirley MacLaine and set to begin filming this week in Los Angeles. "Lindsay admitted herself to an intensive medical rehabilitation facility on Memorial Day. Because this is a medical matter, it is our hope that the press will appreciate the seriousness of the situation," the publicist's statement said.
