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| THURSDAY • DECEMBER 20, 2007 |
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MORE PEOPLE SIGN UP FOR JOBLESS BENEFITS; DATA SUGGEST EMPLOYMENT MARKET IS SOFTENING: More people signed up for unemployment benefits last week, suggesting that the job market is softening as the economy loses speed. The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for jobless benefits rose by a seasonally adjusted 12,000 to 346,000. It was a larger increase than economists were expecting. They were forecasting claims to rise to 335,000 last week. The four-week moving average of new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 4,250 to 343,000 last week, the highest level in two years. Economic growth in the October-to-December quarter is expected to slow to a near crawl _ a pace of just 1.5 percent or less, according to economists’ projections. The nation’s unemployment rate, now at 4.7 percent, is expected to climb to 5 percent by early next year.
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MICROSOFT, GOOGLE AND YAHOO SETTLE GAMBLING CLAIMS: Microsoft Corp, Google Inc and Yahoo Inc agreed to a settlement worth $31.5 million to resolve accusations that the companies promoted illegal Internet gambling, the Justice Department said on Wednesday. The companies were accused of receiving money from online gambling businesses to advertise illegal betting from 1997 through 2007. As part of the settlement, the companies will pay cash to the U.S. government and provide millions of dollars worth of public service advertisements informing young adults and teenagers that Internet gambling is illegal. U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway in St. Louis, Missouri, who prosecuted online gambling company BETonSPORTS PLC earlier this year, announced the settlement. Microsoft will pay $4.5 million to the U.S. government, $7.5 million to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and provide $9 million worth of public service advertising. Yahoo’s settlement of $7.5 million includes forfeiting $3 million to the U.S. government and providing $4.5 million worth of online ads for a public service advertising campaign. Google will pay $3 million, the department said.
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NEW ORLEANS POLICE, PROTESTERS CLASH; PUBLIC HOUSING CONTROVERSY: Police used chemical spray and stun devices as dozens of protesters seeking to halt the demolition of public housing in New Orleans tried to force their way through an iron gate at City Hall. Some people were arrested as officers tried to establish order and an ambulance arrived on the scene. It was unclear whether there were injuries or the ambulance was a precautionary measure. The council chambers seat fewer than 300. Once capacity was reached, people who were not permitted into chambers marched and chanted outside and eventually violence broke out. The clash happened at an iron gate that separates the council chambers from City Hall grounds. On the grounds, more than 50 had been chanting, calling for the council to reject plans by the Department of Housing and Urban development to demolish the housing projects. Then, protesters tried to storm the gate with a few able to squeeze through a narrow opening before police began using the spray and stun devices.
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 ECO-BOAT POWERED BY HUMAN FAT TO ATTEMPT ROUND THE WORLD SPEED RECORD: The fastest eco-boat on the planet will attempt to break the round the world speed record using fuel made from human fat. Pete Bethune, the New Zealand skipper of Earthrace, said the attempt to circumnavigate the globe,running 100 per cent biodiesel and with a net zero carbon-footprint, would begin from Valencia in Spain on March 1 next year. Bethune and his wife mortgaged their house and sold everything they own to help make the project happen, while continuing to seek support from sponsors.
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BUSH COMPLAINS ABOUT CONGRESS SPENDING BILL; AT YEAR-END NEWS CONFERENCE, PRESIDENT CRITICIZES WASTEFUL PROJECTS: President Bush on Thursday complained that Congress had stuffed a year-end spending bill with hundreds of projects that he called wasteful and instructed his budget director to explore options for dealing with them. Bush, in a year-end news conference, said that a $555 billion measure passed by Congress before breaking for the holidays contains some 980 in so-called “earmarks,” or projects usually benefiting only one state or congressional district. “So I am instructing Budget Director Jim Nussle to review options for dealing with the wasteful spending in the omnibus bill,” Bush said.
President Bush on Thursday complained that Congress had stuffed a year-end spending bill with hundreds of projects that he called wasteful and instructed his budget director to explore options for dealing with them. Bush, in a year-end news conference, said that a $555 billion measure passed by Congress before breaking for the holidays contains some 980 in so-called “earmarks,” or projects usually benefiting only one state or congressional district. “So I am instructing Budget Director Jim Nussle to review options for dealing with the wasteful spending in the omnibus bill,” Bush said.
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 LBN-SNAP:….
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GIULIANI TO CHECK OUT OF ST. LOUIS HOSPITAL AFTER OVERNIGHT STAY: Republican presidential candidate Rudy Guiliani will check out of a St. Louis hospital Thursday after he was admitted overnight for flu-like symptoms, his spokeswoman, Maria Comella, said. “After precautionary tests the doctors found nothing of concern at this time and Rudy will be going back to New York later today,” Comella said. “He is in high spirits and is grateful to the doctors and nurses who checked him out.” Giuliani — who had been campaigning in Missouri on Wednesday for the Feb. 5 Republican primary — became ill and then felt worse after his plane took off to return to New York. He returned to the airport, consulted his personal physician, then went to Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where he was admitted.
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RUSSIAN FM TO VISIT LIBYA; NUCLEAR ISSUE ON AGENDA: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to visit Libya next week to discuss a range of issues including Libya’s nuclear ambitions, the state-run agency RIA-Novosti reported.Lavrov’s visit with his Libyan counterpart, Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Shalgham, was scheduled for Dec. 23 and 24, the news agency said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin told RIA-Novosti that Libya had a right to civilian nuclear power. “We are ready to assist Libya in the implementation of its inalienable right to the benefits of civilian atomic energy,” Kamynin said. He said Russia and Libya had to “focus on promising oil cooperation,” adding that Russian companies Gazprom and Tatneft had launched the development of oil fields in Libya. The Middle East, Iraq, and Africa — including the Darfur crisis — were also on the agenda, Kamynin told the news agency, along with “world community efforts to counter terrorism.”
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MEDIA FIREWORKS; MCCAIN PLEADS WITH NY TIMES TO SPIKE STORY: Just weeks away from a possible surprise victory in the primaries, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz has been waging a ferocious behind the scenes battle with the New York Times and has hired DC power lawyer Bob Bennett to mount a bold defense against charges of giving special treatment to a lobbyist. McCain has personally pleaded with Times editor Bill Keller not to publish the high-impact report. The drama involves a woman lobbyist who may have helped to write key telecom legislation. The woman in question has retained counsel and strongly denies receiving any special treatment from McCain.
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MILITARY IN IRAQ ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF MORE DETAINEES DURING MUSLIM HOLY PERIOD: The U.S. military in Iraq on Thursday announced the release of 100 detainees at Baghdad’s Camp Cropper, a move called a “gesture of goodwill and reconciliation during the holiday of Eid al Adha” — the period coinciding with the end of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca known as the Hajj. About 850 detainees have been freed during the Hajj and Eid period. The 100 were freed from the detention facility on Wednesday. The military said most of the detainees went through “a review board process” and swore to a judge that they would “maintain peace and good conduct.”
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T.O. APOLOGIZES FOR JESSICA JOKE: It was all a joke. After a media firestorm was created with his comments about Tony Romo’s girlfriend, Jessica Simpson, being a distraction, Terrell Owens said he was joking and that he’s sorry. Owens, speaking before the Mavericks-Suns game at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night, said he apologized to Romo for all the confusion and added that he wants to speak to Simpson as well. Before Cowboys practice on Wednesday afternoon, Owens said Simpson was a problem for Romo. “Right now, Jessica Simpson is not a fan favorite in this locker room or in Texas Stadium,” Owens said.
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 FAMILY FOUND ALIVE AFTER THREE DAYS IN CALIFORNIA WOODS:
Stranded in the snowy California woods for more than three days after losing their way while searching for a Christmas tree, a father and his three children fashioned a “help” sign out of tree branches on a nearby unpaved road, according to the helicopter pilots who found them. The four sought shelter from the snow in a culvert and removed their sodden socks in an effort to stay warm and dry while they waited for rescue, the pilots said. Frederick Dominguez said that during the three-day ordeal, he and his children slept inside a log for warmth and ripped apart their shirts to wrap their wet, freezing feet. “You just go to survival mode,” he said. “Every parent would do that. You would do anything, sacrifice yourself, because these are your kids.”
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LATE NIGHT HOSTS TO RETURN, BUT THE STARS MAY NOT: Uncertainty over whether many of Hollywood’s biggest stars will be willing to cross picket lines and appear on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” both on NBC; CBS’s “Late Show With David Letterman”; or “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC has the programs’ producers in a frenzy as they try to book guests for the shows, which are scheduled to return with fresh episodes Jan. 2. Like other talk shows, Mr. Letterman’s “Late Night” has tentatively booked guests throughout the strike. As it turns out, Donald Trump has been booked for Jan. 2, which led Mr. Trump to call media outlets on Wednesday to announce that he would be among Mr. Letterman’s guests if the show returns on that day.
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 CATE BLANCHETT, INTO THE WILD LEAD SAG NOMINATIONS: Cate Blanchett was recognized for leading- and supporting-actress performances, and “Into the Wild” earned four top nods as the nominations for the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced Thursday. “Into the Wild” also earned nominations for supporting actor Hal Holbrook and supporting actress Catherine Keener. The other four films nominated for best ensemble cast were “3:10 to Yuma,” “America Gangster,” “Hairspray” and “No Country for Old Men.” “No Country for Old Men” also scored two nominations in the supporting-actor category: for Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones. In the leading-actress film category, Blanchett was joined by Marion Cotillard for “La Vie En Rose,” Julie Christie for “Away From Her,” Angelina Jolie for “A Mighty Heart” and Ellen Page for “Juno.” In addition to Hirsch, leading-actor nominations in film went to George Clooney for “Michael Clayton,” Daniel Day-Lewis for “There Will Be Blood,” Ryan Gosling for “Lars and the Real Girl,” and Viggo Mortensen for “Eastern Promises.”
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 LBN SEE IT:…
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LARRY CRAIG WINS $1.6 MILLION EARMARK FOR DUDE RANCH: Craig, the ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies before being forced to step down this fall after his sex scandal, still got an earmark in the omnibus spending bill allocating $1.6 million to Idaho’s Gold Creek Ranch. The money, which would be used as part of the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Legacy program, is for a 640-acre parcel of land in northern Idaho that’s feeling the pressure of development. The project was requested by President Bush, Craig spokesman Dan Whiting said. Helping the dude (ranch) is just one of the things Craig’s been doing since getting back in the saddle on Capitol Hill. Last week, he assumed a higher profile than he has since his scandal broke, taking to the floor in favor of an amendment limiting eminent domain. Although the amendment failed, the floor debate gave Craig a rare opportunity to win praise from his GOP colleagues, including Sens. Wayne Allard (Colo.) and Sam Brownback (Kan.), who haven’t always been so supportive of their scandal-plagued colleague. Brownback went so far as to liken Craig’s efforts to the founding fathers, invoking the words of Thomas Jefferson.
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STAR TREK DIY; FANS MAKE THEIR OWN ‘WEBISODES’: Capt. Kirk was wrong: Space is not “Star Trek’s” “final frontier.” It’s the Internet. Two seasoned Web producers are rolling out an unofficial audio podcast based on the Trek universe two years after Paramount canceled its remaining “Star Trek” TV series and a year before producer J.J. Abrams’ much-anticipated “Star Trek” film.
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 QUEEN ELIZABETH TO BECOME BRITAIN’S OLDEST REIGNING MONARCH: Queen Elizabeth II was set to become Britain’s oldest reigning monarch on Thursday, surpassing the record set by her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria. By early Friday, the queen will be 81 years and 244 days old. Victoria died in 1901, having lived 81 years and 243 days. A spokeswoman said Buckingham Palace had heard from historians and observers that the milestone would come around 5 p.m. (noon ET) Thursday. Buckingham Palace said the queen would not be marking the day with any special events or public engagements, but would be “working as normal.”
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$9.4B WRITE-DOWN SPURS CHINA INVESTMENT:
In a move that is rapidly becoming de rigeur on Wall Street, Morgan Stanley became the latest investment bank to go hat-in-hand to a sovereign investment fund for a cash infusion after posting its first-ever quarterly loss. To shore up a balance sheet that had another giant hole blown into it with an additional $5.7 billion write-down, Morgan received a $5 billion equity investment from China Investment Corporation, the country’s sovereign wealth fund. The charge brings to $9.4 billion the total for write-downs this quarter for Morgan - a number sure to be eclipsed when Merrill Lynch announces its results next month.
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HOUSE MAY ADD OUTSIDE WATCHDOG FOR ETHICS: A House task force yesterday recommended creating an independent Office of Congressional Ethics that would have the power to initiate reviews of lawmakers’ behavior. The new office, whose creation requires the approval of the full House, which reconvenes in mid-January, would be the first in either chamber to allow an outside body of nonmembers to examine alleged ethical misdeeds. But some ethics watchdogs warned that the office, if approved, would not be strong enough, particularly because it would lack subpoena power. Others, such as Common Cause, support the office as the best that can be achieved, given the constitutional stipulation that only members of Congress — acting through their ethics committees — can administer punishment to other lawmakers for internal infractions.
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DID YOU KNOW? ***The hot fudge sundae was invented at C.C. Brown’s Ice Cream Parlour on Hollywood Blvd. ***In the United States, ice cream is sold the most on a Sunday. ***In 1945, the first “floating ice cream parlor” was built for sailors in the western Pacific. This “floating ice cream parlor” could produce ten gallons of ice cream every seven seconds. ***One out of five people that eat ice cream binge on ice cream in the middle of the night. The person is usually between 18 - 24 years old. ***Baskin Robbins once made ketchup ice cream. This was the only vegetable flavored ice cream produced. However, they discontinued it since they thought it would not sell well.
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LBN-QUOTE: “A person always doing his or her best becomes a natural leader, just by example.” — Joe DiMaggio
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LBN-HISTORY: On December 20, 1803, The Louisiana Purchase was completed as the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States during ceremonies in New Orleans.
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LBN-FREE-BULLETIN-BOARD| Everything. Anything. Here. Now. | 1. Holiday lodging. The entertainment industry’s best kept secret. Private turnkey guesthouse inside tropical country-club type SFV mini-estate for show biz professionals. 18 mi. Hollywood/ 23 mi. ocean. $60 a night. heriwoods1@yahoo.com. | 2. High hopes, high notes. Singers reach for the heavens as they audition for a spot in Patti LaBelle’s choir. ‘Clash of the Choirs’ preview http://snipurl.com/1vfmf. | 3. It’s not easy being blue. A man learns to cope with a treatment that may be turning his skin blue. ‘I do tend to avoid public places’ http://snipurl.com/1vm27. | 4. LBN Reader Comment: “Time Warner Cable is the worst run company I have ever come across.” - Mindy Stevenson, Hollywood CA. | 5. Send your personal comment to us. 30 word maximum. Must be signed with city and state. E-mail FreeBulletinBoard@timewire.net. | 6. Kids First Relaxation CD, English, Spanish and French http://www.nadimadi.com/en/index.htm Great story telling combining recreational educational approach. This new creative CD collection focuses on learning and promoting healthy living for Little-ones. | 7. Enlightenment and not lies. http://booksbythesea.9f.com/. | 8. Pam Smart, 17 years later. What the past decade and a half has been like for the woman behind the “trial of the century.” Watch video http://snipurl.com/1vm2b. | 9. “The EYE is the jewel of the body.” - Discover the December LBN EYE: 10 of the most intriguing photographs anywhere. Only on http://www.lbnelert.com/. | 10. LBN Reader Comment: “I won’t be doing business with KaBloom Florist in Beverly Hills again.” - Donna Cardigan, Beverly Hills, CA. | 11. Four beer-drinking football fans get into the Christmas spirit! http://snipurl.com/1vl56. | 12. Cat vs. Dog, round 1. Psst. Hey, Dog — see my paw? See it? See it? How much will this dog take? Watch it here http://snipurl.com/1vm2o. | 13. Exotic cruises to Asia, Australia or the Amazon… let Mark Customize your cruise…mark@wwcruises.com. Summer cruises LA to Hawaii …book today. | 14. UFOs over Haiti? See for yourself if this popular video is convincing evidence of UFOs. Top videos of 2007 here http://snipurl.com/1vm2t. | 15. Principal donates kidney. Jim Friel is giving a kidney to an eighth-grader at his middle school. Why he’s doing it http://snipurl.com/1vm2w. |
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