(CNN) — Twinkies. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts. For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too. Read More

Fergie got cheeky in south Brazil yesterday with husband Josh Duhamel — the same day Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Ludacris, Tyrese and the rest of the “Fast and the Furious 5″ cast hit the beach in Rio.
Read More

Wow, these crazies are really making a “go” of this tea party thing. God bless their sorry souls….

Ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin’s keynote speech at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville will now be open to the press at her urging, according to the event organizer. Read More

A woman checks a body after an earthquake in Port-au-Prince January 14, 2010. The death toll from Haiti’s earthquake could be between 45,000 and 50,000, with a further three million people hurt or homeless, a senior Haitian Red Cross official said on Thursday.

REUTERS/Kena Betancur

Watch the news video clip here . Witnesses have described their horror at seeing a tourist being eaten by a “gigantic” shark in South Africa’s most popular holiday destination.

Lloyd Skinner was pulled under the surf and dragged out to sea by the shark, believed to be a great white, off Fish Hoek beach in Cape Town. His diving goggles and a dark patch of blood were all that remained in the water. Read More

Emma Dausman and Judy Conner are great-grandmothers.

They are state champion bowlers, too.

The Grand Rapids pair recently won the Division 2 doubles title at the United States Bowling Congress’ Women’s Bowling Association state tournament near Bay City.

 
“It was such an accomplishment for someone with my average. All I could say was ‘Wow,’” said Dausman, 86, who has been bowling for 44 years but was in just her 10th state tournament. “It’s still the same 12-pound ball I’ve been using for 44 years. I started with it, and it fits my hand. It does have a few more scratches now, but I am throwing it straighter.”

Added Conner, 69, who has been bowling for 34 years and competed in 33 state tournaments: “We proved that you are not too old to bowl in this tournament and shine.” In a tournament open to any USBC-sanctioned state bowler, the pair won with a total score of 1,607 — 32 pins better than the second-place team. Dausman had games of 192, 189 and 173 for a personal-best 554 series.

And, since she carries a 125 average, Dausman had a 297 handicap. Conner had games of a 178, 203 and 176 for a 557 series. She carries a 161 average and had a 199 handicap.They had their outstanding series on the final day of the tournament last month.

A total of 4,436 doubles team competed in this year’s tournament, which for the first time was broken up into three divisions based on averages.

Michigan USBC Women’s Bowling Association Vice President Sharon Schildroth said the duo’s feat is a rare one.

“Most good scores and winners are by young people,” Schildroth said. “Over the years, women these ages just don’t win it but, in this case, it was just outstanding.”

Conner was ecstatic when she finally learned a week after they bowled that she and Dausman won their first state championships.Dausman gives credit to Conner for helping her.

“That was my best series ever, and I did it because of Judy,” Dausman said. “She is such a good bowler, and she really encouraged me the whole day. If it wasn’t for Judy relaxing me, I don’t think that I would have done so well.”

As for defending their title next year, that will have to wait.

Dausman and Conner are on a team of six who bowl at The Clique, and each year they rotate doubles partners in the state tournament.

The next time the two will bowl together will be in five years, when Dausman is 91, and Conner 74.

“I think when other bowlers reach their 80s, they may say to themselves that ‘If she can do it, I can do it,’” Dausman said.

“It doesn’t matter how old you are. If you enjoy it and relax, you never know how high you can score. And if you can win.”

Source

Looking spectacular in a bright orange/tangerine dress.

BLANTYRE, Malawi – Madonna is planning to adopt a second child from Malawi, officials said Thursday, but questions have already been raised over whether the newly divorced pop star will face obstacles because of her single mom status. An official at the Malawi welfare department said the pop star had filed adoption papers in the southern African country. Another person in Malawi close to the case said Madonna would be there this weekend and a court could hear her adoption case as soon as Monday.

A U.S. government official confirmed that an adoption bid by Madonna , an American, was under way. They all spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject. Madonna spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg in New York would not comment. Years ago, the singer was accused of using her celebrity status to circumvent Malawian adoptions laws when she adopted her son David — allegations she denies. That adoption became final in 2008. Now there are concerns that rules again will be broken for the newly divorced Madonna as Malawi also does not approve adoptions for single or divorced parents.

However, the Malawi welfare official said each case is considered on its merit. Malawian law is fuzzy on foreign adoptions. Regulations stipulate only that prospective parents undergo an 18- to 24-month assessment period in Malawi, a rule already bent when Madonna was allowed to take David to London. Madonna met David in October 2006 at a Malawian orphanage. His mother had died and his father was unable to care for him. She and her then-husband, British filmmaker Guy Ritchie , took David to their London home but it took two years for the adoption to become official.

The adoption was a trying process for the singer, who said the criticism hurt. Some children’s advocacy groups accused her of breaking up a family. They claimed the child, who is now 3, should have remained in Malawi and the star should have instead offered to support his father.

Rumors that Madonna wanted to adopt a girl from Malawi have been circulating for some time. But the first official hint came from the star herself last week.

In an interview in Malawi’s leading daily The Nation, the singer said she was considering another adoption but would only do it if she had “the support of the Malawian people and government.”

Before David’s adoption was finalized in May last year, a Malawi welfare official paid the family two home visits and wrote in a report that Madonna was a “perfect mum.”

If the adoption goes through, the 50-year-old singer would become a single mother of four. She also has an 8-year-old son, Rocco, with Ritchie and a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship.
Madonna first traveled to Malawi in 2006 while doing charity work and filming a documentary on the devastating poverty and AIDS crisis there. Besides releasing her documentary “I Am Because We Are,” she is also establishing a school for girls there.

Malawi is among the poorest countries in the world. Just over 14 percent of the country’s 12 million people are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and an estimated 1 million children have been orphaned.

In an interview last year, Madonna said she planned to visit Malawi this month with all of her children, but it is unclear whether Madonna ‘s children will accompany her on this trip.

She last visited Malawi a year ago, when she brought David and Lourdes with her. The star and her entourage spent their time visiting projects for street children and orphanages, and opening a new day care center funded by her charity.

A Washington woman visiting Wisconsin last year was arrested for drunken driving three times in three days, including twice in and around Kohler-Andrae State Park, according to court records released Wednesday. Jo A. Trilling, of Spokane, Wash., who was sentenced on the final two cases last week, was arrested in each case after driving off the road and getting her car stuck. She was arrested March 11, 12 and 13 of 2008, racking up a total of 30 days in jail and more than $3,000 in fines.

According to authorities:

Trilling was first arrested about 2 p.m. March 11, 2008, when a Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department deputy noticed her trying to drive out of a ditch near the Kohler-Andrae entrance. The deputy noticed Trilling wore only one shoe and smelled of intoxicants. A later blood test revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.21, more than 2½ times the legal limit. Exactly 24 hours later, the Kohler-Andrae park superintendent spotted Trilling’s car stuck in the snow in a campground that was closed for the winter. He told Trilling she would have had to drive through a muddy side lane and maintenance gate to get to that point, and she said she did not remember that.

Trilling told an officer she had “four or six cups of wine,” adding, “I am still finishing up the box of wine in my car from yesterday.” A box of Black Fox wine and a partial cup of wine were found in the car. Trilling was arrested and again served the mandatory 12 hours in jail before being released without bond, officials said. She then headed for Cottage Grove, in Dane County, where she was arrested after a citizen reported she was “all over the road,” according to a police report.

A partial bottle of wine was found in the car. Trilling had a blood alcohol-level of 0.16. The Cottage Grove case was concluded first and therefore listed in court records as the first offense. Trilling was fined $730 for that offense, $906 for the March 11 arrest in Sheboygan and $1,221 for the March 12 arrest in Sheboygan. Trilling was also fined $372 for an ordinance violation of resisting or obstructing an officer during the March 12 arrest.

Source

With Monday’s massive volcano eruption in Alaska likely to leave Anchorage and Gov. Sarah Palin’s hometown covered in ash, a Democratic strategist sends over the reminder that just a month and a half ago, another up-and-coming Republican star, Gov. Bobby Jindal, mocked the very notion of volcano monitoring.

Speaking in the non-State of the Union rebuttal, the Louisiana Republican said that instead of spending $140 million “for something called ‘volcano monitoring,’” Congress “should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C.”

It was a comment not well received among geological experts and one that now seems to pit Jindal against Palin on a minor but important spending provision.

Then and now, the U.S. Geological Survey, which will receive the stimulus money for volcano monitoring, had been keeping track of several active volcanoes across the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii and, of course, Alaska.

And the agency’s efforts seemed to pay off. As early as February 6, indeed, residents of cities near Mt. Redoubt were preparing for a volcano eruption because of information gleaned from early monitoring systems. As reported by USA Today, taxicab drivers were replacing air filters more frequently and local citizens began purchasing dust masks and preparing to be stuck inside their homes for lengthy periods of time.

Many Alaskans took issue with Jindal’s comment, the Anchorage Daily News reported. “Of course Alaskans want to know if a volcano is going to blow,” a Palin press aide told the paper.

A call to Governor Jindal’s office for comment was not returned.