Britney Spears resting at L.A. hospital

Pop star Britney Spears was resting at UCLA Medical Center on Thursday, her mother said, hours after police escorted her to the hospital from her Hollywood home.
A long convoy of police and a Los Angeles Fire Department ambulance transported the 26-year-old singer to the hospital after midnight, acting on what the Los Angeles Times reported was a "mental evaluation hold."
It was the second hospitalization for Spears this month. The police operation was planned far in advance and, according to the L.A. Times, followed a phone call to police from Spears' psychiatrist.
Asked if her daughter was resting, mother Lynne Spears said "Yes" to a throng of reporters as she departed the medical center.

Cancer struggles inspire patient crusader

Long before she took on America's embattled health-care system, Nancy Davenport-Ennis was riding high. She was a national speaker for the homebuilding and real estate industry, teaching classes at the University of North Carolina and writing a textbook about selling new homes. Her husband, Jack, ran a successful funeral parlor and they had two daughters in good private schools. Then, Davenport-Ennis got breast cancer.
"My diagnosis was probably the best thing that ever happened in my life," Davenport-Ennis said. "Until that diagnosis, I was so focused on my own family, my own community and my own career, that I really was not sensitized to what happens to you if you're diagnosed with a life-threatening illness."
But this isn't a self-help story. It's about a woman who got angry and decided to change the world.
Two years after her own diagnosis, a close friend of Davenport-Ennis was found to have advanced breast cancer. "She was told there were no options for treatment," said Davenport-Ennis. Cheryl Grimmel was 31 years old. "She had a 12-year-old son, and she essentially was making legal arrangements for what was going to happen next.
"I just felt there was a travesty, that a 31-year-old woman needed to have a second opinion, that a 31-year-old woman needed to have options."
Davenport-Ennis took charge of Grimmel's case calling hospitals, calling Grimmel's insurance company, calling her own doctors at Duke University Hospital and getting her into a clinical trial for an experimental drug.

Bush overshadowed by presidential race

Most striking to me about President Bush's final State of the Union address Monday night was how unsurprising it was. Before the speech, White House officials set low expectations -- and Bush met them.
This is a president who had previously used this same stage of a packed House chamber to dramatically talk about an "axis of evil" to build the case for war in Iraq or to launch massive domestic initiatives like Social Security reform. But this time he offered little that was new or bold.
In fairness to the president, his hands are fairly well tied as he begins his final year in office. With a Democratic Congress, he's unlikely to get to very much of his agenda enacted. And truth be told, if he had walked up to the rostrum and outlined 10 complicated new initiatives, I'd be writing today about how unrealistic Bush was being.
So this was in part an acknowledgement of the new political reality, especially with that exciting, wide-open campaign to replace Bush getting more attention. (Did you notice how all the TV networks justifiably spent so much time on those delicious cutaway shots in the chamber of Sen. Barack Obama huddling with new best-friend-forever Sen. Edward Kennedy, while Sen. Hillary Clinton sat nearby, no doubt fuming?

McDonald's dishes up diplomas to go

McDonald's employees trained in skills needed to run outlets for the fast-food chain can get credit toward high school diplomas, the British government announced Monday.
Along with two other large companies, McDonald's Corp. was given the power to award the equivalent of advanced high-school qualifications as part of a plan to improve young people's skills, said the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, a government education regulator.
It is the first time the government has granted national recognition to corporate training schemes. But universities and colleges will have to decide whether to accept the corporate qualifications as grounds for admission.
The fast-food chain had been granted approval to develop courses and set exams up to the standard of A-levels -- the final exams taken by high school students that determine college and university admission.
Rail infrastructure firm Network Rail Ltd. and regional airline Flybe Ltd. have also been given the power to award their own qualifications.
McDonald's has said it is introducing a "basic shift manager" course, designed to train staff in skills needed to run a McDonald's outlet, from marketing to customer service.
"It is right that we recognize and accredit employers that have shown a commitment to training and developing their staff," said the government's skills minister, John Denham.
"This is an important step towards ending the old divisions between company training schemes and national qualifications, something that will benefit employees, employers and the country as a whole.

Bill Gates gets serious about hunger

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates announced a new direction Friday as he pledged $306 million in grants to develop farming in poor countries, leading the charge for corporate responsibility at a major meeting of business chiefs.
The announcement by Gates, who is to step down from the computer giant later this year, drew attention from the financial woes that have dominated the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Gates received a standing ovation for his announcement at the suggestion of U2 frontman Bono.
The move, the first foray into agriculture by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will help boost efforts by the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland to shake off its image as a billionaire's talking shop that does little to solve the problems it discusses.

Deal near on economic stimulus, sources say

A deal is imminent on a $150 billion plan to boost the lagging U.S. economy, two officials close to the negotiations said Thursday. A planned Thursday morning meeting between Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who is negotiating on President Bush's behalf -- and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on hold now, the sources said, while leaders on Capitol Hill sell the plan to their respective caucuses.
An announcement on the plan could come Thursday afternoon, the two sources said.
"They're trying to put a bow on it" after progress on the deal was made Wednesday night, a senior Republican official said.
"They're very close to an agreement in principle," a senior Democratic aide said.
Democrats have dropped plans to increase food stamp aid and extend unemployment benefits while Republicans have agreed to allow tax rebates to go to people who don't pay income taxes, sources said.
Paulson ended a day of meetings with House leaders Wednesday night with signs of hope but no indication of a deal reached on the economic stimulus package.
"We're hopeful," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Wednesday night.
Aides in both parties said Paulson has been working aggressively in recent days as he tries to make progress before House Republicans head out of Washington for a legislative retreat at the end of the week.

Our leaders have squandered our wealth

President Bush's assurances that we'll all be "just fine" if he and Congress can work out an economic stimulus package seem a little hollow this morning.
Much like Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke's assurances last May that the subprime mortgage meltdown would be contained and not affect the broader economy. And it seems Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has spent most of the past year trying to influence Chinese economic policy rather than setting the direction of U.S. economic policy.
There is no question that Bush, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will quickly come up with an economic stimulus package simply because they can no longer ignore our economic and financial crisis. That economic stimulus plan will amount to about 1 percent of our nation's gross domestic product, an estimated $150 billion.

Church's Sexual Billboard Shocks Passerbys

Sexually themed billboards have shocked some drivers traveling on Blanding Boulevard and in Clay County, but more surprising than the billboards themselves is what they're advertising -- a church.
"At first, I thought it was a porn site thing," said one passerby.
However, that's certainly not what the billboards are promoting. They're promoting a series of sermons called Pure Sex God's Way at New Life Fellowship in Orange Park, according to WJXT-TV.

S.C. debate to highlight Democratic fight for black vote

The top three Democratic presidential candidates face off in a Monday night debate in South Carolina, with the hearts and minds of African-American voters on the line.
Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina share the stage at Myrtle Beach's Palace Theatre in a showdown as the nation honors the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with a federal holiday.
The debate, put together by CNN and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, comes five days before the Democratic primary in South Carolina, where almost half of the Democratic primary voters are African-Americans.
These voters will be crucial to the outcome of Saturday's primary in South Carolina. They now appear to be leaning heavily toward Obama, who if elected would become the country's first black president.

Bin Laden's dreadlocked son on peace mission

Omar Osama bin Laden bears a striking resemblance to his notorious father -- except for the dreadlocks that dangle halfway down his back. Then there's the black leather biker jacket.
The 26-year-old does not renounce his father, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, but in an interview with The Associated Press, he said there is better way to defend Islam than militancy: Omar wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between Muslims and the West.
Omar -- one of bin Laden's 19 children -- raised a tabloid storm last year when he married a 52-year-old British woman, Jane Felix-Browne, who took the name Zaina Alsabah. Now the couple say they want to be advocates, planning a 3,000-mile horse race across North Africa to draw attention to the cause of peace.
"It's about changing the ideas of the Western mind. A lot of people think Arabs -- especially the bin Ladens, especially the sons of Osama -- are all terrorists. This is not the truth," Omar told the AP last week at a cafe in a Cairo shopping mall.
Of course, many may have a hard time getting their mind around the idea of "bin Laden: peacenik."
"Omar thinks he can be a negotiator," said Alsabah, who is trying to bring her husband to Britain. "He's one of the only people who can do this in the world."
Omar lived with the al-Qaida leader in Sudan, then moved with him to Afghanistan in 1996.

FDA to declare cold medicines too risky for babies, toddlers

Parents should not give sniffling babies and toddlers over-the-counter cough and cold medicines, they're too risky for tots so small, the government will declare.
The Food and Drug Administration still hasn't decided if the remedies are appropriate for older children to continue using, officials told The Associated Press.
Expect a decision on that by spring, the deadline necessary to notify manufacturers before they begin production for next fall's cold season.
For now, the FDA is issuing a public health advisory on Thursday to warn parents to avoid these drugs for children under age 2 "because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects can occur."

Democrats face off in high-stakes debate

Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama blamed aides and campaign surrogates Tuesday night for fueling a campaign controversy over race, jointly pledging at a debate on the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. to put the matter behind them.
Obama said "not only in hindsight, but going forward," he regretted that his staff had prodded reporters to pursue the issue.
"Our supporters, our staff, get overzealous. They start saying things that I would not say," added the most viable black candidate in history.
"We both have exuberant and sometimes uncontrollable supporters," Clinton said in the opening moments of a two-hour round-table debate televised on MSNBC. "We need to get this campaign where it should be," said the former first lady, seeking to become the first woman to occupy the White House.
She said comments by black businessman Robert Johnson over the weekend were inappropriate, but sidestepped when asked whether she would bar him from playing a role in her campaign. Johnson made an evident reference to Obama's youthful drug use -- although he denied that was his intent.
Clinton, Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, the only white man among the candidates on stage, settled in for their debate as the former first lady won a meaningless Michigan presidential primary, a contest held in violation of party rules.
The debate unfolded four days before the party-sanctioned Nevada caucuses, and the tone was surprisingly cordial given the recent race-related controversy and the stakes involved in the wide-open race for the party's presidential nomination.

Pacman Jones accused of sucker punch

Suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones could be facing more legal trouble.
The Tennessean reported Tuesday that a woman has accused Jones, who was suspended for the entire 2007 season, of sucker-punching her at an Atlanta strip club on January 3.
Wanda Jackson, an employee at the club, filed an application with the Fulton County Magistrate Court asking a judge to consider issuing a warrant against Jones.
In her complaint, Jackson said Jones became angry after accusing the club's management of stealing money and a bracelet from him.
"I was sitting in the office and he lunged at me numerous times in an effort to do grave bodily harm," Jackson wrote in her complaint.
"Veronica Jones, an owner, went into the hall to deal with a member of his entourage. I followed to gawk. He was in the hall, surprisingly reached over or around a security guard and sucker punched me in my left eye."
The Titans declined to comment on the latest incident involving Jones, who was suspended by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for an accumulation of off the field incidents. In November, Goodell denied Jones' appeal for an early return.
"As we have said throughout his suspension, we will not comment on Adam Jones until he is reinstated by the commissioner," the Titans said in a statement.
When Jones' appeal was turned down, an NFL spokesman said Goodell would revisit the situation after the Pro Bowl, which will be played February 10.
This latest incident, however, could jeopardize his return to the league.

Grass

Grass is a common word that generally describes a monocotyledonous green plant in the family Gramineae. True grasses include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns. They include some more specialised crops such as lemongrass, as well as many ornamental plants. They also include plants often not recognized to be grasses, such as bamboos or some species of weeds called crab grass.