




Yeah!!!
The Philadelphia Phillies are Baseball's Kings!
The beat the Tampa Bay Ray's 4-3
Took the series in 5 games.
Of course, game 5, took two days to play!
Congrats to the Phillies! And the Rays!
At least it wasn't BOSTON!!!!!!!
WESTFIELD, Mass. – With an instructor watching, an 8-year-old boy at a gun fair aimed an Uzi at a pumpkin and pulled the trigger as his dad reached for a camera.
It was his first time shooting a fully automatic machine gun, and the recoil of the weapon was too much for him. He lost control and fatally shot himself in the head.
Now gun safety experts — and some gun enthusiasts at the club where the shooting happened — are wondering why such a young child was allowed to fire a weapon used in war. Local, state and federal authorities are also investigating whether everyone involved had proper licenses or if anyone committed a criminal act.
"It's easy to lose control of a weapon like that ... they are used on a battleground for a very good reason," said Jerry Belair, a spokesman for Stop Handgun Violence, based in Newton, Mass. "It's to shoot as many times as you possibly can without having to reload at an enemy that's approaching. It's not a toy. It's not something to play with."
A passenger on a French train had to be rescued by firemen after having his arm sucked down the on-board toilet.
The 26-year-old victim was trapped when he tried to fish out his mobile phone, which had fallen into the toilet bowl, and fell foul of the suction system.
The high-speed TGV train had to stop for two hours while firemen cut through the train's pipework.
The man was carried away by emergency services, with the toilet still attached to his arm.
"He came out on a stretcher, with his hand still jammed in the toilet bowl, which they had to saw clean off," said Benoit Gigou, a witness to the man's plight.
The incident happened on Sunday evening, aboard a train travelling in western France between La Rochelle and Paris.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Law enforcement arrested two men in Tennessee who had plans to rob a gun dealer to shoot Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and "as many non-Caucasians" as possible, an official said on Monday.
An official from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said police found the men in the Jackson, Tennessee area with a number of guns, including a sawed-off shotgun, in their car.
"They wanted to go to a place where they could shoot as many non-Caucasian as they could," the official said, noting that the men first planned to rob a gun dealer. "They also had a plot to assassinate Sen. Obama."
Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, is leading Republican John McCain in opinion polls ahead of the November 4 election.
COLCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) ― Police in upstate New York say an elderly woman whose body was found in her son's freezer died of cardiac arrest.
Investigators believe Herta Auslander's son, Roland Auslander, kept her body in the freezer for more than a year as he continued to collect her Social Security checks. An autopsy conducted Saturday at a Binghamton hospital confirmed she died of natural causes.
State police say they discovered the body Wednesday after her 70-year-old son's lawyer contacted them and said the woman had died in April 2007. They say the woman was born in August 1908, meaning she was 98 at the time of her death if the lawyer's account is accurate.
State Police Lt. James Barnes says the son is cooperating, and no charges had been filed against him as of Saturday afternoon.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – In one of the more unusual duels at the North American box office, a perky Disney romantic musical trumped the fifth installment in the grisly "Saw" horror series, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
"High School Musical 3: Senior Year," the first big-screen adaptation of Walt Disney Co's popular TV movie franchise, sold $42 million worth of tickets during its first three days. The opening sets a new record for a musical, surpassing the $27.8 million bow of the ABBA-themed romance "Mamma Mia!" in July.
"Saw V" followed with $30.5 million, in line with the previous three installments. Moviegoers can expect additional sequels of both films.
The one-two punch of the disparate duo propelled overall weekend sales to their highest level in 10 weeks. The top 12 films grossed $120 million, according to tracking firm Media By Numbers, up about 40 percent from both last weekend and the year-ago weekend.
But the news was not all good. The new cop drama "Pride and Glory," starring Edward Norton and Colin Farrell, opened at No. 5 with just $6.3 million. It marks the second consecutive dud for Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros. following "Body of Lies," starring Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio, two weeks ago.
Disney, on the other hand, is enjoying a strong fall, first with "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" three weeks ago, and now with "High School Musical 3." The movie also opened in 19 international markets, and was No. 1 in each of them, led by Britain with $13 million.
"Music travels," said Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group. "Sometimes American comedy is difficult to travel, but this is a relatively simple story and a good quality, fun movie."
The song-and-dance franchise has generated two smash TV movies and two chart-topping albums, and it made teen idols out of its stars, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale. The three films were directed by "Dirty Dancing" choreographer Kenny Ortega.
Exit polling in North America indicated three-quarters of the audience was female, and just over half were under 18, Disney said. About two-thirds were families.
The plot of the new film brings the cast back to their fictional New Mexico high school, where Troy (Efron) must decide between pursuing a basketball scholarship or his song-and-dance dreams. The usual teen-angst issues ensue.
"Saw V" is the latest installment in the spectacularly profitable torture franchise that kicked off in 2004. Every October since then, a new "Saw" movie has opened at No. 1 in the $30 million range. Total sales peaked at $87 million for "Saw II," and the film's distributor, Lionsgate, hopes the new one will finish up in the $60 million range.
The studio, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, said "Saw" will soon become the biggest horror franchise, with total domestic sales about $1 million short of the $318 million haul of the 11 "Friday the 13th" films.
Last weekend's champ, the Mark Wahlberg thriller "Max Payne," slipped to No. 3 with $7.6 million, taking its 10-day haul to $29.7 million. The film was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.
DAMASCUS, Syria – U.S. military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack Sunday on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression."
A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the network of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria into Iraq. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area because Syria was out of the military's reach.
"We are taking matters into our own hands," the official told The Associated Press in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.
The attack came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.
A 43-year-old Japanese woman whose sudden divorce in a virtual game world made her so angry that she killed her online husband's digital persona has been arrested on suspicion of hacking, police said Thursday.
The woman, who is jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his identification and password to log onto popular interactive game "Maple Story" to carry out the virtual murder in mid-May, a police official in northern Sapporo said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.
The woman had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.
She has not yet been formally charged, but if convicted could face a prison term of up to five years or a fine up to $5,000.
A store that, perhaps due to a niche that’s not exactly necessary nowadays, unfortunately hasn’t had the pleasure of a patron since 1972 — Saturday, September 2nd, to be precise. And even then the customer in question was after a hand brush that unfortunately they didn’t have.
The unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft blasted off smoothly from a launch pad in southern Andhra Pradesh to embark on a two-year mission of exploration. The robotic probe will orbit the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of elements and minerals. The launch is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia. It was greeted with applause by scientists gathered at the site.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Action-packed "Max Payne" shot its way to the top of the North American box office, grossing $18 million during the video game adaptation's first weekend in theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
The dark, atmospheric film, which stars Mark Wahlberg as a cop in search of the men who killed his wife and child, outshone Oliver Stone's much-talked-about "W.," which debuted at No. 4 with a take of $10.6 million.
"The estimates for 'W.' were all over the place," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "You can't really expect that a politically charged movie like that would take the weekend over a big video game adaptation with a movie star in the lead role."
"Max Payne" follows in the footsteps of games turned into films including the "Tomb Raider" movies starring Angelina Jolie, which were commercial hits but critically clobbered by gamers.
Stone's portrait of U.S. President George W. Bush was released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
Walt Disney Co's family comedy "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" was kicked to the No. 2 spot with a take of $11.2 million, bringing its total receipts to $69.1 million.
The civil rights era movie "The Secret Life of Bees," which is based on a best-selling novel, was a close No. 3, debuting with take of $11.1 million for the weekend.
"Max Payne" was released by 20th Century Fox and "The Secret Life of Bees" by Fox Searchlight, both units of News Corp.
The action thriller "Eagle Eye" slipped to the No. 5 spot on the list with a take of $7.3 million, bringing its total so far to $81.3 million.
"Eagle Eye" was released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.
Summit Entertainment's teen comedy "Sex Drive," debuted at No. 9 on the weekend roster with a total of $3.6 million.
For middle-aged and older people at least, using the internet helps boost brain power, research suggests.A University of California Los Angeles team found searching the web stimulated centres in the brain that controlled decision-making and complex reasoning.
The researchers say this might even help to counteract the age-related physiological changes that cause the brain to slow down.
The study features in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
As the brain ages, a number of changes occur, including shrinkage and reductions in cell activity, which can affect performance.
It has long been thought that activities which keep the brain active, such as crossword puzzles, may help minimize that impact - and the latest study suggests that surfing the web can be added to the list.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran failed Friday to register what it said would be the world's largest sandwich in the Guinness book of World Records after people rushed forward and began eating it -- before it was measured.
Event organizers had planned to stuff the 1,500-meter-long sandwich with 700 kg of ostrich meat and 700 kg of chicken, and display it in a park in the capital Tehran.
But as the sandwich was being measured, chaos ensued...
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The new terrorism thriller "Body of Lies" failed to take the top spot at the weekend box office in North America, an apparent victim of moviegoers' preference for escapist fare amid global financial turmoil.
The Warner Bros. film, starring Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio as CIA agents battling a terrorist organization in the Middle East, had to settle for the No. 3 slot with $13.1 million, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
The Walt Disney Co family comedy "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" logged a second weekend at No. 1 with $17.5 million, taking its 10-day haul to $52.5 million.
The low-budget zombie horror "Quarantine" opened at No. 2 with $14.2 million. The $12 million film was released by Screen Gems, a unit of Sony Corp.
Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, had hoped "Body of Lies" would open at No. 1 with a three-day sum possibly reaching the high-teen millions.
"I'm a bit disappointed," said Dan Fellman, the studio's domestic distribution president. "It was too good for the gross it recorded."
DiCaprio stars as an Arabic-speaking field agent who teams up with Jordanian spies to uncover a dangerous terrorist operation. Crowe plays his boss back in the United States. The movie was directed by British filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott, who previously steered Crowe to an Oscar with "Gladiator."
FINANCIAL CRISIS
Fellman said the film's grim subject matter may have deterred moviegoers looking for more uplifting material as world leaders race to head off the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. This explains the strong hold for "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," one of the few comedies in theaters
It did not help that other Iraq war-related movies, such as "Rendition," "Redacted," "Stop-Loss" and "In the Valley of Elah," have also bombed at the box office.
Fellman said the film cost $70 million to make, but rival studios said it might have cost twice as much, given the hefty paydays for DiCaprio, Crowe, and Scott, not to mention the cost of shooting multiple explosions on its Morocco set.
As an aside, "Body of Lies" underperformed the $22 million debut of "Poseidon," the 2006 Warner Bros. bomb that Crowe's character sardonically references in the movie. Crowe recently said that Warner Bros. edited out an extended riff on the maritime disaster.
"Body of Lies" was not the only disappointment. Universal Pictures' football drama "The Express" dropped the ball at No. 6 with $4.7 million. And 20th Century Fox's children's film "City of Ember" opened at No. 10 with $3.2 million. Each cost about $38 million to make, according to their respective studios. Universal is a unit of General Electric Co's NBC Universal; Fox is a unit of News Corp.
Among new limited releases, British director Guy Ritchie's latest gangster movie, "RocknRolla," earned a solid $141,000 from seven theaters in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto. It was also released by Warner Bros.
Los Angeles (E! Online) - Hide the hamsters...the Visitors are baaack!
Hoping to do for V what the Sci Fi Channel did for Battlestar Galactica, ABC has given the go-ahead on a reboot of the hit 1980s franchise about alien lizards from another planet who take over Earth.
Scott Peters, the brain behind The 4400, will write and executive produce the update with Warner Bros. TV, per Variety. Warners shepherded the 1983 NBC TV movie, its sequel and a standalone series that ran during the 1984-85 season.
The new version will completely revamp the original, including changing the allusions from the Holocaust to 9/11.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is guilty of abuse of power, according to a probe by the state legislature.
The Republican vice-presidential candidate was accused of sacking a senior state official, Walter Monegan, in connection with a family feud.
But the McCain-Palin campaign team said that the report showed Mrs Palin acted within "proper and lawful authority".
The report could have a significant effect on Republican hopes of winning next month's US presidential election.
Mrs Palin has always denied any wrongdoing, and her supporters say the charges are motivated by her political opponents.
She stood accused of dismissing Mr Monegan for refusing to sack a state trooper who was in a bitter custody battle with her sister.
The report concluded a family grudge was not the sole reason for the dismissal, but was a likely contributing factor.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Gerard Butler, star of the movie "300," is being investigated for an alleged attack on a photographer, a Los Angeles police spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
In the latest in a series of clashes between celebrities and paparazzi in Los Angeles, a photographer filed a police report accusing Butler, 38, of punching him several times in the face in a scuffle early on Tuesday morning, said LAPD spokeswoman Ana Aguirre.
Investigators plan to contact Butler over the report, which names the Scottish-born actor as a suspect for misdemeanor battery, Aguirre said.
Butler's attorney could not be reached for comment.
Celebrity website TMZ.com reported that the photographer, who was not named, had been tailing Butler in his car after the actor left a bar in Los Angeles.
The photographer said Butler later got out of the car and threw three or four punches at him, which resulted in a hospital visit for stitches to his lip.
Last month, rap star Kanye West was arrested following a scuffle with photographers at a Los Angeles airport but prosecutors declined to file felony charges against him.
Actors Keanu Reeves and Pierce Brosnan have also been accused of attacking photographers in the last two years but were not criminally prosecuted.
Butler played King Leonidas in the 2006 movie "300." He also starred last year in the film "P.S. I Love You."
(Middletown, OH) -- Saturday night, people in the 3100 block of Wilbraham Road called police to report a woman wearing a cow costume was chasing kids, and blocking traffic. Michele Allen also allegedly urinated on the porch of one neighbor.
When officers arrived, they told her to go home. But later that night, they found her again, in the 2400 block of Verity, standing in traffic. This time, officers say, Allen smelled of alcohol and swore at them.
She was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
Allen plead guilty, Monday morning, in Middletown Municipal Court, and sentenced to a month in jail.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Canine comedy "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" was top dog at the North American box offices, digging up $29 million in ticket sales in its first weekend in theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
Thriller "Eagle Eye" with rising star Shia LaBeouf fell to No. 2 in its second week with $17.7 million, and teen comedy-romance "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist", starring the awkward heartthrob Michael Cera, debuted at No. 3 with $12 million.
"Beverly Hills Chihuahua" scored big for Walt Disney Pictures, a unit of The Walt Disney Co., with an irresistible dog tale and a smart marketing campaign that appealed to parents and kids who haven't had a good family film in months, industry watchers said.
"Everyone in Hollywood thought the little chihuahua would take a big bite out of the box office," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers.
The top chihuahua is Papi, the street-wise pet of a gardener who falls head over heels for a pampered, diamond-clad Beverly Hills pooch named Chloe. When Chloe gets lost in Mexico, Papi heads south of the border to rescue his love.
"Eagle Eye," about two people in a race against time to prove they are not fugitives from the law, helped push the overall box office up for the second consecutive weekend after months of slumps. The film released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc, has $54.6 million to show in proceeds in its first two weeks.
"Nick & Norah" looks to be another modestly budgeted winner for Sony Corp, recouping in its first weekend nearly all its $13 million cost.
Nick and Norah, played by Cera of "Juno" and "Superbad" fame and Kat Dennings, are New Jersey high school students who frequent the rock clubs of New York and depict today's youth in all its Facebook, iPod glory.
Rounding out the top five are two Warner Bros. films: "Nights in Rodanthe," the romantic drama starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, and the western "Appaloosa", directed by actor Ed Harris, who also stars in the film with Viggo Mortensen.
The documentary "Religulous," humorist Bill Maher's attack on organized religions, came in at No. 10 with $3.5 million in its first weekend. But the film released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, showed a per-theater average of $7,000, a high number for a documentary.
US Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin has accused the Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, of associating with terrorists.
She said he had been "palling around" with an ex-member of US-based militant group Weather Underground, which opposed the Vietnam War in the 1960s.
Mr Obama once served on a charity board with a member of the group, but he has denounced its activities.
A Democratic spokesman accused the Republicans of gutter politics.
"What's clear is that John McCain and Sarah Palin would rather spend their time tearing down Barack Obama than laying out a plan to build up our economy," Hari Sevugan said.
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man became so angry in an argument with a taxi driver over parking that he struck him on the head with a machete and chopped off the man's finger.
The 70-year-old man stormed off after remonstrating with the cab driver about his parking early on Wednesday morning, said police in Limburg-Weilburg in western Germany.
Soon afterwards, he reappeared at the driver's office armed with a 24-inch machete and attacked the 60-year-old, who was taken to the hospital with head injuries.
The assailant fled the scene, but later gave himself up. He is likely to be charged with attempted homicide, police said.