198 Pound Tumor - A day after surgery that completely removed a 198-pound (90-kg) tumor from his right leg, a Vietnamese man is recovering in the intensive care unit Friday, according to the hospital.

The 12-hour procedure, performed at FV Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, had been considered risky with a 50% success rate because of the amount of blood vessels around the tumor.

The tumor was first discovered when the patient, Nguyen Duy Hai, 31, of Da Lat City, was four years old, according to FV Hospital. He had undergone a surgery to remove it in 1997, but in 2001, the tumor grew, and no doctors agreed to operate on him, the hospital said.

The growing tumor had rendered Hai virtually immobile until his surgery.

The latest surgery, which required Hai's torso to be elevated, was performed by a team of surgeons from FV Hospital and led by Dr. McKay McKinnon, a specialist in plastic and reconstructive surgery from Chicago.

McKinnon has been credited with removing a 200-pound tumor from a woman in the U.S. state of Michigan in 2000 as well as a 176-pound (80 kilo) tumor from a Romanian woman in 2004.

198 Pound Tumor

Doctors expect that Hai's cardiac and pulmonary functions will return to normal over the next 10 days.

The hospital had set up a live video feed of the surgery for other doctors and hospitals to watch.

The cost of the surgery was estimated at $20,000, but the hospital said it will charge 60% of the cost, which will be covered jointly by the Red Cross of Da Lat City and sponsors.

The hospital said it is financing all the traveling costs and accommodation for Dr. McKinnon, who is performing the surgery free of charge. 303-pound tumor removed.

Elin Nordegren demolishes mansion - Elin Nordegren demolishes her $12 million Florida mansion for no good reason.Tiger Woods' ex-wife bought the 9,000 square foot North Palm Beach home in March 2011 after she reached a reported $100 million divorce settlement with her controversial straying husband.

Elin Nordegren demolishes mansion

Nordegren must have felt the six bedroom, eight bathroom mansion was a tad on the small side, so she did what any reasonable multi-multi-multi-millionaire would do: she smashed it into itty bitty pieces.

According to website TMZ, Nordegren has hired an architect to build her and her two children a new dream home. Perhaps due to the media coverage of her marriage's collapse under the weight of Tigerwoods' multiple mistresses, Nordegren is requiring every single worker on the demolition and building project to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Nordegren is staying in a nearby rental mansion while the work is completed.

Lost World Sea Creatures

Lost World Sea Creatures - Sea creatures in "lost world' discovered deep in the ocean near Antarctica! An expedition to explore the creatures of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the dark abyss of the Southern Ocean has revealed a “lost world,” straight out of a Jules Verne adventure. Scientists have found new species of crab, snail, sea star, barnacle, sea anemome, and even octopus. These animals thrive in total darkness, warmed by the heat of the vents, and mostly sustained by a food chain that begins with sulphur-oxidizing bacteria that thrive by the mineral-rich waters released from the vents. But scientists have also been surprised by what they did not find: common organisms found at hydrothermal vents in other oceans.



The study, conducted by a team led by Professor Alex Rogers of Oxford University, utilized a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to document marine creatures living around two hydrothermal vent locations at a tectonically active region called the East Scotia Ridge, not far from the Antarctic peninsula. Their findings were published in the January 2012 issue of the journal PLoS Biology.

Volcanically active regions of the ocean floor, such as tectonic plate boundaries, and ‘hotspots’ that spawn undersea volcanic mountains, are caused by the intrusion of magma from the Earth’s mantle into the crust. Resulting fissures in the ocean floor form hydrothermal vents that spew very hot mineral-rich water into the sea. Some vents, called black smokers, appear as chimneys billowing smoke. These are very hot vents releasing water rich in sulfides. The ‘chimneys’ are made of mineral precipitates, created when hot mineral-rich vent water meets frigid sea water. Another type of hydrothermal vent – not as hot as black smokers – is formed where hot water diffuses from cracks in the sea bed.

Hydrothermal vents occur at great ocean depths where sunlight never penetrates, yet, despite total darkness and extreme heat, life flourishes around active vents.

In a press release announcing their recently-published findings, Professor Rogers said:

Hydrothermal vents are home to animals found nowhere else on the planet that get their energy not from the Sun but from breaking down chemicals, such as hydrogen sulphide. The first survey of these particular vents, in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, has revealed a hot, dark, ‘lost world’ in which whole communities of previously unknown marine organisms thrive.

The most conspicuous member of the vent fauna was a new species of a type of crustacean called ‘yeti crab.’ These crabs, thought to feed on sulphur-oxidizing bacteria, were found carpeting large areas around the vents. Seven-legged predatory sea stars, also a new species, were seen feeding on stalked barnacles and yeti crabs. The vent fauna also included new species of snail, limpet, barnacle, and sea anemone. Several octopus of an unknown species appeared like ghostly apparitions in some images taken by the ROV. Fish, however, were very rarely seen.

There was another important and unexpected result. Said Rogers, in the press release,

What we didn’t find is almost as surprising as what we did. Many animals such as tubeworms, vent mussels, vent crabs, and vent shrimps, found in hydrothermal vents in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, simply weren’t there.

This absence may be caused by currents of the Southern Ocean acting as a barrier to prevent hydrothermal vent organisms in other oceans from reaching the Antarctic vents. In fact, past research indicates that ocean vents across the world have their own biogeographic provinces, created by geological and ocean circulation barriers that prevent some types of organisms from colonizing other vents. The unique fauna of these newly-explored Southern Ocean vents are, themselves, a new biogeographic province.

In April 2011, a panel of marine scientists that included Professor Rogers met to assess the state of our oceans. In their preliminary report, the scientists warned of a great risk we were facing, entering a phase of species extinctions in the oceans that’s unprecedented in human history. Said Professor Rogers:

These findings are yet more evidence of the precious diversity to be found throughout the world’s oceans. Everywhere we look, whether it is in the sunlit coral reefs of tropical waters or these Antarctic vents shrouded in eternal darkness, we find unique ecosystems that we need to understand and protect.

Bottom line: Exploration by remotely operated vehicles of deep-sea hydrothermal vents near the Antarctica peninsula has revealed a “lost world” of new species including crab, snail, sea star, barnacle, sea anemome, and octopus. Professor Alex Rogers of Oxford University led the team, which published its finding in the January 2012 issue of the journal PLoS Biology. The scientists said they were also surprised by the absence of common organisms found at hydrothermal vents in other oceans.

DASH Diet

DASH Diet - Did you know that DASH Diet is the Best Diet of 2012? Yes, thats right, the best diet of 2012 is the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, according to new rankings released by U.S. News & World Report. This is the second year in a row the DASH diet, which aims to prevent and lower high blood pressure, has won the category of "best diet overall."

Deborah Enos, a certified nutritionist in Seattle and a MyHealthNewsDaily contributor said:

"While it may have started as a [blood pressure] lowering diet, it really has incredible nutritional value."

Second place was won by the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet, which aims to lower cholesterol, and third place went to the Mayo Clinic diet, which focuses on weight loss.

"TLC is another example of a wonderful 'medical' type of diet that has gone mainstream," Enos said. But while it's low sodium requirement means it boosts heart health, it may be difficult for some to follow.

The U.S. News & World Report description of the diet's strengths and weaknesses noted that "The TLC diet takes work and a certain aptitude for reading nutrition labels."

"The easy-to-follow aspect is almost more important than the weight lost on a program," Enos said. Her clients, she said, have a difficult time sticking with diets that are hard to follow. "Now, for my clients who need to lower their cholesterol levels, this is an amazing and necessary diet for them to consider."

The rankings were decided by a panel of 22 experts in diet, nutrition, obesity, food psychology, diabetes and heart disease, according to the magazine's website. The experts rated the 25 diets in seven categories: how easy the diets are to follow, their ability to produce short-term and long-term weight loss, nutritional completeness, safety and potential for preventing and managing diabetes and heart disease. The full rankings were published online today (Jan. 4).

DASH Diet - Best diets for weight loss

The top three diets for weight loss are the Weight Watchers diet, the Biggest Loser diet and the Jenny Craig diet, according to the rankings.

"The data show that dieters had the best luck with Weight Watchers for both short and long term weight loss," and the diet ranked highly in terms of how easy it was to follow, Enos said. "The Weight Watchers plan is also the diet that people most often return to — it appears in the article, and in my own experience, to be the diet that people really refer back to over their lifetime."

The experts rated the Weight Watchers diet as a 3.7 out of 5 in the category of easy to follow, whereas the Biggest Loser diet scored a 2.9 in this category, according to the rankings. The Jenny Craig diet scored a 3.6, but fared less well than Weight Watchers in terms of its ability to produce weight loss.

"Let’s face the facts of our busy lives, if a program isn’t easy to follow, we probably won’t," Enos said.

Weight Watchers won the category of best commercial diet plan, edging out the Jenny Craig diet, which relied too heavily on packaged meals and came with a high cost, according to the rankings. However, when Consumer Reports released its ratings of commercial diet plans in May, Jenny Craig ranked as the winner. Those raters acknowledged criticisms that the diet is hard to follow, but cited a two-year study of 332 people showing that 92 percent of participants stuck with the diet. That study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2010.

DASH Diet - Best diets for healthy eating

The DASH and TLC diets topped the category of best diets for healthy eating, which emphasized nutrional completeness and safety. The Mediterranean diet ranked third. The data show that the DASH diet offers the best overall nutrition, Enos said.

"It has one of the highest levels of B-12 and potassium," she noted, whereas the Weight Watchers plan is low in those nutrients, and recommends that its followers take a multivitamin.

The DASH diet prescribes the number of servings of grains, vegetables, dairy and other food types that a person should eat daily, based on their calorie needs. It suggests high amounts of fiber, potassium and magnesium, and keeps sweets to a minimum. The diet caps salt intake to the recommended daily values —1,500 milligrams for people who are age 51 or older, African-American, or have hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease; 2,300 milligrams for everyone else.

The DASH diet also won in the category of best diabetes diets, while the Ornish diet, which focuses on low fat intake and emphasizes exercise and stress management, won for best heart-healthy diet.

Pass it on: One panel has decided the best diet of 2012 is the DASH diet, which emphasizes consuming lean protein, fruits and vegetables.

Angelina Jolie wardrobe malfunction

Angelina Jolie wardrobe malfunction - Angelina has a sticky red carpet moment and a wardrobe malfunction.

It's hard not to envy Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, pictured with arm wrapped round one of the world's sexiest men, actor Brad Pitt at the premiere of her new film Beowulf. But on closer inspection, the star was having a few wardrobe malfunctions - including her leather trousers splitting at the seams. First, Angelina got herself into a somewhat sticky situation as the sexy star's Christian Louboutin stiletto shoe got stuck in a wad of chewing gum on the red carpet.

Angelina Jolie Sticky moment: Angelina's rock-chick look was slightly spoiled by the wad of gum clinging to her Christian Louboutin stilettos at the premiere of Beowulf last night

Bad luck: Angelina's heels pick up an unpleasant accessory on the red carpet last night. The unattractive accessory moulded itself to the four inch heel of the designer shoes, spoiling Angelina's carefully groomed image. Then the incredibly skinny star, who has raised eyebrows with her painfully thin frame, surprisingly appeared to be busting out of her trousers.

Tight spot: Last night Angelina's skin-tight leather trousers, surprisingly, gave way at the seams despite the actress' shrunken frame

Splitsville: Brad's comforting hand on her bottom managed to slightly conceal the wardrobe malfunction As she cuddled lover Brad Pitt, his hand, which was placed strategically on her bottom, inadvertently concealing a split spreading in the seam of her tight leather trousers. Clearly, even Hollywood stars have their wardrobe malfunctions. Fears for the 32-year-old's health continued as she looked gaunt in her all-black ensemble which did her shrunken figure no favours.

Loved up: The couple put on a display of affection in front of the gathered crowds who had waited hours to see the stars of film Beowulf last night. The actress who was once renowned for her curves has dropped pounds since the death of her mother. She admitted that she had been shy about seeing her body so exposed in the animated epic. The film which uses cutting edge digital technology is based on the Old English poem about the Viking warrior Beowulf, who rescues a Danish kingdom from the deadly beast Grendel. Jolie, 32, plays Grendel's mother, who plots to destroy the warrior.

In one scene the gorgeous actress emerges from a lake naked and dripping in liquid gold. The image has been digitally enhanced using the latest animation techniques and Jolie's curves are rather more pronounced than in real life. Angelina told reporters: "She's a great character. It's great to play a bad guy and a mom." She has three adopted children, Maddox, six, Zahara, two, and the most recent addition, Pax Thien, three as well as her own baby, Shiloh, with Brad Pitt who was born last year. DailyMail

Woman accused of cooking meth at Wal-Mart

Woman accused of cooking meth at Wal-Mart - Watch the video of an Oklahoma woman accused of cooking meth inside Walmart! An Oklahoma woman was arrested for allegedly mixing chemicals needed to make meth inside a Walmart. She reportedly told police she was too broke to buy the chemicals.



Shoppers had no idea this woman is suspected cooking meth inside this Walmart while they were inside. Shopper Jessica Fuentes had her one-year-old son in the store.

"People need to start thinking. If she has family she needs to think about her family," Fuentes said. "If you are broke, do something; get a job, do something better with your life. Don't do something like that. It's just wrong."

Police said once Walmart security knew what Elizabeth Halfmoon was up to they called police.

"When I saw her she had just finished mixing-she had just finished up the mixing process of some sulfuric acid with starter fluid in a bottle and was in the process of taping the cap on to the bottle," said Officer David Shelby, a spokesman for the Tulsa Police Department.

They immediately got her and the ingredients out of there before anyone got hurt. No one was evacuated from the store. Halfmoon denied attempting to make meth in the store, but Officer Shelby said firefighters told him differently.

"Speaking with some of the firefighters that were on the scene, she made statements to them that was what she was doing," Shelby said. "She was attempting to obtain these chemicals and was in the process of trying to manufacture methamphetamine. However, she said that she was not very good at it."

As she was mixing some of the chemicals in the store, it ate some of the paint off of one metal shelf. Another officer who responded didn't know exactly what Halfmoon made and had to be treated at a local hospital for chemical burns on his hands.

"Something could have happened, something could have blown up in there. We would have all been screwed," said one customer.

Police said they arrested Halfmoon last month in another meth sting. She had just recently been released from jail. KSDK

Wealthy couple on welfare, feds say

Wealthy couple on welfare, feds say - Wealthy couple in Seattle was collecting more than $100,000 on welfare, the feds say.The couple, a chiropractor and his wife live in a $1.2 million waterfront home and have spent the past eight years flying to Moscow, Paris, Israel, Turkey, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

Now, the U.S. attorney's office is suing David Silverstein and Lyudmila Shimonova, accusing them of filing false claims and demanding that the couple pay back more than $135,000 in federal housing assistance since 2003. Prosecutors are also seeking tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

In gaining Section 8 housing assistance, Shimonova represented that she lived alone with her two children and that her household assets were less than $5,000. Silverstein received the monthly benefits of $1,272 as Shimonova's purported landlord, the government said.

Shimonova also received benefits under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, as well as Social Security cash reserved for people who can't work due to age or disability and whose assets fall below a certain threshold - $3,000 for a married couple or $2,000 for a single person, the complaint said.

"Defendants have separately and, it appears, in conjunction with one another made false representations to various state and federal agencies in order to obtain federally funded benefits," assistant U.S. attorneys Harold Malkin and Kayla Stahman wrote.

Meanwhile, they were traveling the world, according to Department of Homeland Security records.

Michael Radyshewsky, a federal welfare fraud investigator, wrote in an application to search the couple's home that they took weeklong trips to Moscow in 2003, Dominican Republic in 2005, and Mexico and France in 2009. In 2007, they went for 12 days to Israel, and this past June they took a two-week trip to Turkey.

Silverstein said Tuesday his lawyer asked him not to comment. The home did not appear to have a listed phone number, and no contact information for Shimonova could immediately be found.

The investigation included surveillance of the three-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot home on Lake Washington, during which agents observed his black Jaguar parked there frequently.

Though Shimonova had claimed she was single and lived there alone, Silverstein listed it as his residence on his driver's license and passport application, the prosecutors said.

But in documents filed so that he could receive the housing assistance, he listed his office as his residence to conceal that he was living with Shimonova - not her landlord, they said.

Furthermore, it appeared clear that the pair was actually married. Silverstein wrote on the website of his chiropractic business: "On a personal note, I am happily married with two children, whose careers are in medicine and Middle Eastern studies. As a family, we all enjoy snow-shoeing, mountain climbing and ocean sports."

A report of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle for the 2010 fiscal year listed "Mila and Dr. David Silverstein" as donors.

In addition to failing to disclose the marriage or living situation, Shimonova also failed to disclose bank accounts in her name containing tens of thousands of dollars, prosecutors said.

The lawsuit seeks to have the couple pay $11,000 in fines for each false claim the couple made. The U.S. attorney's office

Demi Moore AA sponsor funeral

Demi Moore AA sponsor funeral - Devastated Demi Moore is overcome by grief at funeral of old friend and AA sponsor!

Demi Moore had a difficult few weeks after announcing she had split from husband Ashton Kutcher following allegations of his infidelity. But over the weekend, Demi Moore put her marriage trouble aside as she attended the funeral of her long-time friend Pattsy Rugg.

Looking understandably upset, Demi clutched a male friend's arm as she left the Christ the King Church in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, following the emotional service. Wearing an all-black outfit, Demi appeared to have lost even more weight since releasing a statement about the end of her marriage, and looked worryingly thin as she headed home.

She later attempted to conceal her tears under a pair of sunglasses. Demi, 49, was close friends with Rugg, a substance abuse counsellor who is reported to have died from complications arising from pneumonia. The pair are believed to have met when Rugg was appointed as Demi's Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor.

Demi was so close to Rugg that she even used to introduce her to friends as her mother. Rugg, who was a certified art therapist, worked at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility. She died aged 70 on November 25th.

An obituary for Rugg read:

'Pattsy, born in Worcester, Mass September 25, 1941, leaves us with a legacy of love, compassion and accomplishments that go far beyond any words captured in this difficult announcement.'

Demi and Ashton confirmed they had split last month following claims that he had cheated with Sara Leal. Last night the actress's estranged husband was all smiles as he flirted with Glee star Lea Michele at the premiere for new film New Year's Eve. DailyMail

Principal chocolate sauce photo

Principal chocolate sauce photo - Pupils at scandal-hit school post sexy Facebook shot of principal over hallways! A photo has emerged of the principal of a failing New York school grinding with a shirtless man covered in what looks like chocolate sauce.

The photo comes as the school, and its principal Sharron Smalls, 43, are under investigation for a credit-swap program that has allegedly allowed hundreds of students to receive a diploma without taking the courses required for graduation.

Ms Smalls used the scandalous photo as her Facebook profile picture until last week, but some students were able to find it and posted copies all around the school in retaliation for the credit-swap scandal.

As a result of the investigation, nearly half of the seniors at Jane Addams High School, in the south Bronx, may not graduate this May.

Their resentment of their principal was clear when some of the students talked to the New York Daily News about the racy Facebook photo.

'I cannot believe my principal would dance like that,' said Christine Daniels, 18, who is a senior at the school.

Others pointed out the hypocrisy highlighted by the photo: the all-girls school dress code tries to keep the students in line, saying 'the thug look is out'.

'She doesn't want us to come to school with short shorts and then she turns around and does this. It’s gonna be bad for college, very bad,' said senior Tehrra Smith, 17.

It seems that the students are not the only ones upset with Ms Small's performance since she started leading the school in 2007.

'These photos are just another example of our leader’s poor judgment. No matter how this turns out, principal Smalls needs to go,' said Stephen Tavano, one of the school's long-time math teachers.

The photo is clearly not going to do good things for Ms Smalls' reputation, which is not coming at a bad time during the credit-swap investigation.

The school has been regarded poorly for quite some time, though, as it received the lowest grade on the city's last progress report. As a result, the credit-swap issue seems to be simply adding to the reasons education officials are thinking of closing the school.

'This is a school that has for years performed far below citywide averages. This is why we are considering phasing it out,' said the city's education department spokesman Margie Feinberg.

'When you are in a leadership position in a school, you have to consider the potential downside of exposing your personal life on social media,' Ms Feinberg told The Daily News.

Dailymail

Man killed wife who killed son

Man killed wife who killed son - Man from New Hampshire killed his wife who killed their 4-year-old son! A New Hampshire man was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison Friday for beating his wife to death with a flashlight after he came home to find she had strangled their 4-year-old son with a ribbon and tried to kill their 7-year-old daughter.

Christopher Smeltzer, 38, pleaded guilty to killing Mara Pappalardo, who was hospitalized several times for mental illness. Prosecutors say she was paranoid, obsessed with death and convinced her husband and mother-in-law were plotting to take her children away.

"When I walked into the room, as soon as I saw my son, I knew something was very wrong," Smeltzer told the court before he was sentenced, his voice breaking at times. "I knew he was dead. And I lost all control. Enraged, I struck my wife. I did something that was not going to bring my son back."

Smeltzer was charged with second-degree murder in the November 2010 killing at their Auburn home. Prosecutors later downgraded that to manslaughter, saying he was provoked by the sight of the still bodies of their son, Mason, and daughter, Mercey.

He arrived home Nov. 7 to find Mason with a ribbon around his neck and Mercey with a scarf around hers. He thought both were dead. Pappalardo tied a blue rope around her own neck in an attempt to kill herself, although prosecutors said she died from both strangulation and Smeltzer hitting her in the head with the flashlight.

Smeltzer did not call 911. Instead, he snipped the ribbon off Mason's neck and removed the scarf from Mercey's. Then he took all the pills he could find -- painkillers, sleeping aids and methadone -- and lay down on the couch to die.

He was awakened the next morning by Mercey, who asked if her mother and brother were breathing and requested a cup of tea. He made her one, then called his father and 911.Smeltzer, who was wearing handcuffs Friday, wept while talking about how much he misses his son.

"I miss my wife as well," he said. "I miss Mara's smile and heart and the way she played with our children."

He apologized to her family.

"I brought more pain and sorrow," he said, adding he wishes every day he had a rewind button.

Judge Tina Nadeau said if Smeltzer earns a college degree and completes anger management behind bars, his minimum sentence would be reduced to 10 years.

Before Smeltzer spoke, a court-appointed guardian representing Mercey played a recording of the child reading a letter to the judge in which she said her father killed her mother and Mason.

"If he loves me, why would he try to kill me?" she said. "If my daddy gets out, how will I keep safe? Please keep him in jail for the rest of his life."

After that, prosecutor Jane Young got up and said the recording is contrary to statements Mercey has made in the past, in counseling and interviews. She repeatedly had said her father had taken the scarf off of her neck. She has said she remembers her mother carrying her into the bedroom, but doesn't remember what happened next, Young said.

Prosecutors said there is no evidence that Smeltzer killed Mason. AZCentral

James blames Bullock

James blames Bullock - Jesse James Blames Marriage to Sandra Bullock for Losing Himself! On Monday, motorcycle mogul Jesse James made his return to reality TV on American Chopper: The Build-Off -- and he made sure to reference Sandra Bullock, his third wife, whom he divorced in 2010 after five years.



In an apparent apology to fans for losing touch with himself, James, 42, said:

"I became a big shot and married some Hollywood actress and didn’t talk to anybody anymore, so I feel bad. . . I feel obligated to reconnect with all these people and show 'em that I'm still the same fabricator motorcycle guy. I'm not what I became."

Of course, James and Bullock, 47, called it quits largely due to his affair with Michelle "Bombshell" McGee and several other women. He rebounded in August 2010 with Kat von D -- to whom he became engaged (twice!) before they broke up for good earlier this year. Jesse James admitted the affair Von D later revealed that James cheated on her with 19 women.

Except for close platonic pal Ryan Reynolds, Bullock hasn't yet stepped out with a new guy -- except for Louis Bardo, her adorable little boy, whom she adopted nearly two years ago.

Other James Blames Bullock Related Story:

• Yahoo:James Blames Bullock
• Jesse James Blames Marriage to Sandra Bullock for Losing Himself

Angelina Jolie few friends

Angelina Jolie few friends - It's a known fact that Angelina Jolie have few friends, with beauty, wealth and a gorgeous family, Angelina Jolie seems to have it all. But the actress has confessed there is at least one thing missing in her life - female friends. In an interview with the new issue of U.S. Marie Claire, she spoke frankly to the magazine about her lack of female confidantes.

'It was nice for me to play with other girls; I don't really have girlfriends in movies, if you've noticed, ' she said.

'Well, I have a few girlfriends, I just... I stay at home a lot. I'm just not very social. I don't do a lot with them, and I'm very homebound.'

The actress, director and mother-of six, who looks stunning in a blue top and gold statement ring, has previously bemoaned the fact that she really only chats with her partner, Brad Pitt.

'I'll talk to my family,' said the actress, 'I talk to Brad ... But I don't know, I don't have a lot of friends I talk to. He is really the only person I talk to.

Angelina's reputation as the ultimate man-eater and husband-stealer may account for her lack of gal pals. She famously enticed Brad away from his wife, Jennifer Aniston, and Angelina’s second husband Billy Bob Thornton broke off his engagement to Laura Dern to elope with his Pushing Tin co-star. One of the few close female friends that is not deterred by Angelina's reputation is singer Gwen Stefani. Earlier this year the A-listers were spied with Gwen Stefani getting together at Gwen's home in London for a fun-filled playdate .

'All of the kids are very close in age. They've attended each other's birthday parties and gotten together several times at each other's homes,' a source to Yahoo news at the time.

The pair have been friends since 1998. 'Somehow Gwen and I keep ending up pregnant at the exact same time,' Jolie has explained. how many children does angelina jolie have?, Best known for action films such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Wanted, Angelina also reveals that she may want to move on from acting.

'I woke up one day realizing, God, I'm an actor,' she said, 'I don't think I intended to be an actor. I think my mother wanted it for me. 'I loved telling stories, and I enjoyed the profession, but is it too late to be something else?'

When asked whether she and partner Brad Pitt were planning to extend their already considerable brood, she would only say:

'Nothing planned at the moment, but we just don't know. I could end up pregnant."

And Angelina credits Brad with helping her juggle her career with raising children.

'I have a wonderful partner in Brad and we take turns working always,' she said in the interview

The star also touched on the subject of her children wanting her to marry long-term love Brad, 47.

'They have mentioned it, yes,' she admitted.

She also opened up about her daughter Vivienne being a 'girly girl', divulging; 'She is so elegant and delicate. Vivi will pick flowers from the garden and put them in her hair.'

'She likes to get her nails done and collects stuffed animals' She added: 'It's very funny for me to have to buy all things pink and watch princess movies!' 'Knox' she says however, 'is very much a dude. Very physical, tough. He loves dinosaurs and swords.

She also gushed about her happiness saying:

Brad has expanded my life in ways I never imagined. We built a family. He is not just the love of my life, he is my family. I hold that very dear. 'I suppose what I’ve learned from Brad is to be able to have the kind of family whose happiness and well-being comes before your own.' 'I’m very, very grateful to have such a loving family, and I wouldn’t have that without him.'

Speaking about the subject of her film Jolie said:

'I think it's still hard to understand what happened and how it could happen 40 minutes away from Italy in the '90s at the time Schindler's List came out."

Explaining the inspiration for the movie she said:

'It began as a private exercise, an excuse to get out some of my frustrations wthe international community and justice issues.' 'Some of the very darkest sections of the film were conceived in Shiloh's art class; I was in the back waiting for the kids to finish,' she added darkly.

The Hollywood star has also revealed she plans to do another war film focusing on Afghanistan, where she made humanitarian trips to recently. In the Land of Blood and Honey is is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 23. The new issue of Marie Claire is on newsstands Tuesday December 13. DailyMail

80-year-old ducks jail

80-year-old ducks jail - 80-year-old faces jail time for feeding ducks. An 80-year-old woman who has been feeding ducks in her town for 45 years faces up to 30 days in jail for refusing to stop feeding the birds. Officials say they are too messy. An 80-year-old woman known as "the bird lady" has been criminally charged after she refused to stop feeding flocks of ducks and geese that officials say are littering a pond and park with waste.

An assistant magistrate at Lynn District Court charged Claire Butcher on Wednesday with violating a "no trespass" order issued against her in 2009.

CBS Boston reports Butcher has been feeding the birds for 45 years at Flax, Sluice and Goldfish Ponds in Lynn, but city officials say they are finally fed up after complaining for several years, asking her to stop bringing shopping carts full of bread to the park.

Butcher said she will not stop feeding the birds because they "don't belong to the city, they belong to God."

Officials say she has created a public health nuisance by feeding the birds, causing a problem with animal feces and attracting rats, repeatedly ignoring a city ordinance forbidding it, and the "no trespass order against her.

Finally, the city launched a criminal complaint and on Wednesday, a court ruled that Butcher had violated the order and a city ban on feeding wildlife and should face criminal charges.

Butcher says she is disgusted by the city's response to her feeding "a few domesticated ducks."

"I guess Lynn (Mass.) has nothing else to do besides chase an 80-year-old woman down the street for feeding ducks," she said.

The city agrees the situation looks bad, but their major concern is public safety. "The only think we wish to do is have her stop. It is a clear public safety issue at this time and the city has had enough."

The "Bird Lady" faces a maximum sentence of 30 days in jail and a $100 fine.

Batman extra dies on set

Batman extra dies on set - An extra on the New York City set of "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" died during a rehearsal last month, Warner Bros and the Screen Actors' Guild confirms.

The New York Post reports that in November, an unidentified male suffered a heart attack after wandering away from the Wall Street set, and was found some time later. He was rushed to a hospital, but was unable to be revived.

"The studio can confirm that a male extra passed away while on a break during an off-set crowd rehearsal for a sequence with several hundred extras ... in early November. Production fully cooperated with the authorities' investigation, which established that he died of natural causes," a rep for Warner Bros said.

"The Dark Knight Rises," Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman film, shot throughout New York City, including a number massive brawl scenes on and around Wall Street. The scenes involved Batman, played for the third time by Christian Bale, taking on villain Bane, who is played by Tom Hardy. Filming in New York caused traffic snarls throughout the city.

The film also shot in Los Angeles and London, amongst other international cities. NewYork Post

Freed rats share chocolate

Freed rats share chocolate, they are nice says a study.

Freed rats share chocolate - Rats are willing to work hard to free their (painlessly) trapped pals, and then they share chocolate, according to a new study. Scientists say the free rats exhibit an emotion previously believed to belong only to higher mammals.

The English language is not especially kind to rats. We say we "smell a rat" when something doesn't feel right, refer to stressful competition as the "rat race," and scorn traitors who "rat on" friends. But rats don't deserve their bad rap. According to a new study in the December 9 issue of Science, rats are surprisingly selfless, consistently breaking friends out of cages—even if freeing their buddies means having to share coveted chocolate. It seems that empathy and self-sacrifice have a greater evolutionary legacy than anyone expected.

In 2007 neuroscientist Peggy Mason of the University of Chicago wrote about the neurobiology of empathy for Scientific American. Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal, a new PhD student in integrative neuroscience who worked across the street from Mason in a different lab, saw the article and proposed a collaboration. "Scientific American really brought us together," Mason says.

In the new study, Mason and Bartal placed pairs of rats in Plexiglass pens. One rat was trapped in a cage in the middle of the pen, whereas the other rat was free to run around. Most free rats circled their imprisoned peer, gnawing at the cage and sticking their paws, noses and whiskers through any openings. After a week of trial and error, 23 of the 30 rats in the experiment learned to open the cage and free their peers by head-butting the cage door or leaning their full weight against the door until it tipped over. (The door could only be opened from the outside.) At first the rats were startled by the noise of the toppling door. Eventually, however, they stopped showing surprise, which suggests that they fully intended to push the door aside. Further, the rodents showed no interest in opening empty cages or in those containing toy rats, indicating that a break out was their genuine goal.

In this first set of experiments, most rats seemed quite willing to help their peers, but Mason wanted to give them a tougher test. She placed rats in a Plexiglass pen with two cages: in one was another rat, in the other was a pile of five milk chocolate chips—a favorite snack of these particular rodents. The unrestricted rats could easily have eaten the chocolate themselves before freeing their peers or been so distracted by the sweets that they would neglect their imprisoned friends. Instead, most of the rats opened both cages and shared in the chocolate chip feast.

"In our lab we called it the 'chocolate versus pal' experiment," Mason says. "The rat could have put his butt in the opening of the cage containing chocolate to block the other guy, but he didn't. They were sharing food with their pals. In rat land, that is big—I was shocked." Mason says that free rats typically took the chocolate out of the cage before eating it and that sometimes the free rats placed the chocolate chips in front of or very near their recently sprung peers, "as if delivering it."

Mason's new study is one of the most recent in a series of experiments changing how scientists think about empathy and altruism in the animal kingdom. At first, most people agreed that true altruism was a uniquely human characteristic requiring an awareness of one's actions as selfless. Now it seems that many animals have evolved instincts to help others, even at a cost to themselves, and that we inherited these same instincts.

"The bottom line is that helping an individual in distress is part of our biology," Mason says. "It's not something that develops or doesn't develop because of culture."

In earlier work, McGill University psychologist Jeffrey Mogil and his colleagues showed that mice recognize their peers' pain—what researchers call "emotional contagion"—and spend more time with suffering cage mates. His team also developed a scale to measure pain expressed on the faces of mice.

Mogil was impressed with Mason's study, but had some questions about the findings. "This is surprising because it's not clear what the motivation for the prosocial behavior is, although the prosocial behavior is clearly there," says Mogil. Both Mogil and Mason point out that because trapped rats squeak out alarm calls now and then, which stress out any fellows that hear them, the rats opening the doors might be trying to silence their peers. Mason thinks the alarm calls aren't frequent enough to motivate the rats, but Mogil is not so sure.

In future research, Mason wants to investigate why some male rats never learned to break open their friends' cages. All six female rats in the first set of experiments figured out how to liberate their peers, but only 17 out of 24 male rats obliged. Mason's best guess is that some rats are paralyzed by alarm calls. Recognizing distress in another is not enough; the rats need to suppress their own panic before they can help. Mason cites research suggesting that females are generally more empathic than males as a possible explanation, but the findings are controversial.

Mogil says he plans to follow up the research as well. For starters, he is interested in whether another common lab animal—the mouse—can learn to spring its peers, too. And he wants to perform the experiments with rodents that are strangers to one another, rather than ones that have been raised together.

In the last couple decades research on empathy and helping behaviors in animals has become more prevalent.

"At first people were scared away from this research because they didn't want to be derided as anthropomorphic," Mogil says. "More and more evidence is coming along that all mammals can do this sort of thing. I think fear over the word anthropomorphism is starting to subside."

If anything, recent science shows us that we are not as guilty of endowing animals with uniquely human qualities as we are of failing to understand just how many qualities animals and people share.

$203,150 for a purse

$203,150 for a purse - Someone paid $203,150 for a purse, can you imagine that?Yes, an anonymous bidder paid $203,150 at auction for a purse. Well, not just any purse, a Birkin, the hard-to-get handbag fetish of celebrities and needy rich ladies the world over. And not just any Birkin, a Hermès Exceptional Collection Shiny Rouge H Porosus Crocodile 30 cm Birkin Bag with Solid 18K White Gold & Diamond Hardware. Oh, obviously that is worth as much as a house or a college education. Surely!

The bag sold by Heritage Auctions in Dallas (where else would a woman spend $200K on a handbag) and broke a record for the sale of a handbag at auction (the record holder is below). Actually, the record was broken four times in one auction.

There were three other bags that went for $113,525, $95,600, and $80,663 which each successively took the record from each other. Now, I'm not going to tell people how to spend their money and I for sure have plopped down insane amounts of cash on silly things, but $203,150 for a bag? Not even the patron saint of stupid rich ladies Carrie Bradshaw would do something like that. But if you hurry, you can get this bag for only $67,000. A steal!

Lindsay Lohan Playboy cover leaked

Lindsay Lohan Playboy cover leaked - Lindsay Lohan's Playboy cover was leaked online Wednesday, revealing a shot of the actress channeling a mix of Marilyn Monroe and Jessica Rabbit.

The photograph shows Lohan with long blonde tresses cascading down her shoulders while her nude figure straddles a bright red Playboy logo -- strategically covering her sensitive areas.

The cover shot, posted on The Insider website, was not set to be revealed until Lohan's interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" December 15.

In what will be her first television interview since her latest stint in jail for violating her probation -- this time for stealing a necklace from a Los Angeles boutique -- Lohan, 25, is expected to promote her pictorial in the January/February issue of the men's magazine in her chat with DeGeneres.

The issue will go on sale in late December.

The "Mean Girls" star initially posed for the racy shots in late October but later had to re-shoot the pictures after Playboy founder Hugh Hefner complained about the photos.

The troubled starlet is rumored to have earned $1 million for stripping down, providing some much-needed cash as her legal woes and struggles with substance abuse have made it difficult for her to book any acting gigs.

Music Teacher Censors Christmas Favorite

Music Teacher Censors Christmas Favorite - A Michigan music teacher's decision that censors the word "gay" from a traditional Christmas favorite carol is being met with a frosty response. The teacher, who has not yet been named in any of the published reports, allegedly removed "gay" from "Deck The Halls" after 1st and 2nd grade students kept giggling during preparations for a Christmas concert at Cherry Knoll Elementary School in Traverse City. Instead of the traditional lyric, the students were taught to sing "don we now our bright apparel," according to UpNorthLive.com.

The school's Facebook page has since been inundated with reactions from infuriated parents and fellow educators.

"By taking the word 'gay' out of 'Deck The Halls' you are making it a big deal, one word can have different meanings," wrote one user.

"Your personal opinions should not reflect what you teach other people's children. Please teach the children the classic song the way it was written."

Another added: "Essentially, this teacher has now taught the elementary school children, including children as young as five, that gay means homosexual sex."

One user even incorporated a clever parody of the song's 19th century lyrics:

"See the crazy school before us/Fa la la la la, la la la la/Prejudice with a thesaurus."

The story caught the eye of famed sex columnist Dan Savage, who noted, "Someone had to straighten out that carol—can't have children donning gay apparel."

As UpNorthLive.com notes, however, Principal Chris Parker has said he is disappointed in the music teacher's decision to change the lyrics to the song, and the students are, in fact, now back to singing the original version.

Mugger picks wrong guy to mess with | Mugger picks wrong guy to mess with, shoots himself in the ankle

Mugger picks wrong guy to mess with. We’ve seen our fair share of bizarre mugging/robbery stories over the past month, but none have taught a lesson quite like this. Chicago police say that a 24 year old convicted criminal, Anthony Miranda, asked a man in a parked car for a lighter…than proceeded to point a gun in the man’s face and ordered him out of the car.

According to the story in the Chicago Sun Times:

At some point, Miranda’s attention was diverted and the victim was able to grab control of the gun and the two wrestled. During the fight, Miranda accidentally discharged his gun, shooting himself in the ankle. What finally resulted was the photo above; Miranda got messed up by the man he was trying to mug. According to police the “victim” said he’s a martial arts expert and ultimate fighting champion, and that he was able to pin Miranda down until police arrived.

While that’s a line used by half the frat guys in Iowa, you can’t argue with the job the victim did on the man’s face. Police said they arrived to find Miranda with a face full of cuts and two black eyes. Clearly, whoever Miranda attacked knew what they were doing… Miranda is being charged with armed robbery and aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class X felony and is being held on $350,000 bond Sunday.

So is the lesson here to fight back when a man pulls a gun on you and pretend your Kick-Ass? Maybe, but that could end up almost costing you your life. If the victim is indeed a martial arts expert and certified bad-ass, it’s only because he has TRAINED for situations specifically like this above and has given himself the ability to fight back.

The mugger messed with the wrong dude and paid for it, but he easily could have gotten the best of someone who was pretending to be a hero, but hadn’t trained or been able to take care of themselves in such a situation.

Stories like this are a perfect example of why you should always have respect for yourself and stand up to conflict, but you should ALSO prepare yourself accordingly…be it doing some type of martial arts or self defense training.

The mugger got his ass beat in this case and is now the butt of the joke, but it’s only because he messed with the wrong man who knew what he was doing.

Mom sell baby $7,000 | Mom who tried to sell baby for $7,000 arrested in Fla

Mom sell baby $7,000 - A desperate mom who tried to sell her baby for $7,000 in the Florida Keys, was arrested by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. Why did Kenia Bosque attempt an illegal adoption of her child?

The incident involving the alleged illegal sale of a child began with a tip from a person claiming to know the Miami-Dade resident. Would a mom sell baby? $7,000 was the asking price

Citing a story from the Huffington Post, a man who knew the woman called the MCSO and said he was approached by her in an attempt to sell the child for a sum of money.

Police then contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (or FDLE) and partnered with the agency in an investigation of Kenia Quiala Bosque, 30. Accordingly, an undercover sting operation was planned when police believed the mom tried to sell the baby for $7,000.

Reportedly, the unnamed tipster was told by Bosque that she "trusted him not to hurt her child." Apparently, the woman was experiencing financial stress, and the sale of her child was one way to address her situation.

However, the desperate woman did not show up at the site of the sting operation, where she would unknowingly meet an undercover agent with the FDLE. Nonetheless, authorities had enough information to charge the woman. Accordingly, she was arrested without incident at her home in Monroe County.

Illegal adoption and sale of a child foiled by a good police investigation

"We are just so glad we were able to obtain this information in time to intervene before anything could happen to endanger this child,” ~ Monroe County Sheriff Bob Peryam.

Bosque's only charges at this time are for an adoption violation. Her other children have been placed in the care of trusting relatives.

When a mom tries to sell a baby for $7,000, it makes headlines. While the act itself is illegal and egregious, is there more to the story? What makes a person sell a baby like a commodity on the open market? Sadly, there are more Kenia Quiala Bosque's out there facing the same dilemma.

Examiner