Britney Spears has filed a petition for divorce from Kevin Federline.
Awww, man! And I was so sure they were gonna make it!
In her petition, Spears asks for both legal and physical custody of the couple's two children, one-year old Sean Preston and two-month old Jayden James, with Federline getting reasonable visitation rights. As for money, the couple, who married in Oct. 2004, has an iron-clad prenup. Not surprisingly, Spears is waiving her right to spousal support.
Who gets the Beverly Hills trailer house?
She's also asking the judge to make each party pay their own attorney's fees. Spears gives the date of separation as yesterday, the same day she flaunted her incredible revamped physique during a surprise appearance on David Letterman's show. Spears has hired powerhouse celebrity divorce lawyer Laura Wasser, who has repped a number of celebs, including Angelina Jolie, Nick Lachey and Kiefer Sutherland. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe asked Wasser to rep both of them in their split, but Wasser declined for personal reasons.
Significantly, Britney lists the date of her marriage as October 6, 2004. There was an uproar around the time of the wedding because the highly publicized "secret" ceremony was held on Sept. 18th, leading many to question the validity of the ceremony. Now the divorce documents indicate that the lavish ceremony was not the official wedding.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Rival Christina's music is slowly but surely getting better, and exclusive of new babes on the block - meanwhile, Britney's been getting chunkier + chunkier, and not in a good way.
#6
She was on Letterman (no, I don't watch that *sshole - it was on YouTube)the other night and she lost a good bit of weight. Actually looked real good in a little black dress. Maybe getting away from the trailer trash diet?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/08/2006 13:15 Comments ||
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#7
We'll be seeing the Shattered Nation graphic lotsa times in the coming months, until the next strike within the country. Then we'll be hearing about what the Publicans did to cause it.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2006 13:21 Comments ||
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#8
So true, Fred, so true. I weep for this nation and the pure he!! we'll be going through the next 2 years. Of course, there's always a brighter tomorrow, and like Rush, I think a Donk win every once in a while (to remind the nation how stupid their policies are) is a good thing. Just not right now. Moreover, in the short term, after hearing of Rummy's resignation, I weep for those who truly believed in us and are natives to Iraq and Afghanistan. A bloodbath is coming their way, I fear.
Posted by: BA ||
11/08/2006 14:11 Comments ||
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The Zimbabwe government is planning fresh home demolitions, just a little over a year after a similar campaign to destroy shantytowns and city backyard cottages left at least 700 000 people without shelter or means of livelihood.
The government in May last year and weeks after controversially winning a key general election, ordered the police and army to demolish thousands of backyard cottages, shantytowns and informal business kiosks,
Chombo confirmed the government was planning new home demolitions but said these would be on a much smaller scale than Murambatsvina. He said: It is not Murambatsvina. But the spirit of Murambatsvina should not die. To ensure that we dont reverse the gains of Murambatsvina we will do regular follow-ups. We cannot just watch while chaos prevails and people build wherever they want.
in a campaign President Robert Mugabe said was necessary to smash crime and to restore the beauty of Zimbabwes cities.
In addition to those left homeless, another 2.4 million people were indirectly affected by the military-style demolition exercise to bring the total number of victims to about three million or a quarter of Zimbabwes 12 million people.
Authoritative sources told our sources that Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, who oversaw last years widely-condemned demolition exercise, had set up a task force comprising officials from his department and the police to lay out the groundwork for a new offensive against slum dwellers and informal traders.
There is some kind of a brigade that is being set up within the police specifically for that mission (to carry out demolitions), said a senior official in the Ministry of Local Government, who did not want to be named because he did not have clearance from Chombo to speak to the Press.
New illegal structures have come up since Operation Murambatsvina (the official codename for last years clean-up campaign. We will target these structures that have sprouted up and others that somehow survived the first Murambatsvina, said the official.
Chombo confirmed the government was planning new home demolitions but said these would be on a much smaller scale than Murambatsvina.
He said: It is not Murambatsvina. But the spirit of Murambatsvina should not die. To ensure that we dont reverse the gains of Murambatsvina we will do regular follow-ups. We cannot just watch while chaos prevails and people build wherever they want.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2006 00:00 ||
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Why is Mugabe still alive? This turd should have offed years ago.
MADRID, Spain (AP) - French authorities on Tuesday handed over to Spain a former leading member of the armed Basque separatist group ETA who police blame for killing at least 15 people and planning several major attacks. Jose Javier Arizcuren Ruiz, also known as "Kantauri," was arrested in Paris in 1999 and served time in a French prison on charges of being a member of an armed group.
In 2002, Arizcuren Ruiz was sentenced to a total of 72 years in jail in three trials in Spain. France handed him over temporarily for the trials.
A police statement Tuesday said Arizcuren Ruiz was responsible for at least 15 killings and helped plan several attacks including a foiled 1985 assassination attempt on King Juan Carlos and a car-bomb attack on former conservative Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar in 1995, while he was in opposition.
Arizcuren Ruiz's extradition comes as ETA continues to abide by a cease-fire it announced on March 22. Arizcuren Ruiz is said to have been opposed to the cease-fire. Last weekend, ETA warned the Spanish government that the peace process initiated with the cease-fire was in crisis and they may respond if police continue pressuring its members and supporters.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/08/2006 00:00 ||
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Via Drudge. Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told fellow Republican lawmakers on Wednesday he does not intend to run for minority leader when Democrats take control of the House in January, officials said.
His decision to step down cleared the way for a likely succession battle. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the majority leader, is expected to run, and Reps. Mike Pence of Indiana and Joe Barton of Texas have also signaled they may make a bid for leadership positions.
#5
Minority Leader is the public face of the party in each House. He also sets positions on votes. The Whip gets everyone to vote the right way. With Chaffee and DeWine gone, that task will be much easier.
U.S. Ambassador Bolton joined by reps from Iran, China, Russia, Sudan
The New York Knicks are not at crisis level yet despite three straight losses, but the U.N. Security Council showed up anyway at Madison Square Garden. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton played the role of host Monday night when the San Antonio Spurs beat the Knicks 105-93. It was the second time in eight months Bolton brought the group to the Garden, a welcome change for the diplomats from Iran, Sudan and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Bolton admittedly took a political risk in rooting for the Knicks. You have to root for the home team; San Antonio is a Texas team, Bolton said. This is a little dangerous for a Bush administration official to be against the Texas team.
NBA commissioner David Stern, no stranger to diplomacy, handed out caps from both teams to the ambassadors. We think that basketball is the international language, he said, It brings people together.
When the game tightened in the fourth quarter, the council members were on their feet cheering with the rest of the crowd. It was so close, Bolton said. Its like negotiating in the Security Council.
Chinas U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya Wang brought his wife to the game. Since we are in New York we would like to see the Knicks picking up, he said. They lost momentum. But its fun for two or three hours we think of nothing but sport.
Wang said he wanted to bring Yao Ming to New York for the evening, but the Houston Rockets center was busy. Wang said Yao is an icon in China. He said American basketball teams have been a great sensation among Chinese young people for many years.
Former Knicks star Allan Houston was excited at getting to meet members of the U.N.s most powerful body these people who change the world.
Russias U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin played basketball in high school, and this was his first trip to the Garden. It is historic for me, he said.
At least one Security Council member, Argentinas U.N. Ambassador Cesar Mayoral, was delighted the Spurs won. The Spurs feature two Argentine players Fabricio Oberto and Manu Ginobili.
In February, Denmarks U.N. Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Loj, the only woman on the 15-member council, got a crash course on how to play basketball from former NBA player Mike Bantom now the NBAs senior vice president for player development. When she arrived in the VIP skybox, Bantom remembered her. Last time, I asked stupid questions, she joked. This time, I know more. Dont ask me what!
Don't miss the photo of Bolton getting wild with his fellow party animals during halftime!
#1
Sure, basketball brings people together. I'll believe that when Russia turns over the gold medals from the 1972 Olympics to the US.
Of course, it's appropriate for the Council to go to a Knicks game; the Knicks don't believe in defense either.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/08/2006 11:39 Comments ||
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A Knicks game? I thought they were opposed to crimes against humanity?
Should've waited until the Celtics were in town. That probably would've started human rights violation hearings the next day...
#4
"Bolton takes UN hierarchy for late nite pizza in Brooklyn.... leaves them stranded. Cops seek missing bigwigs. Fears that UN crooks waylayed by smaller-time, but better armed, crooks"
would warm my heart
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/08/2006 20:23 Comments ||
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So, does the Dems winning mean that Bolton won't be confirmed?
American diplomat Josette Sheeran, who was selected by the United Nations as the next head of the U.N. World Food Program, said her top priorities will be to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and to reduce hunger-related deaths. Sheeran, the U.S. undersecretary of state for economics, business and agricultural affairs, will replace American James T. Morris for a five-year term as head of the world's largest humanitarian agency. The date she takes up her duties was not announced Tuesday.
Founded in 1962, WFP provides food aid to an average of 90 million poor people, including 58 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's poorest countries. The United States said it provides nearly half of the annual contributions to the Rome-based agency, which has an annual budget of just under US$3 billion (2.35 billion).
Sheeran defeated three other candidates on the final shortlist American Tony Banbury, who heads WFP's Asia operation and was not supported by President George W. Bush's administration; Walter Fust, the director of the Swiss Development and Cooperation Department; and Robert Fowler, Canada's ambassador to the World Food Program.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, who was told of the WFP board's decision and jumped the gun on the official announcement, said the United States was very pleased with Sheeran's selection, calling her "extraordinarily well-qualified."
Sheeran said "WFP has the unique mission of making sure that no child goes to bed hungry any night, and while WFP has made huge contributions to saving lives there's more to be done." WFP must also be part of a global strategy to meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty by half by 2015, she said.
In her current State Department job, Sheeran is responsible for economic issues including development, trade, agriculture, finance, energy, telecommunications and transportation. Prior to that, she served as the deputy U.S. trade representative. Sheeran, formerly known by her married name of Josette Shiner, spent 15 years at the Washington Times founded by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, including as managing editor. She joined Moon's Unification Church in the 1970s, but has said she later became an Episcopalian.
She has long conservative credentials as a writer and commentator and as president and CEP at the conservative public policy group Empower America, based in Washington. She served as managing director of Starpoint Solutions, a leading Wall Street technology firm, and was one of 13 members of an independent panel that just finished a report on streamlining U.N. development, humanitarian and environment operations.
The Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger called the defeat of Fust, the Swiss development director, "surprising, as he led Secretary-General Kofi Annan's shortlist." "Pressure from the U.S. government is thought to have been decisive," the paper said.
Both Tages-Anzeiger and the Swiss daily Le Temps said Bush called FAO chief Jacques Diouf to push for Sheeran. Both papers said Bush made clear that U.S. funding for both FAO and WFP could be less generous if the U.S. candidate was not accepted. But a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Bush did not call Diouf.
The U.S. State Department said Sheeran "has a proven track record in development policy and humanitarian assistance, and more than 20 years of successful management experience in government, foundations and the private sector."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considered the most corrupt member of the government, according to a poll released Tuesday evening at an assembly in Sderot. Next in line was Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman, followed by Defense Minister Amir Peretz. By contrast, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was ranked the most honest government official and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik the most decent Knesset member.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2006 00:00 ||
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Bird flu expert Dr. Margaret Chan was selected Wednesday as the world's top health official, making her the first Chinese national chosen for such a high-ranking U.N. post, delegates said.
The victory for China, which had nominated Chan, indicated Beijing's interest in playing a bigger role in global affairs.
Sha Zukang, China's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, smiled broadly after the vote and said he was pleased "Absolutely. One hundred percent."
The executive board of the World Health Organization chose Chan to be WHO's next director-general from five candidates to fill the post vacated by the death of Lee Jong-wook in May.
Chan has to be approved by a two-thirds majority Thursday at a special session of the agency's governing World Health Assembly, comprised of all 193 member countries. Past votes have followed the recommendation of the executive board.
Chan has said she would be independent if elected to a position some regard as the second most-important in the United Nations system.
China has recently come under criticism for allegedly dragging its feet in reporting outbreaks of bird flu to WHO, and being slow to supply samples of new strains to the global body for analysis.
"You need to leave behind your nationality because you're serving the world," Chan said as she prepared for the race over the summer.
"If elected, I'm not serving Hong Kong's interests. I'm not serving China's interests. I'm serving the world's interests. That's a very important message to get clear," she said.
Appointed Hong Kong's director of public health in 1994 while the city was still under British rule, she faced her biggest test when the city was hit by bird flu in 1997 and by SARS -- or severe acute respiratory syndrome -- in 2003. Several hundred people died.
The two diseases dealt a heavy blow to Hong Kong's economy, and Chan ordered swift action to contain the The city reported the world's first known human outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus in 1997, when 18 people were infected and 6 died. Chan is credited with heading off a major human health crisis by ordering the slaughter of Hong Kong's entire poultry population -- about 1.5 million birds.
Chan took over as WHO's influenza pandemic chief in 2005 and became WHO's assistant director-general, leading the organization's efforts to fight the spread of communicable diseases and prepare to fight a pandemic if bird flu mutates into a strain easily transmitted among humans.
Chan, who earned her medical degree from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, joined the Hong Kong Department of Health in 1978 and has spent most of her career in administration.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Britney Spears has filed a petition for divorce from Kevin Federline. 
The Zimbabwe government is planning fresh home demolitions, just a little over a year after a similar campaign to destroy shantytowns and city backyard cottages left at least 700 000 people without shelter or means of livelihood. 
