Free Republic

In life, Anna Nicole Smith waged several court battles to get her share of her husband, 89 year-old J. Howard Marshall's, $1.6 billion estate; in death, Smith's attorny Howard K. Stern lost the war.

American Nuclear Society Backgrounder: Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami; Problems with Nuclear Reactors 3/12/2011 5:22 PM EST To begin, a sense of perspective is neededÂ… right now, the Japanese earthquake/tsunami is clearly a catastrophe; the situation at impacted nuclear reactors is, in the words of IAEA, an "Accident with Local Consequences." The Japanese earthquake and tsunami are natural catastrophes of historic proportions. The death toll is likely to be in the thousands. While the information is still not complete at this time, the tragic loss of life and destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami will likely dwarf the damage caused by the...

TMZ has learned Howard K. Stern is turning himself in tonight -- he's being arrested for allegedly illegally obtaining prescription drugs for Anna Nicole Smith. As we first reported, California drug officials recently raided the Los Angeles office of Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, looking for evidence against Stern. Stern has denied doing anything illegal in connection with drugs and Anna Nicole.

Sad to say that an active Freeper, Rte66, has passed away. I am her sister and have been a lurker for many years. At this point we don't know exactly what happened but it seems to be natural causes. Please keep her in your prayers. I will post her obit in coming days. If anyone needs more info they can email me here. A memorial service is pending. Thank you for being her "online family". This was her lifeline for many years. And thank you all so much for your help to her. She was much loved and she will...

Anna Nicole Smith, Seeking Justice #4

NASSAU, Bahamas — Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead is the father of her baby girl, a judge ruled on Tuesday. "I hate to be the one to tell you this but I told you so," a jubilant Birkhead said Tuesday after a closed-door hearing. "My baby's going to be coming home pretty soon. I'm the father."

Thread Number 3

The two judges who oversaw the Anna Nicole Smith cases in Florida's Broward Circuit Court are swapping jobs -- at least temporarily. Chief Judge Dale Ross ordered the moves Tuesday in the wake of complaints and a newspaper editorial that Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda should be moved out of family court until his misdemeanor drug charge is resolved. Korda, who briefly oversaw the paternity dispute involving Smith's baby daughter, was cited on March 18 for possession of one marijuana cigarette weighing less than 0.1 gram. Police said they caught him smoking pot in a Hollywood, Fla., park. Circuit Judge Larry...

No evidence of illegal drugs. Nothing unusual on video. Nothing to indicate foul play. Accidental overdose with no criminal evidence present.

Behind the Anna Nicole Smith circus lies an important truth about fathers’ rights. The long line of opportunistic men who have lined up to be Smith’s baby’s dad since Smith’s death has diverted attention from the case’s key fact: photographer Larry Birkhead, Smith’s ex-boyfriend, has a legitimate claim to paternity. He has been thwarted for several months by the same legal maneuvers which are often employed to separate fathers from their children. Long before Smith died and her estate became an issue, Birkhead had filed for a DNA test to determine the paternity of Smith’s baby. In December he told...

Joining us now is Dr. Joshua Perper, Broward County medical examiner. Doctor, good evening to you. Thank you for being with us tonight. DR. JOSHUA PERPER, BROWARD COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER: You're welcome. MACCALLUM: Was your report ready to go? Were you ready to release the results? PERPER: Yes, I was. And the reason why I decided not to do so is because I was informed that there was some additional evidence, which I want to review before I have my final report. And that's the reason why my press conference is going to be delayed by a week or two.

Anna Nicole Smith will be buried in a custom-made gown next to her 20-year-old son following an "over the top" memorial service with a tightly controlled guest list, said a friend helping to organize the memorial. The memorial service, with about 300 guests at an undisclosed church, will feature large amounts of pink flowers, her favorite color, and singing from a well-known performer whose name organizers aren't ready to disclose, said the friend, Patrik Simpson of Beverly Hills, Calif. "It will be a very beautiful, Anna Nicole send-off," Simpson told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday night in the...

It may still be news to some people, but, indeed, bishops read the news, and watch it, and digest it as much as -- if not more than -- the rest of us do. And for anyone whose daily diet involves even a pinch of CNN, FOX, MSNBC or practically any newspaper here in the States, it's been near-impossible to get away from the news-channels' latest free-for-all: the death at 39 of the model/reality TV star/former Playmate Anna Nicole Smith two weeks back. You shouldn't be shocked to hear that the Anna Nicole story's being watched with more interest by...

In a stunning development in court, Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper telephoned the court to tell the judge that the body of Anna Nicole Smith is deteriorating faster than normal, according to people who did the embalming on Saturday. As such, the body needs to be examined this week, rather than within the two weeks that had been stipulated before. Sitting on the stand, Howard K. Stern started to sob loudly when he heard the news

While the principals involved in the battle for Anna Nicole Smith's body duke it out in a Florida court, a stunning new video has surfaced showing a barely functional Anna Nicole Smith, stammering and stuttering, as Howard K. Stern rhapsodizes about how much money the clip will be worth. The tape, which aired Monday night on Greta Van Susteren's show on FOX News Channel, shows an eight-months pregnant Smith, her face painted like a clown, and clearly stoned out of her mind. As she talks to a doll in a baby carriage as if it's real, Stern repeatedly says,...

Anna Nicole Smith spent her final hours in a suite in a hotel as flashy as the pinup herself, with a similar $1,600-a-night room featuring an orange corduroy couch, a mini-bar stocked with lubricant and glow-in-the-dark condoms, and a leopard-print ironing board. The voluptuous centerfold arrived at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Feb. 5. She died suddenly three days later. Smith stayed several times at the hotel, which is in an area dotted with pawn shops, car lots and apartment buildings yearning for a fresh coat of paint. A concierge said her rooms were often free. Room...

Anna Nicole Smith collapsed in her hotel room at the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., and was rushed to a hospital on Thursday. A Hollywood, Fla., fire department spokesman told MSNBC TV that the actress was unresponsive when the rescue unit arrived on the scene. Sources confirmed to Access Hollywood that Smith was transported to Memorial Regional Hospital shortly after 2 p.m. EST on Thursday. Access Hollywood also is reporting that Smith was intubated at the scene. Officials told the Miami Herald, "it does not look good."

The "how and why" surrounding 20-year-old Daniel Hogan's mysterious death is being kept under wraps in an autopsy report that should have been completed last night. The only son of American celebrity Anna Nicole Smith died on the maternity ward at Doctors Hospital while visiting his mother and newborn baby sister on Sunday. According to sources close to the case, preliminary investigations revealed that various medications along with drugs were found in his system. "All we know right now is that he was on anti-depressants," the source said. "Some things indicate that he probably overdosed on those drugs." While local...

<p>An Indian tribe has forced distributors of an Arab studies guide for U.S. teachers to remove an inaccurate passage that says Muslim explorers preceded Christopher Columbus to North America and became Algonquin chiefs.</p> <p>Peter DiGangi, director of Canada's Algonquin Nation Secretariat in Quebec, called claims in the book, the "Arab World Studies Notebook," "preposterous" and "outlandish," saying nothing in the tribe's written or oral history support them.</p>