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CELEBRATION, Fla. (AP) - Celebration, Disney's master-planned, picture-perfect central Florida community, has never reported a homicide in its 14-year existence - until this week. Residents of the town five miles south of Walt Disney World woke up Tuesday to the sight of yellow crime-scene tape wrapped around a condo near the Christmas-decorated downtown, where Bing Crosby croons from speakers hidden in the foliage. A 58-year-old neighbor who lived alone with his Chihuahua had been slain over the long Thanksgiving weekend, Osceola County sheriff's deputies said.

The Indian moon mission is not just about science; it is also about India's coming out party on the world stage having sealed the nuclear deal with the United States. In attempting to place the Indian flag on the moon's surface, if successful, it would make India just the fourth country in the world to have ever done so after Russia, America and Japan. The flag will fly all the 4,00,000 kilometers to the moon on Chandrayaan-1 and on command from Indian space scientists, it will hurtle down to the moon's surface. Called the Moon Impact Probe, this 35 kilogram...

ExitReality is the latest virtual world to come onto the scene and is launching out of private beta tonight. Its big bold feature is the capability to turn any site you're on into its own 3D world with interactive elements created from content found on the page. This includes photos, videos, and music files. The service requires a small system plug-in that currently runs only on PCs. I was told no Mac version is planned, but may come into the picture if there's enough of a demand. Once the plug-in is installed, you just need to click a button in...

(This is from an email forwarded to me that allegedly came from a local pastor. I have followed up with the pastor personally, and he confirmed that the email was indeed originally sent by him, and accurately represents his experience. Even though he did not specifically ask me to do this, I have redacted the most easily identifying information - but I will provide it to folks who FReepmail me with a specific request for it.) Gentlemen, I never write mass emails and am repulsed by hyped up causes that are emailed to me. But I am writing to you...

Word reaches me out here that some people back home think that Michael Phelps is “boring”. They are having trouble because his victories are “inevitable”. Perhaps I should point out that the rising of the sun in the morning is inevitable, yet it is the most amazing thing you will ever see in your life. It’s inevitable - still - that the swifts fly from Africa to England and back every year, but it’s still a matter of wonder and joy.

James Lipton, the host of U.S. talk show, Inside the Actors' Studio, once worked as a pimp in Paris, France. The revered TV presenter, who has sat down with Hollywood's biggest names for in-depth chats about their life and work over the last 13 years, has revealed he once procured clients for French hookers. He says, "This was when I was very very young, living in Paris, penniless, unable to get any kind of working permit... I had a friend who worked in what is called the Milieu, which is that world and she suggested to me one night, `Look,...

Fears over factoids Recent TV programmes have claimed that the Earth could be destroyed by black holes created in particle accelerators and that helium-3 from the Moon could be used for fusion energy. Frank Close warns that these "factoids" must be stamped out before they become accepted as facts. Did you know that when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) comes online at CERN next spring, it could end up creating mini black holes that destroy the Earth? This is not something from a Dan Brown novel, but from a TV documentary broadcast as part of the BBC's Horizon series in...

A man arrested for allegedly engaging in "overt sexual activity" with his girlfriend on an airliner was lying with his head on her lap because he wasn't feeling well, his attorney said..... .... She said Persing suffers from a chronic disease requiring medication that makes him drowsy, dizzy and irritable. She would not identify the disease to protect her client's privacy.

CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) -- Sen. Craig Thomas, hospitalized since Monday with pneumonia, has been diagnosed with a form of leukemia, his spokesman said Thursday. The Wyoming Republican, who was easily elected to a third term while in the hospital, issued a statement saying he will undergo treatment and plans to return to Congress in January.

I've been hearing/seeing a number of ads from 527 groups, all endorsing a "vote for change". Even though many of them don't mention a specific candidate, it's pretty clear to me that the majority of these ads are against Republicans. I often notice several of them per hour. However, I'm wondering if the strategy could be made to backfire. Why don't the GOP candidates pay to run some ads that riff on that theme, but then specifically mention themselves? They could lead off with the same theme "it's time to vote for change. A vote for [GOP candidate X] is...

BERKLEY, Mich. -- The parking fine was $10. But the comment Robert Militzer added to the check could land him in jail for 30 days. The computer programmer from Allen Park got the ticket May 29. When Militzer wrote the check to Berkley District Court, he scribbled on the memo line, "BULL (expletive) MONEY GRAB." That got Militzer an in-person court appearance -- on a contempt of court charge. He's scheduled to go before a judge Wednesday, accompanied by an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who will argue Militzer's remark is protected by the First Amendment.

The College of William and Mary can use the nickname “Tribe” for its athletic teams, but it must eliminate the two feathers in the W&M logo, the National Collegiate Athletic Association ruled Tuesday. The NCAA has been cracking down on Native American nicknames, mascots and images that some find offensive. The NCAA said, “the committee believes that coupling the term “Tribe” with imagery that has traditionally been linked to Native Americans, for example eagle feathers and arrowheads, transforms that use from one associated with “togetherness,” “shared idealism,” and “commitment” to a stereotypical reference to Native Americans.” If the Williamsburg college...

MIAMI A passenger reported missing on a cruise to the Bahamas fell overboard after a night of heavy drinking with friends, authorities said Wednesday as Coast Guard crews suspended their search for the man. Friends of Daniel DiPiero, 21, of Canfield, Ohio, last saw him on the Mariner of the Seas around midnight Sunday, Petty Officer Dana Warr said. About two hours later, shipboard security cameras show DiPiero falling overboard from a rail near the front of the ship, investigators said. He was reported missing Monday morning when his friends realized he had not slept in the cabin they shared....

Carmen Myles, 41, a wife and mother, was shot and killed in a disabled man's Hampton home. In the five or six years that she lived along Wilderness Way in Denbigh in Newport News, Carmen Myles came to be known as one of the neighborhood moms. She kept an eye on children playing in yards, and teenagers often gravitated toward the Newport News home that she shared with her husband and three daughters, a neighbor said. But on Thursday night, Myles' life ended in Hampton. The 41-year-old woman was shot and killed in the apartment that she visited each day...

My son is playing "Fall Ball" locally, which is supposed to be a “lite” version of Little League – more developmental than spring ball, less competitive, 5 run per inning max, etc. However, a disgruntled parent sent an email (to the entire team) that raised my hackles, especially since our coach is probably the _least_ “competitive” coach we’ve ever had. I’ve included the original email, with my reply….tell me if you think I crossed the line. I’ve replaced the names to protect both the innocent and the guilty. Coach XXXXXXX: It was a very difficult ride home tonight. (SON)'s return...

Two Star Wars fans are in a critical condition in hospital after apparently trying to make light sabres by filling fluorescent light tubes with petrol. A man, aged 20, and a girl of 17 are believed to have been filming a mock duel when they poured fuel into two glass tubes and lit it.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- There's a problem with the open-container law in Fort Wayne. Officials have discovered that the ordinance bans all open containers in vehicles -- not just containers of alcohol. That means an open can of soda, or even an open bag of chips in the car, is technically against the law, and could be subject to a $50 fine.

LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA, Fla. - A man with car trouble is in trouble after shooting five rounds into the hood of his Chrysler "to put my car out of its misery." John McGivney, 64, shot his 1994 LeBaron with a .380-caliber semiautomatic, Broward County sheriff's deputies said. When the property manager at his apartment complex asked what he was doing, McGivney said, "I'm putting my car out of its misery." He tucked his gun in a pocket and went back inside.

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Seeking the elusive 'Moho' Scientist said this week they had drilled into the lower section of Earth's crust for the first time and were poised to break through to the mantle in coming years. The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) seeks the elusive "Moho," a boundary formally known as the Mohorovicic discontinuity. It marks the division between Earth's brittle outer crust and the hotter, softer mantle. The depth of the Moho varies. This latest effort, which drilled 4,644 feet (1,416 meters) below the ocean seafloor, appears to have been 1,000 feet off to the side of where it needed to...