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Madonna's bestseller November 26, 2003 MADONNA'S second children's book Mr Peabody's Apples is on top of the New York Times best sellers list for children this week. The queen of pop has topped the book chart just eight weeks after her last number one with The English Roses. Children are loving Madonna's tales. As funny as it may sound, Madonna has kept The Cat In The Hat from going number one in the book world. The Cat In The Hat is being propelled by the movie starring Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin and Kelly Preston. Madonna's career as an author couldn't...

Nobody ever says, "Madonna who?" She's part of our culture, an American success story who's maintained a media presence for 20 years now, re-inventing herself with every prevailing wind, while never, ever giving the impression she's doing anything other than what she wants to do. We are by turns impressed, embarrassed, shocked and amazed by Madonna's antics, but we're rarely surprised anymore. Madonna, the dancer from Detroit, set out to become famous and succeeded beyond anybody's but her own wildest dreams. She's 45, and shows no signs of slowing down or relinquishing her place in the spotlight; in fact, she's...

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) --The Material Girl has stepped onto the political stage and endorsed Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark. "I think he has a good handle on foreign policy, I think he's good with people, and I think he has a heart and a consciousness," pop singer Madonna said. "He's interested in spirituality -- I mean, those things mean a lot to me." The singer and children's book author met Clark a few weeks ago for over an hour. In an interview recorded last week with CNN's Denise Quan, Madonna said they discussed his becoming president. The singer told...

<p>On his way into private life, former Gov. Gray Davis did a disservice to his successor and to California.</p> <p>He snatched from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger one of the few options still available to strengthen the state's hand in its negotiations with wealthy and powerful gambling tribes. Before leaving office, Davis sent a letter to 61 tribes quietly rescinding the state's request to renegotiate environmental language in compacts he signed in 1999.</p>

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Rep. Darrell Issa, who catapulted to fame and controversy after bankrolling the recall drive against Gov. Gray Davis, will not seek the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, a spokesman said Tuesday.</p> <p>"We had every reason to be certain that if Darrell had chosen to seek the nomination for senate, it would have been his for the asking," said Issa spokesman Jonathan Wilcox. "But he is very committed and determined in his congressional work and has found it to be a passion and a purpose."</p>

More than 100 teams have applied to enter a robotic-car contest sponsored by the research wing of the Defense Department, prompting the agency to extend some deadlines. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency said Thursday that 106 teams have applied to participate in the Grand Challenge, an off-road race for unmanned vehicles slated to take place in March 2004, and that 86 teams have submitted technical papers describing their proposed robots. Researchers and designers have to review submissions to determine if proposed vehicles are technically feasible and conform to contest rules. In May, only 34 teams had signaled their interest...

<p>LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) --The tit-for-tat between Gov. Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger over whether they should debate before California's recall election continued Saturday -- this time with CNN's Larry King in the middle.</p> <p>Both candidates for governor were invited to debate on "Larry King Live." Davis, a Democrat who formally challenged the Republican actor-turned-politician to a debate Friday, accepted. The Schwarzenegger campaign said no.</p>

<p>Concerned about "spoiler" candidates on the left and right, Gov. Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger have moved quickly in the last few days to portray the race as a head-to-head contest -- a strategy some analysts say could backfire.</p> <p>The governor and the actor got some help Saturday from CNN's Larry King, who invited them onto his show to debate one-on-one. But while Davis's campaign quickly accepted, the Republican front-runner's campaign insisted he has no intention of debating the Democrat.</p>

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Two civil liberties groups sued Pennsylvania's attorney general Tuesday, claiming his tactics to stop child pornography also cut subscribers across the country from legitimate Web sites. The groups, in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, accused Attorney General Mike Fisher of creating a "system of secret censorship" that goes unchecked by state courts. "Child pornography has no place in a civilized society. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania's Web-blocking law does little to stop child pornography but does a great deal to violate the protections of the First Amendment," said Alan Davidson, associate director of the Center for...

I hereby issue a public challenge to the New York Times. When is the "newspaper of record" going to run a correction of Paul Krugman's egregious mathematical error in which he claimed, in his August 1 column, that growth in real per capita California state spending from $1,950 in 1990 to $2,211 in 2003 was "only 10%," when anyone with a pocket calculator can tell that it is really 13.4 percent? And when will it correct Krugman's flatly deceptive claim that this growth "was simply a matter of keeping up with the population and inflation," when calculations of real per...

<p>JERUSALEM - Israel freed a top Palestinian security officer from jail Thursday and protested - rather than counterattacked - after an overnight cease-fire violation in the Gaza Strip, so far sticking to a 4-day-old deal to slowly cede Arab territory to the Palestinian Authority.</p>

Taking exception to recent remarks by Annika Sorenstam, PGA Tour golfer John Riegger said Thursday he has backing for a $1 million one-on-one challenge against the world's top female golfer. "WE'LL HAVE THE CASH on the tee if she wants to play," Riegger said after the first round of the Capital Open. Two weeks ago, Sorenstam became the first woman in 58 years to play a PGA Tour event. She shot rounds of 71 and 74 and missed the cut at the Colonial, finishing tied for 96th and ahead of 11 other players. "She made a statement in her press...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Rep. Sherwood Boehlert could face a Republican primary challenge next year from conservative Republican state Sen. Raymond Meier in the central New York congressional district, according to a published report. Meier didn't respond to requests for comment Friday on the potential matchup between the Oneida County Republicans, which was first reported Friday by the Syracuse Post-Standard citing unidentified Republican sources. Boehlert dismissed the talk as speculation, saying he has "a very good close working relationship" with Meier, and a good relationship with President Bush.

In the first three months of the year, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski raised $155,000 for her bid to win a full term in office, according to a filing released by the Secretary of the Senate this week. Much of the money came from executives in the Seattle-based commercial fishing industry. Various lobbyists and individuals with Alaska interests also contributed. About $43,000 came from political action committees in the energy, chemical, transportation, mining, construction and finance industries, according to the filing released Tuesday. Sen. Ted Stevens' political action committee, the Northern Lights PAC, gave Murkowski's committee $10,000, the maximum allowed by...

The generals who face the most daunting challenge of their lives By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 25 March 2003 Lt-Gen David McKiernan is so low-key that he makes even Tommy Franks, the dry and understated head of US Central Command who is running the 2003 Gulf war, look like an ego-driven celebrity hound. Yet Lt-Gen McKiernan, who sometimes speaks so quietly you strain to hear him, is the man who commands coalition forces on the ground in Iraq. Like General Franks, he is a soldier's soldier, steeped in the entrenched culture of the Pentagon, in style and temperament far removed...

Link post: Geology Picture of the Week, February 23-March 1, 2003 (WhereIsIt? stumper)

Gerhard Schroeder's speech to Germany's parliament on Thursday may prove a turning point for his country. It represents the first time since the Second World War that a German leader has formally announced a policy based on openly opposing the United States - and seeking to thwart it by building alliances with other states. Gerhard Schroeder said this was the "mandate" on which he was re-elected last year. He described Germany's main international "orientation" as being to prevent wars. He also indicated clearly that a German Government places more importance on ties with France than those with the United States....

<p>John Gilmore, the co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has sued United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Attorney General John Ashcroft, alleging that the ID requirement stems from a "secret law" that violates his right to anonymous travel within the United States.</p>

<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) - The California Coastal Commission says it will appeal to the state Supreme Court a decision that its structure is unconstitutional.</p> <p>An appeal would stave off efforts to weaken the commission, at least until Gov. Gray Davis calls a special legislative session to reorganize the agency, Nava said Tuesday. Without it, the appeals court decision becomes binding at month's end.</p>

Requesting Challenges of Voters in California Election fraud is a topic that's been at the forefront of every Republican's mind for the last two years. From Florida, to statistical evidence of Democrat fraud in Michigan, we all have a sense that there's something fishy going on. In California, it's doubly frustrating - the only thing an individual has to do to vote is state a name and address, with no identification requirement. Further, it is not permitted for anyone to challenge a voter except for a member of the precinct board, under California Elections Code §14240(a), and anyone else who...