Free Republic

TELEVISION Public TV federal fund use probed By Matea Gold, Times Staff Writer NEW YORK -- The inspector general of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is launching an investigation into whether public television and radio stations around the country inappropriately used federal funds to lobby against threatened budget cuts this summer. Kenneth A. Konz said Friday that he will examine the matter at the request of 18 Republican lawmakers, who asked the inspector general in August to determine whether the stations used federal money to finance on-air appeals asking viewers and listeners to contact their representatives about proposed cuts to...

'Worlds' star: 'You don't know the history of psychiatry. I do' NEW YORK (AP) -- Let the cynics talk. Tom Cruise is in love -- and he just can't restrain himself. "You know what? There's always cynics. There always has been. There always will be," said Cruise, who hasn't been shy about displaying his affection for "Batman Begins" actress Katie Holmes. "I have never worried ... about what other people think and what other people say." Cruise, 42, and Holmes, 26, went public with their romance in April, smooching and posing for photographers in Rome. They recently became engaged. Many...