Silver Rusts in Corruption Bust

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was charged on Thursday with five criminal counts stemming from a lengthy corruption investigation, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.

 The political powerbroker, in the Assembly since 1977 and its most influential Democrat as speaker since 1994, was accused of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and other charges in using his "power and influence" to obtain "millions" in bribes and kickbacks, the criminal complaint said. Source

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Peyton Chokes Again, Some Say Time to Go

 DENVER – The narratives about Peyton Manning failing in the playoffs yet again feel different this time.

 This wasn’t Manning, not as we’ve known him since he came into the NFL in 1998.

 Maybe Sunday’s 24-13 divisional-round loss to the Indianapolis Colts was it for Manning. After a game in which Manning struggled to throw the ball – that was a theme for most of the second half of the season – he couldn’t say if he would return for another season with the Denver Broncos.

 “Uh, yeah, I guess I just can’t give that simple answer,” Manning said. “I can’t say that. I could not say that.”

 This isn't how Manning wanted to go out, and it’s certainly not how the Broncos envisioned this postseason going.

 Manning said he wasn’t hurt. He said he suffered a thigh injury against San Diego on Dec. 14, but that’s the only injury he had and he felt good coming into Sunday’s game.

 Maybe he’s just a 38-year-old quarterback with multiple neck surgeries on his medical record. Time catches up with all athletes. As great as Manning has been, he won’t be an exception to that.

 The Broncos told us a while ago that Manning wasn’t the same quarterback he was a year ago. In the second half of the season the Broncos built their offense around running back C.J. Anderson. You don’t do that if Manning, who had arguably the greatest season for a quarterback in NFL history in 2013, was at his peak. They knew....More 

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Screech UnSaved, Busted on Knife-Wielding Charges

 

 Police in the Lake Michigan-bordering city of Port Washington told the Associated Press they had responded to an 11.15pm call.

 Diamond told police he accidentally stabbed a man, who was not seriously injured, while two men were harassing his fiancee, according to the criminal complaint. His fiancee was also charged with disorderly conduct.

 Diamond appeared on Friday afternoon in Ozaukee County court. Bail was set at $10,000.

 In August, Diamond began playing a version of himself off-Broadway in a Saved by the Bell spoof called Bayside! The Musical!

 While promoting the show that month, he said his recent dalliances with fame were largely faked, including a controversial memoir about his experience on Saved by the Bell and the release of a sex tape he allegedly appeared in....More
Dustin Diamond, who starred as Screech Powers in the hit 1990s television show Saved by the Bell, was arrested in Wisconsin on Friday, over an alleged stabbing at a bar. He was charged with felony second-degree recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon.

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'Lost Cos'by Now in Trouble Over Molesting 15 yr Old

 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bill Cosby was sued Tuesday by a Southern California woman who claims the comedian molested her in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974 when she was 15 years old.

Judy Huth's sexual battery lawsuit does not specify how much she is seeking from Cosby, who has in recent weeks faced renewed accusations that he drugged and sexually assaulted more than a dozen women for many years. 

Huth's lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, however, is the first time that a woman has claimed she was underage when she was abused, and it is the first lawsuit Cosby has faced claiming sexual abuse since 2005. 

Huth's lawsuit states that she and a 16-year-old friend first met Cosby at a Los Angeles-area film shoot and the comedian gave the girls drinks a week later at a tennis club.

The lawsuit states that Cosby took them to the Playboy Mansion after several drinks, and told the teenagers to lie and say they were 19 years old if asked. Her lawsuit states Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him with his hand. 

An email message sent to Cosby's attorney Martin Singer was not immediately returned. Singer has denied previous accusations or said the women raising the claims in interviews had been discredited. 

Singer's statement does not apply to a lawsuit brought in 2005 by Andrea Constand, who claimed Cosby drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. Constand, who worked for the women's basketball team at Temple University, and Cosby settled the case before trial....More

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Toys R Us Pulls Breaking Bad Dolls

NEW YORK (AP) — Toys R Us is pulling its four collectible dolls based on characters from AMC's hit series "Breaking Bad" after taking heat from a Florida mom who launched a petition campaign last week.

 The dolls are based on the series about Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who turns into a crystal meth dealer, and his sidekick Jesse Pinkman. The figures have a detachable bag of cash and a bag of methamphetamines.

 Toys R Us, which is based in Wayne, New Jersey, told The Associated Press late Tuesday that the dolls are being removed immediately from its website and shelves.

 "Let's just say, the action figures have taken an indefinite sabbatical," Toys R Us said in a statement. The retailer had maintained that the figures were sold in limited quantities in the adult-action-figure area of its stores.

 The Fort Myers, Florida, mom, identified by news media as Susan Schrivjer, launched a petition on change.org last week, demanding that Toys R Us immediately stop selling the dolls. The mom, who wrote the petition under the name Susan Myers, said that the dolls are a "dangerous deviation from their family friendly values."

 "While the show may be compelling viewing for adults, its violent content and celebration of the drug trade make this collection unsuitable to be sold alongside Barbie dolls and Disney characters," she wrote.

 As of Tuesday, the petition had 8,000 signatures.

 On Monday, Bryan Cranston, the actor who played White, responded to the controversy, tweeting, "I'm so mad. I am burning my Florida mom action figure in protest."

The debate has also spurred die-hard adult figure collectors to rally behind Toys R US. Daniel Pickett, of Manhattan Beach, California, launched a petition on change.org in favor of the toy seller keeping the dolls. So far, it has collected nearly 3,000 signatures....More

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Reality Pair Cancelled -- Bruce & Kris Split

Another marriage the Kardashians couldn't keep up.

 Family matriarch Kris Jenner dispatched her lawyer to Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday to file for divorce from estranged husband Bruce Jenner.

 The petition comes nearly a year after they announced their separation.

 "We are living separately and we are much happier this way," they said in a joint statement last October. "But we will always have much love and respect for each other. Even though we are separated, we will always remain best friends and, as always, our family will remain our number one priority."

According to the filing, obtained by The Insider With Yahoo, Kris cites irreconcilable differences as the reason for the divorce. She requests joint custody of their 17-year-old daughter, Kylie. (Their other daughter, Kendall, is 18.) Kris also seeks to retain her jewelry and all assets from the date of separation, listed as June 1, 2013.

Bruce, 64, and Kris, 58, tied the knot in 1991, bringing together a big brood that included Kris's kids Kim, Kourtney, Khloé, and Rob, and Bruce's kids Brody, Brandon, Casey, and Burt.

This was the third marriage for the former Olympic gold medalist, who was previously wed to Linda Thompson (1981-84) and Christi Crownover (1972-81). Kris, meanwhile, was married to the late Robert Kardashian from 1978 until 1991.

Bruce and Kris's separate lives became a plot point on their E! series Keeping Up With the Kardashians, as Kris lorded over their Calabasas, California, mansion and Bruce shacked up in his Malibu "man cave."...More

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Co-Pastor Osteen Stuns All with "Obey God, For Yourself" Comments

Lakewood Church co-pastor Victoria Osteen received backlash from the Christian community after video footage of an August sermon surfaced showing Osteen encouraging congregants to "do good for your own self."

 The pastor, who is married to televangelist Joel Osteen, told the congregation that the key to making God happy is first making oneself happy. Osteen said:

 When we obey God, we're not doing it for God...we're doing it for ourself. Because God takes pleasure when we're happy. Do good 'cause God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God, really. You're doing it for yourself because that's what makes God happy.

 Once the video began making rounds on social media, many in the Christian community took to Twitter and personal blogs to express their dismay at Osteen's comments....More

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Suge Knight Latest Rap Scene Shooting Victim

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hip hop mogul Marion "Suge" Knight, who was shot and wounded at a Los Angeles nightclub over the weekend, was resting at a local hospital but had "lost a lot of blood," his family said on Monday. 

Knight, 49, was struck by bullets early on Sunday morning when a gunman opened fire at a club in West Hollywood during a party in advance of the MTV Music Video Awards across town at The Forum in Inglewood. 

Knight, best-known as the co-founder of Death Row Records, home to such rap stars as Dr Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg, suffered multiple gunshot wounds but was expected to survive, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a written statement. 

Two other people hit by gunfire, identified only as a 19-year-old woman and a 33-year-old man, were also expected to survive their wounds, the sheriff's department said. 

"The family of Suge Knight ask that you keep Suge in your prayers and to stray away from the negativity portrayed by the media," Knight's family said in a statement posted on his Facebook page....More

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