11-11-09: Happy Veterans Day/TSU Coach To Be Fired...Damn!/Goodlettsville McDonald's Millionaire/DMX Tax Woes/Catholics Finally Believe In Life Outside of EARTH???

"Fort Campbell Soldiers Return Home For Veterans Day"

*FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - More than a hundred Fort Campbell Army soldiers returned home Tuesday evening after a one-year tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Music and anticipation filled the military hangar as families and friends eagerly awaited the safe return of their loved ones. The 101 soldiers are from the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade.
"We missed him last time," said soldier's wife Vicki Ardisana. "He left November 12 [2008], so in two days it will be 12 months."
Ardisana stood outside watching for the plane with daughter, Isabella.
"He'll be home for Christmas this year?" asked reporter Brent Frazier.
"Yeah and Thanksgiving!" exclaimed Ardisana. "He was gone for both [last year]."
The 737 commercial, Miami Air International jet pulled into view to a throng of cheering fans. Inside the hangar, there was one final formation for the military men and women before a much deserved warm greeting from loved ones.
"You can't even imagine, it's wonderful [being home]," said Sergeant First Class Peter Lanoue. "You're in a foreign land, away from friends, family and everything you hold true to your heart is here, so it's amazing. It's magical."
After a debriefing, soldiers were set free to sleep at home Tuesday night. Fort Campbell officials said more soldiers from the 159th are slated to come home for the holidays.
The remaining 2,600 soldiers still in Afghanistan should be back on American soil by the year's end.

"TSU Football Coach To Be Fired This Season"
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - NewsChannel 5 Sports discovered that Tennessee State University head football coach James Webster will be fired before the 2009 season is over.
Sources close to the TSU athletic department said this will be Coach Webster’s last season, and he will be informed perhaps before the Austin Peay game on Saturday.
Webster is in his 5th season as head coach with an overall record of 24-30. The Tigers are 3-6 this season.
The search for his successor is already underway.

---

"Police Rule Body Found In Dumpster As Suicide"

*MURFREESBORO, Tenn.- A man's body found burned in a dumpster in Murfreesboro on Nov. 4, 2009, was identified, and the medical examiner called it suicide by fire.
The Murfreesboro Fire Department said early indications already ruled out foul play.Burnt Body Found Near MTSU Not Victim Of Homicide.The medical examiner also said no trauma other than fire was done to the man's body.
The man's body was found in a burned dumpster at the Nottingham Apartments at 1311 Greenland Dr. in Murfreesboro.Burnt Body Found At Nottingham Apartments In Murfreesboro. Toxicology reports were still pending Wednesday.

*NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The restaurant that became the site of a makeshift memorial for Steve McNair in the days following his death will now be sold.
A probate judge authorized McNair's widow Mechelle to sell Gridiron 9, which is the restaurant Steve opened just days before his death.
The judge denied an appeal by one of Steve’s business partners.
Court records show a potential buyer has already come forward.

*When Brandi Futch ordered a cup of sweet tea at a McDonald's restaurant in Goodlettsville, she had no idea just how sweet it would be.
The fast-food order made her a millionaire.
Futch had been playing the McDonald's Monopoly game for three years before she finally hit the jackpot. Customers collect game pieces to win prizes ranging from free French fries to cash.
"I'd won food prizes before but not money," she said. "I never thought I would win. I did all the what-ifs but I think everyone does that."
Futch, 23, of White House was confirmed by McDonald's Tuesday as its first $1 million Monopoly game winner this year. She and her best friend, Brittany Hogan, 23, also of White House, visit the fast-food chain at least once a week.
Two weeks ago, the pair stopped at the Goodlettsville McDonald's, 304 Long Hollow Pike.
"We got our drinks first," Futch said.
Money for car, college
In the passenger seat, Hogan heard her friend say she thought she won a million dollars.
"I was like no way, it's just a fry or something," Hogan said. "But, then we pulled it up on the Internet, and I couldn't believe it. It's been a circus ever since."
First on the millionaire's list is a new car followed by a house, college and investments. Futch works at the Grand Ole Opry but wants to work as a sign language specialist some day.
"We celebrate every time someone wins, but having her win here makes it that much more exciting, not only for Nashville but for McDonald's,'' said James Pelletier, owner of the Goodlettsville franchise. Futch she still can't believe it. "I think my parents were more in shock than I was,'' she said. "My daddy just cried."~ http://www.tennessean.com/section/NEWS

*Yesterday N-B-A legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar revealed that he's suffering from cancer. The former Lakers star says he was diagnosed with the disease last year after suffering hot flashes, and joked with A-B-C News, "I'm not going through menopause -- so I needed to know what that was about. My doctor said, 'Let's go get some blood work and see what's going on.'" Abdul-Jabbar suffers from chronic myloid leukemia, which affects his blood. He says, "I heard the word leukemia and I thought it was a death sentence. But my prognosis is good," adding that if he continues to see a specialist, take his medication and get routine blood checks, "I can manage this disease." He says he went public to let others know "they can prevail."
Some of Abdul-Jabbar's career accomplishments include:
Six-time N-B-A champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996)
First player in N-B-A history to play 20 seasons
Abdul-Jabbar on his cancer diagnosis. OC:...going on. :29 [Courtesy of A-B-C News]
"Last December I was diagnosed with C-M-L which is a blood disease that affects your white blood cell out put and you blood and your bone marrow. I was having hot flashes and sweats -- I'm not going through menopause -- so I needed to know what that was about. My doctor said let's go get some blood work and see what's going on."

*One-time baseball great Sammy Sosa has made his first comments about photos showing him with dramatically lightened skin tone -- which he blames on a skin cream he's used in recent times. Countering claims that he'd intentionally whitened his face, Sosa told Univision T-V, "What happened was that I had been using the cream for a long time and that, combined with the bright T-V lights, made my face look whiter than it really is. I don't think I look like Michael Jackson. I'm not a racist, I live my life happily."

*Catholic Church officials are meeting at the Vatican to discuss the possibility of life on other planets. It's a first for the Church, which once jailed the astronomer Galileo for correctly claiming that the sun, not the Earth, was the center of the universe. Reverend Jose Gabriel Funes, a Vatican astronomer, went on record saying, "The question of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe [is] very suitable and deserves serious consideration. Just as there is a multitude of creatures on Earth, there could be other beings, even intelligent ones, created by God. We cannot put limits on God's creative freedom."

"DMX TAX TROUBLES"

X may have left the boxing ring, but it looks like he's still about to get into a battle with somebody.
According to the Detroit News, the state of New York has filed a Lien against DMX and his wife Tashera on January 2nd revealing that the Yonkers rapper owes over 1.5 million dollars in back taxes to the government.
But things get worse from there. He and his wife owe the New York State Tax commission $44,357, as well as $370,460, and liens were filed against the two in 2005 as well as 2006, so that the state could recoup the money that was owed to them.
Along with New York, the Platinum selling rapper also owes the IRS income earned while he was in Arizona from 2002-2003, and 2005 bringing his total over there to $663,533 dollars.
A lien was filed in Arizona against the rapper in September of 2007 to collect the delinquent funds.
With so many other rappers having trouble with the IRS, it looks like Uncle Sam may be looking at Hip Hop to collect some of its unpaid bills.

JIGGA CREEPING???? PHOTOS SHOW HIM AND A TIGHT-PANTS-WEARING MYSTERY WOMAN HIDING THEIR FACE AS THEY ENTER NYC RESTAURANT!!!

November 11, 1979 - The Bethune Museum & Archives, a depository and center for African American women's history, is established in Washington, DC

The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that puts the prestigious group behind calls for more research.
The nation's largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 member doctors, the AMA has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD.
In changing its policy, the group said its goal was to clear the way to conduct clinical research, develop cannabis-based medicines and devise alternative ways to deliver the drug.
"Despite more than 30 years of clinical research, only a small number of randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on smoked cannabis," said Dr. Edward Langston, an AMA board member, noting that the limited number of studies was "insufficient to satisfy the current standards for a prescription drug product."
The decision by the organization's delegates at a meeting in Houston marks another step in the evolving view of marijuana, which an AMA report notes was once linked by the federal government to homicidal mania. Since California voters approved the use of medical marijuana in 1996, marijuana has moved steadily into the cultural mainstream spurred by the growing awareness that it can have beneficial effects for some chronically ill people.

This year, the Obama administration sped up that drift when it ordered federal narcotics agents not to arrest medical marijuana users and providers who follow state laws. Polls show broadening support for marijuana legalization.

Thirteen states allow the use of medical marijuana, and about a dozen more have considered it this year.