THE SHOW: 02/09/2010 - MATTERS OF THE HEART / TOTAL RECALL / BE CAREFUL LITTLE MOUTH WHAT YOU SAY!! / JOE SEEKS JUSTICE!!

Local Buzz:
"Metro Nashville Public Schools Close Tuesday"

*NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Metro Nashville Public Schools decided to cancel classes Tuesday, even though the school system is out of snow days.
Schools officials were out checking the roads Tuesday around 4 a.m., and said the roads in the Joelton and Goodlettsville area were still very slushy and possibility dangerous. More than 30 school systems in Tennessee and Kentucky have already closed Tuesday. CLICK LINK TO SEE SCHOOL CLOSINGS: http://www.newschannel5.com/global/Category.asp?c=89174&nav=menu374_3
The National Weather Service canceled the winter storm warning for the midstate and replaced it with a winter weather advisory. With the advisory some Middle Tennessee counties could be seeing more snow and freezing rain.

"Deadline Looms To Apply For Judicial Commission"

*NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Wednesday is the deadline to apply for a vacancy on the Tennessee Judicial Nominating Commission.
Members of the 17-member commission review and recommend applicants for vacancies on the state appellate and trial courts for the governor's consideration.
The vacancy was created by the resignation of chairman David Bautista.
House Speaker Kent Williams, who appointed Bautista, will select an applicant to fill the vacancy. The new commissioner will serve out the remainder of Bautista's term, which expires June 30, 2015.
Applications can be found at www.tncourts.gov

"Trigg County Triple Homicide Trial Pushed Back"
*LIVINGSTON COUNTY, Ky. - Jury selection was supposed to begin Tuesday in the triple murder trial of a Kentucky man accused of killing three kids and assaulting their mother, but the winter weather pushed back jury selection to Wednesday. Police charged Kevin Dunlap with three counts of criminal homicide. In October 2008, investigators said Dunlap murdered 17-year-old Kayla Williams, 14-year-old Kortney Frensley and 5-year-old Ethan Frensley and then set their Trigg County, Ky., home on fire. The only survivor was the children's mother, Kristi Frensley. Police said Dunlap left Kristi for dead. Prosecutors said they will be seeking the death penalty. The trial was moved to Livingston County, Ky., from Trigg County because of heavy publicity. Jury selection could last all week.

"Tennessee Looking For Help Feeding Needy Children"
*NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Department of Human Services has been looking for nonprofit and local government agencies to help feed low-income children this summer. The Summer Food Service Program is designed to provide nutritious meals to needy children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture funds the program. DHS contracts annually with a variety of local agencies to prepare, deliver and serve free meals and snacks to children at approved locations.
Last year, 55 agencies operated the program at 1,582 sites across Tennessee, including parks, playgrounds, recreation centers, schools, colleges, churches, camps and other places accessible to needy children.
For more information: http://state.tn.us/humanserv/adfam/afs_cafp.html

Top Stories:
"Iran TV: Higher Uranium Enrichment Process Started"

*Iran says it has begun enriching uranium to a higher level, defying international efforts to curb its nuclear activity.
Iranian state television quoted officials who said the process started Tuesday at Iran's Natanz facility in the presence of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. Iran told the IAEA Monday of its plans to enrich uranium to 20 percent in order to fuel a medical nuclear reactor.
Western powers are concerned that if Iran is able to enrich uranium to 20 percent, it could eventually produce weapons-grade uranium through the same process.
Iran insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.
The U.N. Security Council has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran for its failure to halt uranium enrichment.
A U.S. Defense Department spokesman said Tuesday the United States wants a fourth round of sanctions passed "within weeks, not months."
In Paris Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said they will push for strong new sanctions.
U.S. officials said they hope to bring a resolution to the Security Council this month, while France holds the rotating presidency.
The U.N. had brokered a deal with a group of world powers that called for Tehran to ship its uranium abroad for enrichment and have it returned as reactor fuel. But Iran had given mixed signals about its willingness to accept the deal.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Tuesday called for the parties involved in the negotiations to continue work towards finding a solution.
China has been opposed to setting additional sanctions against Iran.

"On Health Bill, GOP's Road Is a New Map "

*WASHINGTON — When Republicans take President Obama up on his invitation to hash out their differences over health care this month, they will carry with them a fairly well-developed set of ideas intended to make health insurance more widely available and affordable, by emphasizing tax incentives and state innovations, with no new federal mandates and only a modest expansion of the federal safety net.
It is not clear that Republicans and the White House are willing to negotiate seriously with each other, and Mr. Obama has rejected Republican demands that he start from scratch in developing health care legislation.
But Congressional Republicans have laid out principles and alternatives that provide a road map to what a Republican health care bill would look like if they had the power to decide the outcome. The different approaches will be on display Feb. 25, when lawmakers from both parties are scheduled to go to Blair House, across the street from the White House, for a televised clash of health policy ideas.
The Republicans rely more on the market and less on government. They would not require employers to provide insurance. They oppose the Democrats’ call for a big expansion of Medicaid, which Republicans say would burden states with huge long-term liabilities.
While the Congressional Budget Office has not analyzed all the Republican proposals, it is clear that they would not provide coverage to anything like the number of people — more than 30 million — who would gain insurance under the Democrats’ proposals.

"Arrested Sri Lankan opposition leader being treated 'like an animal' "

*The wife of General Sarath Fonseka, the former Sri Lankan army chief who was arrested last night on suspicion of plotting a coup, accused the Government today of abducting her husband and treating him "like an animal".
She also accused President Rajapksa of waging a vendetta against the General, who led the army to victory over the Tamil Tigers last year, for daring to challenge him in a presidential election last month.
"This is not an arrest. It is an abduction," a tearful Anoma Fonseka told a news conference at her home in Colombo, the capital.
General Fonseka was arrested by military police at his campaign office last night and is now facing trial in a military court.
The charges against him include plotting a coup against Mr Rajapaksa, who won the presidential poll on January 26 after a bruising campaign marred by widespread abuse of state media. Mrs Fonseka complained that her 59-year-old husband had been "dragged out and treated like an animal" by the soldiers after he objected to being arrested by military rather than civilian police. "We always knew that the Government will try to arrest my husband, but we never thought they would do it in such a disgusting manner," she said through sobs. "Is this the gratitude for a General who ended terrorism?"
Both the General and President Rajapaksa were hailed as national heroes by the Sinhalese ethnic majority after the defeat of the Tigers in May ended a 26-year civil war. But they fell out when the General was shifted to the powerless post of Chief of Defence Staff in July. He resigned in November and declared his presidential candidacy the following month. Mr Rajapaksa won the presidential election easily, but General Fonseka has refused to accept the result and vowed to challenge him in the Supreme Court and in parliamentary polls due by April. One of the General's many complaints was that the Government tried to intimidate him by deployng hundreds of army troops around the luxury hotel where he was staying as votes were being counted. The army said at the time that the General was holed up inside with 400 men, including armed army deserters, but journalists and tourists inside saw no evidence of such an entourage.

Celeb News:
"BRAD & ANGELINA SUING OVER BREAK-UP REPORT"

*Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are suing Britain's News of the World for reporting that the couple was breaking up.
In a statement, Brad and Angie's lawyer says, "The News of the World has failed to meet our clients' reasonable demands for a retraction of and apology for these false and intrusive allegations which have now been widely republished by mainstream news outlets. We have advised them to bring proceedings, which they have now done." If you need more proof that the power couple is still very much together -- Brangelina were spotted at the Super Bowl, and in the words of an L-A Times reporter, they spent their time "in a luxury box sprinkled with smooches and smiles."

"CHARLIE SHEEN CHARGED"

*Charlie Sheen got some good news and some bad news yesterday at a hearing in Aspen, Colorado.
First the good news -- the judge lifted a portion of the protection order that prohibits Charlie from having contact with wife Brooke. The bad news -- Charlie was formally charged with felony menacing and two misdemeanor charges, assault in the third degree and criminal mischief, in connection with that Christmas Day fight with his wife that landed him behind bars. If convicted of the felony, Charlie could get up to three years in prison.

"CONAN INVITED TO JOIN DAVE AND JAY IN SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL"

*It was surprising to see David Letterman and Jay Leno together in a Super Bowl commercial. But if Dave had his wish, the 10-second spot would have been shocking -- because he wanted Conan O'Brien to join them. Instead Oprah Winfrey sat between the feuding late-night hosts.

"Joe Jackson: Dr. Murray 'a fall guy'"

*Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's father suspects his son was murdered and that Dr. Conrad Murray is "just a fall guy" in a conspiracy.Joe Jackson appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Monday night, just hours after sitting in a courtroom to hear Murray plead not guilty to a single charge of involuntary manslaughter in his son's death last summer. A Los Angeles judge set bail at $75,000, despite arguments from the prosecutor that Murray is a flight risk and needs a higher bail. Murray posted the bond and was released several hours later. Michael Jackson's family, including his parents, four of his brothers and one sister, filled the first two rows of the small courtroom.
"I was looking for justice, and justice, to me, would be a murder charge," Joe Jackson told King. Prosecutors charged Murray, who was Jackson's personal physician, with causing the pop star's death "without malice" by acting "without due caution and circumspection."
Murray was with the pop star when he died on June 25, 2009.
The Los Angeles County coroner ruled Jackson's death a homicide, resulting from a combination of drugs, primarily propofol -- a powerful anesthesia -- and lorazepam. Joe Jackson suggested it was more than a doctor making a fatal judgment.
"To me, he's just a fall guy" Jackson said. "There's other people, I think, involved with this whole thing. But I think that he's interrogated -- he would come clean and tell everything he knows." He said Michael Jackson told his mother, as he was preparing for his comeback concerts in London, England last year, that he thought he would be killed. "He was afraid to even do all of these shows, because he was afraid that he wouldn't get a chance to finish all of the show," Joe Jackson said. "He couldn't do all those shows back-to-back. Even his kids say that he had told them that he would be murdered."
Murray turned himself in shortly before 4 p.m. at a branch courthouse near Los Angeles International Airport. He pleaded not guilty during a brief hearing before Judge Keith L. Schwartz. The judge refused to suspend Murray's medical license as a term of his bond, but he did order him not to use any anesthesia on patients.
"I don't want you sedating people," Schwartz told Murray.Read the criminal complaint: http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/08/murray.complaint.pdf
The involuntary manslaughter charge means that Murray caused Jackson's death by acting "without due caution and circumspection."
If convicted, Murray would face a maximum four-year prison sentence, according to prosecutors.

Good News:
"Toyota Set to Act On Prius"

*TOKYO—Toyota Motor Corp. will likely start a new effort this week in Japan to fix braking problems on the newest models of its Prius cars, either through a formal recall or a voluntary repair program for owners, a person familiar with the matter said Sunday.
Toyota also intends to take similar steps in the U.S. and elsewhere involving the popular gas-electric hybrid cars, the person said.
The move goes a step further than the company's announcement Friday, when Chief Executive Akio Toyoda said the company was looking into complaints about the Prius but hadn't yet decided what to do. A Toyota spokesman in Japan said Sunday only that the company was continuing to study the problem, declining to comment on any possible responses. A U.S. Department of Transportation official said Sunday the agency hadn't received confirmation of any recall or proposed remedy on the Prius. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "is working quickly to detect any potential problems, but as of now, Toyota has not said there is a safety defect with the vehicle," said the DOT official. "If Toyota does have knowledge of a safety defect, they are legally required to stop sale of the affected vehicles. They are also legally obligated to notify NHTSA within five days of discovering that a defect exists."
The Prius fix is unrelated to the sudden-acceleration problems that have badly tarnished the company's image over the past few weeks, prompting a global recall of 8.1 million vehicles, at a potential cost of up to $2 billion, due to gas pedal and floor mat problems.
By comparison, the Prius fix affects a relatively small number of vehicles—the company has sold 311,000 units of the affected third-generation versions of the hybrid—and hasn't had the kind of serious safety complaints that have hit other models.
The problem, and the fix, affect only the latest model-year Priuses and don't seem to have emerged on earlier versions of the car, though the company has said it is still checking other models. On Friday, Bob Carter, Toyota general manager in the U.S., sent a letter assuring dealers the company was "moving rapidly to provide a solution" for existing Prius owners, according to a copy of the email. "We will share more specific details on this solution early next week."
Mr. Carter said Toyota will be working to expedite the delivery of repair parts in a separate recall involving sticky gas pedals to dealers so they arrive two days faster. The company is also launching a series of 60-second television ads Sunday emphasizing Toyota's U.S. history. "The ad admits that in recent days we haven't been living up to the standard that's expected of us," Mr. Carter said.
But doubts over the safety of the world's most popular hybrid could further damage Toyota's sales and brand image. The Prius has been central to Toyota's campaign to create an image of an environmentally friendly company, and it is the company's most popular model in Japan.
Prius sales in Japan in January jumped nearly fourfold to 22,306 vehicles, making the hybrid the best selling car for the eighth straight month, according to data by the Japan Automobile Dealers' Association released Thursday.

Relationship:
"TIPS FOR THE BROKEN-HEARTED"

*Sometimes it's the littlest things that send us spiraling -- and sometimes, it's big annoying holidays like Valentine's Day! Well, we can't mend your broken heart, but if the impending day has got you down, try some of these tips.
Write your "must-haves" and "can't-stands" for your future mate. What drove you nuts about the last guy? That he wouldn't dance? Maybe he didn't want kids! Whatever you want or need, write it down.
Relationship resolutions. Recall some things about yourself that you didn't like when you were together. Your diet? Gym habits? Bad habits? Figure out how to secure your fears and maintain you in the next relationship.
Ask yourself, "Why did you stay?" There's a relationship book titled It's Called A Break-Up Because It's Broken. Even if you weren't the one that called it quits, you likely had reason to leave too. What wasn't working for you?
Allow grief. We all have different ways of dealing with sadness. Allow yourself a little time before you get upset that you don't want out of your PJs. Crooning to sad songs or cranking rock ones, eating crap ... whatever it is, give yourself a fixed period and "enjoy."

A health note:
Age of mother affects child's autism risk: study

*CHICAGO (Reuters) - Being an older mother significantly increases the risk of having a child with autism, but being an older father only increases the risk when the mother is under the age of 30, U.S. researchers said on Monday. They found that a 40-year-old woman's risk of having a child later diagnosed with autism was 50 percent greater than that of a woman between 25 and 29. But being an older father -- 40 or older -- only contributes significantly to autism risk when the mother is under 30. "The older the mother, the more the risk that the child will develop autism, regardless of whether the father is young or old," said Irva Hertz-Picciotto of the University of California Davis MIND Institute, who worked on the study published in the journal Autism Research. The findings contradict a 2006 study of children born in Israel that suggested paternal age played a much larger role. "There has been a debate over whether it is maternal or paternal risk. A lot of people were thinking it's not really mom's age," Hertz-Picciotto said in a telephone interview. Researchers and policymakers are increasingly looking for causes to explain the growing numbers of children diagnosed with autism, which affects 1 percent of U.S. children. There is no cure for autism, a spectrum of diseases ranging from severe and profound inability to communicate and mental retardation to relatively mild symptoms such as with Asperger's syndrome. The current study, which incorporates data on 4.9 million births and 12,159 autism cases in California, helps to clarify the contribution of age from both parents. "We have such a very large database we were really able to disentangle the mother's age very well," Hertz-Picciotto said. This can be a challenge because older mothers and fathers tend to have children together. "We found it does vary for the father, but not for the mother," she said. For example, among babies born to mothers under 25, children whose father was over 40 were twice as likely to develop autism as those whose father was between 25 and 29. This could be because when both parents are older, the risk conferred by the father is outweighed by the risk from the mother, Hertz-Picciotto said.
OLDER PARENTS
She said the point of the study is not to blame parents, but to gain clues about what is going on in older parents that could increase a child's risk of developing autism. Older parents, for example, are more likely to have infertility problems and have used fertility treatments; the mothers are more likely to have autoimmune conditions, including gestational diabetes; and both have accumulated more toxins over their lifetimes, so the sperm and egg are more likely to have some changes that could increase risk. We see these age findings as clues for where to look next," Hertz-Picciotto said.
Autism researchers are looking at a broad range of potential environmental factors, including household products, medical treatments, diet, food supplements and infections. And the National Institute of Mental Health, one of the National Institutes of Health, is looking at potential genetic causes of autism and has plans to sequence the entire genomes of hundreds of children and their parents to gain a better understanding of the role genes play.

Today in Black History:
"Black astronaut Bernard Harris"

*February 9, 1995 - Bernard Harris, an African-American astronaut, takes a space walk.

Mess of the Day:
"Boot & Rally"

*Well in my expert opinion, I have to say that I like the bare thighs, but I like how the ponytail sits on the short sleeve shirt better than it does on the sweatshirt. Now if we could just combine the two!~Texas

Thought for the day:

" What is difficult for some people is not difficult for others and the difference is in their attitude. Everything is possible when you believe in yourself and when you blindly believe that it can be done, when you have a burning desire and a stubborn and persistent attitude to succeed."
Copyright © 2010 Eduardo Dominguez