CNN.com, in conjunction with "American Morning," asked survivors of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma to share their stories of thanks for the kind things people have done for them. Here are a few of their many responses, some of which have been edited:This season the Graham family has more reason to give thanks than ever before. We would like to thank the evacuees that took care of each other while trapped in St. Augustine High School, the Army National Guardsman that personally called our home with good news, and the North Eunice Baptist Mission of Eunice, Louisiana. Their bravery and commitment helped rescue my 80-year-old grandparents from the chaos of Hurricane Katrina. If not for the kindness of these complete strangers and the grace of God, I am not certain that my elderly grandparents could have escaped "the city that care forgot." I am forever indebted to them, and I wish them the happiest holiday season of all this year.Arianne Graham Atlanta, GeorgiaI evacuated from St. Bernard Parish and found myself in Baltimore, Maryland, with nothing but my two dogs. My bank account wasn't working and I knew no one. But a lot of people have helped me throughout this ordeal and continue to help me. When my money ran out to pay for the motel room I was staying in, a lady contacted me and helped to link me up with Mildred Johnson, who would allow my dogs and I to live with her. When we realized that I would need more permanent housing, the same lady contacted a local Catholic church to find someone who would know someone who would rent to a lady with two dogs, and a week later I was moving into a one-bedroom apartment with a great community atmosphere. Baltimore has been a great place for me. Strangers have bought me breakfast when they heard I was displaced. The school system took my credentials and employed me as a special education teacher. Strangers I have never met sent pots and pans, gift cards and other items to make me feel at home. I miss my home and have a soft spot in my heart for Louisiana, but Baltimore has started to feel like home and that's what I'm most thankful for. Money will come and go, but the people who say a kind word and show they care will always leave a lasting impression.Rebecca Sebring Baltimore, MarylandI was not directly affected by Hurricane Katrina. I was a Red Cross Disaster Relief Volunteer. I want to thank those who made it possible for our team of volunteers to hand out financial assistance to those in need. The Florida National Guard (based in Gainesville and Pensacola), Florida State Patrol, Virginia State Patrol, Police ICE from D.C., Mississippi State Patrol, and the local Bay St. Louis and Waveland police force made it possible for us to help. Without their hard work and help our jobs would have been impossible. They provided traffic control, crowd control and were an invaluable part of our team. They need to be acknowledged for this dedication. Thank you for your service and your selflessness while in Mississippi.Jean Savage Offutt AFB, NebraskaThe City of Menard was AMAZING! We were heading to Central Texas for Hurricane Rita. We thought we would be the only evacuees in Menard because it is over 350 miles away from Houston, supposedly Ground Zero for Rita. However, when we got there, there were over 150 people there. The Menard Fire Department and EMS Service had already started getting services and meals donated for evacuees. They had set up the Baptist Encampment (small cabins for families) for those without a hotel. They got us sheets, personal items, baby needs, and three hot meals each day. The local sheriff's office was in touch with the governor's office and gave us updates each day about our return. It was AMAZING. We will definitely head back to Menard for the next hurricane. And there will be a next!Mary McKinney Houston, TexasI want to thank my New Orleans family for making me realize how important family is. I moved away from New Orleans 11 years ago, married and had a son. We've lived in Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi and now Nashville, Tennessee, always more than a quick drive from my family in New Orleans. When Katrina threatened the city, my family came to us in Nashville, thinking they'd return home in a couple of days. Nearly three months later, my sisters Heidi and Allison and my niece Lynda have decided to stay in Nashville. Allison and her daughter just moved into their own apartment last weekend, and Heidi will begin looking for her own place and possibly a new career in January. What may have started as an inconvenience has left us a much stronger family. My son, London, absolutely adores having his extended family here every day. And so do I. After years of being an island unto ourselves, it's now so easy to see that family means everything. Even when possessions are lost, hometowns are obliterated and painful new images of destruction block older memories of joy, having your family by your side conquers all. So, I want to thank my mom and dad, my sisters and my niece for showing me what family really means. Thank you.Mimi Eckhard Nashville, TennesseeFrom a motel in Tennessee I was watching television reports of Katrina's progress when a scroll appeared at the bottom of the screen saying that a breach had occurred in the 17th Street canal and New Orleans was flooding. My home is two blocks east of that canal. My heart sank. I knew I had lost everything.It was a couple of weeks before I was able to return to the area. What brought me back was the reopening of schools in St. Charles Parish, where I had been a teacher for 20 years. Most of my friends there had been spared major damage, and all were anxious to help me in any way they could. I would arrive at school to find a teacher or a school board member had bought me clothes, knowing I had left town with but three changes. Teachers would pass me in the hall and hug me, then press a check into my hand. Cards filled with wonderful sentiments and cash would appear in my mailbox.But an example of how extraordinary are the people of the area is the Marino family. My losses to the storm had made me decide to retire and move to the Southwest. The day I left school for the last time I found a tin left for me by the Marinos. In it were brownies (my favorite) made by Mary, the mom, and cards from each member of the family. Each of the kids had sent me some of their allowance for that month to help me get a start in my new life. You're damned right I cried when I opened each one.It was worth losing my material wealth to see how rich I am in friends, how wonderful are the people of Louisiana, and how much more important love is than "stuff."Bob Camba New Orleans, LouisianaOn the morning of August 28, 2005, my husband, our daughter, and I evacuated our beachfront apartments, Arbor Station in Long Beach, Mississippi, due to Hurricane Katrina coming in. When we arrived back approximately one week later, our entire apartment complex was destroyed. Our apartment flooded with six feet of water and we lost any and all possessions we ever had. When I arrived back at work, a friend I work with offered to let us stay at her house for however long we needed and requested that we pay her no money. Her name is Katie Bryant. We both work on the Construction Battalion Naval Base in Gulfport, Mississippi. I just want to let her know how thankful I am for what she did for my family and that I am thrilled to be providing her the same service. We recently bought a house and she and her two kids are now living with us. I'd also like to thank Paula, Roy, Starzz Management, and the U.S. Navy for all of their support.Amanda Butt Saucier, MississippiMy parents, younger brother, and Great Dane evacuated from New Orleans to Memphis, Tennessee. I live in Los Angeles but went to visit them as soon as it became clear that they weren't going to return home anytime soon. Perhaps I have low expectations from living in Los Angeles, but in Tennessee I was just blown away at how everyone was so kind to us -- from a church donating free lunches/dinners at our hotel, La Quinta Inn, free "make your own ice cream sundae night" for evacuees in the lobby, restaurants pouring in with coupons for us, and so much more. What I will always remember from the trip, however, is something that helped us while we were "down at the end of lonely street" and trying to "find a new place to dwell." We decided to go to Graceland for a day when we were told we could go in free and get free passes to all the attractions. A free ticket to Graceland -- the King would have been proud. Thank you to Graceland and all the nice people in Memphis who made our days go from "all shook up" to a little brighter and sunnier.Kimberly Posin New Orleans, LouisianaA lot of attention has been given, and perhaps rightly so, to the victims of the many hurricanes that have hit the United States. Having recently survived vicious, category four Wilma, huddled in a small church shelter in Cancun, Mexico, with our family and with scores of other Americans for what seemed an eternity, we also have much to be thankful for. My wife and I in particular thank God that our children, their partners, and our precious 6-year old grandson have been given a second chance to continue with their lives.Our thanks, however, would not be complete or genuine if we did not also give thanks to the beautiful Mexican people who not only shared their shelter with us, but also shared their food and water, cared for us, and supported us during the long nightmare. Oblivious of their own losses -- some lost everything they owned to Wilma -- these selfless and gallant people unquestionably helped us make it through the two longest nights and day of our lives. People like Abelardo Patsanlocar, a man who lost his home -- a humble shack -- and all his possessions to the hurricane. During the eye of Wilma, which hovered over and around Cancun for more than 10 hours, Abelardo took us to what had been his home. Only a toilet bowl remained. Yet, Abelardo and the other wonderful Mexican people never complained.Once the ordeal was over, and as the buses started to leave the shelter to take us back to our hotels, Abelardo and the others lined up outside the shelter to wish us well, with smiles on their faces and true affection in their hearts. It is then when we realized that, while we were heading back to our comfortable homes and our comfortable lifestyles, they remained behind facing the nearly impossible task of literally picking up the pieces of their destroyed homes and of their devastated lives. It is this gallant and altruistic conduct that we are so thankful for and that we will never forget.Dorian and Carol J. de Wind Austin, Texas

(CNN) -- In March 2003, when her battalion was ambushed in Iraq, Spc. Shoshana Johnson became America's first black female prisoner of war. Today, Johnson is out of the military, but she shares her story in lectures across the country.Americans were first introduced to Johnson -- a U.S. Army cook with the 507th Maintenance Company out of Fort Bliss, Texas -- early in the war when videotape of her interrogation with her Iraqi captors was broadcast worldwide on television.During the gruff interview, Johnson looked tense, her eyes darting quickly left, then right. Barely an hour before, she'd been shot in both ankles and captured along with five other soldiers, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who was badly wounded and was held prisoner at a separate location.Nine of Johnson's fellow soldiers died in the standoff, including her close friend, Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, the first Native American woman killed in combat."I was terrified. I didn't know what was going to happen to me," Johnson recalled in a recent CNN interview. "And I was in a lot of pain."Johnson's ordeal began when her supply convoy took a wrong turn in the desert near the city of Nasiriya and was ambushed and captured by Iraqis.During captivity, Johnson and the other POWs were moved several times. She was treated for her wounds, even enduring a surgery where she was put under general anesthetic."I feared for my life the whole captivity," she says. "I was trying to keep as much information to myself ... they ask you where you from? Texas? You know they ask your name. You know you're giving them a little bit of info, but I don't want to give them everything."Johnson and the other POWs spent 22 days as prisoners until Marines rescued them. They returned to the United States to great fanfare and instant celebrity.Johnson appeared on talk shows and even got to drop the ball in New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve 2003."As a cook in the Army, do you ever think you're going to go to a Golden Globe after-party and [meet] Queen Latifah?" she says. "You never think that's going to happen, but it did."But Lynch got a million-dollar book deal and more in disability payments from the military than Johnson. Some said it was an issue of race, but Johnson wasn't one of them. And she says reports that she and Lynch were at odds aren't true."Everything happens for a reason," she told CNN. "I've had a lot of good fortune. I'm healthy. My family's healthy: my daughters, my nieces. I don't ask God for anything more than that."In December 2003 Johnson was discharged from the Army. She'd served her country for five years, and along the way was awarded the the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War Medal for her service in Iraq.Today, she spends as much time as possible with her young daughter at their El Paso, Texas, home and tours the country for speaking engagements at corporations and schools."I have a little bit of influence with some young people that I speak to which is really unbelievable to me, and I try my best to influence them in, I think, a positive way," she says. "But it can be stressful at times because you feel like: if I make a misstep, everybody's going to be there watching."Johnson says she still struggles with the psychological scars of her time in Iraq, but talking with a psychiatrist and veterans from the Vietnam War helps her."I've had the honor to speak with some of the Vietnam vets, and they've told me basically that you're going to be dealing with this for the next 20 years, the next 30 years to come," she says. "And it actually helps. Because it doesn't make me feel like I'm crazy or that I'll never get better or that it'll never get easier. They really help me out a lot."She also considers herself lucky, considering many soldiers return from the war zone with severe burns or lost limbs. The whole experience has made her appreciate life more, she says."I think I'm a stronger person," Johnson says. "Things don't bother me as much, you know? Quite frankly, I'm just so very happy to be still on this earth."

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A judge threw out a lawsuit Wednesday that sought to block the No Child Left Behind law, President Bush's signature education policy.The National Education Association and school districts in three states had argued that schools should not have to comply with requirements that were not paid for by the federal government.Chief U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman, based in eastern Michigan, said, "Congress has appropriated significant funding" and has the power to require states to set educational standards in exchange for federal money.The NEA, a union of 2.7 million members and often a political adversary of the administration, had filed the suit along with districts in Michigan, Vermont and Bush's home state of Texas, plus 10 NEA chapters in those states and Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- It's the season of giving, but all your kid seems interested in is taking. When they are bombarded with ads about the year's hot toys, it's natural for kids to want to be on the receiving end of gift-giving. But how do you handle the seasonal outbreak of the "gimmes"?Financial, parenting and education experts offer advice for turning the holiday season into a time that helps kids learn financial responsibility and the importance of giving."Fifty-three percent of parents agree that their child thinks money grows on trees," says Rosetta Jones, vice president of Visa USA, which conducted a survey of parents. She encourages parents to use the holiday season to teach their children good personal finance practices.For young children who expect presents from Santa, it's fine to preserve the magic of the season while taking the time to start very general discussions about money, with questions like "Where does money come from?" and "Why do Mommy and Daddy go to work?"Older children can learn about the family's gift-giving budget and, with help, set similar budgets of their own. Jones suggests that older kids earn their gift-giving funds to further help them develop healthy, realistic perceptions about money.Since kids learn by example, Jones says, parents should take advantage of everyday opportunities to engage them. "Managing money is not rocket science," she says. "It's just a matter of taking the time to use everyday experiences, like holiday shopping, to bring that education home and make it real for the child."Dr. Istar Schwager, founder and president of CreativeParents.com, agrees. She urges parents to help kids become savvy about consuming all through the year, by teaching them to look at packages to determine what's included in them, as well as comparison shop.She suggests that parents take their kids to the store to see if the toy they want is truly as appealing in person as it is in the ads. If a friend's child has the toy, ask if your child can try it to see if he or she really likes it. Sometimes boredom sets in faster than you think.Schwager says that although parents are under a lot of pressure from their kids, they have a responsibility to sift through what their kids are asking for and have a "reality list."If parents object to a toy because it's unsafe, is not age-appropriate or doesn't meet their values, they need to say so.Kids learn from the way parents talk to them, Schwager says, and can be surprisingly realistic if they are included in the loop and spoken to honestly and sensitively. "There are nice ways of saying 'no,' and often kids are more understanding than parents may realize."She's also a big believer in toys that have stood the test of time -- board games, riding toys, dolls and stuffed animals, blocks, puppets and other toys that challenge kids to use their imagination and play with others.Schwager reminds parents that not everything of value has to be bought, and asks them to send the message that there's more to the season than buying things. Handmade gifts, time spent together and helping others in need make the season more meaningful for kids and offer rewards of their own.At Lewis Elementary in Kennesaw, Georgia, the emphasis is on helping others before the holidays even start. Guidance counselors are made aware of families in the community who are going through tough times. The Student Council organizes and leads a canned and dry goods drive, followed by a new clothing drive for essentials, like socks and underwear, to help these families.The school adorns a "Giving Tree" with paper ornaments that bear the names of gifts on the wish lists of children from the families. Students' families buy the items and the school's guidance counselors make sure they are delivered. Many other schools have similar initiatives.Mariann Dolnick, a veteran educator at Lewis Elementary, says that this school-wide initiative is one way students learn about the rewards of giving versus receiving."It helps to take the focus off 'what I want,'" says Dolnick.She's aware of the pressures parents face as they work to earn money to provide their children with material possessions, but says she has seen many students who have lots of "things" with little knowledge of the real world.Dolnick urges parents to take time to talk to and interact with their kids."Give your kids real life experiences and fewer material things. There has to be a balance."

(CNN) -- It's the moment every air passenger dreads: standing alone at an empty carousel with the growing realization that their bag has gone missing.In an era of global travel, suitcases of clothes, toiletries and souvenirs could have wound up anywhere, perhaps Anchorage, Alice Springs or even Addis Ababa.But while most lost airline luggage is successfully reunited with its owner, the remainder, more often than not, finds its way to a far more unlikely destination -- a sleepy town in Alabama.Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Scotsboro is home to the Unclaimed Baggage Center, a huge warehouse mall where items that cannot be traced back to their owner are sold off at bargain prices."Airlines put a lot of effort into tracking down the owners of lost luggage, they have software and personnel assigned to it," the Center's Brenda Cantrell told CNN."This is not only because they have to pay out for the lost baggage, but because there is a lot of goodwill involved."Typically, an airline hangs on to baggage for 90 days while it tries to find the owners.After 100 days they will usually reimburse passengers for their loss. Despite their efforts, about one million items a year make it to Scotsboro, ranging from the mundane -- clothing, luggage and cameras -- to the bizarre.Among the strangest finds have been a case containing a full suit of armor, a Jim Henson puppet, a trunk of Egyptian artifacts including a mummified eagle, a rare 1770 violin, a sparkling 5.8 carat solitaire diamond ring and an original painting valued at $20,000."Some eye-popping things come through our facility," said Cantrell.Clothing, jewelry, digital cameras and luggage are among the big sellers at the Unclaimed Baggage Center, which was founded by Bryan Owens, a Scotsboro native who helped design airline baggage-tracking software.Some items are simply given away. The Center has donated large numbers of crutches to a war veterans organizations, clothes to the homeless and baby strollers to a teen pregnancy center.While most customers walk away with a bargain, some find more than they bargained for."One gentleman from Atlanta was passing through and bought a pair of ski boots for $45 for his wife to replace ones she had lost on an airline and been reimbursed for," said Cantrell."He had no idea until he got home that these actually were in fact his wife's original boots -- they still had her initials inside."To ensure your bags don't end up in Scotsboro, the Center offers tips for their safe transit:Make sure the bag is not broken.Check your destination tag is correct.Insure expensive items.Avoid marking bags with special handling instructions. Arrive early for check-in.Place identification inside and outside bags.Lock your bag.Be able to identify your contents.

DAVIS, West Virginia (AP) -- At the summit of Salamander Slope, Tom Blanzy kills the engine and hops off his six-wheeled all-terrain vehicle into ankle-deep snow. Gray clouds have dimmed the panoramic view from the top of Herz Mountain, elevation 4,268 feet, but the silence is nothing short of astounding.Starting in December, skiers will come to this spot and pick a path, from a beginner trail like the meandering two-mile Salamander, to the double black-diamond slope, suitably named Off the Wall. Cross-county skiers might venture just beyond the tree line and into the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area."You can strap on some skis, follow the upward elevation and just hear your heart beat," says Blanzy, general manager of Timberline Four Seasons Resort.Timberline and its nearby competitor, Canaan Valley Resort & Conference Center, are the main attractions in Davis, a little-known skiing and outdoor sports paradise that the November issue of Men's Journal declares one of the "10 Coolest Mountain Towns" in North America."Like redneck in-laws, serious snow is a secret many Southerners would prefer to keep," the magazine says. "But with 150-plus annual inches, Davis is the Dixie darling for skiers who'd rather drive to the Appalachians than fly to the Rockies.""I'm surprised the word hasn't gotten out sooner," says Laird Knight, owner of Granny Gear Productions, which stages mountain bike races. "I've lived here 23 years and I would have thought by now, the place really would have been discovered."It's everything that an urban refugee would look for," he says. "It's everything a city isn't."Davis is an old lumber and coal mining town, tapped by industrialists in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and named for former U.S. Sen. Henry Gassaway Davis, who paid between $5 and $15 an acre for land.But it is location, more than history, that makes it special.Davis sits at the edge of the highest mountain valley east of the Rockies, a 14-by-3-mile trough with an average snowfall of 160 inches. At 3,200 feet, Canaan Valley is drained by the Blackwater River, which occupies anglers and rafters alike. It is ringed by mountains perfect for hiking, biking and skiing, and it is filled with distinctively northern trees like red spruce and balsam fir.And with fewer than 700 full-time residents, it's a place that Claire Martin says often goes overlooked by Northeasterners in ski season."It was on our radar, but we realized it wasn't necessarily on the radar of the rest of the country," says Martin, deputy editor of Men's Journal. "We've all been to Vermont and seen the Green Mountains, and seen the White Mountains of New Hampshire, but not very many outdoor enthusiasts -- even in the know -- have been to West Virginia.""I tell ya, people in Virginia don't know about West Virginia," says Chip Chase, owner of a cross-country skiing company called White Grass Touring Center."We don't reach out to a national audience, but when people in the know do come, they really get off on it," he says. "I've been here 25 years, and I've never had a boring day."'Antithesis of commercialization'The ski stats speak for themselves.Timberline has a vertical drop of 1,000 feet, 37 slopes and trails and 94 percent snowmaking. Canaan has a vertical drop of 850 feet, 37 slopes and 85 percent snowmaking.This year, Timberline has improved its snowmaking capabilities, while Canaan is reaching out to families with a program allowing children under 12 to stay, eat and ski for free.Also new at Canaan is a high-tech form of sledding that spokesman Bryan Brown says only a half-dozen resorts in the country offer. Airboards are inflatable, lightweight, steerable sleds about 4 feet long, with a grooved surface that allows for quick turns and stops. Airboarders will have their own terrain at Canaan, just like snowboarders and tube-riders.But Brown says Canaan has lost none of the solitude and scenery that guests treasure."It's not overcommercialized," he says. Then he laughs. "It's not commercial at all. It's the antithesis of commercialization."When it comes to stores, well ... there aren't many."If they're after the Aspen experience, they're not going to get it here," says Roger Lilly, owner of Blackwater Bikes. "If the husband wants to be outdoors and the wife wants to shop, that's going to be a problem."In Davis, shopping is limited to antiques, a gourmet food store, an herb shop and an art gallery."It's not an area if you're looking for frills," Lilly says. "There are some really good small restaurants, but no big fancy dining experiences. And we'd like to keep it that way."Davis' few eateries include Muttley's steakhouse, the Flying Pigs Cafe, Blackwater Brewing and Sirianni's Cafe, a rustic pizza joint whose tantalizing aromas fill the still, cold air.Michael Goss manages Sirianni's, where the walls are decked with ski posters, some autographed by extreme skier and occasional visitor Glenn Plake. Plake's decadent "Extreme Garlic Chips" are featured on the menu, essentially a crispy pizza crust smothered with handfuls of fresh chopped garlic and gooey cheese, then cut into small squares."Every big city has its little communities, but they don't have the quaint, small-town charm," Goss says.That's why he believes most visitors return. Locals remember their faces and greet them at every sighting."We make them feel welcome," Goss says. "Here, they have a mountain they can call their own."Clare Ferguson and Andy Norton, Londoners now living in Takoma Park, Maryland, found Davis after less than a month in the United States. Clare's mother, Wendy Ferguson, was visiting from France for 10 days, so the family packed up and rented a cabin in the woods."We wanted to take my mom somewhere nice. We wanted to find someplace with beautiful trees, and arts and crafts," Clare says. "It's beautiful. Lovely."After lunch, the Fergusons head for the neighboring town of Thomas, where there are slightly more shops and the MountainMade Artisan Gallery, a showcase of West Virginia workmanship. Thomas also offers some hard-to-find nighttime entertainment, with live music at The Purple Fiddle Coffeehouse.Susan Moore, owner of the Bright Morning Inn, worked in the advertising business for years and says she always felt she could be honest about places like Davis."It is wild and wonderful," she says. "This is the closest real wilderness for lots of people who live in the mid-Atlantic. ... You can really feel totally lost and totally away from everything, and that's harder and harder to find."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japan's space agency said Wednesday its spacecraft had successfully touched down on an asteroid 180 million miles from Earth despite an earlier announcement that it had failed.On Sunday, JAXA officials had said the Hayabusa probe, on a mission to land on the asteroid named Itokawa, collect material, then bring it back to Earth, failed to touch down after maneuvering within yards of the surface.However, the agency said Wednesday that data confirmed that Hayabusa had landed on the surface Sunday for a half-hour, although it failed to collect material.JAXA officials had said earlier that Hayabusa dropped a small object as a touchdown target from 130 feet above the asteroid and then descended to 56 feet from the surface, at which point ground control lost contact with the probe for about three hours.But after analyzing data, the agency said the probe landed on the asteroid within about 99 feet of the initial landing target.The agency officials were still analyzing the data and will decide by Thursday whether to conduct a second landing attempt Friday, according to Seiji Koyama, a spokesman for the space agency.The mission has been troubled by a series of glitches.A landing rehearsal earlier this month was aborted when the probe had trouble finding a site, and a small robotic lander that deployed from the probe was lost. Hayabusa also suffered a problem with one of its three gyroscopes, but it has since been repaired.Hayabusa was launched in May 2003 and has until early December before it must leave orbit and begin its long journey home. It is expected to return to Earth and land in the Australian Outback in June 2007.The asteroid is named after Hideo Itokawa, the father of rocket science in Japan, and is orbiting the sun between Earth and Mars. It is 2,300 feet long and 1,000 feet wide.Examining asteroid samples is expected to help unlock secrets of how celestial bodies were formed because their surfaces are believed to have remained relatively unchanged over the eons, unlike those of larger bodies such the planets or moons, JAXA said.A NASA probe collected data for two weeks from the Manhattan-sized asteroid Eros in 2001, but did not return with samples.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) -- A few decades from now, space travelers living on Mars may think the Pilgrims had it easy.The pioneers who make the 80-million-mile, three-year journey to Mars and back will probably not have the just-add-water-and-heat packaged foods that are aboard the international space station, where the crew orbiting Earth will prepare a Thanksgiving dinner Thursday of turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and cherry-blueberry cobbler.During the six- to eight-month trip to Mars, space travelers will grow lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, green onions, radishes, bell peppers, strawberries, herbs and cabbage aboard their spacecraft.And when they arrive at the Red Planet for a stay of about a year and a half, they will cultivate potatoes, soybeans, wheat, rice, peanuts and beans in soil-less hydroponic chambers, according to NASA's food scientists."We will have to grow the vegetables up there because there is no way you can bring fresh, aroma-filled, crunchy vegetables and have it last," said Michele Perchonok, a food technologist at NASA's Johnson Space Center, which is working on a project to send humans back to the moon, and from there to Mars.The wheat will most likely be processed and made into bread or pasta. Syrup could be extracted from sweet potatoes and used to sweeten cookies. And the rice could be cooked or used in drinks."I sort of explain it as an 1800s kitchen with some automation," Perchonok said. "You are going to have to make your peanut butter. If you want a salad dressing, you are going to have to make your salad dressing."The packaged meals astronauts eat in space now do not have a long enough shelf life to be safe for consumption during the entire length of a Mars mission. They also add weight and create waste -- something NASA is going to great lengths to prevent.In fact, NASA wants to recycle just about everything -- even turning the astronauts' sweat and urine back into drinking water.Some studies are looking into the use of fish -- specifically tilapia -- as a way to recycle shower water, toilet waste and the water clothes are washed in. Tilapia eat human waste and are safe for human consumption afterward, said Vickie Kloeris, who manages the Space Food Systems Laboratory at Johnson Space Center.Some crew members are leery of turning urine into drinking water. But Kloeris noted that water-treatment systems on Earth do that already."So in real life you are drinking somebody else's urine instead of your own," she said. "So I'm not sure psychologically which is worse. I think I'd rather drink my own."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

HONG KONG, China (AP) -- China called bird flu a "serious epidemic" and reported three new outbreaks of the deadly virus in different parts of the country, while Canada announced multiple new cases but stressed they are not the virulent strain that has swept across Asia.China's grim description Tuesday came as it reported its 18th, 19th and 20th outbreaks since late last month. The latest cases resulted in the killing of nearly 175,000 birds. The massive nation -- where billions of poultry are being vaccinated -- has reported one human fatality and one suspected death."The government is making all efforts to combat bird flu, which is a serious epidemic in China," Liu Jianchao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters at a routine briefing.Liu added that China was still "facing serious challenges" and that the country "will step up our efforts in order to resolve this bird flu issue."The official Xinhua News Agency said that an outbreak in Urumqi, the capital of the far western region of Xinjiang, killed 38 birds on Nov. 16, prompting the culling of 8,388 birds.Another in western Ningxia province's Yinchuan city on Nov. 17 killed 230 poultry, with 66,800 culled. On the same day in the southern province of Yunnan, 2,500 birds died in the city of Chuxiong, and authorities later put 99,400 birds to death, Xinhua said."The situation is currently under control in the three affected areas," Xinhua said, citing the Agriculture Ministry.Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan followed the United States in temporarily halting poultry imports from mainland British Columbia after Canadian officials said they found a duck infected with bird flu.On Tuesday, Dr. Cronelius Kiley of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said that multiple new cases had been discovered in a farm operated by the owner of a farm where the duck had been diagnosed as infected with the H5 virus.He said the latest cases were found on one of four other quarantined farms, and that preparations are under way to cull birds on that farm.Canada has insisted that the strain was less virulent than the virus that has hit poultry in Asia and killed at least 67 people in the region since 2003.Russian veterinary authorities said Tuesday that bird flu has been detected in a southern region and that measures were being taken to prevent it from spreading.The country's veterinary service identified the H5 type of bird flu in 200 swans that were found dead in the Volga River delta in the Astrakhan region, the Agriculture Ministry said. It had not yet been determined if it was the H5N1 strainJapan reported that signs of a bird flu infection were found at a poultry farm in northern Japan. It was the latest in a series of outbreaks that has led to the killing of about 1.6 million chickens over the past few months in the region.The birds in the town of Ogawa -- 100 kilometers (62 miles) northeast of Tokyo -- were being tested, and the results were determine whether 290,000 chickens would be culled, said Ibaraki Prefectural (state) official Osamu Kamogawa.Indonesia's health minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, said the number of human bird flu cases is likely to be far higher than reported because of poor surveillance outside the capital, Jakarta. The government planned a nationwide campaign to measure the extent of the virus in the sprawling country of more than 13,000 islands, Supari said.All but two of Indonesia's 11 confirmed cases of bird flu -- seven of which have been fatal -- have occurred in the greater Jakarta area.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When Thanksgiving arrives next week, people should be groaning from full stomachs, not food poisoning.More than 200,000 Americans get sick each day from what they eat, and turkey dinner with all the trimmings complicates it all. The government is offering some tips to keep holiday cooking from becoming an intestinal curse.At the top of the list is washing your hands often, followed by keeping raw food separate from cooked food, using a food thermometer and storing leftovers in small portions in the fridge."It's a little bit more dangerous, obviously, when you have large gatherings and food laid out like this," said Richard Raymond, the nation's top food safety official. "We tend to feast and nibble and snack all afternoon."During a food-safety demonstration at a food bank, the Agriculture Department's undersecretary for food safety walked along a table laden with raw and cooked turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie.Raymond and Terrell Danley Jr., the chef at Washington's Creme Cafe, showed how to plunge a thermometer into the thickest part of the turkey leg. The government says the temperature should read 180 degrees before the bird comes out of the oven.That is easier said than done for people who look forward to a juicy bird. Chefs say the turkey can dry out at 180 degrees."I believe that's excessive," said David Kamen, chef instructor at the Culinary Institute of America. "The idea is to ensure people's safety. Salmonella dies at 165 degrees, so that extra 15 degrees we're throwing on top of there, one has to ask why."Kamen said the internal temperature of a whole turkey will continue to rise -- "carryover" cooking -- after it comes out of the oven.There are ways to roast a turkey so it is safe as well as succulent, he said.Before cooking, try soaking the turkey in brine, which adds moisture to the bird and helps it withstand high temperatures. Recipes for brine range from simple water and salt to mixtures with apple cider or molasses. Soaking recommendations vary from hours to days.If you are cooking to 180 degrees, buy a brine-pumping syringe and inject the brine into the thicker parts of the breast before cooking. Then remember to baste it with turkey fat or melted butter. Kamen also likes to lay strips of bacon across the breast.Danley's solution to the problem is to break the legs apart from the bird and cook them separately.And about that stuffing: The government isn't crazy about people cooking it inside the bird. If you do, Raymond said, measure its temperature separately from the turkey and make sure it reaches 165 degrees.Food poisoning is a serious illness that can kill people. It makes 76 million people sick each year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, 325,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 -- nearly 14 per day -- die.Caused by bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella, listeria and campylobacter, food poisoning can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fever.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (AP) -- The Indiana Supreme Court upheld a law Wednesday that requires women seeking an abortion to get counseling and to wait at least 18 hours after the session before going through with the procedure.The court ruled 4-1 that opponents of the law could not pursue their lawsuit, which argued that privacy is a core right under the state constitution that extends to women seeking to end their pregnancies.The court said such a challenge would fail because the law "does not impose a material burden on any right to privacy or abortion that may be provided or protected" under the state constitution.The court said it was not ruling on whether the state constitution included a right to privacy or to abortion.The state attorney general's office argued before the court in June that privacy was not a specific right enforceable by Indiana courts and said the General Assembly has broad discretion in passing laws.Sarah Rittman, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Steve Carter, said the office would have no comment on the ruling."We're disappointed," said Fran Quigley, executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union.He said the law poses a financial burden for some women because it forces them to make two trips to a clinic that in many cases is not in their home county.Quigley said his group would discuss with the abortion providers that filed the lawsuit about whether to seek another hearing before the state Supreme Court, which has the final say in the matter because it concerns the state constitution.Federal courts have upheld the 1995 law, which didn't go into effect until 2003 because of court challenges.The lawsuit was dismissed by a Marion County judge, but the Court of Appeals ruled the abortion providers could continue their challenge.Abortion counseling is required in 31 states, and 23 states also require a subsequent waiting period -- usually 24 hours, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit group that researches reproductive health issues.Indiana is one of six states that requires the counseling sessions be conducted in person.The counseling, which pertains to medical risks and alternatives, can be avoided in the event of a medical emergency.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Got a political perspective? Grab a camera and make a statement. With today's technology, we can all be part of a new cinematic dialogue.When Robert Greenwald made a movie to show how Wal-Mart shortchanges its employees, Ron Galloway whipped together his own response, about how Wal-Mart workers love the mega-chain. Both debuted in mid-November.By the time Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" hit video stores in October, 2004, three rebuttals were competing for shelf space.Through the use of digital technology and Internet distribution it is now easier than ever for filmmakers to push their points of view. Movies can be made quickly and cheaply, then burned onto DVDs and disseminated worldwide on the Web."You couldn't do these films with the old technology," says Greenwald. "It's tremendously exciting for the way it continues to democratize the process, from making the films to distributing them."Greenwald shot "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" with digital video cameras and edited the footage with Final Cut Pro, a Macintosh home editing system. He used the Internet to market the movie and arrange more than 7,000 community screenings.Technology also made it possible to quickly and affordably produce his previous documentaries, "Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War" and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism."Digital video cameras start at less than $1,000. The latest version of Final Cut Pro sells for $999.Without digital technology, Galloway never could have finished his film, "Why Wal-Mart Works & Why That Makes Some People Crazy," in time to compete with "The High Cost of Low Price." Galloway was preparing a book on the inner workings of Wal-Mart when he learned in June about Greenwald's project. He decided to turn the book into a film and timed its release to coincide with Greenwald's."We did a trailer in about two hours," Galloway said. "We cut it in the car while driving down the New Jersey Turnpike."Galloway certainly isn't the first filmmaker to use technology to rush production of a cinematic rebuttal.When Jeff Hays saw Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" in July of 2004, he walked out of the theater determined to craft a response."It needed to be done and if I wasn't going to do it, I was afraid of who might," he recalls.He spent 28 days shooting his film, "Fahrenhype 9/11," which was released the same day as the "Fahrenheit" DVD. He calls it "the free-market answer."Hays' latest work, "On Native Soil: The Documentary of the 9/11 Commission Report," made the initial cut for 2005 Oscar consideration.Politics and "righteous indignation" motivated Michael Wilson to make his movie, "Michael Moore Hates America," out of his apartment with borrowed cameras. Technology allowed him to share footage with an editor through a common server, so shooting and editing could happen simultaneously.It was also technology, and the national response to "Fahrenheit 9/11," that inspired David Bossie to try filmmaking as a political tool. A first-time filmmaker, he made his "Fahrenheit" rebuttal, "Celsius 41.11," in just eight weeks."Digital technology made all the difference in being able to produce and distribute this film in an affordable way," Bossie said.Bossie, whose latest work, "Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60," was released November 11, intends to change minds with his movies."Documentaries that make people think and open people's minds to a conservative political standpoint are going to have a great impact on the political process," he says. "I may not agree with some filmmakers, but the more who do it, the more acceptable and popular it becomes as a way to influence public policy."Actually, nonfiction films that espouse a political perspective are nothing new, says Malcolm Spaull, a film professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. "All documentaries reflect a point of view," he says. "What's different now is the availability of technology to everyone."Also, Spaull adds, the genre has been shaped by technology throughout its history. Portable film cameras inspired the "direct cinema" fly-on-the-wall approach to filmmaking that began in the late 1950s, he notes. Video cameras also had an impact on documentaries, but the quality was lacking."Now the technology is so ubiquitous, and it's good enough quality, that anyone who can pick up a camera and hit the trigger can start filming and making so-called documentaries," he says. "Technology is taking documentaries into the next phase."That's good news for Greenwald, who feels "democracy is not a spectator sport.""Film is the language people use today," he says.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio Republican Jean Schmidt apologized Tuesday for her sharp comments about a fellow congressman's call to immediately pull troops from Iraq, which caused a furor in the U.S. House.Schmidt was booed off the House floor Friday after she criticized Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, saying that "cowards cut and run, Marines never do."When Schmidt made the comment, Democrats rose in protest at the suggestion that Murtha, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, was a coward.Schmidt said the comment came from a conversation with state Rep. Danny Bubp."While I strongly disagree with his policy, neither Representative Bubp nor I ever wished to attack Congressman Murtha," she said in a statement. "I only take exception to his policy position."Bubp, also a Republican, has denied discussing Murtha with Schmidt."Our conversation was based strictly on the proposal to immediately withdraw our troops from Iraq and the consequences of such a proposal," Bubp said in a statement.Neither Schmidt nor Bubp returned calls left at their offices Tuesday.Murtha has called Schmidt's comment ridiculous."You can't spin this. You've got to have a real solution," Murtha said Monday when asked about her remarks at a news conference in Pennsylvania. "This is not a war of words, this is a war."Other Republicans also criticized Murtha for calling for the withdrawal of troops. President Bush and other administration officials have since said that while they don't agree with Murtha, they do not question his patriotism.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(Entertainment Weekly) -- "Syriana" has a lot of big, important things to say about big, important things, and it says them with a sense of urgency. This dense, talky, proudly complicated adult drama of geopolitical intrigue weighs in on the amoral realities of covert CIA operations, Middle Eastern politics, global oil business and U.S. government antitrust investigations -- the whole military-industrial ball of wax. Indeed, the point of Syriana appears to be that the whole lousy, corrupt, oil-producing and -consuming world is a ball of wax, ready to melt.The movie tells interrelated stories in knotted loops of simultaneity and jagged shards of documentary-style realism, with conspiracy on its mind and the piecemeal structure of "Traffic" as its screenwriting template, in good part because Stephen Gaghan, who wrote the Oscar-winning "Traffic" script for Steven Soderbergh, here writes and directs, too. It's as earnestly, politically left-leaning as "Jarhead" is coyly apolitical; it's also the kind of movie that requires a viewer to work actively for comprehension, and to chalk up any lack of same to his or her own deficiency in the face of something so evidently smart.But while I'm all for political dramas that take stands rather than feign neutrality, what "Syriana" forgets to provide is the one thing that makes any movie, however difficult, easy to love: emotional empathy. Like the title itself -- think-tank talk for a hypothetical reshaping of the Middle East -- this is a working paper of ideas driven by hypothesis, rather than a compelling drama driven by compassion.And while those with an eye for vast left-wing conspiracies are welcome to believe that Gaghan planned all along to make a movie shaped like a big-picture that fails to take into account small-picture human needs, I am not one of those conspiracy junkies; I think the absence of soul is just the filmmaker's big gaffe.Consider George Clooney as Bob Barnes, a veteran CIA man who serves as one of the character tentpoles of Gaghan's construction. Bob's got the thickened gut of a middle-aged company spook slowed down by years of routine (even if the routine involves assassination), and Clooney, who grew his own morose gut and beard for the part, is nothing if not generous in his habitation of such a shady yet loyal, freewheeling yet lonely man. (The actor's commitment to politically engaged movies, in this as well as "Good Night, and Good Luck," is one of the most effective uses of his well-earned stardom.)But for all we see of Bob, we know nothing at all about the guy, except that having been arbitrarily double-crossed by a field contact during the course of a mission, he now finds himself just as arbitrarily made a scapegoat by his own CIA handlers, who want to distance themselves from such a liability. We watch Matt Damon, as an open-faced go-getter of an energy analyst, negotiate business with a Middle Eastern prince (Alexander Siddig), and Jeffrey Wright, as a Washington attorney, work on a merger between two American oil companies, and there's no reason given for the double-dealing, power plays, and American capitalist thuggery that shape the landscape. What little humanity this trio of clueless, overmatched American men retains is conferred by fleeting interaction with kin; in the case of Wright's ambitious lawyer, his private burden is an embarrassing drinking bum of a father. And he handles the old man with much the same distraction shown by Michael Douglas as a drug czar with an addicted daughter in "Traffic."The same schematic shorthand goes, by the way, for the Middle Easterners involved, who are less fallible men tripped up by the modern (and specifically American) world than walking position statements: corrupt Gulf-country prince backed by American oilmen versus his reform-minded brother, or long-suffering migrant Pakistani oil worker versus his angry son recruited by nuclear-weapon-toting extremists."Syriana" makes a point of circling the globe, with scenes shot in Geneva, Dubai, London, etc. -- it's a picture that displays datelines as a show of geopolitical bustle. And the speeches of even the most passing players are honed to draw blood -- Chris Cooper as a scheming oilman, Christopher Plummer as the head of a powerful law firm, Amanda Peet in a slicing performance as Damon's distressed wife.But what do those speeches say? They say, "We're talking about big, important things, so pay attention" -- and then make it a challenge to do so.EW Grade: B-'Yours, Mine & Ours'Reviewed by Lisa SchwarzbaumThe late 1960s saw a boomlet in wholesome comedies about big blended American families just when the influence of free love (with accessible contraception) was turning the big American family into an endangered species. That explains the back-in-the-day success of "The Brady Bunch," but don't look for the same conservative counterprogramming success from "Yours, Mine & Ours." Rene Russo stars as Helen, a loosey-goosey widow with 10 kids who marries Dennis Quaid as Frank, a rules-and-regulations-minded widower with eight of his own. (He's a Coast Guard admiral; she's a handbag designer.) The movie, directed with a gym teacher's whistle by "Scooby-Doo"'s Raja Gosnell, is a contempo soft-focus remake of the 1968 original starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda. Problem is, the modern soft edges only accentuate the datedness of the premise. Helen's gaggle now includes six multiculti adoptees, and Frank's now a sensitive type, even in uniform, who holds parenting sacred. Handsome couple, though, especially when Dad takes his shirt off.EW Grade: C'The Ice Harvest'Reviewed by Lisa SchwarzbaumIn a season of bulging Movies Earmarked for Importance, it is almost startling to come across something as unhyped -- and perfectly swell -- as "The Ice Harvest." This acerbic, unpretentious black-comedy thriller, directed by Harold Ramis with mature glee, and written by Richard Russo and Robert Benton with grown-up literacy, takes place on what is possibly the lousiest Christmas Eve in the modern history of Wichita, Kansas. It's a night on which a couple of bumbling embezzlers who think they've struck it rich find the ground cracking beneath them: Having siphoned off over $2 million from the coffers of a Kansas City crime boss, Charlie (John Cusack), a sleazeball lawyer, and Vic (Billy Bob Thornton), for whom being a sleazeball is profession enough, promptly begin to screw up. And as they do so, with greater and more pathetically dipstick complications, the movie takes on the swingin' inevitability of comic disaster.A tricky dame (Connie Nielsen) exudes musk and danger. A drunken friend (Oliver Platt) causes trouble. The crime boss himself (Randy Quaid) gets wind of the dirty dealing and is out for revenge. The roads become increasingly icy (Midwestern locations supply Midwestern authenticity for the Chicago-bred director), and the Zen-ish graffiti that reappears in bathrooms and phone booths begins to suggest something simultaneously deep and meaningless: ''As Wichita falls, so falls Wichita Falls.''"The Ice Harvest" is surely the most bracing, opposite-of-gooey holiday picture to appear since Bad Santa -- which, come to think of it, also made inspired use of Thornton's unmatchable talent for playing a vinegary puss. But even out of season, the movie is an exemplary specimen of collaborative professionalism. In this sophisticated yet seemingly straightforward contraption, Cusack's twitchiness plays off Thornton's oiliness (the two squared off previously, don't forget, in "Pushing Tin") while Platt's theatricality finds its female counterweight in Nielsen's cartoonish sensuality. The dialogue is a festival of good talk without drawing attention to itself as ''snappy.''There's nothing especially groundbreaking about the work, and that, too, plays as a strength: Here's a movie neither too big nor too small -- just good. We need more of this size, this shape. Because, as "The Ice Harvest" rises, so rises the stock of the midsize American movie.EW Grade: A-'Just Friends'Reviewed by Lisa SchwarzbaumHard to believe it's been 16 years since Harry met Sally and told her all that 1980s guff about the impossibility of platonic relationships between men and women. In the cheerily clean and notably bright teen comedy "Just Friends," Chris (Ryan Reynolds, a rising pro at playing cute/funny) meets Jamie (Amy Smart, likewise) and adores her, yet he can't escape from her ''friend zone'' to become boyfriend material. He's an overweight dweeb in New Jersey high school hell, circa the 1990s; she's a Miss Popularity who loves Chris -- like a brother.The movie, directed by "Cruel Intentions"' Roger Kumble from a script by Adam ''Tex'' Davis, argues on behalf of the Darwinian theory that all of life imitates high school: Ten years later, Chris is a svelte, babe-slaying record-biz success in L.A. who reverts to dweebhood when he's back around Jamie. But the argument is only halfhearted. "Just Friends" is much more interested in -- and hilarious about -- the small nostalgias of suburbia. (Not for nothing does the quintessential suburban-nostalgia band Fountains of Wayne contribute a tune.) And for added value, there's a running joke about the movie "The Notebook" that the South Park guys only wish they had written.EW Grade: B+'The Libertine'Reviewed by Owen GleibermanAt the beginning of "The Libertine," Johnny Depp, in long black Renaissance curls that make him resemble a debauched rock-star musketeer, sneers into the camera as he describes his ability to seduce women and men alike -- a boast masquerading as a confession. ''You will not like me,'' he declares, spitting out the words with ice-blooded disdain, and it's easy to think, That's well and good -- as long as we get to see you indulge in a bit of nasty sexy gamesmanship. In "The Libertine," however, it's all downhill following the terse misanthropy of that opening monologue. As John Wilmot, the Second Earl of Rochester, a 17th-century poet, wit and drunk who was celebrated and reviled for the single-mindedness of his depravity, Depp singes away his sweetness, making himself a cross between Casanova and Richard III. The movie, though, in a singular feat of perversity, never shows him doing anything even remotely pleasurable -- like, you know, sleeping with someone. This may be the most sexless film about a seducer ever made.So what does the Earl do? Why, he talks. That's all anyone in "The Libertine" does. On top of that, what comes out of their mouths isn't what you might call, except in the most loose technical sense, ''dialogue.'' It is gibberish, verbiage, ghastly faux-literate conversational diarrhea. The Earl forms one quasi-attachment to an actress (Samantha Morton) who's too naive to save him, and he writes a play mocking Charles II (John Malkovich), which propels him on a downward spiral that culminates in an icky death by syphilis. "The Libertine" is such a torturous mess that it winds up doing something I hadn't thought possible: It renders Johnny Depp charmless.EW Grade: F

(CNN) -- I've never seen the stage musical "Rent," but the movie had me at hello.The film kicks off with the show's best-known song, "Seasons of Love," and the edgy energy, emotional power and its message of hope and love just kept building until the film's conclusion.This Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical has retained most of the original players from the off-Broadway show -- it quickly moved uptown to Broadway -- and that's extremely unusual for Hollywood. It paid off with performances that fit the actors like a second skin.The musical is still playing on the Great White Way, with nearly 4,000 performances to date.This story about disenfranchised youth living on the edge of society is the best urban-based musical of its kind since "West Side Story." The two share a number of similarities. "West Side Story," of course, found its inspiration from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," and "Rent" traces its roots to Puccini's classic opera "La Boh�me." Both are populated with characters living on the edge of society, with songs driving the narrative.After nearly 10 years, the musical's subject matter and location -- AIDS and the bleak Lower East Village of Manhattan -- have changed dramatically. Thousands of people are now living with the deadly disease due to new miracle drugs, and the Lower East Side has become gentrified. But the movie's theme remains relevant: young people trying to figure out their place in a world they don't necessarily respect, or want to be a part of.The large ensemble cast of angry bohemians includes aspiring songwriter Roger (Adam Pascal); Roger's roommate and wannabe filmmaker Mark (Anthony Rapp); computer genius Tom (portrayed by Jessie L. Martin, best known for his role as detective Ed Green on the TV show "Law & Order"); Tom's cross-dressing lover Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia, who won a Tony for this role); and Benny (Taye Diggs), who betrayed his friends when he married their landlord's daughter and is now threatening the group with eviction from their seedy loft apartments.The two new cast members who weren't from the original group are lawyer Joanne (Tracie Thoms) and Roger's downstairs neighbor Mimi (Rosario Dawson.)Their raw and poignant stories are based on real people and observations made by the musical's creator, Jonathan Larson, who wrote the book, music and lyrics. He knew his subject matter extremely well since he lived on the Lower East Side. But he tragically passed away from an aortic aneurysm on the eve of the play's first preview.Rather than let this awful, and completely unexpected turn of events, tear them apart, the cast pulled together and became empowered by this musical, which would be Larson's final gift to the world.They decided to put all of their talent, hearts and souls into "Rent" as a tribute to Larson.Ironically the musical is about young people finding their personal passions, trying to merge their artistic talents with a soulless corporate world, and deciding how to spend their lives. Larson, at the age of 35, seemed to have found his own answers to these questions, but his life was cut short, just as he was about to fullfill his greatest dream.While this movie is definitely an ensemble piece, Rapp's portrayal of Mark, the filmmaker who documents his friends lives and guides the audience through the gritty underbelly of Alphabet City, is a standout.Dawson is also excellent as Mimi Marquez, a heroin-addicted exotic dancer with a cartload of emotional baggage.Chris Columbus, who is best known as a director of comedies, would not be on my short list for helming this project. At times he uses a sledgehammer to get his points across, and some of his shots seem repetitive, but overall Larson's powerful story comes shining through.The making of this movie was a family affair. One of the co-producers is Julie Larson, Jonathan's sister, and his father, Al, was on the set every day.Overall "Rent" is a gut-wrenching experience. Yes, it's a tale about that particular time and place in New York City, but it still contains contemporary issues about life, and how you plan to live it.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Being a Hollywood power player may be glamorous, but today it's anything but. Your studio is deeply in the red. Your most bankable actor is throwing a tantrum, your most bankable actress is drinking away the very big raise you just gave her. You're thinking of putting her in rehab; too bad your most bankable director is already there.Such is life in "The Movies," the new PC game from Activision and Lionhead Studios. "The Movies" is a simulation game in which you build and guide your own fictional studio to fame and fortune -- or failure and bankruptcy. Like the best-selling "Sims" simulation games, "The Movies," which retails for $49.99, puts you in charge of a vibrant virtual world in which you control the destinies and moods of somewhat free-thinking characters -- in this case, actors, directors and crew members. You commission your own scripts. You cast, shoot and release the movies. And you cross your fingers on opening weekend and hope that the reviews are kind and the box office numbers are big."The Movies" starts you off in the silent-film era of the 1930s. You have to literally build your studio from the ground up. You decide the layout, from the placement of your production offices and sets right down to the details of the landscaping.But make your building decisions carefully; you're going to be stuck with them for a few virtual decades. You have to steer your studio through years of changing audience tastes, economic turmoil, and advances in moviemaking technology.With a few clicks and drags of the virtual people who show up at your new studio, you hire actors, directors and screenwriters to make your movie magic. They each come to the table with his or her own talents, abilities and personality quirks, which are represented by status meters you can easily check by clicking on each character. Some characters are moody. Some are bored easily. And some have a taste for drink. Whatever the particular quirk, you have to manage it carefully because it can affect that person's performance -- and ultimately your bottom line.Before you know it, you're cranking out movies with DreamWorks-like efficiency. Over time, you'll find yourself charting a creative direction for your studio.Because "The Movies" really is all about the movies, this game eventually gives you the option of making them yourself. In the game's moviemaking mode, you can have total control of your films, right down to the weapon your serial killer uses in your horror blockbuster. When you're done, you can post your movies online for the world to see.As close as "The Movies" comes to emulating real-life Hollywood, it isn't 100 percent accurate. Mild alcoholism is the worst actor-related scandal you'll have to deal with. And you don't have to worry about being fired because your last few movies bombed. Still, as real-life Hollywood -- and "The Movies" -- prove, make-believe can be more fun than the real thing.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A video game master from Kansas City, Missouri, won a $150,000 prize on Tuesday by besting a rival in the Cyberathlete Professional League World Tour Grand Finals.Johnathan Wendel, 24, who goes by the name "Fatal1ty" in the world of multiplayer games, beat Sander Kaasjager, a player from the Netherlands known as "fnatic.Vo0," for the competition's top prize."It took a lot of practice coming into this tournament, training about eight hours a day for the last two to three weeks," Wendel told AP Television News after the event. "To win $150,000 playing a video game -- that's the best."Wendel has been playing video games since around the age of 5, when his father gave him a Nintendo system and he first played Ikari Warriors. At 15, he started taking home prizes from local competitions. At 18, he entered his first professional tournament in Dallas.Wendel, who is -- for now, at least -- skipping college, has become the leader in titles and prize money in the world of professional gaming.The Cyberathlete Professional League, the first organization of its kind, was founded eight years ago.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Two junior scientists working for South Korean cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-suk gave their own eggs for use in his research, the Health Ministry said Thursday.However, the ministry said the donations weren't in violation of ethics guidelines because they were made voluntarily, spokesman Choi Hee-joo told a news conference.The previously alleged donations by scientists at his lab have cast Hwang's groundbreaking work under a cloud of controversy in recent weeks and led to U.S. partners pulling out of collaboration with him.The scientists donated their eggs "voluntarily for the success of the research by sacrificing themselves," Choi said. He said the donations were made according to values consistent with Eastern culture, and shouldn't be looked at from the standpoint of Western culture.Hwang himself found out about the donations last May, Choi said. Hwang said in a TV interview aired Tuesday that he had tried to dissuade scientists at his lab from giving their own eggs, and claimed he hadn't known if they had later done so.Hwang was to give a news conference later Thursday, revealing results of an internal investigation at his lab at Seoul National University. The ministry said its announcement Thursday was the result of a separate investigation by the university's ethics board.The ministry also confirmed Thursday that a doctor who had earlier been providing eggs for Hwang's research paid some women for their eggs, and that Hwang had recently been made aware of that.The payments to egg donors, which ended in 2003, weren't illegal at the time. However, Hwang has previously insisted that all eggs obtained for his research were made by donors who gave them in hopes of helping his work.This year, a law took effect in South Korea banning commercial trading of human eggs.Hwang has gained worldwide attention for his breakthroughs, such as cloning the world's first human embryos and extracting stem cells from them. This year, he unveiled the world's first cloned dog.Last month, Hwang launched the World Stem Cell Hub along with international researchers, which aims to be a center seeking treatments for now-incurable diseases. Thousands of patients have signed up to donate their cells for research.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MONROVIA, Liberia (CNN) -- Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been declared president of Liberia following runoff elections, having received nearly 60 percent of the vote.The declaration was made Wednesday by Liberia's National Electoral Commission, which investigated election fraud claims filed by Johnson-Sirleaf's rival, international soccer star George Weah.Johnson-Sirleaf is the first female elected president in Africa.Weah received slightly more than 40 percent of the vote, according to official results.Celebrations erupted in the streets of Liberia following the announcement, despite a ban by United Nations peacekeepers in the country. Residents chanted and yelled "Ellen, give us a chance -- it's your turn."CNN's Africa Correspondent Jeff Koinange said Liberia appeared to welcome the change after nearly 150 years of turmoil -- the last 14 in a brual civil war that left nearly 200,000 people dead. "The hard part comes after her inauguration, because expectations are very high. Her greatest challenge is rebuilding a shattered nation," he said.Some 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers are now ensuring calm in Liberia. No windowpanes remain in buildings on the streets of the capital, Monrovia, and electricity is a luxury only enjoyed by those who can afford generators. Roads are in disrepair.Last week, Liberia's National Election Commission opened an investigation into seven electoral fraud complaints filed by Weah's party.Officials representing Weah told AP he still refused to concede defeat, maintaining allegations of ballot-box stuffing and vowing to keep fighting the results in court."We are questioning the entire process," Eugene Magbe, the chairman of Weah's Congress for Democratic Change party, said. "The elections were fraudulent." International observers have said the elections were largely free and fair, with only a few small irregularities.Johnson-Sirleaf is a widowed mother-of-four who also has eight grandchildren.CNN Africa Correspondent Jeff Koinange contributed to this report.Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

ELKTON, Maryland (AP) -- A melee erupted among a crowd of shoppers in the rush for the new Xbox 360 video game console at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in northeast Maryland. It took 10 police officers to restore order.A crowd of about 300 people waited as much as 12 hours for the game, considered a must-have item this holiday season, to go on sale at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. But an announcement from a store manager that the Xboxes would be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, instead of using a number system devised by customers, triggered the mayhem."That's when all hell broke loose," said Ben DiSabatino IV, a 23-year-old Bear, Delaware, resident, who had been waiting in line since 4 p.m.Some customers were knocked down and trampled, though there were no serious injuries, said Elkton Police Lt. Lawrence Waldridge.Wal-Mart canceled the sale and police ordered everyone to leave.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

EVANSVILLE, Indiana (AP) -- Ruth M. Siems, a home economist who helped create Stove Top stuffing, a Thanksgiving favorite that will be on dinner tables across the country this year, has died at 74.Siems, who worked for General Foods for more than 30 years, died November 13 in Newburgh, Indiana, after suffering a heart attack in her home.Siems helped develop Stove Top in 1971 while working at General Foods' technical center in White Plains, New York. She was listed first among four inventors when the patent was awarded in 1975 for the quick and easy way of making stuffing without actually stuffing a turkey.Kraft Foods, which now owns the Stove Top brand, sells about 60 million boxes each year around Thanksgiving. The five-minute stuffing comes in several flavors, including turkey, chicken and beef.As a member of the research and development staff for General Foods, Siems helped find the ideal bread crumb size for making instant stuffing with the same texture as the real thing, said her brother, David Siems.Siems grew up in Evansville and graduated from Purdue University in 1953 with a home economics degree. She later took a job at a General Foods plant in Indiana, researching flour and angel food cake mixes.She retired in 1985 and settled in a historic house in Newburgh, near Evansville.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LANCASTER, Pennsylvania (AP) -- After they spent the night together at his house, David Ludwig drove his 14-year-old girlfriend home at about 5:30 a.m. and then waited for the customary text-message that she had made it into her room safely.But he didn't hear from her right way, and several of his own text messages went unanswered. When he finally reached Kara Borden a short time later, she told him that she had been caught and her parents wanted to see him.Ludwig stuffed a Glock pistol in his waistband, grabbed some other weapons and headed for the Borden home, according to an account the 18-year-old man gave to police of the events leading up to the killing of Kara's parents November 13.By the time police caught up with Ludwig in Indiana, Kara was in the passenger seat and, he said, headed west with him to start a new life together.Ludwig now is in jail in Pennsylvania on homicide charges in the slaying of Michael and Cathryn Borden at their home in Lititz. The account of the crime was contained in court papers filed by prosecutors on Tuesday.Ludwig said he grew worried after he dropped off his girlfriend before daybreak on a Sunday. He repeatedly tried to contact Kara but did not hear back from her until she answered her cell phone at about 6:15 a.m. The news wasn't good.Kara "said she was caught and her parents were there," according to the court filing, which seeks to preserve cellular telephone and Internet records of the two. "According to Ludwig, (Kara) said she needed him to come over to her house."It was about 7 a.m. when Ludwig showed up at the Borden family home, a two-story brick house along a cul-de-sac in a well-to-do suburban neighborhood. He had two guns and a hunting knife, according to police.There was a 30- to 45-minute talk with Kara's father. Police said it was an argument that ended with Michael Borden telling Ludwig he could no longer see his daughter.Ludwig told police that he then decided to kill his girlfriend's parents.First, he shot Michael Borden in the back, prosecutors said. "I did not aim. I have a lot of shooting experience, and I usually hit what I shoot at," Ludwig, an avid hunter, told investigators.He then went into the living room and shot Cathryn Borden from 6 feet away as she was getting out of her chair, according to the court papers.He told police that he left the house when he couldn't find his girlfriend and started to drive away, but then turned back -- "even if it meant that he would be caught." Kara came running after him and got in the car, he told authorities.The case was considered a kidnapping until authorities concluded the girl went willingly. Her lawyer said Tuesday that Kara Borden did not know that Ludwig might shoot her parents and that she had no role in planning the killings.The new filing seems to confirm that account, with Ludwig telling police the girl never asked him to kill her parents.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The following is the fourth in a series of journal entries a member of the CareerBuilder.com community is writing about losing his job and searching for a new one. At his request, his name has been withheld so he can relay experiences with his former company and potential employers with impunity."Joe" (his nom de blog) is 45 years old and was let go from a management position at a major consumer products company. He had relocated with his family to take the job a little more than a year ago.The thing about getting fired near the holidays is that there are more social opportunities and gatherings than at any time of the year. This can either work to your advantage or be extremely awkward."Hey, how are you doing?" people ask. I cheerily say fine and make a little small talk. Inevitably the conversation turns to what I do for a living. Without self-pity or rancor, I reply that my company is reorganizing and I am looking for other opportunities. The response I get falls into one of four categories:Thinly veiled revulsion: Some flinch and back away -- as if afraid that the state of being unemployed is a virus they might catch.Gloom and doom: Some launch into a tirade about how bad the economy is."It's all Bush's fault!" "Recovery? What recovery? The only growth market I see is servicing the unemployed!" "We're all going to hell in a handbasket, and there's going to be trial and tribulation like we've never known."About this time, I make a hasty retreat to the buffet table.It could be worse: Others play a game of one-upmanship, assuring me that my plight could be much, much worse. I find this reaction preferable to the previous two yet still not much of a pick-me-upper.It begins: "You think you've got problems ..." and ends with some poor sap who lost his job and either dies of a heart attack under the stress or chucks it all and winds up living in a van by the river.I've been there. ... How can I help?: Fortunately, the most common response I get is empathy -- and offers of help.I am not alone. Nearly everybody -- or their spouse -- can relate to the pain of the pink slip. (Though for many in my Westchester County, New York, neighborhood, that pain is anesthetized by a golden parachute.)Those who have been through this tell me it takes many months and not to get discouraged. Nearly all say their search followed the same dramatic trajectory: a promising start; some setbacks and disappointments, including several "sure things" that just seemed to fade away; a slow period where the phone didn't ring and they actually looked forward to getting spammed; and, finally, the simultaneous receipt of multiple job offers and the angst of having to choose the right one.Despite what statistics of the unemployed and underemployed show, many say they landed either a better job or wound up in a more satisfying career. (Though that may just be bluster or the hot toddies talking.)For my part, I always act relaxed and upbeat. I am careful never to portray myself as a victim or directly ask for help. (It's a party, for gosh sakes.)Though I admit I was dreading the thought of holiday gatherings and having to admit publicly that I am without a predictable professional future, I've actually enjoyed myself. I've even met three solid contacts and lined up two informational interviews.Not only that. I've gotten out of the house, replenished my supply of jokes and been reminded that, despite getting fired, I really have a lot to celebrate after all.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- When the 79th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade takes to the streets of New York City on Thursday, the balloons may need beefed-up security.No, there haven't been any threats against the Scooby Doo or SpongeBob SquarePants balloons, but forecasts of fierce wind, rain showers and snowstorms have police and city officials considering ways to avoid accidents involving the balloons.To the chagrin of children -- and some adults -- around the nation, that may mean grounding the popular attractions should the weather get too bad, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. Meteorologists and city officials will make that call as early as 6 o'clock Thanksgiving morning, three hours before the parade kicks off."If there are winds that are stronger than 23 mph or gusts that are over 34 mph, the balloons won't fly," Kelly said.If intense winds become a problem after the parade is already under way, police officers traveling with the balloons will decide whether to ground the helium-filled characters.Mike Giurici, a veteran parade pilot, said the emergency landing procedures are practiced three times a week. It typically takes about five minutes to ground a balloon, he said.Weather has bungled balloons in the past, most notably in 1997, when heavy winds sent The Cat in the Hat balloon plowing into a lamppost that toppled onto four people. One woman suffered permanent brain damage.Since then, Macy's has implemented improved training for the approximately 1,700 people who help handle and direct the massive balloons.The training, which is monitored by New York City police, includes watching videos and reading directions, said John Piper, vice president of Macy's Parade Studio.The training is mandatory for about 300 of Macy's "flight-team members," but only two-thirds of handlers have marched in previous parades or completed the field training in which they participate in handling simulations, Piper said.The parade's 32 balloons -- which include Big Bird, Humpty Dumpty and Chicken Little -- require between 40 and 60 handlers each, according to the Macy's parade Web site.The parade, which began in 1924, is expected to draw 2.5 million spectators and 44 million television viewers, according to the retailer.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A day before millions of Americans sit down to eat traditional Thanksgiving dinners, a Virginia woman grabbed the world turkey-eating title on Wednesday by gobbling down a whole roast bird in 12 minutes.Sonya Thomas, 37, who weighs just 105 pounds (47.5 kg), beat seven men in the annual Thanksgiving Invitational: a race to eat a 10-pound (4.5-kg) turkey.The smallest in the field, Thomas put her victory down to "swallowing fast.""It was very dry and the skin was very dry," said Thomas, holding her trophy, a roasting pan, over her head. "I just tried to eat fast."Venerated in competitive eating circles as "The Black Widow", the Alexandria, Virginia woman said she trained for the event, held at a delicatessen in New York, by chewing gum to get her jaw in top form. (Find out about competitive eating)She said she plans to eat turkey again on Thursday, but much more slowly so that she can taste every bite.Her victory was no surprise. She is ranked as the No. 2 competitive eater in the world, behind Japan's Takeru Kobayashi, according to the International Federation of Competitive Eating, which sponsored the turkey-eating event.Thomas, who collected $2,500 in prize money, has also dominated her opponents in egg, cheesecake, baked bean, crab-cake, meatball, and fruit-cake eating contests.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LONDON, England (AP) -- Some see a boozy Armageddon -- others the dawn of civilized cafe society.Either way, it's last call for the early pub closing times that have shocked many a visitor to Britain since their introduction during World War I.The government hopes the change, which takes effect at midnight (0000 GMT) Wednesday in England and Wales, will stop the flood of drunks onto city streets just after the traditional 11 p.m. closing time. (Watch how the new law will change drinking habits -- 2:26)But opponents say British consumption of booze -- the most notorious, although hardly the heaviest, in Europe -- should not be encouraged."We already see people who have been injured because they have drunk too much," said Martin Shalley of the British Association for Emergency Medicine. "I think this is now going to occur a lot more frequently."Britain's licensing laws -- largely unchanged since they were tightened in 1915 to keep factory workers sober -- have long been derided as an anachronism. They required most pubs to close at 11 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 10:30 p.m. on Sundays.The new rules allow pubs, bars, shops, restaurants and clubs to apply to open any hours they like, although each license must be approved by local authorities.Supporters say the changes will end the scramble to guzzle as much booze as possible in the last minutes before closing time and so cut down on alcohol-fueled violence. They hope the new law will nudge Britons toward a Continental culture of gentle tippling rather than relentless chugging.Thousands of pubs and bars have been granted later licenses under the new rules, although the vast majority have asked for an extra hour or two -- hardly the "24-hour drinking" endlessly repeated in headlines. Only 700 establishments, including 240 pubs, applied for licenses for around-the-clock sales, according to government figures.London's Evening Standard newspaper estimated that between a quarter and a third of licensed premises in the city had applied for later opening."The changes are not as dramatic as has been suggested, with most pubs opting to open for a few extra hours a week," said Neil Williams, spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association.The government's licensing minister, James Purnell, said the new law would mean that "at last grown-ups will be treated like grown-ups." Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell was quoted by The Independent newspaper as saying the old laws implied Germans, Italians, Australians and even Scots -- who have had late-opening pubs for decades -- were more "biologically civilized than the English."But the new law has many opponents, including police chiefs who have warned of a rise in booze-fueled crime and health agencies who say alcohol consumption, and its attendant ills, will inevitably increase.The government has said alcohol figures in 44 percent of violent crime, while booze-related mishaps account for 70 percent of hospital emergency-room cases at busy times.Researchers say it is not how much Britons drink, but how they drink that is the problem.According to the World Health Organization, Britons consume less alcohol on average than in many other European countries including Ireland, Germany, France, Hungary and Spain. They are more likely, however, to drink in concentrated bursts.That propensity for bingeing has spawned newspaper headlines warning that round-the-clock drinking would unleash tides of "drunken yobs" and "booze-fueled louts" on the nation."An epidemic of binge drinking, violence and alcohol-related illness is plaguing this country," lamented the Daily Mirror newspaper on Wednesday.The Independent, in contrast, welcomed the end of "one of the most restrictive drinking regimes in Europe.""We should all raise a celebratory glass," the newspaper said in an editorial.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- A state appeals court Wednesday refused to return a 6-year-old Chinese girl to her biological parents, who put her in the custody of an American couple shortly after her birth.The 2-1 Tennessee Court of Appeals ruling upheld a lower court decision that took away the parental rights of Shaoqiang "Jack" He and Qin Luo "Casey" He to their first-born child, Anna Mae.The five-year struggle by the Hes, Chinese citizens who live in Memphis, to regain custody of Anna Mae has drawn support from the Chinese Embassy in Washington and led Chinese community groups to complain of cultural bias in Tennessee courts.Shaoqiang He received word of the appeals court decision while at work as manager of a Chinese restaurant."We don't understand why it is so difficult for our family to be reunited," he said.The decision will be appealed to the state Supreme Court, said David Siegel, a lawyer for the Hes. Anna Mae, meanwhile, will remain with Jerry and Louise Baker, who have raised her since shortly after her birth in January 1999.Jerry Baker, whose family was entertaining relatives for Thanksgiving, said the decision will "make a special day that much more special."Larry Parrish, the Bakers' lawyer, said the custody battle could go on for three more years and end up in the federal courts.A Memphis judge ruled in May 2004 that the Hes abandoned their daughter by failing to visit her for four months while she was in the Bakers' custody.Legal arguments focused on whether the Hes "willfully" abandoned the child or understood the legal definition of abandonment.The Hes, who were facing financial and legal troubles when their daughter was born, say they thought they were putting her in temporary foster care. They have had two other children since Anna Mae was born.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Krewes, start your float preparations because Mardi Gras is coming back to the Big Easy -- as is some semblance of law and order.In a sign that the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged city may be recovering some degree of normalcy, officials announced Wednesday that New Orleans will hold its famed Mardi Gras celebration and that a permanent police chief will be sworn in well before the revelers converge on the city in February.However, the buildup to Fat Tuesday will be abbreviated.An advisory committee to Mayor Ray Nagin is recommending that parades be limited to eight days with whittled-down routes to reduce the amount of police overtime required for security. Nagin still must approve the plan, which would require the city to raise about $1.5 million to pay for overtime for police, fire, sanitation workers and emergency medical personnel."Overtime is a critical factor as the City has no additional money to pay for this expense," a city news release states. (View press release) In addressing how the city will come up with the cash, Ernest Collins, Nagin's director of arts and entertainment, used the dreaded "C" word. Corporate sponsorship has long been taboo among the tradition-minded New Orleanians and Mardi Gras faithful."We don't want to see overt commercialization of Mardi Gras, but at the same time, there are opportunities to bring in corporate underwriters where we can intelligently incorporate their message and their brand into our celebration," Collins said. "We feel like there's a way to do that that is acceptable to everyone."Collins said Wednesday that no financial arrangements have been reached, but there have been "promising conversations."Another way to pinch pennies is to curtail the Carnival season. Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras Day, falls on February 28 this year and normally, the majority of parades would begin two weekends prior, some earlier. The proposal Nagin is considering schedules seven parades the weekend of February 18 but no more until February 23. Parades will then proceed through Fat Tuesday.Authorities say the city has ample hotel rooms and law enforcement -- now about 1,450 officers -- to handle the festival. Most importantly, though, those police officers will have a full-time police chief overseeing the force that was gutted when dozens -- and perhaps hundreds -- of officers abandoned their posts during Katrina. (Read how a former officer was arrested and charged with driving a stolen truck)Warren J. Riley, who was named acting police superintendent after Police Chief Eddie Compass abruptly stepped aside amid the Katrina aftermath, will have the "acting" removed from his title, the mayor's office announced Wednesday.Nagin plans to swear in Riley, an officer with more than 20 years of experience, at historic Gallier Hall on Monday. Riley became interim chief in September after Compass stepped down after the city erupted in mayhem as looters and floodwater terrorized the city. Riley has been credited with moving swiftly to return order to the force since taking the helm. (Read about Compass stepping down)He immediately announced a probe of 12 officers who were accused of taking part in looting and suspended three officers seen in a video beating an unarmed black man. Riley also fired 45 police officers and six civilians he accused of abandoning their posts before, during or after Katrina swept through New Orleans. (Full story) More than 200 officers remain under investigation."During the time when we needed police officers the most -- when our citizens counted on us and when we counted on our fellow officers to be there ... those officers were not there," Riley told CNN last month.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The British government has warned news organizations against publishing details of a secret memo which one London tabloid newspaper said recounted discussions between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush about bombing the headquarters of the Arabic news network Al-Jazeera.The Daily Mirror reported Tuesday that Blair talked Bush out of launching an air strike against Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar -- a U.S. ally -- during an April 16, 2004 meeting at the White House. The White House called the report "outlandish," but Al-Jazeera urged the British government to either confirm or deny the report.The Arabic-language network has been a frequent target of U.S. criticism, and its facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq have been hit by U.S. bombs.If true, the Mirror report "would cast serious doubts" on U.S. statements that those strikes were accidental, the network said.Downing Street spokesman Ian Gleeson said Tuesday that Blair's office would have no comment, because the memo the Daily Mirror cited was the subject of court action. Two men face trial under Britain's Official Secrets Act in connection with release of the memo, and the attorney general's office warned news organizations that the case against them should proceed "without prejudice."The Mirror reported that Bush was angered by Al-Jazeera's coverage of the April 2004 uprising in the western Iraqi city of Falluja, where U.S. Marines were dispatched to restore order after four American security guards had been killed and mutilated by insurgents. Blair talked him out of the idea of bombing the network's headquarters, the newspaper reported.A White House official told CNN, "We are not going to dignify something so outlandish with a response." And a Pentagon official called the Daily Mirror report "absolutely absurd."