Marilyn Monroe's iconic dress sells for $5.6 million at auction

By Alan Duke
from http://www.cnn.com/

Marilyn Monroe wore the famed "Subway" dress in "The Seven-Year Itch."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Marilyn Monroe's white "subway" dress sold for more than $5.6 million in a Beverly Hills, California auction Saturday night in which bidders paid another $2.7 million for three other Monroe movie outfits.

It was the first in a series of auctions to sell the massive Hollywood history collection that singer, dancer and actress Debbie Reynolds accumulated over the past 50 years.

Collector Keya Morgan said Saturday's bids were "totally crazy, especially in this recession."

Bidding for the iconic ivory pleated dress Monroe wore in "The Seven Year Itch" was "totally magical," Morgan said.

Gallery: Hollywood treasures for sale

Reynolds was in tears when, after 20 minutes of drama, the gavel sounded an end to bidding with the price at $4.6 million.

With the auction company getting a $1 million commission, the buyer will pay $5.6 million. It had been expected to sell for $2 million, the auction house, Profiles in History, said.

The buyer, who was relaying his bids over a telephone, was not immediately identified.

The red-sequined showgirl gown and a feathered hat Monroe wore in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" sold for $1.47 million. The expected price was $300,000.

Monroe's costumes from "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "River of No Return" brought another $1.2 million Saturday.

The previous record price for a Monroe dress was $1.26 million paid in 1999 for the sheer white dress the actress wore in May 1962 when she sang "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy.

Morgan, who is writing a book about Monroe's death, said the actress would have been shocked to know her dresses would sell for so much. She only had $2,000 in her bank account at the time of her death, he said.

Reynolds accumulated 3,500 movie costumes and thousands of props over the past 50 years with the hope of housing them in a museum. Taking care of the treasures became a financial burden on the 79-year-old entertainer, leading to her decision to sell, she said.

Other high-priced items included a blue cotton dress and a pair of ruby slippers made for Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz." Although both items were only test costumes never worn in camera, they brought a combined price of nearly $1.75 million.

A matador outfit worn by Rudolph Valentino for the 1922 film "Blood and Sand" sold for $258,000. The auction house predicted before the sale it would go for about $80,000.

One of Charlie Chaplin's signature bowler hats, worn in several films, sold for $135,300.

The World War I military uniform worn by Gary Cooper in the 1941 movie "Sergeant York" was purchased for $67,650.

A bidder paid $73,800 for the velvet brown racing silks and riding pants worn by a young Elizabeth Taylor in "National Velvet.

Anti-energy drinks: Relaxation in a can

By Madison Park

From: http://www.cnn.com/

A growing number of sodas and concoctions are doing the opposite of Four Lokos and Red Bulls -- they're slowing things down.

(CNN) -- It's not enough to fizz with carbonation and taste sweet.

For years, drinks have been infused with promises of electrolytes, caffeine and instant energy. But now, some sodas and other concoctions are offering the opposite of Red Bulls and Four Lokos -- they slow things down.
Energy drinks linked to alcohol abuse

As more sedating sodas enter the market, some beverage makers have taken relaxation to another level by producing sodas laced with marijuana or ingredients to mimic that drug.

"Everyone is looking for some effect somewhere," said Dr. Matthew Seamon, assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy at Nova Southeastern University.

Beverages such as Malava Novocaine, Drank, Unwind, Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda and Slow Cow (sold in Canada) are marketed as helping people unwind.

"When you are stressed out, normally you'd have a drink," said Matt Moody, founder of Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda. "You can't walk around smelling like vodka all day. I wanted to try to make something you can have to mellow you out. It's not going to make you stumble, fall down and slur your speech. It's a quick fix to slow things down when things get hectic."

Critics question the safety of such anti-energy drinks, which are sold in locations including college campuses and convenience stores. Not many scientific studies about anti-energy drinks have been done, as they are just emerging in the market.

Ronald Peters, associate professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, points to similarities between street drug concoctions and the anti-energy drinks.

Urban youths, especially in the South, started mixing codeine cough syrup with Sprite or candies such as Jolly Ranchers in the 1990s to make what's been called "purple drank" and "sip and syrup," Peters said.
He called the marketing of commercialized anti-energy drinks "one of the worst things I've ever seen with corporate immorality," accusing the companies of profiting off a higher-end version of a street drug. And a lot of parents aren't aware what these soda-like drinks do, he said.

"The modeling of this drug is worse than candy cigarettes," Peters said of the widely available anti-energy drinks. "It actually has sedatives in it. They didn't have quasi-nicotine in candy cigarettes, but this one has it in it. It makes it an unethical product."

Some anti-energy drinks carry warning labels of possible drowsiness and discourage driving after use.
Peters likened the drinks to a gateway drug -- kids who buy the commercialized products are more likely to try the candied codeine cough syrup mix.

Beverage makers say that their products are safe, and more so, that they help people. One company called the product"a positive alternative" to drugs and alcohol.

Tim Barham, president of Frontier Beverage, which produces Unwind, said his company's drink is not "associated in the same realm at all" with the cough syrup mixtures.

He said Unwind appeals to "high school and college students, soccer moms and Wall Street executives" to promote relaxation after a stressful day. Unwind and other drinks contain melatonin, a neurohormone used to treat sleep-related disorders that can be purchased as a supplement. Some studies found that melatonin can interfere with testosterone, so some sleep doctors don't recommend using the supplement until boys reach college age.
Melatonin is not approved as a food additive because it is not "generally recognized as safe" by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. So a company that uses the ingredient can be subject to a challenge by the FDA.
Last year, the FDA warned the makers of the relaxation drink Drank about its use of melatonin, calling it "an unapproved food additive." Drank sells its product now as a dietary supplement, rather than as a beverage, in order to contain melatonin, according to a company spokesman. The FDA had no further comment regarding the matter.
Many of the anti-energy drinks contain exotic but innocuous-sounding ingredients like kava, melatonin, valerian root, rose hips and passionflower. Seamon said such supplements could have risks.

Recalling how the original colas more than a century ago contained cocaine and lithium, when they were considered benign, Seamon said today, the companies are "a step above regulators. Maybe the science and risks haven't been documented."

The latest relaxation drink to capture headlines is Canna Cola, a marijuana-infused soft drink.
The product contains the chemical THC and is scheduled to go on sale in medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado this month and expand to California. The drinks will be available only in medical marijuana dispensaries to people who are legally permitted to buy them.

It is not available to the general public.

Despite its colorful and cartoonish branding and flavors like lemon-lime, grape and orange, the product is not marketed toward children, said Clay Butler, co-founder of Canna Cola.

He acknowledged that some critics "are nervous about products like this. I think they're incorrect and there's misguided fear."

"This is medicine, and you should take it as you would with any prescription drug," Butler said.

Canna Cola's ambitions extend beyond medicinal drinks into producing more widely available relaxation drinks that don't include marijuana, Butler said.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Calls for Marijuana Legalization

By the CNN Wire Staff
Ex-surgeon general: Legalize marijuana

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Joycelyn Elders tells CNN resources can be better spent
* She says the drug's illegality is criminalizing young people
* "It's not a toxic substance," she says
* California's Proposition 19 would legalize marijuana use in the state


(CNN) -- Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders told CNN Sunday she supports legalizing marijuana.

The trend-setting state of California is voting next month on a ballot initiative to legalize pot, also known as Proposition 19. The measure would legalize recreational use in the state, though federal officials have said they would continue to enforce drug laws in California if the initiative is approved.

"What I think is horrible about all of this, is that we criminalize young people. And we use so many of our excellent resources ... for things that aren't really causing any problems," said Elders. "It's not a toxic substance."

Supporters of California's Prop. 19 say it would raise revenue and cut the cost of enforcement, while opponents point to drug's harmful side-effects.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter, obtained by CNN Friday, that federal agents would continue to enforce federal marijuana laws and warned Prop. 19, if passed, would be a major stumbling block to federal partnerships between state and local authorities around drug enforcement.

His letter was a response to an August letter from several former directors of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration urging the White House to block Prop. 19 if it's approved next month.

Elders stressed the drug is not physically addictive and pointed to the damaging impact of alcohol, which is legal.

"We have the highest number of people in the world being criminalized, many for non-violent crimes related to marijuana," said Elders. "We can use our resources so much better."

Woman attacked by bison: 'I thought I was going to die'

By Nick Valencia, CNN

(CNN) -- A woman gored by a bison at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming said she is happy to be alive days after the attack.

"I thought it was the end," Cathy Hayes told CNN by phone late Wednesday.

Hayes said she was vacationing in Yellowstone on Monday with her husband and a friend. The group was driving through the park when they spotted a bison.

"My friend is from California, and had never seen a bison before," she said. "So we pulled over and went to get a closer look."

Minutes later, the bison attacked. And it was all caught on tape.

"So we're here in the park and there's a buffalo, and he's just wandering across the road," she says in the footage.

Hayes, a native of Farr West, Utah, says they were about 30 feet away from the bison when her friend decided to get closer.

"There was another group in front of us, and I never noticed it before looking at the video on my small camera, but you can see a stick fly off the back of the bison," she said. "It looks like it came from the group that was in front of him. Before that, the bison was just chillin.'"

In the video shot from Hayes' perspective, her friend falls as he runs away from the charging bison. At that point, she says, the bison turned its attention to her.

Hayes crouched behind a tree to protect herself, but it wasn't enough.

"There was a pause when I could tell that he was backing up and getting ready to ram the tree again," Hayes said. "I thought, 'He won't ram the car,' so I made a run for it. You can probably see in the video when he got me and flung me up in the air."

Hayes' husband was in their car when the attack happened, and was able to scare the bison off by making loud noises.

"He was going to throw his cell phone at it, but it took off. It was gone as quick as it came," she said.

Luckily, Hayes did not suffer life-threatening injures, but said she is still in a lot of pain. Her knee was swollen to the size of a football, and she had minor cuts and scrapes throughout her leg.

Her friend broke his shoulder when he tripped and fell.

But for the Utah teacher, it could have been worse.

"I was waiting for black. I thought I was going to die," Hayes said.

Signs throughout Yellowstone warn visitors to not get close to wildlife.

Blue moon to shine on New Year's Eve

From: http://www.cnn.com/

This image of Earth and moon is a composite of two images sent back by the Galileo spacecraft.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Second full moon in December to light night sky
• Term "blue moon" has been around 400 years, professor says
• Meaning of the phrase has shifted over the years

(CNN) -- It happens only once in a blue moon -- and scientists say a blue moon is exactly what we'll see in the skies this New Year's Eve.

Don't expect an azure glow over our lunar satellite, however. The term "blue moon" simply refers to the second full moon in a calendar month, something that hasn't happened on a New Year's Eve for nearly 20 years, NASA says.

"December 1990 ended with a blue moon, and many New Year's Eve parties were themed by the event," said Professor Philip Hiscock of the department of folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in Canada. "It was a lot of fun."

Most months have just one full moon, because the 29.5-day cycle of the moon matches up pretty well with the length of calendar months. Occasionally, there will be two full moons in a month, something that happens about every 2½ years, NASA says.

But a blue moon on December 31 is rare.

MOON MONIKERS

The Farmers' Almanac lists these Algonquin Indian names for the full moon of each month:
January: Wolf Moon
February: Snow Moon
March: Worm Moon
April: Pink Moon
May: Flower Moon
June: Strawberry Moon
July: Buck Moon
August: Sturgeon Moon
September: Corn Moon
October: Harvest Moon
November: Beaver Moon
December: Cold Moon
Source: www.farmersalmanac.com

Elvis Presley crooned about it when he sang the old Rodgers and Hart song "Blue Moon," in which he stood alone without a dream in his heart or a love of his own.

He struck a more hopeful tone in another tune, singing about his love returning to his arms "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again." He also covered Bill Monroe's bluegrass classic, "Blue Moon of Kentucky."

It is possible for the moon to have a cerulean hue, NASA says, but that's sometimes caused by fine dirt circulating in the Earth's atmosphere or the dark blue tone of the sky.

A blue moon hasn't always meant the second full moon in a month. Hundreds of years ago, it simply meant "never" or "absurd," Hiscock said.

"The phrase 'blue moon' has been around a long time, well over 400 years, but during that time its meaning has shifted," he said. "I have counted six different meanings which have been carried by the term, and at least four of them are still current today. That makes discussion of the term a little complicated."

When the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa erupted in 1883, it put so much dust in the atmosphere that the moon actually appeared blue -- an event so unusual that the term "once in a blue moon" was coined, according to NASA's National Space Science Data Center. The effect lasted for almost two years, Hiscock said.

Full moons used to have 12 names, one for each month, such as "harvest moon," NASA said. The term "blue moon" referred to the 13th full moon in a year.

The term acquired its current meaning in the 1940s, after the Farmer's Almanac of Maine offered an astronomical definition of a blue moon "so convoluted that even professional astronomers struggled to understand it," NASA wrote on its Web site.

A writer at Sky and Telescope magazine in the late 1940s tried to explain the almanac's definition by saying it referred to the second full moon in a month.

"That was not correct, but at least it could be understood," NASA wrote. "And thus the modern blue moon was born."

Leggo Your Eggo: There's a Waffle Shortage

by Julianne Pepitone

provided by

Kellogg is rationing its Eggo products due to flooding and equipment problems at two bakeries. The shortfall could last through mid-2010.

Better hoard your Eggos!

Grocery stores will be experiencing a shortage of the waffles until mid-2010 due to problems at two bakeries, a Kellogg's spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Flooding at an Atlanta bakery during heavy rains in October forced Kellogg, which makes Eggo products, to shut down production temporarily, said company spokesman Kris Charles. Plus, equipment at Kellogg's largest waffle facility, based in Rossville, Tenn., needs extensive repairs.

"We are working around the clock to restore Eggo store inventories to normal levels as quickly as possible," Charles said in an e-mail.

Remaining inventory will be rationed to stores across the country "based on historical percentage of business."

Production figures are confidential, Charles said, but Charles added that all lines are operational except for several lines at the Rossville plant.

Chad, a grocery manager at King Soopers in Denver who declined to give his last name, said his store is "seeing some shortage, but not much." A Kroger in Jackson, Miss., was also experiencing shortages, according to a manager in the frozen foods sections. At Fairway in New York City, Eggos were in full supply, however, according to a manager at the Red Hook location.

The production problems will also affect other Eggo products, including pancakes, syrup and other breakfast food. To alert customers, Kellogg has placed a warning to customers on top of its Eggo Web site and placed notices in some grocery stores.

Twitter bites back. Eggo enthusiasts took to the Internet to mourn the shortage. Lovers of the Twilight vampire movie series thinking about another kind of bite, as Twitter fanpage editors comforted each other via the social media site.

User @KStew411, a page devoted to Twilight star Kristen Stewart, tweeted on Tuesday: "I am despondent. DESPONDENT. My 4 food groups are: tacos, skittles, pop, and eggos!"

User @cullenluv sent a message of support: "We're outta Eggos here, too!! It's a national tragedy!!"

Copyrighted, CNNMoney. All Rights Reserved

CNN projects marijuana tax revenue for every U.S. state

money.cnn.com — How much would legalizing marijuana help with state budget deficits? CNN breaks down the projected tax revenue for each state.

Projected marijuana tax revenues*
State	Tax Revenue (in millions)
California	105.4
New York	65.5
Florida	48.2
Texas	46.6
Ohio	34.8
Michigan	32.4
Illinois	31.6
Pennsylvania	30.5
Washington	22.0
Virginia	20.9
North Carolina	20.6
Georgia	19.3
New Jersey	19.3
Massachusetts	18.4
Indiana	17.8
Colorado	17.6
Missouri	15.6
Minnesota	14.3
Oregon	14.1
Maryland	13.9
Wisconsin	13.4
Arizona	13.0
Louisiana	13.0
Tennessee	12.2
Kentucky	10.2
Connecticut	9.8
South Carolina	9.1
Alabama	8.9
Oklahoma	8.3
Nevada	7.9
Arkansas	6.7
Kansas	6.6
Mississippi	6.6
Iowa	6.2
New Hampshire	5.6
Nebraska	5.0
New Mexico	4.9
Utah	4.7
Rhode Island	4.6
Maine	4.1
West Virginia	4.1
Hawaii	4.0
Montana	3.6
Idaho	3.3
Alaska	2.8
District of Columbia	2.8
Vermont	2.8
Delaware	2.4
South Dakota	2.0
North Dakota	1.6
Wyoming	1.2
* Revenues based on state-by-state marijuana consumption, assuming pot were legalized. Source: Prof. Jeffrey Miron, "Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibitions," June 2005.

Attacker slashed her throat, but he could not silence her

(CNN) -- Jennifer Schuett's search for the man who snatched her from her bed when she was 8, sexually assaulted her and left her for dead on top of an ant hill ended Tuesday with the arrest of a suspect.

Jennifer Schuett, 27, was abducted and left for dead at age 8. A suspect was arrested Tuesday.

Now begins another chapter in Schuett's 19-year quest for justice.

Standing in front of the television cameras, Jennifer Schuett blinked back tears.

"This is a huge day for me," she later told CNN over the phone. "And I want to see this through the end. The rest will come out during the trial."

Schuett, 27, joined a multi-agency team of investigators in her hometown of Dickinson, Texas, as they announced the arrest earlier in the day of Dennis Earl Bradford, a 40-year-old welder, in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The arrest came after new DNA testing and other evidence made it possible to identify Bradford as the suspect.

Schuett's boyfriend and two police investigators who kept the case alive stood beside her. Fighting tears, she thanked them for their support.

"Throughout this journey, I've had two main goals," she said. "And they were to find the man who kidnapped, sexually assaulted and attempted to murder me 19 years ago so that he could not hurt anyone else. And to use my voice in telling my story to as many people as I possibly could over the years in hopes that I may encourage other victims of violent crimes to stand up and speak out against criminals." Watch Schuett explain why she's speaking out »

She continued, "Today, I can say very proudly that I have accomplished both of these goals."

Schuett spoke with CNN two weeks ago about her 1990 ordeal. CNN normally does not identify victims of sexual assaults. But Schuett decided to go public with her story and her name to increase the chances of finding and prosecuting her attacker.

Schuett was in her bed when a man crept in through a window on August 10, 1990. She remembers waking up in a stranger's arms as he carried her across a dark parking lot. She said he told her he was an undercover cop and knew her family.

He drove her through the streets of Dickinson, pulling into an overgrown field where, she said, he sexually assaulted her.

She passed out. When she regained consciousness, she was lying on top of an ant hill with her throat slashed and her voice box torn. She spent about 14 hours in the field before she was found and rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

"Three days after the attack, I started giving a description. The doctors told me I would never be able to talk again, but I proved them all wrong," Schuett said. She believes she got her voice back so she could tell her story.

At the news conference, a driver's license photo of the suspect was shown next to the 1990 sketch based on her description. There was a clear resemblance. Watch the sketch artist's memories of Schuett »

On the left is a driver's license photo of suspect Dennis Earl Bradford. At right, a 1990 police sketch.

Shauna Dunlap, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Houston office, said Bradford lived in North Little Rock, with his wife and two children -- a boy, 12, and a girl, 15. He also has three adult stepchildren.

Bradford worked as a welder for United Fence in North Little Rock. A company representative said Bradford had been working there for 10 years and was a "good guy" who had mended "his old ways" and "changed his life." He wouldn't go into specifics about what those "old ways" were. Court documents give some indication.

In 1996, Bradford was accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and cutting the throat of a female victim. He was initially charged with attempt to commit first-degree murder, but prosecutors amended the charges to rape and kidnapping.

Dennis Earl Bradford, a 40-year-old welder, was arrested after DNA allegedly tied him to the crime.

A Garland County Circuit Court jury found him guilty of kidnapping but was not able reach a verdict on the rape charges. Arkansas corrections officials said he entered prison in March 1997, facing a 12-year-sentence, and was paroled in February 2000. Investigators also found Bradford lived slightly more than two miles from Schuett's residence and just a mile and a half from where she was found, according to an affidavit released Tuesday.

"It's truly a rare occasion when we have the opportunity to prosecute a case like this," said Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk. His office is charging Bradford with attempted capital murder.

"Jennifer has been a tremendous asset to this investigation from the beginning, an inspiration to all of us, and we are going to be very proud to have Jennifer by our side as we continue with our efforts to seek justice for you in the courtroom," said Sistrunk.

The break in the case came after FBI agent Richard Rennison and Dickinson police Detective Tim Cromie persuaded the FBI's Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) team to get involved.

"The main reason the CARD team picked this case was because she was alive," Rennison said. "In cases of child abduction, it is rare that the child is recovered alive. Frequently, you recover a body. And most times, you never find them."

In March 2008, the investigators found evidence collected 19 years ago -- the underwear and pajamas Schuett was wearing, as well as a man's underwear and T-shirt, which were found in the field where Schuett was left for dead.

The clothes had been tested in 1990, but the sample wasn't large enough for conclusive results. But newer techniques allow DNA to be isolated from a single human cell.

The FBI lab recently informed Rennison that the DNA in the man's underwear matched Bradford's DNA profile. He was entered into the database after the 1997 kidnapping conviction in Arkansas.

Bradford was arrested on Tuesday morning on his way to work. He awaits extradition to Texas.

Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About National Parks

Jerry Laizure / AP

Not Your Typical Park
Forget lush forests, purple mountains and majestic wildlife. Some of the country's most popular national parks are important historic landmarks, like the Statue of Liberty and Alcatraz Island. Even the site of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing falls under the care of the national-park system, which looks after the memorial and what is known as the Survivor Tree, a century-old Dutch elm that endured the blast despite having its trunk charred by flames and most of its

Joseph Sohm / Visions of America / Corbis

The Big One
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska is the largest park in the country. At six times the size of Yellowstone, it is the meeting point of four major mountain ranges and includes nine of the 16 highest peaks in the U.S. The preserve contains three climate zones, which means that it has everything from giant glaciers to wetlands to one of the largest active volcanoes in North America — in the Wrangell Mountain range, pictured here.

Ed Darack / Science Faction / Corbis

Explosions in the Desert
White Sands National Monument spans more than 275 sq. mi. of New Mexico desert and contains the largest gypsum dune fields in the world. But because the park lies adjacent to the country's largest military installation — a 3,200-sq.-mi. missile range — the crystalline waves are often closed to the public while the Defense Department conducts top-secret (and presumabl

Tony Arruza / CORBIS

Boondocks, U.S.A.
Located 70 miles from Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, Dry Tortugas National Park is a collection of seven tiny islands that can be reached only by boat or plane, making it the country's most remote national park. Besides a stunning amount of marine life (it's home to the third largest barrier-reef system, outside of only Australia and Belize), the park boasts an impressive military and nautical history. The 163-year-old stronghold of Fort Jefferson was once used to house prisoners during the Civil War, and a 17th century Spanish galleon was uncovered by dive

Richard Schultz / Corbis

Some Big Trees
They're world famous. The redwoods at the Redwood National and State Parks — in Oregon and on the north coast of California — are the tallest trees on the planet. Many of them stand more than 30 stories high. Up until 2006, the 370-ft. Stratosphere Giant held the title for tallest tree on Earth, but three others — the Hyperion (378.1 ft.), Helios (376.3 ft.) and Icarus (371.2 ft.) — superseded it when they were discovered in Eureka, Calif.

Pete Saloutos / CORBIS

Not So Faithful?
If you're looking for a reason to trek to Yellowstone National Park, consider this: the geyser dubbed Old Faithful might not be reliable for long. The lapse between steam blasts has lengthened by about 14 minutes in recent years, most likely because of an earthquake in 1983 that altered subterranean water levels. At least four other geysers in the park have been permanently damaged by vandals who threw litter into the geysers' mouths.

MIKE HUTCHINGS / Reuters / Corbis

Growing More Than Sequoias
National parks have been coping with a spate of unwelcome visitors recently — marijuana growers, who raise thousands of plants on federal lands. Usually tied to Mexican drug cartels, the pot plantations inflict considerable environmental damage and pose serious safety risks: they're frequently guarded by traffickers with automatic weapons and night-vision goggles (park rangers often arm themselves with M-16s as they scout for drug fields). In August, authorities at California's Sequoia National Park found a $36 million marijuana-cultivation operation just half a mile from a popular tourist site.

Joseph Sohm / Visions of America / Corbis

Odd State Out
Poor Delaware. It's the only state in the country not to have a national park, monument or any other site in the federal system. (Even American Samoa, Guam and Puerto Rico have one. The Virgin Islands has five.) Lawmakers from the tiny state (itself smaller than 15 national parks) have spent years trying to land a National Historic Site to showcase its colonial history, so far fruitlessly. But with Delawarean Joe Biden as Vice President, Senator Tom Carper has s

Roger Ressmeyer / CORBIS

Deep Blue
Southern Oregon is home to the largest lake in the U.S., in Crater Lake National Park. Lying in a volcanic basin, Crater Lake was created when the 12,000-ft.-high Mount Mazama collapsed 7,700 years ago following a large eruption. It is 1,943 ft. deep — deep enough to hide 1½ Empire State Buildings. About 530 in. of winter snow per year provide the lake with plenty of wate

Fred Hirschmann / Science Faction / Corbis

Be Alone with Nature. Really Alone
The National Park Service boasted about 275 million visitors last year; virtually none of them went to Aniakchak. The national monument and preserve in rural Alaska recorded just 10 visitors in 2008, mainly on account of the park's remote location in the Aleutian Islands, 450 miles southwest of Anchorage, and its abysmal weather. (The most visited park site, by contrast — the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia — drew more than 16 million people.) Aniakchak is accessible only by boat and seaplane, which often can't land because of fog and wind (the gusts can lead to hypothermia even in summer, the Park Service warns). If you make it, don't expect much in the way of luxury or even a gift shop: the government has no public facilities on the 600,000-acre site.

How marijuana became legal

money.cnn.com — Medical marijuana is giving activists a chance to show how a legitimized pot business can work. Is the end of prohibition upon us?

click here to read this long but compelling story: How Marijuana Became Legal - CNN

Scientology Has A New TV Ad Campaign And It's Very Creepy

By John Cook

Copy this whole post to another site

cancel

select site advertising consumerist deadspin defamer fleshbot gay fleshbot gawker gizmodo idolator io9 jalopnik jezebel kotaku lifehacker valleywag artists gawkershop

The Church of Scientology has launched a deeply creepy advertising campaign. They're buying spots on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, and seem to have stolen the ad playbook from their arch-enemies in the pharmaceutical industry.

The ad—it's new to us, though we're not sure how long it's been in circulation—is awash in blue tones and features assorted lost souls struggling with an "unexplainable emptiness that can only be filled by one thing—the truth." It looks exactly like an ad for one of the anti-depressants that Scientologists regard as tools of a fascist psychiatric regime. Except at the end, you don't get a pitch for Paxil, you get a glowing Scientology logo directing you to the group's web site. (For comparison, see this old Effexor ad.)

And it's been working: According to the rough stat guide of Alexa.com, the reach of Scientology.org has seen a bump in the past month.

Traffic aside, the ad's real purpose is clearly branding: It's a slick, well-produced effort designed to position the church as a mainstream provider of spiritual answers and not a cult that relies on the slave labor of children. It's certainly miles ahead in that regard from Scientology's earlier efforts:

They're learning.

Best 25 Financial Blogs

By Douglas A. McIntyre and Ashley C. Allen

It has been over a year since we published our feature "The 25 Best Financial Blogs." A great deal has changed. Some of the blogs on the list are gone or no longer have regular posts. Others have grown and become better.

This is a list of independent blogs. However, several major media outlets have excellent blog sections. David Gaffen at WSJ.com, Fortune.com's Apple 2.0 blog, BusinessWeek.com's Fine On Media, and BloggingStocks at AOL (24/7 contributes content to this site). Obviously, these blogs have a level of financial support that independent blogs do not enjoy. Their writers are paid salaries. They have greater exposure due to their relationship with larger websites. They are excellent, but really should not be compared with websites operated by one person or a small group of individuals. Nevertheless, they should be recognized for their own commentary as well as the exposure that they give to independent blogs.

Financial information on blog sites is not readily available. Most financial blogs are much too small to bring in enough direct revenue to support their writers. Some have newsletters, but it is impossible to know what they yield. A number run Google AdSense links on their sites to generate ad revenue, but, based on data gathered from a few financial blogs, if a site is not in the top of its category as measured by audience tracking sites like Quantcast, Alexa and Compete, it is unlikely to have enough revenue to support even one or two people.

Financial blogs end up being either labors of love or ways to promote small money management or paid newsletter businesses. It would seem to be a tough way to make a living.

Over the last month 24/7 Wall St. has looked at more than 100 financial blog websites. The list came from those blogs mentioned at major media sites and the largest aggregators of financial blogs, SeekingAlpha and BloggingStocks. We also reviewed the lists of "blogrolls" —favorite blog lists—at long-established financial blogs like The Kirk Report and financial commentary sites like Minyanville.

After we narrowed the number of financial blogs down to about 50, we tracked posts for several weeks before picking the final twenty-five.

Original content was our most important measurement: specifically, content that was well-written, well-researched and crisp. Blogs that were mostly aggregations of content from mainstream media did not make the cut. This meant that the majority of the copy had to be directly written by the blog's author(s).

Blogs that used profanity were also excluded from the list. It is well recognized that traders are a notoriously bawdy bunch. And, unfortunately, a number of these blogs are incredibly insightful. However, our aim was to create a list that avoided offending any of our reader's delicate sensibilities.

Anonymous blogs also did not make the cut. It is too difficult to understand the agenda of a blog where readers cannot figure out the writer's identity and potential motivations.

The final major metric was frequency of posting. If a blog had very good content, but the author only posts once or twice a month, it becomes too hard to follow without referring back to the same story and waiting for weeks for it to change.

24/7 Wall St. also looked at how well read the blogs were based on the number of other blogs that linked to each websites on our list. These figures were provided by Technorati, the internet's leading blog search engine. (Because Technorati indexes more than 1.5 million new blog posts in real time, these numbers are subject to change.) This is the one audience or traffic metric that is universally available for all the websites on the list.

Here are Top 25 financial blogs, in no special order:

1. Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis (7,903 links). Although Mish (aka Mike Shedlock) is not an economist by training, he adroitly gets into the thick of economic data. Mish uses observations made by those in major media, so-called experts and government officials and serves up analysis based on his impression of their relevance and validity. The author is not afraid to attack conventional wisdom.

2. Footnoted.org (598 links). The blog's author, Michelle Leder, digs through SEC filings and comes up with some of the best insights about the "hidden" comments found in 8Ks, 10Qs, and other government filings that rarely get as careful a review. This is one of the oldest financial blogs, founded in 2003.

3. Bill Cara's Cara Community (389 links) analyzes the capital markets, stock movements, and the economy with an eye to technical guides including volatility, cash flows, trading volume, and price performance and is prolific almost beyond comparison.

4. Infectious Greed (3,822 links) Blogger, Paul Kedrosky, is considered one the preeminent financial market pundits. His site reflects the perspective of a former technology analyst, institutional money manager, and venture capitalist. Infectious greed provides a running commentary on global markets, economic trends, and emerging business trends.

5. Bespoke Invest, also known as "Think Big" (6,112 links), is the blog for a money management and research firm. The site provides a combination of technical analysis and commentary on macroeconomic trends, major sectors of the stock market, and currencies.

6. Angry Bear (2,447 links) is the product of a half dozen Ph.D economists, an historian, and financial professionals. The writers provide individual perspectives on broad sectors of the economy based on their unique training. They look at topics as varied as worldwide trade and industrial production and US government programs and regulations like Social Security.

7.The Big Picture by Barry Ritholtz (11,223 links) has recently moved to http://www.ritholtz.com. Ritholtz is one of the most well-respected market and economic pundits and bloggers who manages money as his day job. Multiple posts a day on subjects as diverse as criticisms of the business press, digital media, and key economic indicators. An excellent job of using relevant and interesting charts, tables, and graphs.

8. Naked Shorts (833 links) covers ETFs, hedge funds, monetary policy, and current events. Bangs on hedgies and the accounting profession and its practices. Not fond of the practices of many US government agencies.

9. A VC (2,777 links). Long-time venture capitalist Fred Wilson passes along his opinions on new technology and how it converges with emerging parts of the economy. Wilson talks in detail about where he is investing his venture capital money and why. His Union Square Ventures has taken positions in new ventures including Del.icio.us, Feedburner, and Twitter.

10. SeekingAlpha (63,563 links), the grandfather of financial blog aggregation, also has its own editors and columnists. This is by far the largest collection of financial blog posts in the world. Readers who want to find articles from hundreds of sites get a one-stop-shop at SeekingAlpha. If it were not for this website, a large number of blogs would have almost no readers.

11. Clusterstock (1,613) links) follows and comments on business, the stock market, and economic news throughout the day. It has a staff of several outstanding writers lead by Henry Blodget. Articles by John Carney are particularly good. It is now combined with another strong site called Silicon Alley Insider.

12. 1440 Wall Street (1,216 link). Although the site is "intended for the institutional equities crowd," we won't hold it against them - it's still very good. Covers money markets, sell side, buy side, private equity, Wall St. research, and media. Strong analysis. Strong on multimedia.

13. The Kirk Reports (1,571 links). This is one of the oldest financial blogs and it has been consistently good. It has a number of articles which are simply links to other sites. Strong on stock analysis, market recommendations, and volume investing. Too bad some of the content requires being a "member."

14. Calculated Risk (11,057 links) is among the most thoughtful and thorough financial commentary on the internet. Period. Tears apart poor economic assumptions. Gets to the heart of the elements that move the economy and markets. Big focus on housing and economic analysis.

15. Abnormal Returns (1,009 links). Disregarding our own rules for what blogs should be on this list, this site is the only one that simply provides lists of links to other financial sites. However, there's a reason we're making an exception as these are carefully selected and come with good short intros. Links are regularly organized by subject.

16. Trader Feed (2,437 links). The author, Brett Steenbarger, is one of the most intelligent voices in the financial blog business. Strong on technical analysis, broad market commentary, and the psychology behind trading behavior.

17. Alpha Trends (1,046 links). Extremely strong technical analysis. Good video commentary which it claims is the highest subscription membership for financial videos on YouTube. Covers stocks, ETF, and index movement.

18. Econ Browser (6,597 links). Run by two professors, both with economic backgrounds. What readers would expect from academics looking at the markets. Indepth and often complex analysis of a broad range of topics from infrastructure to policy making to consumer spendings. More than any other site on this list, Econ Browser is not for sisses.

19. Peridot Capitalist (192 links). Written by a money manager, one of the oldest and better regarded financial blogs. Good corporate earnings analysis and looks at undervalued stocks.

20. Information Arbitrage (957 links) The author has been in the M&A and derivatives businesses for some time. Strong and rich commentary on current financial events, investment risks and rewards, and the current credit and economic crisis.

21. Maoxian (290 links). Strong pieces on day trading, technical trading, balance sheets, and ETFs. Strange graphics. Writer tries to be anonymous, but it hasn't worked.

22. 10Q Detective (277 links). Writer has been an equity analyst. Good at digging through government filings to find information for investors which is both helpful and sometimes amusing. Good place to read how public companies "game" the process of SEC reporting.

23. Ticker Sense (538 links). This site may be the most well known for its weekly poll of financial blogger sentiments about the market. Written by money management firm Birinyi Associates. Has excellent analysis of global economy and major sectors of the stock market. Use of tables and graphs is among the best.

24. Upside Trader (356 links) Good technical analysis which follows the market carefully. Strong charting on individual companies. Great place for day traders.

25. Carl Futia (133 links). One of the best financial forecasting blogs. Employs various technical analysis including some he has developed. Notable for his thoughtful and approachable writing. Posts very regularly.

Advice to Obama on battling presidential aging

By Madison Park

(CNN) -- When a new president strolls into the White House, there's a kick in his step and a twinkle in his eyes.

This photo illustration projects what President-elect Barack Obama may look like in four years.

more photos »

But as the years go by, the high-stakes decisions, constant criticisms and the fluctuating public opinion chip away at the president. His shoulders slump a little and his energy may seem sapped.

The president ages twice as fast while in office, according to a theory advanced by Dr. Michael Roizen, a chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic.

"The typical person who lives one year ages one year," he said. "The typical president ages two years for every year they are in office."

Using public information, Roizen looked through medical records of previous presidents back to Theodore Roosevelt. Assessing factors such as diet, blood pressure, physical activity and lifestyle habits, he calculated that the leader of the free world ages more quickly.

Roizen, who is the author of "RealAge: Are You as Young as You Can Be?" has not assessed the "real age" of President-elect Barack Obama, who is 47, because of lack of medical data.

"Barack Obama is a fairly young guy and doesn't have great of a risk," Roizen said. "If he's president for eight years, he ends up having the risk of disability or dying, like someone who is 16 years older."

Former president Bill Clinton entered the office with a robust head of salt-and-pepper hair and a healthy habit of running. After bitter partisan battles, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and impeachment by the House, Clinton left office with wrinkles and powder-white hair.

"Chronic stress can produce lots of wear and tear on the body," said James A. McCubbin, a Clemson University professor of psychology and senior associate dean of the College of Business and Behavioral Science. "This is what we see in the changes in the appearance in the beginning and end of the presidency."

Roizen points to the experience of Ronald Reagan.

"When Reagan came into office, he stood up absolutely straight. He was joking and incredibly quick-witted about current events. When he left office, he was hunched over. The age signs on face was there. His jokes were those of olden days rather than current events," he said. See the toll of the presidency »

On Wednesday, Obama, President George W. Bush, and all three living former presidents -- Jimmy Carter, George Herbert Walker Bush, and Clinton -- are meeting in the Oval Office and then having lunch together at the White House.

After eight draining years in the Oval Office, an outgoing president like George W. Bush can reverse the tolls of stress by exercising and spending time with friends, Roizen says.

"Do as many healthy things as you can adopt," Roizen suggested. "The main thing he should do is finding what he wants to do with the rest of his life, which is tough for presidents to find something meaningful to do."

During his second term, Bush dealt with a troubled war, a struggling economy, and sagging approval ratings. But the avid runner, mountain biker and fisherman showed that his reflexes haven't slowed.

"I mean, did you see him dodge that shoe?" said David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men's Health magazine, referring to a December news conference in Iraq where an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at the president and Bush swiftly ducked the flying footwear. Twice.

The incoming president is also no slacker. Although accused by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of having skinny legs, Obama regularly frequents the gym and plays basketball. The president-elect was on the cover of Men's Health in November.

"This is not a broccoli-shunning, pork rind-eating, McDonald's-popping guy. I mean, this is someone who eats arugula and guacamole and Hawaiian pizza," Zinczenko told CNN. Watch a report on presidential aging »

"If the worst that happens is that your hair goes a little gray, so be it."

Many recent presidents have turned to sports to decompress. Presidents have enjoyed mountain biking (George W. Bush), golf (Clinton, Gerald Ford, Dwight D. Eisenhower), tennis (Ford, Carter, George H.W. Bush), jogging (Clinton, Carter and both Bushes), swimming (Ford), bowling (Richard Nixon), horseshoes (George H.W. Bush) and horseback riding (Reagan). Check out projected aging of other political leaders

"The daily routine of a president is really grueling," Ron Nessen, Ford's press secretary, told CNN. "It's hard to get thinking time. Ford talked about how when he was swimming laps, it gave him time to think about things."

During the Democratic primaries, Obama worked out at the gym in the Cleveland Clinic the morning of his debate with then-rival Hilary Clinton. Living up to his nickname "No Drama Obama," the candidate was remarkably calm, considering a high-stakes debate was to take place that night, Roizen recalled.

"Maybe he will age better, because he handles stress better," he said. "The fact that he smokes means he still has inner stress."

Retaining a close group of friends and confidants is an important way to reduce the isolation of the presidency, Roizen said.

Iraq's Cabinet approves U.S. security pact

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi Cabinet on Sunday approved a security pact that would set the terms for U.S. troops in Iraq.

Members of the Iraqi Cabinet vote on the security agreement Sunday in Baghdad.

Negotiators had been working for months on a deal that will set terms for U.S. troop presence in Iraq.

The agreement sets June 30, 2009, as the deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from all Iraqi cities and towns, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

The date for all troops to leave Iraq will be December 31, 2011, he said.

These dates are "set and fixed" and are "not subject to the circumstances on the ground," he said.

Twenty-seven of the 40 Cabinet members in attendance voted in favor of the agreement, said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. One minister abstained.

The Cabinet consists of the prime minister, two deputy prime ministers and 37 other ministers.

The approved draft will be sent to the Council of Representatives, Iraq's 275-seat parliament, where it will be put to another vote. "There is great optimism that they will pass it," said Industry Minister Fawzi Hariri.

Al-Dabbagh said the parliament speaker and his deputies will decide when the parliament will vote on the agreement. He said there were "positive attitudes" when the major political blocs met to discuss the draft plan on Saturday.

Under the Iraqi constitution, parliamentary approval is required for measures such as this agreement to take effect.

Al-Dabbagh told CNN it appeared that "most of the political parties had approved and agreed on the final draft. ... It is a good agreement that fulfills both Iraqi and U.S. interests and respects the sovereignty of Iraq."

Zebari said the parliament will reach a decision before it takes a 15-day recess on November 25.

In Washington, a spokesman for the National Security Council described the agreement as "an important and positive step."

"While the process is not yet complete, we remain hopeful and confident we'll soon have an agreement that serves both the people of Iraq and the United States well, and sends a signal to the region and the world that both our governments are committed to a stable, secure and democratic Iraq," said Gordon Johndroe.

"While there is still much work to be done, U.S. forces continue to return home and there will be 14 Brigade Combat Teams at the end of this year, down from 20 at the height of the surge," he added.

Earlier, Sami al-Askari, an adviser to the Iraqi prime minister, said the draft included changes that made it "satisfactory" for the Iraqis.

For months, the United States and Iraq have been negotiating a proposed status of forces agreement. It would set the terms for U.S. troops in Iraq after the U.N. mandate on their presence expires at the end of this year.

Many Iraqi officials say they will oppose any deal that hints at compromising the country's sovereignty.

Iraqi cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said in a statement on his official Web site last week that he will "forbid any stance that targets the sovereignty of Iraq no matter how small it is."

In late October, Iraqi officials submitted several amendments to the draft plan to U.S. negotiators in Baghdad.

Zebari said at the time that the proposed changes called for a fixed timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal; a specific number of sites and locations that would be used by the U.S. military; and Iraqi jurisdiction over U.S. forces who commit certain crimes in Iraq.

Al-Dabbagh said the Cabinet on Sunday also approved a "draft framework" agreement between the U.S. and Iraq.

This agreement "establishes the principles of cooperation and friendship in the political, diplomatic, educational, health and environmental fields in addition to economic, energy, information technology, communication fields," al-Dabbagh said.