A federal judge tentatively acquitted a Missouri woman in the MySpace cyberbullying case.

Also says she'll seek restraining order to keep Joe Jackson away from kids

Americans who refuse to buy medical coverage may be hit with fines over $1,000 under new bill by Senate Dems

Two of America's most conservative colleges have banned GOP clubs — over ideology and 'neutrality'

The U.S. Marshals Service on Thursday took possession of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's $7 million Manhattan home, an action that forced his wife to move elsewhere despite her plea to stay.

Insurgents have captured an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan after he walked off post with his three Afghan counterparts, officials said Thursday.

With concerns rising about a possible North Korean long-range missile test this weekend, two independent scientists say the rogue regime may be using an old Soviet ballistic missile to boost a rocket capable of reaching the West Coast of the U.S.

Charges will be brought against the owner of a pet python that strangled a 2-year-old Florida girl in her crib, killing her, police told FOXNews.com.

The purple "W" logo at Wimbledon might as well stand for the siblings who have made the women's championship their own playground. Yes, the Williams sisters are back in the Wimbledon final.

An elderly Albuquerque father says he fired a gun after his two adult sons refused to do their chores.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Days from his first Moscow summit, President Barack Obama declared Thursday that former Russian President Vladimir Putin "still has a lot of sway" in his nation and needs an in-person reminder the Cold War is over....

NAWA, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. Marines suffered their first casualties of a massive new military campaign Thursday as they engaged in sporadic gunbattles along 55 miles of Taliban-controlled heartland in southern Afghanistan....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The investigation of Michael Jackson's death is widening as questions intensify about the drugs he took, the doctors who provided them and the actions of police....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal marshals seized disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's $7 million Manhattan penthouse on Thursday and forced his wife to move out and leave her possessions behind, including a fur coat she had asked to take with her, an official told The Associated Press....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Deborah Rowe, the ex-wife of Michael Jackson and the mother of two of his children, has not reached a final decision on whether to seek custody of the children, a lawyer said Thursday....

BAGHDAD (AP) -- After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein stayed in Baghdad until he saw "the city was about to fall." Months later, he was caught hiding at the same farm where he had fled in 1959 after taking part in an attempt to kill the country's prime minister....

LE BOURGET, France (AP) -- Air France Flight 447 slammed into the Atlantic Ocean, intact and belly first, at such a high speed that the 228 people aboard probably had no time to even inflate their life jackets, French investigators said Thursday in their first report into the June 1 accident....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A top Republican pressed for more information Thursday about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's ties to a Puerto Rican civil rights group he said took extreme positions on race, as the White House argued that the material was irrelevant to the judge's nomination....

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A 16-year-old girl thought she heard her mother being assaulted by her boyfriend and rounded up some friends who beat him up, only to learn later that the couple actually were having sex, the woman and police said. The girl misinterpreted the woman's amorous screams, and she and four other teens went to the woman's bedroom in the Torrington home on June 6, police Lt. Bruce Whiteley said Thursday....

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Talk about adding a late-inning buzz to a ballgame. The Houston Astros - who once had the "Killer Bs" - beat the San Diego Padres 7-2 on Thursday, but only after waiting out a 52-minute delay in the top of the ninth inning caused when a swarm of bees took over part of left field at Petco Park....

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The wife of embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford called his affair with an Argentine woman "inexcusable" but said Thursday she is willing to forgive him....

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- An attorney for veterans potentially exposed to HIV and other infections by colonoscopies at three Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals said his clients are waiting to hear if they will be compensated for mistakes that led to congressional hearings and new VA spending on patient safety....

ATLANTA (AP) -- The number of U.S. swine flu cases has reached nearly 34,000, and deaths have risen 34 percent in the past week to 170, federal health officials reported Thursday....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal judge on Thursday tentatively threw out the convictions of a Missouri mother for her role in a MySpace hoax directed at a 13-year-old neighbor girl who ended up committing suicide....

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A 16-year-old girl thought she heard her mother being assaulted by her boyfriend and rounded up some friends who beat him up, only to learn later that the couple actually were having sex, the woman and police said. The girl misinterpreted the woman's amorous screams, and she and four other teens went to the woman's bedroom in the Torrington home on June 6, police Lt. Bruce Whiteley said Thursday....

BRISTOL, R.I. (AP) -- In July 1785, the citizens of this waterfront town assembled to heap praise on their newly minted nation and to thank God for helping them survive a fierce assault by the British during the Revolutionary War....

South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford issued the following statement Thursday, breaking two days of silence that followed her husband's latest revelations to The Associated Press about his extramarital affair, including his statement that his Argentine mistress was his "soul mate":...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida Supreme Court says Gov. Charlie Crist can't reject an all-white list of appeals court nominees, even though he wants to appoint someone who will make the judiciary more diverse....

CHICAGO (AP) -- A computer problem temporarily disrupted United Airlines flights at O'Hare International Airport on Thursday, causing long delays and lines for travelers headed out for the Fourth of July holiday weekend....

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- Prosecutors are playing audiotapes of former Louisiana congressman William Jefferson talking with a woman about business deals he is accused of brokering in exchange for bribes....

Temperature: 74.1°F / 23.4°C | Humidity: 53% | Pressure: 29.56in / 1000.9hPa (Rising) | Conditions: Partly Cloudy | Wind Direction: WSW | Wind Speed: 2.9mph / 4.7km/h

Tonight - Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms this evening. Lows in the lower 60s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Friday - Partly sunny. Isolated showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 80s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Friday Night - Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the lower 60s. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Day 801 - July 2, 2009Wind SW, 10 Knots, Course NW, Speed 1 knot, Position 7*33n by 17*03w Pop ExplorationFirst through the Northwest Passage and to the South Pole, Amundsen said, The (North) Pole held no interest for me - Peary's brilliant deed in 1909 had destroyed it's value for all subsequent explorers .I agree with Amundsen, but that is not the case with Jeff Blumenfeld, a host of modern adventurers and many corporations. Those corporations have spent millions of dollars supporting trips to the poles and many times conquered mountain tops to advertise their names and products.For 35 years Jeff has had his eyes on the adventure world and has been reporting it in Expedition News, an insiders guide to the business of adventure marketing. Exploration has married consumer culture, the mass media and popular culture, making it much more accessible to the average person. I call it Pop Exploration, short for popular exploration. It has a sensibility to advertising, mass media and the consumerism of our turn of the century culture. Jeff reports with a sense of satirical wit. a golfer got sponsorship to hit a golf ball 1,319 miles across Mongolia. An African American woman in her senior years was sponsored to helicopter to the North pole to put on skis. She became a hit inspirational speaker in the media and TV talk shows. Tough men and women with an environmental sensibility have been sponsored to retrace the steps of most of the great expeditions and climbed more mountains faster.You can read all about it in You Want To Go Where? How To Get Someone To Pay For The Trip Of Your Dreams . Read about modern exploration and find out how to fund and arrange your own trips. It took me twenty years of trying all kinds of things and I sure couldn't tell a person how to do it. I think Jeff wrote an entertaining, right up with the times book, like no other book on exploration. It is a must for anyone who wants a little help going anywhere by any means.It is a book I think followers of The Love Voyage will enjoy.

July 1, 2009. The 1000 days non-stop Mars Ocean Odyssey reaches Day 800.by J.R. Weeks, V I sail and write for those who have embarked upon quests with open hearts and a longing for oneness. In what is becoming one of histories' greatest athletic and psychological feats, artist and sailor Reid Stowe passed day 800 of a planned 1000 days nonstop on his self-built 70 foot 50-ton Schooner Anne on July 1, 2009. In a world consumed by issues of ecology, energy and economy, Stowe's endurance challenge is a studied example of self-sufficiency. The Schooner Anne left Hoboken, New Jersey, on April 21, 2007 with three years of food and supplies, and the plan is to not port nor resupply for another 200 days.

Day 799 - June 30, 2009Wind SE 5 to 25 knots, Course NW, Speed 1 to 3 knots, Position 6*50n by 16*51wSacred SideslipThere is a sailing maneuver that sailboats have always had the occasion to use called heaving-to. A sail in the middle of the boat is pulled tight fore and aft and the wheel is turned into the wind causing the boat to face into the wind and stall. This is a good maneuver in heavy weather, but also any time a sailor wants to pause for any reason. We have heaved-to regularly on this voyage under many different circumstances.Now I am practicing a tactic I call the Sacred Sideslip. It is like heaving-to, but the boat is a little more broadside to the wind and the sails are a little looser. Like this I can guide or speed up or slow down my drift.It is sacred because it is done as reverently as possible, acknowledging the holiness of nature and the omnipresence of God. The objective is to know our place in the universe better and to make a transformation from a faulty, wordly creature into a spiritual being more in tune with our higher callings. The sacred sideslip is a dance of sorts, a slow dance more suited for those who have been through more ups and downs in life and are now in it for the long run with a view of helping others.This is not a dance teenagers discovering their wild side would understand or choose. I do this dance throughout the day and night. As I move from one place to the next, I side slip trying to conserve my energy, remembering my gratefulness and impermanence.Fostering this sacred awareness has allowed me, I think to move into new realms of human experience. Any attitude with hate, anger, criticism, jealousy, prejudice, unforgiveness, judgment, or any of the lower human emotions will quickly end any possibility of understanding the sacred sideslip. I slip forward, to the side and back, riding the giant forces of nature and I don't know where or when this will end.One day again I will have to reorient myself to the world and choose the best course for my abilities. For the time being, I dissolve in the grace of the sacred sideslip.