• A Florida judge refused to block the prosecution in Casey Anthony's murder trial from seeing the death penalty. Lawyers for Anthony, who is accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, claimed that the state seeking the death penalty violated her constitutional rights. The judge said whether or not Anthony should face the death penalty is a decision for the jury to make. • Banita Jacks, who was found in her Washington, D.C. home last year with her four daughters' decomposing bodies, was sentenced to 120 years in prison today for murdering the girls. The judge rejected the defense's suggestion that the four 30 year sentences be served concurrently, and their claim that she's wasn't competent when she rejected their advice to plead insanity. • Two British boys have been charged with the rape of an 8-year-old girl. At 10 years old, they are the youngest children to be charged with rape in the history of England. The assault occurred at a park, where the three children had gone to play on the jungle gym. The boys have been released on bail, and will return to court on January 2nd. • Members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights voted today to subpoena data from 19 colleges to investigate whether some schools favor men in their admission process. The probe is based on news reports and anecdotal evidence that colleges discriminate against women to maintain an even gender balance. A mix of schools near D.C. were chosen as a sample of U.S. colleges, not because they're specifically suspected of discrimination. •  A new book, The Death of American Virtue, reveals that Monika Lewinsky believes Bill Clinton lied to a federal jury about their affair. The author quotes a letter from Lewinsky, which reads: "There was no leeway on the veracity of his statements because they asked him detailed and specific questions to which he answered untruthfully." •  According to a new study from Canada, 10 to 15% of women have maladaptive eating behaviors. However, out of the 1,500 women interviewed, not one had anorexia, and the most common disordered behavior was binge eating. 2.5% also admitted to using laxatives, diuretics or vomiting to purge. • The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected a motion from Marion Jones' relay teammates at the 2000 Olympics to overturn the International Olympic Committee's decision to strip them of their gold medals after Jones admitted to doping. The ruling was a setback, but the court will hold a full hearing on the case next year. •  Billie Piper, the actress who played Belle in the TV series The Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Dr. Brooke Magnanti, the woman behind the Belle du Jour blog and book, will meet in person on a television documentary, Billie and the Call Girl Bare All. It will be "the last world on what it was like to be Belle - how my sexuality was formed, how I came to the work and what it's like to be portrayed on TV," said Dr. Magnanti. •

• The Ad Standards ruling also said that the imagery is "dream-like," which makes it somewhat removed from reality, and thus inoffensive. • The Louisiana judge who refused to marry an interracial couple has announced his resignation. Keith Bardwell admitted that this was not the first time he had discriminated against couples based on race, and that he routinely recused himself from marrying couples that he felt would create an unhealthy environment for children. •  New research shows that kissing may help boost the immunity system of pregnant women. Doctors believe that if a couple smooches for six months during the pregnancy, the mother builds up protection against a certain virus that could harm her fetus. •  Three college students that went missing in North Dakota on Sunday have been found dead. Their bodies were found trapped in a car at the bottom of a stock pond. Authorities say they do not suspect foul play, and believe it was most likely a tragic accident. •  The defense team for Casey Anthony is arguing that the charges brought against Anthony are too vague, and should be dropped. "Instead of starting with the crime and figuring out who did it, the state has essentially started with who did it and is now trying to figure out what crime she might have committed," read the motion filed Tuesday. • A new law in Australia may raise the salaries of women working in homeless and domestic violence shelters by as much as 30%. The Fair Work Act would increase compensation for "feminized" work so that it more closely matches pay for similar "male occupations." • A new study has found that eating quickly makes it more likely that you will overeat, and thus achieve the dreaded food baby stage. Speed eating slows the release of hormones that signal fullness, so scarfing down multiple burgers in a ten minute span is not actually the great idea it might seem. • A 13-year-old cat in Iowa has become the first feline to be diagnosed with swine flu. But the Iowa Department of Health says that this is "not completely unexpected," and that other flu strains have been found in cats in the past. • A portrait of a disabled swimmer has won photographer Paul Floyd Blake a $19,000 prize from the National Portrait Gallery. "She had just swum a personal best in her event and I think that's why she has such a confident, self-assured look in the portrait," said Blake. Blake's 13-year-old swimmer says she hopes to go on to compete in the Paralympics. • Former Silicon Valley executive Carly Fiorina announced today that she is running for Senate against Barbara Boxer, a three-term Democrat. She depicted Boxer as a do-nothing who just writes novels while Californians face real problems and said, "What do you say that come next year, we give Barbara Boxer the chance to become a full-time novelist?" • According to resent research from Florida State University, discrimination is a major threat to the mental health of African American women. Women who reported experiencing discrimination were more prone to depression and less psychologically resilient than those who felt more "in control" of their lives. • Though abortion is only legal under very limited circumstances in Pakistan, a study by the National Committee for Maternal and Neonatal Health estimate that 890,000 abortions were performed there in 2002. Most of these abortions took place in clandestine and unsafe conditions and as a result, many of the women who sought them out suffered health complications or death. • Israeli researchers studied 2,700 twin pregnancies and found that the risk of premature delivery was highest when both twins are male and lowest when they are both female. The findings support the theory that the "male factor" raises the odds of pregnancy complications. • Photos of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Whitney Isleib wearing blackface for her Lil Wayne Halloween costume were posted on the Gawker blog Deadspin and later removed. "We are aware of the images and we are handling it internally," said Brett Daniels, a spokesman for the team. • 18-year-old Tiffany M. Wallace has plead guilty to ramming her pickup into another car, then throwing ranch dressing at the car. She was arrested in Idaho after a man said she cut him off, then threw coins and plastic containers of dressing at him. • At the end of a speech at a Wisconsin middle school today , President Obama told an anecdote about his daughter Malia. "These aren't in my prepared remarks, but I think it's important to note, kids slack off... And part of our job as parents is not to just tell our kids what to do but to start instilling in them the sense that they want to do it themselves..." Recently Malia came home with a 73 on a test and told explained to her dad "what she planned to do about it." When she came home with a 95 yesterday she told him, "I just like having knowledge." •

Natisha Lance, writing on behalf of the Nancy Grace show, notes that Soderbergh used transcripts from Grace's program, as well as "court documents, and police reports" to create a show based on the case. Lance claims that she has "no doubt that will be a huge success," and sadly, I don't either, though I think Lance and I have different measures for success in this case.

While I'm sure Soderbergh's play will create a ton of publicity and rake in quite a few dollars, I have to say I'm not exactly sure what the point is. Anthony's story is far from over; her trial hasn't even begun. The play is being put on by the Sydney Theatre Company (which, by the way, counts Cate Blanchett as one of its artistic directors), and the Company claims that show is a "compelling drama for our sensation-hungry times." As Grace is apparently a character in the play, my guess is that the show will focus on Grace's typical mode of doing business, which, as the Company's website notes "transformed the case from a tragic story to a 24-hour news spectacle."

If the play is a commentary on how 24-hour news creates entertainment out of tragedies, I'm curious to see how Soderbergh balances his own foray into creating entertainment out of the murder of a child—even for social commentary or social psychology's sake, let's say—without coming out of this with the stench of exploitation all over the work. It's impossible to critique the play at this point; I've never read it, much less seen it, so I can't say what Soderbergh is aiming for here. I will say, however, that I find it quite sad and a bit disturbing that Grace's site is already trumpeting the play as a rousing success and victory of sorts for Grace; yes, she may have brought a great deal of attention to the case, but a child is dead, a mother is in prison for the murder. There are no winners here.

Tot Mom To Hit The Stage! [CNN]
Tot Mom [Sydney Theatre Company]

8 Cervarix is only $5 cheaper than Gardasil, but unlike Merck's vaccine, it doesn't prevent two other types of HPV that cause genital warts. The committee decided not to endorse one vaccine over the other, and the CDC still has to adopt the committee's recommendation for it to be approved for widespread use. • The Oklahoma law that would require the collection and anonymous public sharing of abortion patients' personal data will not go into effect as scheduled on November 1, due to some legal wrangling and highly unusual judicial decisions. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a suit requesting a temporary restraining order to prevent the law from going into effect on behalf of two local women. The judge recused herself from the case and the new judge, Twyla Mason Gray, has ignored the request but granted the state's request for an extension, moving the hearing to December 4. Gray set the bond for the temporary restraining order request at $25,000, which is an uncommonly large sum for such cases. Oklahoma Representative Wanda Jo Stapleton says so much personal information would be made public by the law that, "Women in small towns can be identified by nosy neighbors or, equally important, they can be misidentified when the guessing games start." • Megan Williams of West Virginia is now says she was lying when she reported that she was assaulted by a group of white men. She accused the men of keeping her in a trailer for several days, beating and stabbing her, and forcing her to eat animal feces. Seven men plead guilty and were convicted, but now her lawyer says she made up the story to get revenge on one of the men she was having a relationship with. Prosecutor Brian Abraham says the men were convicted on physical evidence and their own statements. • In only the second known case of a sperm donor passing on a genetic disease, a donor has given the heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy to nine of his 24 children. One died at age 2 and two of the children, who are now teenagers, are at risk for sudden cardiac death. • Dr. Marci Bowers, who herself underwent a sex-change operation, now performs "female circumcision reversals" that can restore sexual pleasure in 80% of genital mutilation victims. One patient says she's looking forward to "a romance with my husband." • Israeli researchers say people who are violent with their partners are usually in control with their friends and bosses. They say the abuser usually goes through a calculated decision-making process and their behavior often escalates from verbal aggression, to threats of physical aggression, then moderate physical aggression, and severe physical aggression. • Six women are accused of posing as victims of domestic violence to jump to the top of the New York City Housing Authority's waiting list for subsidized apartments. A manager noticed there were similarities in some of the women's police reports and other documents. If convicted of forging court documents, the women could each face seven years in prison. • 53-year-old John Marshall of California has been charged with drugging and raping an acquaintance then shaving off all of his victim's hair. There are at least two other complaints from men and boys who say he drugged and raped them but he hasn't been charged with those crimes and is currently out on bail. • Kuwait's highest court has granted women the right to obtain a passport without their husband's approval. Thousands of women have been petitioning the courts to overturn the 1962 law requiring their husbands' signatures for a passport. Women in Kuwait can vote, serve in parliament, and drive, unlike women in some neighboring countries. • Researchers from Yale University and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System asked 18,481 female and 134,731 male veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom if they are in pain since coming home. Only 38 percent of female veterans compared to 44 percent of the men said they experienced any pain, and women were more likely to report moderate-severe pain but less likely to report persistent pain. "We were surprised by the lower pain prevalence in women Veterans which is contrary to studies conducted in civilian populations," said Dr. Sally Haskell. The discrepancy could be due to the fact that women do not serve in direct combat roles, or women being reluctant to seek treatment and admit they're in pain. • A 50 year-old Russian coal miner is trying to sell a signed photograph of Brigitte Bardot to pay for a $2,090 operation to treat his lung disease. • The one day suspension of a Springfield, Illinois bus driver who wore a pink tie to support breast cancer awareness has been rescinded. Springfield Mass Transit District managing director Linda Tisdale wrote in a newspaper editorial, "Unfortunately, my decision has left the mistaken impression that the SMTD and I do not support the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and, even more regrettably, has hurt and insulted the many families who have had to deal with this horrible disease." • A Florida judge says he will not dismiss a civil lawsuit against Casey Anthony, charged with killing her daughter Caylee. The girl's former nanny Zenaida Gonzales is suing Anthony because she says she damaged her reputation by naming her as a suspect in Caylee's death. • A recent study found that adults who are childhood cancer survivors are 20 to 25 percent less likely to marry compared with their siblings and the American population. Sometimes cancer treatment can lead to fertility or developmental problems and survivors may suffer from ongoing medical issues. • Hahnium Goren, the mother of a 15-year-old girl believed to be murdered by her father in an "honor killing," testified against her husband Mamet Goren in a London court today. While on the stand she screamed at him, "Look at my face. What did you do to Tu lay?" He's accused of killing their daughter in 1999 because she was dating a boy he didn't approve of. • The British news program More4 News will feature actors playing Jane Austen, Samuel Johnson, and John Ruskin "reporting" on the societal changes since their time. The Jane Austen character will discuss modern courtship and the waning popularity of marriage and observe a speed-dating session where "you can encounter dozens of potential partners in one evening, with no obligations." • Some extremely serious runners have their toenails surgically removed to make 50 or 100-mile races less painful. Nails are removed by pouring acid on the nail bed. A podiatrist who treats runners says, "Even within the ultra community, less than 10 percent or maybe even 5 percent are permanently removing their toenails." •

• Scientists are trying to figure out why some male baboons hang out with single female baboon mothers without trying to have sex with them. "So we really don't know what these guys got out of the friendship, other than maybe spending time with a mum and a new baby and having other females seeing this," said primatologist Nga Nguyen. • According to a recent survey, 47% of Hispanic women are still spending the same amount or more than they did last year, despite fears for the failing economy. • In efforts to raise awareness about HIV/AIDs, Swaziland has launched a nation-wide "love test" campaign that urges couples to get tested together. • A study of men in South Africa found that 25 percent admit to having committed a sexual assault. • The judge in the Caylee Anthony case has sealed a video of Anthony's reaction when told her daughter's body was found, saying that it would taint the jury pool. • A company in Florida is besmirching the good name of Dr. Oz by selling anti-aging pills using his image. The company claims to offer a free monthly trial, but customers say that they continued to receive charges after they had attempted to cancel their subscriptions. • Maintaining a beach-ready bikini line is not only a pain in the butt—it can also be dangerous. MSNBC warns that Brazilian waxing often carries a risk of infection. • A British father recently created the Babyglow line of onesies, which change color as the baby's temperature rises. The outfits come in baby blue, pink, and pastel green and can help protect infants from overheating. • In Britain, young women supposedly aspiring to live like the rich and famous are going bankrupt at higher rates than men, from foolish things like getting their own apartments and being subject to the wage gap. • Sony is launching a new dude-site with an online reality show about a porn star mother. • There are a number of species that engage in same-sex relationships in the animal kingdom, and scientists are learning they have an evolutionary purpose. • NYPD Officer Andrew Dunton, who mistakenly short fellow officer Omar Edwards in a case of mistaken identity, called Edwards' widow at her request to offer his condolences. • Cecile Brossard has been found guilty of the murder of her lover, French banker Edouard Stern. She killed him during a bondage session when he called her a whore. • Some psychology experts say that men are more involved than ever in their children's lives. •

• A new study has linked the height of mothers to the risk of death among young children in India. Researchers report that children born to short women were 70 percent more likely to die before the age of 5. • According to the Journal of Consumer Research people are more likely to chose high fat options from a menu that also contains diet foods than one that is strictly high-calorie treats. • Researchers have found that walnuts may be the best thing to eat if you want to reduce your chances of getting breast cancer. • Numbers of wild grazing animals in Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve have fallen substantially in the past 15 years, according to a new report. Researchers cite competition with human settlements as the reason for this sad news. • Casey Anthony's parents told the Early Show this morning that they believe their daughter is innocent, and they don't think Casey should accept a plea deal. •  Police say that a mother from White Plains, NY, stopped her car in the business district, and ordered her two daughters, ages 10 and 12, to get out, and drove away. • After requesting suggestions from the public, the Columbus Ohio Zoo has received 9,000 name submissions for their new baby elephant. Popular choices include Barack, Obama, Dumbo, Peanut, and Jack. • From the New York Times comes this new bit of celebrity vocab: The Brando Problem: "the case of a major public figure who dies and leaves behind a potent if contradictory image and no clear commercial legacy." • St. David's, a prestigious 300-year-old girls school in Britain, has announced that its closing, due to the faltering economy. • Two mothers/gang members from Southern California have been placed under arrest for attempting to induce labor in order to have their children born on April 20th, Hitler's birthday. • A new study has found that sexual harassment from males can prevent female bonding - at least among fish. • Saved by the bra: a 57-year-old woman escaped serious injury when a bullet fired at her from next door hit the underwire in her bra. • Baghdad is experiencing a bit of a wedding boom, as couples who had previously put their lives on hold try to make up for lost time. •  A non-profit organization called "Buzzfree Prom" has pulled one of its ads after receiving complaints over its homophobic content. • A new study suggests that divorce is not entirely acceptable in American culture - it may be tolerated, but many still feel that divorce is somehow morally ambiguous. •  There's been another Craigslist-related attack, this time in Tacoma, WA. A mother and her son were attacked by a hammer-wielding man, who lured them to his apartment by posting a listing for a used car. •  Karen Burns, author of a book of advice for the "working girl," suggests that the reason women are paid less then men is because we are not focused enough. She advises women to "juggle less, focus more." • KMSP Fox 9 in the Twin Cities has canceled its plans for a segment on child abduction, which would have featured a reporter driving around in a van and asking children for directions. • Nadja Benaissa, the German pop star accused of recklessly spreading HIV, has been released from police custody. • 

• Chris Brown's management is reportedly working feverishly on ''Project Mea Culpa.'' Sources say he and Rihanna will co-author a book about abuse and go on talk shows.

• "The only way Chris can possibly reverse things is to come clean and help raise awareness about abusive relationships,'' said a source close to his legal team, who added that part of the deal is that he'll pay Rihanna as much as $10 million ''if he as much as squeezes her arm the wrong way." [Chicago Sun-Times]
• A L.A. judge filed a protective order against Chris Brown yesterday and TMZ has a copy. It allows Rihanna to record her phone conversations with Chris. Also, he must not "harass, strike, threaten, assault (sexually or otherwise), follow, stalk, molest, destroy or damage personal or real property, disturb the peace, keep under surveillance, or block movements of" Rihanna.[TMZ]
• Rihanna's lawyer says she'll testify against Chris Brown if she's required to, but didn't say how Rihanna wants the case to turn out. "The fact is, Rihanna desires that it be quick and expeditious," said her lawyer. "She wants to get back to her life and her career." [Us]
• Chris Brown was at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills last night but he wasn't partying. He was there for a dinner business meeting with a man who works in the music industry and didn't drink. [TMZ]
• Blogger Ben Barna claimed that singer Nikki Jean was the woman who sent Chris text messages that ignited his assault, but she sent him a Facebook message saying she hasn't seen or spoken to Rihanna or Chris in six months. Barna apologized. [Black Book]
• More than 1,100 pages of documents have been released in the Caylee Anthony case including images from her mother's computer. Casey Anthony had saved on the computer pictures of skulls and a drawing of two skeletons locked in an embrace and a photo of Caylee with a heart-shaped sticker similar to the one found on her body. [People]
• Kristen Stewart has been criticized for not attending the Oscars to support Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, but she has a good reason: She wasn't invited. "If I was invited to the Oscars, I would be there in a nanosecond," she says. "If I got an invitation to the Oscars, I wouldn't turn it down!" [E!]
• Lauren Conrad says she's leaving The Hills because she's tired of leading a double life. "You see us on the show and we appear to have seminormal lives, but if you watch any entertainment news show, half of the cast is being swarmed by paparazzi," says Lauren. "I'm excited to go back to having just one life, because there were times that I got them confused." [Us]
• As Pamela Anderson was modeling a Vivienne Westwood gown on the runway with the designer, her top popped open exposing her breast. Yeah, there are pictures. [The Sun]
• Zac Efron's mom talked to him about why he and girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens were photographed looking at sex toys. "My stocking was full of condoms this Christmas," he says. "She buys me the economy box." [People]
• Sienna Miller was kicked in the face by a horse as a child. She pointed out the scar to Jay Leno last night, but frankly, we can't see it. [The Daily Mail]
• Charles Barkley's jail time for driving drunk has been reduced from five days to three for reasons unknown. [TMZ]
• Charlize Theron's former dance teacher called in to a British talk show and revealed the South African's childhood secrets. "She always had these entrepreneurial skills and she used to buy sweets from the school tuck shop and sell them at night to hungry children for a profit. We thought it was wonderful - we, her teachers, thought that showed gumption," said the teacher. "Oh my god, Bernice! This in insane!" said Theron. "I don't remember selling candy at a profit! I did start drinking at a very early age, so my memory is a bit dodgy." [The Daily Express]
• The Daily Beast dug up a 2007 ABC interview with Robin Givens, who spent years in an abusive relationship with Mike Tyson, for insight into the Chris/Rihanna situation. She said: "With Michael, I felt like I had a purpose. I really felt like I had to protect him and love him and convince him that the world can be an okay place - I wanted to love all of his hurts and all of his pain away." [The Daily Beast]
• Coolio has been arrested at LAX for crack possession. [TMZ]
• Amy Winehouse is trying to pass her road test so she can drive a cute vintage car. "Amy's looking for things to do to keep her away from the temptation of drink and drugs," says a friend. [The Sun]
• Dame Judi Dench, Dame Helen Mirren, and "honorary Brit" Gillian Anderson are included on a list of the 20 most powerful women in British theater. [The Telegraph]
• There are rumors of a Broadway production of Sex and the City but Cynthia Nixon says that it's not going to happen because the excitement of seeing the cast on stage would be too much for fans. "It would be really hard for people to even see just two of us together on a stage. That would be way too distracting!" [The Daily Express]
• Denise Richards says this isn't the first time she's been asked to be on Dancing With The Stars. "When they asked me to do it originally, my mom was still [alive] and both my parents were like, 'You're going to get voted off right away because women hate you,' " says Richards, "And I thought, 'They're right. This may not be a good time to do the show.' Granted, a lot of them still hate me, but hopefully they hate me less. Time has gone by." [E!]
• Devo will perform their 1978 album "Are We Not Men?" in full for the first time at a concert in London in May. [Yahoo]
• Krist Novoselic says there are no more unreleased Nirvana songs. "What there is, is video," Novoselic. "There's a lot of video. There's not going to be any new Nirvana records." [AP]
• "I do feel in my twenties I did way too much... I didn't realise I could say 'no'. It was like someone shot a gun and I just kept running and running... until I completely lost the desire to work. I felt like I had nothing to say. Then a lot of things happened in my life. My father died. I met my husband. I had a baby. And I thought, 'There's actually a real life to be had here that has nothing to do with Hollywood and all of these people and all of this negativity.'" - Gwyneth Paltrow. [The Independent]
• The Bachelor, Jason Mesnick appeared on Ellen today as part of his apology tour for switching fiances on the show. He said: "I think what I want to do is to apologize to everybody out there. All the fans of the show because thank you for watching, but this was my real life and it was the hardest thing I had to do. And I made some big mistakes and that's what I wanted to sit here and talk about today-the mistakes that I made. But in the end I found my true love." [Yahoo]

Thankfully, plans for a Caylee Anthony doll were cancelled earlier this week, but now a New Orleans artist is selling a voodoo doll of her mother, Casey, on Ebay according to this MSNBC report. [Breitbart]

Court documents released Wednesday reveal that Caylee's remains were found bound by duct tape, and on the duct tape that had been used to cover her mouth, police found a heart-shaped sticker. Investigators seized sticker books and scrapbook material from Caylee's home as evidence. In the laundry bag with Caylee's body they also found a Winnie the Pooh blanket and a toy horse. Caylee's remains were found in December by Roy Kronk, a utility worker, in the woods near the Anthony's home. Kronk alerted police of his suspicions several weeks before the body was found. Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with first-degree murder and remains in jail. [CBS]

• Michael Jackson is dying, according to the oh-so-reliable National Enquirer.

A source says: "Painkillers and booze have caught up with him. The only way he was able to cope with the stress of sex scandals and his roller-coaster life was to mask the pain with substance abuse." Another insider claims: "His muscles and lungs are deteriorating, and he's bedridden much of the time. He can walk, but not for very long." [Newser, National Enquirer]

• Shh! Secret Oprah/Obama party in honor of the inauguration! Pass it on! [Page Six]
• Are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt married? Or does Taraji Henson have trouble remembering the word "partner"? [The Sun]
• You know how, in W, Brad Pitt claimed that he and Jennifer Aniston "still check in with one another"? The New York Post's Cindy Adams says: Toro caca. Brad and Jen haven't spoken in three years. [NY Post]
• Anne Hathaway skipped the Bride Wars premiere party to go smoke cigarettes and play pool. [Page Six]
• Sixteen-year-old Frances Bean Coban checked out a $6.5 million Manhattan penthouse recently. Without her mom. Will she buy it and leave Courtney on her own? [NY Post]
• Will Tom Cruise go on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross? [Telegraph]
• Amy Winehouse continues to hang out with this random dude, Josh Bowman, in the Caribbean; yesterday she serenaded him from the piano at a hotel bar. [The Sun]
• Congrats to Lisa Bonet and hot hottie Jason Momoa, who (maybe) welcomed a boy in mid-December. The name? Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa. According to Jason's mom, "He was born on the stormest, rainy night. Nakoa(warrior)...Mana(strength/spirit) Kaua(rain) po(dark)... The name was always going to be Nakoa-Wolf, but Jason did the research on first middle name, 2nd middle name as you know is Jason's." Okay then! [ONTD]
• Did you know that Mario Lopez and Fergie were one another's first kiss back in the '80s? Anyway, now that Fergie is getting married, Mario says: "I'm happy for all of her success. She deserves it. Josh is a great guy. They will be great together." [People]
• Dear Princess Beatrice: If you don't want your black BMW, which was a gift from your father, the Duke of York, to be stolen off the street in the West 1 area of London, don't leave your keys in the ignition. [Independent]
• Taylor Momsen, Gossip Girl's Little J, was seen dining with her dad in MD, making a big deal about trying not to be recognized… And no one cared. [Page Six]
• Finally! What we've all some of you have been waiting for: Tori Spelling is in negotiations to appear on the new 90210. [People]
• Say buh-bye to Balthazar Getty on TV: The writers and producers of Brothers & Sisters have changed scenes and storylines to phase out his character, Tommy Walker, before the season ends. [E!]
• Leonardo DiCaprio will star in the screen adaptation of Beat The Reaper, a novel by Josh Bazell, about a Manhattan emergency room doctor whose life becomes complicated when a mobster recognizes the doc from his former life as a hitman who went into the witness protection program. [Variety]
• Being on Celebrity Big Brother has given Coolio a platform to say all kinds of crap; today he claims that the difference between American chicks and Brit birds is that English women get drunk and hook up with people they don't even know. [Mirror]
• Take a deep sigh of relief: David Spade and Nicolette Sheridan are just friends. [E!]
• Blind items! 1. Which married-with-children cable TV honcho has been so helpful to an ambitious reporter who works for him, everyone thinks they're having an affair - including her boyfriend? Her beau dumped her flat after reading some incriminating e-mails 2. Which media mogul has been hitting on the flight attendant on his corporate jet - and her girlfriend? He offered the hotties an all-expenses-paid trip to Mexico City, but they laughingly declined. [Page Six]
• Additional blind item! "Which reality star announced in the middle of a business lunch, “Whoops, just got my period!” — and then kept eating as if nothing had happened?" [Gatecrasher]
• Some band has written a song calling for a confession from Casey Anthony, Caylee's mother and the prime suspect in Caylee's death. [Gatecrasher]
• SNL star Casey Wilson wants to play Suri Cruise: "I just have to give her a voice. She’s got a lot to say, a lot of opinions. She’s very smart and she can wear that Burberry coat like no other. But I think I’m going to make her arrive in a spaceship." [Gatecrasher]
• Dr. Jan Adams, the surgeon who operated on the late Dr. Donda West (Kanye's mom), was sentenced to a year in jail for DUI. He had a blood alcohol level of .20 percent. [The Life Files]
• Check out video of rapper T.I. on the witness stand as he fights a raise in child support payments (he already pays $6,000 a month!). A lawyer asks him what size house he lives in, and T.I., aka Clifford, says "A big one." [The Life Files]
• For some reason, Stephen Spielberg's image was being used on a flyer at the University of Wales, promoting their creative writing department. Spielberg's lawyers asked the school to cease and desist. [Telegraph]
• Those of you hoping to see Gandalf's wand are out of luck! Ian McKellen is not upset that the nude scene from his version of King Lear won't be shown when the stage play is shown on TV. "Every night, when I'd take my clothes off, you know what I used to do? Pull in my stomach. That's pathetic. I was playing an old man. I should have let it all hang out, and I couldn't do that." [AP]
• "Noel Gallagher wants me to play him in a movie about his life? That is ridiculous, he must have been in a very good mood to say that. I'm way older than him anyway, so I couldn't play him, but I love the idea, it's fantastic. I can play the guitar better than Noel can so I don't know how that is really going to work. I haven't had a call from Liam yet so I'll wait for that one." — Daniel Craig. [Telegraph]
• "Israel is a NAZI state… Israel has enough money to pay each and every Palestinian to not shoot at them." — Roseanne Barr. [Page Six]

For those unfamiliar with this chilling case, here's a recap: Caylee has been missing since early June, but her disappearance was not reported to police until July 15, and even then the call to authorities was made by Casey's mother. In addition, Casey's mother told police that it smelled like "a dead body in the damn car" that Casey was driving, and Casey borrowed a shovel from a neighbor in mid-June.

Another young woman who is facing murder charges, Amanda "Foxy Knoxy" Knox, the American studying abroad in Perugia who was accused of stabbing her roommate Meredith Kercher to death, is looking more and more like the victim of an overzealous Italian prosecutor than a murderess.

According to an extensive article in the November issue of Radar, when Amanda originally "confessed," it was after 14 hours of police intimidation in Italian, which she did not fully understand. In addition, the police have subsequently found the DNA of Rudy Guede, a "petty criminal who had a history of home invasions with a knife," all over the apartment.

Knox has been excoriated in the Italian press, in no small part because prosecutor Giuliano Mignini has had it out for her from day one. "Lisa Pasko, a criminology professor at the University of Denver who specializes in young women who commit violent crimes, has been following the case and does not believe that Knox participated in Kercher's murder," Radar reports. "She likens Mignini's behavior to that of the very vocal prosecutor in the Duke rape case, former Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong, who improperly leaked information to the media in order to beef up his case against the accused lacrosse players."

Though Knox has been in jail since Meredith Kercher was killed last year, it is still unclear whether or not she will have to stand trial for Kercher's death. Hearings began on the case last month, but according to Radar, the snail's pace of the Italian justice system means that Knox's fate will hang in the balance until the end of the month at the earliest.

Mom Of Missing Girl Weeps After Murder Indictment [AP]
The Accused [Radar]

Earlier: Creepy Mom Casey Anthony Tried To Give Missing Caylee Up For Adoption
True Crime

More incriminating information: Cindy Anthony called the cops about her missing granddaughter because she found Casey's car and it stank of " a dead body in the damn car"; a neighbor said Casey tried to borrow a shovel in mid-June; Casey said she left Caylee with a nanny before she disappeared, but no one has lived in the address she gave for the nanny for several months; Casey has shown almost no emotion throughout this entire ordeal.

And now, more on that potential adoption. Apparently the then 19-year-old Casey wanted to give Caylee up for adoption when she was born, but her mother wouldn't let her. Casey's high school friend, Kiomare Torres Cruz, wanted to adopt Caylee, but Cruz told police that after Casey agreed to the adoption, "she called me back saying that her mom pretty much has told her that no, she needs to keep the baby and that she's not giving it up for adoption. Even though she really did not want to have the baby."

Casey's mother, Cindy, has been almost as consistently, publicly bizarre as her potentially homicidal daughter. First of all, Cindy has been a fixture on cable news and morning talk shows since Caylee's disappearance, seemingly eating up the press. It must be noted, however, that this is precisely the kind of story cable news networks eat up during those slow summer news doldrums (see the frantic coverage of Natalee Holloway's disappearance in 2005). Although she's been public with her mistrust of Casey, Cindy is still allowing Casey to stay at the family home, where she is equipped with a lojack and biding her time. A detective said to Casey recently, "Everything you've told us is a lie. Every single thing."

Court Documents: Mom Of Missing Fla. 3-Year-Old Tried To Give Girl Up For Adoption Years Ago [AP via Newser]
Caylee Mystery Captures Public's Imagination [CNN]
Caylee's Mom Leaves Jail, Pleads Not Guilty [CNN]
Caylee Anthony Wasn't A Child Who Was Wanted, Court Records Show [Orlando Sentinel]