CLINTON GOING TO MIDEAST FOR GAZA CONFLICT TALKS: The White House has announced that President Obama is sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the Middle East today (November 20th) for talks with Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders to try to prevent escalation of the week-long military conflict in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinians. Some 110 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, and three Israelis have died in the exchange of airstrikes by Israel and rocket fire by the Palestinians. The
U.S., United Nations and other nations have been urging against an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, as has Egypt's new leader, the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi, a key player who's warned of serious consequences of such an escalation. However, Mursi has been careful not to alienate Israel, with whom Egypt's former rulers signed a peace treaty in 1979, or the U.S., which is a major aid donor to his nation.

OBAMA WRAPS UP ASIAN TRIP IN CAMBODIA: After visiting Myanmar earlier on Monday (November 19th), in a historic first trip to the nation from a U.S. president, President Obama arrived in Cambodia, the final stop on his three-country Asian trip. However,
in Cambodia, Obama pointedly criticized the country's autocratic leader, Prime Minister Hun Sen, on human rights during a tense private meeting. U.S. officials said Obama pressed Hun Sen to release political prisoners, stop land seizures and hold free and fair elections. White House officials also emphasized that Obama wouldn't have visited Cambodia had it not been hosting two regional summit meetings the U.S. attends.

FOUR CALIFORNIA MEN CHARGED IN ALLEGED TERROR PLOT: Four Southern California men have been charged with plotting to kill Americans and destroy U.S. targets overseas by joining al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan, federal officials said Monday (November
19th). The defendants, including a man who served in the U.S. Air Force, were arrested for plotting to bomb military bases and government facilities, and for planning to engage in what the FBI called "violent jihad." The man who served in the Air Force from 2000 to 2001, 34-year-old Sohiel Omar Kabir, reportedly introduced two of the other men to the radical Islamist doctrine of Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian  Peninsula who
the U.S. killed in a drone strike. The other two men, 23-year-old Ralph Deleon and 21-year-old Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales, had converted to Islam in 2010. They later recruited 21-year-old Arifeen David Gojali.

INDIANAPOLIS HOUSE EXPLOSION PROBE BECOMES MURDER INVESTIGATION: The house explosion that killed two people and destroyed several homes in an Indianapolis neighborhood is now being considered a homicide investigation, authorities said Monday (November 19th), without naming any suspects. No one was home in the house that exploded on November 10th, but a husband and wife who lived next door were killed. Officials say they're looking for a white van that was seen in the neighborhood on the day of the explosion, which they believed involved natural gas. Five homes were destroyed in total, with dozens of others damaged.

JUDGE, TRYING TO SAVE HOSTESS, ORDERS MEDIATION: There may still be hope for Hostess yet. The bankruptcy judge hearing the case Monday (November 19th), at which the maker of Twinkies, Ho-Hos, and other iconic snack cakes was asking for permission to sell its
assets and go out of business, said the company and its striking union hadn't gone through the critical step of mediation. Hostess, which was already in bankruptcy, has blamed the strike that started earlier this month for the decision to liquidate, saying it was the final blow to the company. But after yesterday's court hearing, the union agreed to mediation, and both sides will start that process today. The news might hearten Twinkie lovers who've been racing around trying to snap up any of the golden cakes they can find on store shelves since news broke Friday that Hostess was going out of business. Still, even if Hostess does wind up closing down, it's likely that its popular brands, like Twinkies, will be bought by another company.

KEY ADVISORY PANEL RECOMMENDS ROUTINE HIV TESTING: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an influential, government-backed panel of doctors and scientists that advises on medical matters, is calling for routine HIV testing for all Americans aged 15 to 65, as well as of all pregnant women. Such routine screening could help reduce some of the stigma of getting tested for the virus that causes AIDS. The task force's guidelines are also expected to affect insurance reimbursement for HIV testing, which is another barrier to screening. Some 20 to 25 percent of the nearly 1.2 million Americans who are infected with HIV don't know it, and the new guidelines are based on evidence showing the benefits of early testing and treatment, both for the infected person and in preventing transmission of
the virus to others. The recommendation brings the panel in line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which began advising routine HIV testing for everyone between 13 and 64 in 2006.

MUSTANG RANCH BROTHEL OWNER VOTED COUNTY COMMISSIONER: Lance Gilman has shown that being part of the sex industry isn't an obstacle to political office -- in rural Nevada anyway -- where the owner of the famous Mustang Ranch brothel was elected as a Storey County commissioner on November 6th. The 68-year-old Gilman, who describes himself as a, quote, "dye-in-the wool Republican who loves American values," won with 62 percent of the vote, and said he didn't come across many objections to him owning a brothel during the campaign.  He claims that the Mustang Ranch has contributed more than $5 million to the county's budget over the past decade, and told AP, "To 99 percent of the
voters, they view it as just a business." There are some two dozen legal brothels in 10 of Nevada's 17 counties, but not in the county that includes Las Vegas, where prostitution is illegal. Gilman's business empire also goes beyond the Mustang Ranch, including business parks, a Harley-Davidson dealership and master-planned communities.

STUDY: APES HAVE MIDLIFE CRISES TOO: A new study found that humans aren't alone in having midlife crises; apes apparently have them too. The researchers, who gathered data on 508 great apes such as chimpanzees and orangutans from zoos and research centers in several countries, found that the animals show the same low ebb in emotional well-being
at midlife that some studies find in people. It was measured in the apes by caretakers assessing such things as positive or negative mood, how much pleasure the animal got from social situations, and how successful it was in achieving its goals. The research suggests that the human tendency toward a  "midlife crisis" may have been passed on through evolution, rather than being result of our modern life.

BECKHAM SAYS MLS CUP TO BE FINAL GAME WITH GALAXY: David Beckham announced Monday (November 19th) that next month's MLS Cup will be his final game with the Los
Angeles Galaxy. The 37-year-old British soccer superstar isn't retiring, but didn't give any indication what his next move will be. However, he did say that owning a Major League Soccer team is likely in his future, stating, "I don't see this as the end of my relationship with the league, as my ambition is to be part of the ownership structure in the future." Beckham has played for the Galaxy for six seasons since his groundbreaking move from Real Madrid,
reaching three league finals and winning one title last year. MLS has grown exponentially since Beckham's U.S. arrival, expanding to 19 North American teams with record attendance.

OUT TODAY: KID ROCK, COLDPLAY, AC/DC, 3 DOORS DOWN: fistful of rock releases arrive Tuesday (November 20th), led by Kid Rock's latest effort, Rebel Soul. Following up his 2010 album, Born Free, Rock told Pulse of Radio  that he wanted to shift gears on the new disc: "You know, after coming off Born Free, which was a very poignant record, this one I kind of wanted to go back to making Kid Rock records the way I'd done it for so many years, and try to focus on making kind of a greatest hits feeling record with all new songs."

  • The first single from Rebel Soul is "Let's Ride."
  • Rock, who has been one of the last holdouts against putting his music on iTunes, has made Rebel Soul available via the digital retailer -- with the rest of his catalog to show up there sometime in early 2013.
  • Rock and his band will perform a new song called "Detroit, Michigan" during the halftime show at the Detroit Lions' 73rd Thanksgiving Day Classic against the Houston Texans in Rock's hometown this Thursday (November 22nd).

Meanwhile, Rock's fellow iTunes holdouts AC/DC have also reached a deal with the
online store and the legendary band's entire discography is now available, including the new concert album Live At River Plate, which is also out Tuesday. Every studio, live and compilation album, soundtrack contribution and box set from the Australian rockers can now be purchased in digital form. Fans can also purchase The Complete Collection, the complete iTunes-exclusive AC/DC catalog, or The Collection, which includes all 16 studio albums.

  • Live At River Plate was recorded in 2009 during a three-night stand
         at Buenos Aires, Argentina's River Plate Stadium in the midst of the Black
         Ice     world tour.
  • The album is out physically as a two-CD set and a three-disc red vinyl package

Also out Tuesday is Coldplay's Live 2012, which arrives on Blu-ray/CD, CD/DVD and digitally. Live 2012 documents the British quartet's tour in support of its fifth album, Mylo Xyloto, and includes footage from Coldplay shows in Paris, Montreal and at the U.K.'s Glastonbury
Festival.

  • Coldplay will return to the U.S. next month to close out 2012 with three shows:
         the first will be at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on December 29th, while the other two will take place at the newly opened Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on December 30th and 31st.
  • The show on New Year's Eve will be a co-headlining event with rapper Jay-Z.
         The three dates mark Coldplay's only remaining U.S. shows for 2012.

Finally, 3 Doors Down has issued a best-of collection titled Greatest Hits, featuring nine of the group's all-time biggest tracks along with three new tunes called "One Light," "There's A Life" and "Goodbyes." The first of the new songs, "One Light," made its debut in late August at the Republican National Convention, where the band performed on the main convention stage.

  • 3 Doors Down's latest all-new album was 2011's Time Of My Life.
  • The group parted ways earlier this year with founding guitarist Matt Roberts.
        
  • 3 Doors Down has just launched a tour with Daughtry that pulls into San Antonio on Tuesday.

MORE DETAILS OF DISTURBED SINGER’S NEW PROJECT EMERGE: Disturbed singer David Draiman's new solo project, Device, has set "Vilify" as the first single from its
upcoming debut album. The song will hit radio and retailers in February, while the yet-to-be-titled record will arrive in April. Other tracks set to appear on the CD include "You Think You Know," "Recover," "Hunted" and "War Of Lies." Device also features ex-Filter guitarist Geno Lenardo.

Draiman first revealed the existence of the project last March, saying it would be in
the vein of industrial acts such as Nine Inch Nails and Ministry.

  • The rest of the lineup aside from Draiman and Lenardo has yet to be revealed.
  • Disturbed went on an open-ended hiatus last fall, with Draiman saying at the time that all four members wanted some time to pursue other endeavors.
  • The band, which has recorded five albums, has not indicated when it plans to return, although all four members say they're likely to come back.
  • Aside from Draiman, Disturbed bassist John Moyer branched out earlier this year by joining Adrenaline Mob, a group also featuring ex-Dream Theater and Avenged
    Sevenfold drummer Mike Portnoy.

TOOL SINGER’S SIDE ACT RELEASING NEW EP: Tool frontman Maynard
James Keenan's side project, the musical revue known as Puscifer, will release a new EP on
February 19th called Donkey Punch The Night. The eight-track disc will feature the same lineup that recorded the act's 2011 album, Conditions Of My Parole, and will feature two original songs, "Breathe" and "Dear Brother," in addition to covers of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," Accept's "Balls To The Wall" and a variety of remixes.

  • Keenan said in a statement, "While continuing our tradition of releasing a few new songs at a time, I also had an itch that needed scratching, and that itch was 'Balls To The Wall.'  Which was followed by an even harder to reach itch known as 'Bohemian
         Rhapsody.' And scratch them we did."
  • The singer spent a good portion of this year touring with Puscifer, taking time out for a Tool tour early in 2012 and some dates with A Perfect Circle.
  • He has also continued tending to his vineyards in northern Arizona and recently began writing a column for the Phoenix New Times.
  • As for a new Tool album, Keenan is presumably waiting for the other three members to complete writing the music for it before he begins working on lyrics and vocals. No recording timetable has been set.

SIDE NOTES: Check out the full track listing for Donkey Punch the Night:

1. "Bohemian Rhapsody" (O.G. Mix)

2. "Breathe"

3. "Dear Brother"

4. "Balls To The Wall" (Pillow Fight Mix)

5. "Breathe" (Drumcell rework)

6. "Dear Brother" (Denton rework/Big Black
Delta)

7. "Balls To The Wall" (Silent Servant El Guapo Mix)

8. "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Sonoio rework)

 

NEW DETAILS ABOUT UPCOMING BLINK-182 EP: Blink-182 has finalized the details of its upcoming release, an EP titled Dogs Eating Dogs. The set will feature five new songs and come in three different bundles: a $19.99 "Naughty Package" containing the digital EP, a T-shirt and Blink holiday card, a $54.99 "Nice Package" containing the EP, a holiday Blink fleece, wrapping paper and a card, and the $99.99 "Santa's Lap" edition, which features the EP, a limited edition print, the T-shirt, wrapping paper and the card. The EP, Blink's first
independent release in 20 years, comes out December 18th and can be pre-ordered
through Blink's website, www.blink-182.com.

 

COREY TAYOR AND JUSTIN BIEBER COLLABORATION? Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor has revealed that he would like to record a collaboration with Justin Bieber. Taylor came up with the idea after seeing a fan mash-up of Slipknot's "Psychosocial" and Bieber's "Baby" that's racked up 12 million views on YouTube. Taylor said, "Everybody thought I'd be pissed about it, but I was blown away . . . I give him respect. He's a very
talented kid and he goes above and beyond for his fans."

 

 

 

SCOTT WEILAND TO GET MARRIED FOR THE THIRD TIME: Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland has gotten engaged to his current girlfriend, hotographer Jamie Wachtel.
According to Rolling Stone, the couple have been dating for a year and yet while Wachtel was photographing the shoot for a music video from Weiland's Christmas album, The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. Weiland said, "I am incredibly happy. She is incredibly beautiful in every aspect of the word. Lovely, smart, passionate. And she loves my kids and I love her son.
We're getting married in the spring, and our families will be living together . . . she's the greatest thing that's happened to me in a long, long time."  The couple plan a spring 2013 wedding.

  • This will be Weiland's third marriage, and he said that before taking Wachtel on a first date he had almost given up on the idea of falling in love again. He explained, "For a long time, I've been very disappointed and to the point where I've been resolved to
         the fact that possibly it would never happen again and almost accepted that it would be okay. And then I met her."
  • Weiland was married to Janina Casteneda from 1994 to 2000, and model Mary Forsberg from 2000 to 2007.  Weiland and Forsberg have two children together and reportedly remain friends.
  • The singer, who toured with STP earlier in the year, will head out on a five-date solo tour later this month, beginning November 25th in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Two of the gigs -- November 26th in New York City and November 28th in Asbury Park, New Jersey -- will include coat drives to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy.

CHECK IT OUT:

LED ZEPPELIN’S ‘CELEBRATION DAY’ IS HERE AT LAST!  Out now is one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the past five years -- Celebration Day --
recorded and filmed at Led Zeppelin's December 10th, 2007 reunion show at London's O2 Arena. The package, which is available on CD, DVD, and Blu-ray disc, commemorates Zeppelin's first full-scale, complete concert since July 7th, 1980 at the band's final show with the late-John Bonham in Berlin, Germany.

The tracklisting to Celebration Day is: "Good Times, Bad Times," "Ramble On," "Black Dog," "In My Time Of Dying," "For Your Life," "Trampled Underfoot," "Nobody's Fault
But Mine," "No Quarter," "Since I've Been Lovin' You," "Dazed And Confused," "Stairway To Heaven," "The Song Remains The Same," "Misty Mountain Hop," "Kashmir,"
"Whole Lotta Love" and "Rock And Roll."

'ROCKY' MUSICAL OPENS IN GERMANY: Sylvester Stallone was in Germany over the weekend to open a new musical based on Rocky. He teamed up with champion boxing brothers Vladimir and Vitali Klitschko to adapt the film to stage. The show is expected
to come to Broadway in 2013

'AMERICAN CHOPPER' CANCELED BY DISCOVERY: The Discovery Channel has canceled American Chopper. The show, which follows the motorcycle-building shop of the Teutul family, has been on the air for 10 years and has spawned a line of video games.

NBC GIVES SCRIPT COMMITMENT TO KENAN THOMPSON SERIES: Saturday Night Live cast member Kenan Thompson will star in a new series being developed for NBC and produced by Lorne Michaels. The show will be about Kenan's character moving in with his in-laws.

A STRANGE TRICK YOU CAN USE TO SPEND LESS MONEY: You'll spend less money if you pay with crisp, well-organized cash, researchers say. Researchers at the University of Winnipeg gave college students 20-dollars and told them they could spend as much as they wanted in a mock-store. Half of the students were given new bills, and half were given old, crinkled bills. The students then rated how clean each bill appeared. Students carrying the crisp 20-dollar bill spent about 4-dollars on average, and those with the dirty, crinkled bills spent about 8-dollars on average. (Men's Health)

MEN WANT BIG WEDDINGS MORE THAN WOMEN DO: New research says men are nearly twice as likely as women to want a large wedding. In a survey of over two-thousand adults, nine-percent of women said they would spend their savings on a fairytale wedding, and 16-percent of men said they would. Women indicated that they'd rather save money to use on
property, and 13-percent of those polled said they are considering asking guests to give them money instead of a gift, in order to offset wedding or honeymoon costs. (Daily Mail)

HOW TO MAKE HOSTESS CUPCAKES AT HOME: http://tinyurl.com/cn2gkpb

VEGETABLES MAKE YOUR MEAL MORE APPETIZING, STUDY SAYS: Scientists at Cornell University have found that including vegetables in a meal increases how appetizing it looks, and how good we believe it will taste. The results of their study also indicated that people believe their server is more thoughtful and attentive if they are served vegetables with
dinner. For the study, children were asked to rate different meals they were served-- some had vegetables and other did not - and then asked to describe the person who prepared the meal. The results suggest that vegetables play a large role in increasing the overall enjoyment of the meal. (Daily Mail)

YOU CAN BE ALLERGIC TO COLD TEMPERATURES: Lots of people detest the cold temperatures that winter brings, but a few are actually allergic to it. A very rare condition called "cold urticaria" only affects about one in 100-thousand people. People with cold
urticaria can experience redness, itching, swelling and hives on the skin after coming in contact with cold temperature, according to Mayo Clinic. The allergy can be as severe as a peanut allergy- - sufferers can slip into life-threatening anaphylactic shock if too much of their body is exposed to cold temperatures. (Huffington Post)

SMOKING MARIJUANA MAKES SOME PEOPLE PSYCHOTIC: Scientists say the results of a new study suggest the people who have a certain genetic marker may be at increased risk of developing psychosis when they smoke pot. Among people who smoke pot every day, the risk for psychosis increases sevenfold for those who have the genetic marker. A doctor connected with the study says that they hope to develop therapies for the condition as they learn more about the genetic causes of it. (Live Science)