RICE WITHDRAWS FROM SEC. OF STATE CONSIDERATION, KERRY NOW FAVORITE: Embattled U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice yesterday (December 13th) withdrew herself from consideration to be the next secretary of state, making Democratic Senator
John Kerry of Massachusetts now the odds-on favorite to succeed Hillary Clinton in the job when she leaves soon. Rice's unexpected move came after weeks of criticism from several
Republican senators, led by Senator John McCain, about her initial statements in the wake of the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, three months ago, that they spontaneously arose out of a protest over an anti-Islam video, which was the U.S. intelligence assessment at the time.
It's now believed it was a planned terrorist attack. The GOP senators said they'd fight against Rice's nomination.  President Obama accepted Rice's decision, while criticizing the campaign
against her, saying, "While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character." Rice said she made her decision because she thought at this point that it would be best for the nation. But she also said, "The position of secretary of state should never be politicized. As someone who grew up in an era of comparative bipartisanship and as a sitting U.S national
security official who has served in two U.S. administrations, I am saddened that we
have reached this point."

OBAMA, BOEHNER MET LAST NIGHT ON 'FISCAL CLIFF': President Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner met at the White House last night (December 13th) for "fiscal cliff" negotiations, which aides described as, quote, "frank" talks. There was no sign of movement, however, as evidence grew that the White House was moving away from
politically difficult cuts like increasing the Medicare eligibility age. At the same time, a growing number of Senate Republicans have been pushing to give in on allowing the Bush tax cuts to
expire on the top two percent of Americans in terms of income, while extending them for everyone else.

INQUEST: PRANKED BRITISH HOSPITAL NURSE WAS FOUND HANGED, LEFT THREE NOTES: A U.K. inquest into the death of a nurse who killed herself three days after falling for a phone prank about Prince William's pregnant wife, Kate Middleton, was told that
46-year-old Jacintha Saldanha was found hanging in her nurses' quarters, and
attempts to revive her were unsuccessful. It was also revealed that two notes
were found at the scene, and another among Saldanha's belongings. Saldanha
answered the phone last week at London's King Edward VII hospital when two Australian disc
jockeys called to try to get information about Middleton, who was being treated
for severe morning sickness. The DJs impersonated Queen Elizabeth and Prince
Charles, and Saldanha was tricked into transferring the call to another
nurse, who revealed private details about the duchess' condition. Saldanha was
married with two teenage children.

REPUBLICAN EX-SENATOR HAGEL LIKELY TO BE NEW DEFENSE SECRETARY: Some actual bipartisanship may soon be seen in Washington, with a Bloomberg News report Thursday (December 12th) that Republican former Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska is likely to be named the next Secretary of Defense by President Obama.  According to Bloomberg, Hagel visited the White House earlier this month to discuss the position, in which he'd succeed current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and has passed the vetting process. Hagel, who left the Senate in January 2009 after two terms, is a decorated Vietnam veteran who has been willing to criticize his own party both while still in Congress and since leaving. He
would be Obama's second Republican defense secretary, after Obama kept on Robert Gates from George W. Bush's administration for two-and-a-half years after taking office.

NYC APPROVES USE OF SMARTPHONES TO HAIL YELLOW CABS: The iconic image of New Yorkers lifting up and waving a hand to hail a taxi may be soon become a thing of the past, after the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission voted yesterday (December 13th) to allow passengers to hail yellow cabs and pay for their rides with smartphones as part of a one-year trial program beginning early next year.  Under the change, riders will be able to connect with taxis within a half-mile radius in Manhattan south of Central Park, and within a one-and-a-half-mile radius elsewhere in the city.  Details of how the e-hailing will work is being left up to the application developers.

BASEBALL STADIUMS TAKE UP MOST SPOTS ON FACEBOOK'S TOP 2012 'CHECK-INS': Facebook reported Wednesday (December 12th) on the top 10 places that received the most "check-ins" on the social media site in 2012, and revealed that seven of them were baseball stadiums, topped by AT&T Park, home of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants. Why so many baseball stadium check-ins? The Yahoo! Sports blog Big League Stew says it makes sense because of the sport's long season and large ballparks. The 10 most-checked-in sites were:

  1. Times Square
  2. Disneyland
  3. At&T Park
  4. Yankee Stadium
  5. Rangers Ballpark
  6. Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox)
  7. Dodger Stadium
  8. Universal Studios Florida
  9. Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs)
  10. Angel Stadium

HAMILTON AGREES TO $125 MILLION, FIVE-YEAR DEAL WITH ANGELS: Josh Hamilton, the 2010 American League MVP, has reached a $125 million, five-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels, leaving the Texas Rangers after five years. Texas had hoped to re-sign the 31-year-old free-agent outfielder, who led the Rangers to consecutive World Series
appearances in 2010 and 2011. Hamilton heads to the Angels after he had a career-high 43 home runs with 128 RBIs last season. His $25 million average salary matches Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard for the second-highest in baseball, behind only New
York Yankee Alex Rodriguez's $27.5 million average.

BUCKCHERRY WANTS FANS TO FEAST ON ‘GLUTTONY’: Buckcherry has released "Gluttony" as the official first single from the band's upcoming sixth studio album, Confessions. The disc, due out on February 13th, is a loose concept album that revolves around the notion of the seven deadly sins and is inspired by events in Todd's childhood. The singer told Pulse of Radio how "Gluttony" fits into this: "Seven of the songs on the record are the seven sins, so 'Gluttony,' you know, it's just about over-consuming everything in your life, you know, and just being a glutton. And it's got a great hook and I really love the lyrics and
everybody likes the song."

  • Todd has helped co-write a short film that will come out around the same time as the album and expand upon the record's themes. It's not clear yet how the film will be distributed.  Buckcherry did do some sort of video shoot last month in Los Angeles for an unspecified song from the album, putting out an open casting call for fans to appear in the clip.

LINKIN PARK FRONTMAN RECALLS BIZARRE FIRST MEETING WITH GENE SIMMONS: Linkin Park singers Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda recalled in an interview with Los Angeles radio station KROQ earlier this week the first time they met legendary Kiss bass player Gene Simmons -- and what Simmons' eye-opening first comments were to Bennington.

Bennington explained, "The first time I met Gene Simmons, I was like 'whoa, that's Gene Simmons. He's like right here.' So I went over and introduced myself. He grabs me by the shoulders, and he says, 'You are a powerful and talented young man.' He's staring at me in my eyes and says, 'If we were in prison, I would make love to you.' I was like, 'Oh.'

  • Shinoda confirmed Bennington's account of the meeting, adding, "Shannon (Tweed, Simmons' longtime partner and now wife) was in the background like, 'He would. He will make love to you.'"
  • Linkin Park announced earlier this week that it will play its only North American concert of 2013 on February 16th at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
  • The group has been on the road for a good chunk of 2012 supporting its fifth studio album, Living Things, which came out earlier this year.

NEW PAUL McCARTNEY-NIRVANA TEAM-UP SET FOR ‘SOUND CITY’ DOC:
Fans of Wednesday night's (December 12th) Paul McCartney and Nirvana team-up will be able
to get their hands on studio version of the track soon. The tune, called, "Cut |Me Some Slack," which McCartney premiered at Madison Square Garden's Hurricane Sandy benefit with Dave
Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear, has been recorded in Los Angeles and will pop up on the soundtrack to Grohl's documentary on L.A.'s famed Sound City studio, released on February 1st.

McCartney explained that at this stage of his career, how he's perceived as an artist is
pretty much irrelevant to him or his work: "I'm not really fussed about what I am now. Y'know, 'cause I've been a lot of stuff I wanted to be. So, y'know, if I was ever trying to become a title -- 'a rock and roller' -- well, y'know, I don't think of myself as
anything in particular. Y'know, obviously, as you get older it gets harder to
be a punk. But I'm not really fussed about that, 'cause I think it'd be, like,
daft to suddenly really try to be 15-years-old. So I have to accept to a degree
what I am, y'know? I think of myself, basically, as a sort of rocker, who can
write ballads as well."

CHECK IT OUT: A snippet of the studio recording of "Cut Me Some Slack" can be found here: http://www.cutmesomeslack.net/

CHECK IT OUT: The trailer for Sound City:

 

MATT DAMON IS NUDE A LOT IN NEW FILM: Matt Damon tells Playboy
that his upcoming role as Liberace's lover in Behind the Candelabra required a lot of nudity. He told the magazine, "I mean, it's tastefully done...But this movie's not going to be
for everyone."

HONEY BOO BOO DOESN'T BELIEVE IN SANTA: Honey Boo Boo apparently does not believe in Santa. In a promo for her show she says she's automatically on the nice list because her daddy's already Santa Claus. The 7-year-old reality star will appear with her family on holiday-themed specials on TLC beginning Jan. 6th.

LINDSAY LOHAN'S STORAGE LOCKER AUCTION: Lilo's financial troubles just keep getting worse. TMZ is reporting that she owes around $16,000 to the storage facility where she keeps designer clothes, family heirlooms, and potentially embarrassing items and that the unit is about to hit the auction block.

AMAR’E STOUDEMIRE MARRIES ALEXIS WELCH: NY Knicks star Amar'e Stoudemire finally put a ring on it! People Magazine reported that the baller married his longtime girlfriend -- and mother of his three kids, Alexis Welch on 12-12-12. Amar'e tweeted a photo of he and his wife's wedding ring. He tweeted, "12.12.12 now has a special & spiritual meaning for us..."

Stoudemire said in a statement, "I feel blessed." The two had a secret sunset ceremony of the rooftop of their New York City home. Only 12 people attended the nuptials.

  • A source told The New York Daily News, "They decided to do this because of the date, and they wanted to do something spiritual and private for themselves."
  • The two have been together off-and-on since 2002.

CHECK IT OUT

PEPSI-CHICKEN FLAVORED LAY'S POTATO CHIPS AVAILABLE IN CHINA: Consumers in China have the first opportunity to taste Lays' newest flavor: Pepsi-Cola and Chicken -- in one! According to AdAge, the new chips taste "similar to barbecue with a sugary aftertaste." No word on whether the flavor will be rolled out to any other countries. (AdAge)

FACEBOOK PRIVACY POLICY CHANGES ARE HERE: New Facebook privacy policy changes are now in effect. The changes make it easier for users to choose what they want to share with different groups, but force all users to be searchable. The social network has
added Privacy Shortcuts which include a "block" button which Facebook
says is the ultimate way of preventing interaction with someone. Facebook has
also updated how you control what appears on your Timeline. However, you can no
longer prevent your name from being searchable on the social network. (The
Stir)

GOOGLE MAPS NOW AVAILABLE FOR IPHONE USERS: Google Maps has returned for iOS users, and was available for download yesterday (December 13th.) The app disappeared
when Apple replaced it with their own Maps app September. The Apple Maps were
less than stellar, however, prompting Apple CEO Tim Cook to issue an apology. Google
Maps for iOS will now include all the features available for Android users,
including voice-guided direction and Street View. (Forbes)

ARE HAIR STRAIGHTENING PRODUCTS DANGEROUS? Three members of U.S. Congress say the Food and Drug Administration needs to address the health risk posed by hair
straightening products. Three representatives - Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, and Earl Blumenauer of Oregon - say that hair straightening products
contain unsafe levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. The FDA has
previously received complaints that the products cause adverse reactions
including headaches, respiratory tract problems, nausea, chest pain, vomiting
and rashes. The three reps say they first voiced their concerns to the FDA last
year and asked the agency to voluntarily recall the products - in particular
Brazilian Blowout. In response the FDA sent a warning letter to the company
that produces Brazilian Blowout that stated the company's product was
misbranded and claimed to be formaldehyde-free. The Congress reps. point out
that Brazilian Blowout has not reformulated it's product and say the FDA needs
to evaluate whether formaldehyde should be banned from hair straightening
products altogether. (Fox News)

SUGAR IS BAD FOR YOUR BRAIN: A new UCLA study finds that a diet high in sugar, also known as fructose, may lower your intelligence. The scientists found that rats that were fed a diet high in sugar were dumber than those fed a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids.
Researchers say eating too much sugar may harm your brain's ability to learn
and retain information, and that just six-weeks of a high-sugar diet can affect
your brain. (The Stir)