Anna Nicole Smith News Blog @newzblogz.com

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The fate of Anna Nicole Smith's body is now in the hands of three appeals court judges who will decide whether to overturn a trial court ruling that meant the model would be buried in the Bahamas.

The Florida 4th District Court of Appeal is considering a petition filed Monday by the centerfold's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, who challenged the trial court's decision last week that gave control of Smith's body to an attorney for Smith's infant daughter.

The advocate for the child, Richard Milstein, and the attorney for Smith's boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, have until 2 p.m. Tuesday to respond to the challenge. The appeals court will then review all the materials and may seek oral arguments or decide the case based on briefs.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. The fate of Anna Nicole Smith's body is in the hands of three appeals court judges in Florida.They will decide whether to overturn a trial court ruling that meant the model would be buried in the Bahamas.Smith's mother Virgie Arthur is challenging a decision last week that gave control of Smith's body to an attorney for Smith's infant daughter.Arthur wants the former model buried in Texas, not the Bahamas.Lawyers have until this afternoon to respond to the appeal. A panel o...

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The fate of Anna Nicole Smith's body is now in the hands of three appeals court judges who will decide whether to overturn a trial court ruling that meant the model would be buried in the Bahamas.

The Florida 4th District Court of Appeal is considering a petition filed Monday by the centerfold's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, who challenged the trial court's decision last week that gave control of Smith's body to an attorney for Smith's infant daughter.

The advocate for the child, Richard Milstein, and the attorney for Smith's boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, have until 2 p.m. Tuesday to respond to the challenge. The appeals court will then review all the materials and may seek oral arguments or decide the case based on briefs.

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Britney Spears' first husband says he witnessed the singer abusing cocaine and nearly overdosing on ecstasy three years ago, according to excerpts of an interview printed in the New York Daily News.

Jason Alexander, to whom the pop star was married for 55 hours in 2004 after a Vegas quickie, claims he's drudging up the past because he doesn't want Spears to end up dead like Anna Nicole Smith.

"It freaked me out when I saw she had shaved off her hair; that was clearly a cry for help," Alexander, 25, told the Sunday Mirror of London, the Daily News reports. "She needs help."

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The fate of Anna Nicole Smith's body is now in the hands of three appeals court judges who will decide whether to overturn a trial court ruling that meant the model would be buried in the Bahamas.

The Florida 4th District Court of Appeal is considering a petition filed Monday by the centerfold's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, who challenged the trial court's decision last week that gave control of Smith's body to an attorney for Smith's infant daughter.

The advocate for the child, Richard Milstein, and the attorney for Smith's boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, have until 2 p.m. Tuesday to respond to the challenge. The appeals court will then review all the materials and may seek oral arguments or decide the case based on briefs.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The dispute over the remains of Anna Nicole Smith isn't over yet.

A Florida appeals court has issued a stay in the dispute, which means her remains cannot be moved to the Bahamas to be buried until the court hears a challenge from Smith's estranged mother.

Smith's mother wants her daughter's remains brought to Texas instead of being buried in the Bahamas with Smith's late son. Last week, a Florida judge put the attorney for Smith's infant daughter in charge of burial plans for Smith. He had decided to bury Smith in the Bahamas, which is what Smith's companion Howard K. Stern has said Smith wanted.

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White powder scare at University of Miami doctor's office

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Authorities isolated three people after a doctor at a UM office recieved a letter containing suspicious white powder.

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Giuliani, now a Republican, addresses his Democratic past

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani addressed his Democratic past on Monday and offered one reason for his political conversion -- the economy and taxes.

"I don't think anything separates us more right now between Republicans and Democrats than how we look at taxes," the former New York mayor said. "What we understand as Republicans is that, sure, the government is an important player in this, but we are essentially a private economy. What Democrats really believe ... is that it is essentially

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MIAMI - A court order from the 4th District Court of Appeal Monday has temporarily halted plans for Anna Nicole Smith's Bahamas funeral.

An attorney for Smith's mother filed an emergency petition with the court earlier in the day asking the appeals court to throw out a ruling which granted custody of the late TV reality star's body to her 5-month-old daughter.

Attorney Roberta Mandel filed a writ of certiorari, claiming that Broward Judge Larry Seidlin selectively followed Florida law. Under the law, baby Dannielynn should only have been given custody of the body if she was at least 18, Mandel said.

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The judge who cried as he issued his ruling in the Anna Nicole Smith case is refusing to reconsider his decision.

Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, had asked Judge Larry Seidlin to change his mind about turning the body over to the lawyer acting as the guardian for Smith's baby. At the time of his ruling, Seidlin urged that Smith be buried in the Bahamas, with her son.

Today, Seidlin said he won't reconsider.

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Florida appeals court issues stay, blocks Anna Nicole's body from going to Bahamas

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A Florida appeals court has temporarily blocked the removal of Anna Nicole Smith's body to the Bahamas.

Virgie Arthur, Smith's mother, has been engaged in a legal battle over where Smith should be buried. Arthur wants her daughter buried in her native Texas.

Smith's companion, Howard K. Stern, wants Smith buried in the Bahamas, alongside her 20-year-old son who died in Bahamas last year of complication from drug use.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A Florida appeals court issued a stay Monday in the dispute over Anna Nicole Smith's body, ruling that her remains cannot be moved to the Bahamas until the judges hear a challenge from the starlet's estranged mother.

The Florida 4th District Court of Appeal is considering a request by Virgie Arthur to overturn a trial judge's decision giving control of Smith's body to the attorney for the centerfold's infant daughter. That attorney decided Smith should be buried in the Bahamas beside her 20-year-old son, who died last year of apparent drug-related causes.

Arthur has been seeking to bury her daughter in her native Texas.

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Sharpton wants DNA test to see whether he's related to Strom Thurmond

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Rev. Al Sharpton said he wants a DNA test to determine whether he is related to former segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond through his great-grandfather, a slave owned by an ancestor of the late senator.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A Florida appeals court issued a stay Monday in the dispute over Anna Nicole Smith's body, ruling that her remains cannot be moved to the Bahamas until the judges hear a challenge from the starlet's estranged mother.

The Florida 4th District Court of Appeal is considering a request by Virgie Arthur to overturn a trial judge's decision giving control of Smith's body to the attorney for the centerfold's infant daughter. That attorney decided Smith should be buried in the Bahamas beside her 20-year-old son, who died last year of apparent drug-related causes.

Judge makes no ruling on custody of Anna Nicole Smith's baby, leaving infant with Stern

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NASSAU, Bahamas -- Legal experts predict Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, will have a tough time winning custody of her baby when the case moves to the Supreme Court of the Bahamas on Monday.

Howard K. Stern, the former model's partner, is listed on the birth certificate as the father and "there is a very strong legal presumption that what is stated in that document is accurate," said Thomas A. E. Evans, a prominent Bahamas attorney.

Birkhead, a Los Angeles-based photographer, also must contend with a competing claim from Virgie Arthur, Smith's mother, who has said she could provide a more stable home for Dannielynn than Stern and should therefore be awarded custody of the girl -- who could inherit a fortune.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Anna Nicole Smith's estranged mother asked an appeals court Monday to overturn a judge's decision over who controls where the starlet should be buried.

Lawyers for Virgie Arthur want the 4th District Court of Appeal to reconsider Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin's tearful ruling that gave the attorney for the centerfold's infant daughter the rights to decide the burial plans. That attorney said Smith should be laid to rest next to her son in the Bahamas.

Arthur wants Smith buried in her native Texas. She filed an emergency motion Friday asking Seidlin to reconsider his decision on Thursday, but he did not rule. That prompted Monday's appeal.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Anna Nicole Smith's estranged mother asked an appeals court Monday to overturn a judge's decision over who controls where the starlet should be buried.

Lawyers for Virgie Arthur want the 4th District Court of Appeal to reconsider Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin's tearful ruling that gave the attorney for the centerfold's infant daughter the rights to decide the burial plans. That attorney said Smith should be laid to rest next to her son in the Bahamas.

Arthur wants Smith buried in her native Texas. She filed an emergency motion Friday asking Seidlin to reconsider his decision on Thursday, but he did not rule. That prompted Monday's appeal.

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Anna Nicole Smith's estranged mother asked an appeals court Monday to overturn a judge's decision over who controls where the starlet should be buried.

Lawyers for Virgie Arthur want the 4th District Court of Appeal to reconsider Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin's tearful ruling that gave the attorney for the centerfold's infant daughter the rights to decide the burial plans. That attorney said Smith should be laid to rest next to her son in the Bahamas.

Arthur wants Smith buried in her native Texas. She filed an emergency motion Friday asking Seidlin to reconsider his decision on Thursday, but he did not rule. That prompted Monday's appeal.

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It is the question of our time.      No, not who is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's child? And not why did Britney shave her head?

I suppose we can argue whether those things are news. They certainly are being talked about. That does not necessarily make them of consequence. I would suggest they are not.

So what is? One word: Iraq.

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It is the question of our time.      No, not who is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's child? And not why did Britney shave her head?

I suppose we can argue whether those things are news. They certainly are being talked about. That does not necessarily make them of consequence. I would suggest they are not.

So what is? One word: Iraq.

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NASSAU, Bahamas - Legal experts predict Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, will have a tough time winning custody of her baby when the case moves to the Supreme Court of the Bahamas on Monday.

Howard K. Stern, the former model's partner, is listed on the birth certificate as the father and "there is a very strong legal presumption that what is stated in that document is accurate," said Thomas A. E. Evans, a prominent Bahamas attorney.

Birkhead, a Los Angeles-based photographer, also must contend with a competing claim from Virgie Arthur, Smith's mother, who has said she could provide a more stable home for Dannielynn than Stern and should therefore be awarded custody of the girl - who could inherit a fortune.

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Anna Nicole Smith's funeral will not take place before Tuesday, the court-appointed attorney for the starlet's baby daughter said Saturday.

Richard C. Milstein said in a statement he was working as quickly as possible on the funeral details for the former Playboy centerfold, who died in a Florida hotel Feb. 8 at age 39.

Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin ruled Thursday to let Milstein decide where to bury Smith. Milstein agreed with Smith's longtime companion, Howard K. Stern, to bury her in the Bahamas next to her son.

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Talk show host Craig Ferguson humanely pledges to lay off some celebrities, but their foibles are fair game.

February 26, 2007

LATE-NIGHT TV comedians aren't supposed to have pangs of conscience. So it was unsettling when Craig Ferguson, host of CBS' "The Late Late Show," said last week that he wasn't going to make jokes about the suddenly shorn Britney Spears and apologized for having poked fun at diaper-wearing astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak and other "vulnerable" people in the news.

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I'll admit it: I cracked jokes behind the late Anna Nicole Smith's back. I teased Britney Spears earlier on in the K-Fed epidemic and I smirked at the expression of Tom Cruise "jumping the couch."

Seeing and hearing a barrage of insults aimed at celebrities undergoing their most vulnerable moments to date, I wonder if these jokes go too far and, if they do, when is the best time not to make them?

One guess I could muster would be when a certain celebrity's funeral rights are being debated. Another would be when some younger celebrity shaved her head and revealed to the world that not only is she no longer that innocent, but she also may need some help. As for an example pertaining to Tom Cruise without being a witty prick, I'll just call it a mission of impossible proportions not to make fun of him.

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CHARLESTON -- The Newburyport Herald and Country Gazette hailed the late George Washington as “the hero of the age” and “the brightest ornament of human nature.”“Washington was certainly held in high esteem then, and he is held in almost as high esteem now,” said Peter Voelz, professor of journalism at Eastern Illinois University and a history scholar.Voelz used a Dec. 27, 1799, issue of the Newburyport newspaper as the centerpiece of a presentation on preside...

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Lawyers for Anna Nicole Smith's mother have gone to court today in Florida, asking that last week's decision on the control of her remains be reversed.

On Thursday, a tearful Judge Larry Seidlin gave the attorney for Smith's infant daughter the right to decide her burial plans. The attorney said Smith should be laid to rest in the Bahamas, next to her son.

On Friday, Smith's estranged mother filed an emergency motion asking the judge to reconsider, but he didn't immediately rule. That prompted today's appeal by lawyers for Virgie Arthur.

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NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) -- Legal experts predict Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, will have a tough time winning custody of her baby when the case moves to the Supreme Court of the Bahamas on Monday. Howard K. Stern, the former model's partner, is listed on the birth certificate as the father and "there is a very strong legal presumption that what is stated in that document is accurate," said Thomas A. E. Evans, a prominent Bahamas attorney. Birkhead, a Los Angeles-based photog...

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NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) -- Legal experts predict Anna Nicole Smith's ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, will have a tough time winning custody of her baby when the case moves to the Supreme Court of the Bahamas on Monday. Howard K. Stern, the former model's partner, is listed on the birth certificate as the father and "there is a very strong legal presumption that what is stated in that document is accurate," said Thomas A. E. Evans, a prominent Bahamas attorney. Birkhead, a Los Angeles-based photog...

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Methadone, a potent opiate once used almost exclusively to treat heroin addicts, is increasingly being prescribed by doctors as a pain medication and abused by drug users searching for a cheap, easy way to get high, physicians and federal drug officials say.

The drug, which comes in pill or liquid form, recently has come under scrutiny in the death of former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith. A doctor in Studio City prescribed methadone to Smith for pain treatment before she was found dead Feb. 8 in her Hollywood, Fla., hotel suite.

A coroner has yet to determine her cause of death, and the doctor said his treatment was "medically sound and appropriate."

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My husband and I were enjoying a walk outside the Wiggins Lakes and Preserve complex in North Naples. Not far ahead of us was a man with a dark gray sweatshirt and a gray goatee, accompanied by his chocolate Labrador retriever.

The dog was off the leash and ? you guessed it ? relieved himself, twice, right in front of the complex's beautifully manicured grounds.

We asked the man to pick up the big dog's leavings, but he ignored us.

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City bar and restaurant owners say the month-old smoking ban has virtually crippled their businesses, and at least one City Council member seems to be listening. “I’m for the ban, but I didn’t know it would devastate businesses like this,” Councilman Bill Courtright said. He has been seeking out business owners for suggestions on possibly amending the ban. “Something should be done, and I hope to put together and propose an amendment using suggestions from business owner...

Fire kills 3-year-old boy

A quiet West Scranton neighborhood erupted in chaos and horror Tuesday afternoon as a relentless fire devoured a multifamily home, killing a 3-year-old boy and critically burning four others, including two infants.

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- Justin Timberlake will or won't make an appearance at a bar in Round Lake, depending on who's talking. Sharky's Billiards owner Joe Piagentini says a promoter assured him that Timberlake had been paid $25,000 to make an autograph-signing appearance at the bar after a March 13 concert at Allstate Arena. One of Timberlake's lawyers has issued a statement saying it's not going to happen.

- Anna Nicole Smith's funeral will not take place before Tuesday, the court-appointed attorney for the starlet's daughter, Dannielynn, said Saturday. Richard Milstein said in a statement that he was working as quickly as possible. Smith died Feb. 8. It also was unclear Saturday when another Florida judge would rule on whether he has jurisdiction in the paternity dispute over Dannielynn.

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Anna Nicole Smith's funeral won't take place before Tuesday.

That word today from the court-appointed attorney for Smith's baby daughter. Richard Milstein says he's working on the funeral details.

A Florida judge left it up to Milstein to decide where to bury Smith. Milstein agreed with Smith's longtime companion, Howard K. Stern, that she should be buried in the Bahamas next to her son.

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For a while last week, the images of courtrooms, dysfunction and death — from newspaper photos and television video — seemed to blur together. The conclusion of Liz Carroll's Clermont County murder trial — with a guilty verdict in the death of 3-year-old foster child Marcus Fiesel and a sentence of at least 54 years in prison — coincided with the circus-like court hearing in Florida over the remains of flamed-out celebrity Anna Nicole Smith and whether she would be buried alongside her dead 20-year-old son, a victim of drug abuse.

And you didn't have to flip through too many channels to find the latest breathless news about another pop icon, Britney Spears, and her shaved head and check-ins/check-outs at rehabilitation centers — all while her estranged husband is challenging her in court over custody of their two young children.Extras

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The world officially went nuts late Wednesday afternoon.

That's when an e-mail arrived from a company called HCD Research, which "provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans' perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements." You probably can guess the "popular and controversial media event."

Right. It was the hearing to determine who would decide the burial place of Anna Nicole Smith. HCD Research wanted everyone to know that more women (41 percent) than men (31 percent) believed that Howard K. Stern - isn't it fitting that such a shlock media show would feature someone named Howard Stern? - was credible when he testified before Broward County Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin. Mr. Stern claims to be the father of Ms. Smith's daughter. If true, he would control what the 5-month-old girl inherited from her mother.

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NASSAU, Bahamas - Across the street from the luxury waterfront home where Anna Nicole Smith lived, Fox network cameramen stake out an empty lot waiting for the white gates to swing open.

Around the corner, freelance photographer Richard Hokemeir keeps watch from the top of a stepladder perched in the flatbed of his conspicuously parked Ford Ranger pickup.

And in beachfront hotels, a frenzied gaggle of U.S. journalists have transformed suites into makeshift newsrooms as producers and writers run down the newest plot-twisting lead in the Smith saga and map out their next move.

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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) -- Anna Nicole Smith, the pneumatic blonde whose life played out as an extraordinary tabloid tale -- Playboy centerfold, jeans model, bride of an octogenarian oil tycoon, reality-show subject, tragic mother -- died Thursday after collapsing at a hotel. She was 39.

She was stricken while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and was rushed to a hospital. Edwina Johnson, chief investigator for the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office, said the cause of death was under investigation and an autopsy would be done on Friday.

Just five months ago, Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel, died suddenly in the Bahamas in what was believed to be a drug-related death.

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Clank, thump. Clank, thump. Taylor works steadily and methodically, with an efficiency of movement.

This is Meeting Room A in the Hughes Main Library in downtown Greenville.

Tonight, a Thursday night, Meeting Room A is reserved for the Greenville County Taxpayers Association beginning at 7 p.m.

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The U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services is developing a new citizenship test for immigrants.

That's the good news. The bad news is that they're not asking the right questions.

OK, first let me explain. Traditionally, the citizenship test has asked applicants to regurgitate a few facts about our country's history.

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Photographers jammed the left-field line from home plate to third base. Daisuke Matsuzaka threw the first pitch of his first batting practice. Then he threw 43 more - fastballs, curves, sliders and changeups. When the Japanese star was done, Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell gave him a positive review.

"He's as advertised," Farrell said. "He really is."

Matsuzaka threw batting practice for the first time with Boston on Saturday and was very sharp. Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling took the mound before him but they might as well have been anonymous rookies. Everyone was waiting for the Matsuzaka show.

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PASADENA, Calif. - Queen Latifah never does the expected. So when asked about the challenges of playing an HIV-positive wife and mother, as she does in HBO's "Life Support," her answer was, indeed, surprising.

"The only challenge was trying to stay in character when you've got people driving past you on the street going, `Queen!' `Do it Latifah!' `That's LATIFAH!'" she says of the on-location shoot in Brooklyn last year for HBO's "Life Support" (March 10, 8 p.m. EST, with an HBO On Demand preview available Feb. 26-March 8).

"Most people try to be respectful, but they're excited to see you and they're hitting you with the name or some record that you did, so that was the greatest challenge," she says. "Playing this character wasn't."

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - We are a nation of busybodies - and critics, amateur sleuths, conspiracy theorists, opportunists and outright pitchmen.

That's the conclusion to be drawn from a review of the 40-some unsolicited e-mails sent to Broward, Fla.'s medical examiner, Dr. Joshua Perper, since the unexplained Feb. 8 death of Anna Nicole Smith.

In electronic missives of dubious literacy and fractured spelling, helpful Americans shared their suspicions about what killed Smith, praised or condemned Perper's on-camera performances and offered services or remedies to prevent future tragedies. Armchair crime scene investigators theorize the former Playmate died of insulin poisoning, a methadone overdose, a magnesium deficiency or meningitis.

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`ANTI-HERO: A main character in a dramatic or narrative work who is characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities, such as idealism or courage."

Consider what occupies and diverts our attention from substantive matters: Anna Nicole Smith; Britney Spears; the astronaut gone wild, Lisa Nowak; the sleeping, dating, marital and divorce arrangements of film stars. It is all about the base, the tawdry and the anti-heroic. Today's heroes are cartoon characters and those (Superman, Batman, etc.) are from another era in which real heroes mattered.

Some blame television networks, especially cable, for our increasingly prurient interests. In recent days, TV has climbed into the septic tank with so many of the rest of us and delivered not what we need ("eat your vegetables, dear, they are good for you"), but what we seemingly cannot get enough of ("never mind the vegetables; eat your dessert"). TV wouldn't be obsessing with it if we didn't demand it.

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The dire state of the American "news" industry is evidenced in observing that the dopey antics of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and the late Anna Nicole Smith have fascinated us and, in many cases, led broadcasts, which make the bogus claim to be news and news-oriented but which are, in fact, entertainment programs tailored to the voyeuristic American.

These individuals have in common that they are famous for simply being famous, having made no serious contribution to our lives or our culture, in fact diminishing our society. It is sad to realize that some who view these characters seek to emulate them.

It is easy to point the finger at the media for bringing us nonsense and fluff packaged as a legitimate story, but it is we who are to blame because we have increasingly become a culture of the simpleminded through our "bimbo love."

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Anna Nicole Smith's funeral will not take place before Tuesday, the court-appointed attorney for the starlet's baby daughter said Saturday.

Richard C. Milstein said in a statement he was working as quickly as possible on the funeral details for the former Playboy centerfold, who died in a Florida hotel Feb. 8 at age 39.

Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin ruled Thursday to let Milstein decide where to bury Smith. Milstein agreed with Smith's longtime companion, Howard K. Stern, to bury her in the Bahamas next to her son.

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Anna Nicole Smith's funeral will not take place before Tuesday, the court-appointed attorney for the starlet's baby daughter said Saturday.

Richard C. Milstein said in a statement he was working as quickly as possible on the funeral details for the former Playboy centerfold, who died in a Florida hotel Feb. 8 at age 39.

Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin ruled Thursday to let Milstein decide where to bury Smith. Milstein agreed with Smith's longtime companion, Howard K. Stern, to bury her in the Bahamas next to her son.

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LAUREL: To the convenience store execs at Wawa and 7-Eleven. It’s not the suits in the corporate offices who are in the line of fire. But they are standing behind their employees by offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of these thugs.

DART: To Chichester School District board member Tony Ambrosino. He’s still getting heat for not stepping down from his post after pleading guilty to a harassment charge stemming from an incident where he was pestering a tenant - who happens to be a school district employee - for sex. He says it was a landlord-tenant dispute that didn’t have anything to do with the school district. We disagree. He should step down.

LAUREL: To former Upper Darby Council member Dan O’Neill. Yes, he gave up his position after entering a plea to a shoplifting charge. But he’s not going away. He’s taking up the role of activist, questioning both township and county GOP officials about the cozy relationships involved in working in both domains. While the GOP squirms, we laud O’Neill for speaking his mind.

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. ? From the state that brought you the hanging chad, now comes the crying judge.

Some members of the bar and other court-watchers are cringing over the way Judge Larry Seidlin wept ? no, sobbed ? on live, national TV as he announced a ruling Thursday in the dispute over where Anna Nicole Smith should be buried.

Some are accusing the brash former New York cab driver of showboating for the cameras, or worse, auditioning for his own courtroom TV show, with his one-liners, his personal asides, and his smart-alecky Bronx delivery during the six-day hearing.

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. ? From the state that brought you the hanging chad, now comes the crying judge. Some members of the bar and other court-watchers are cringing over the way Judge Larry Seidlin wept ? no, sobbed ? on live, national TV as he announced a ruling Thursday in the dispute over where Anna Nicole Smith should be buried.

Some are accusing the brash former New York cab driver of showboating for the cameras, or worse, auditioning for his own courtroom TV show, with his one-liners, his personal asides, and his smart-alecky Bronx delivery during the six-day hearing.

They say that he let the hearing drag on way too long, that he made inappropriate jokes for a dispute over a body, that he acted as if it were all about him.

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For the first time, a stage musical version of "Gone With the Wind" is being prepared, possibly with Hugh Jackman in the Rhett Butler role, Fox News reported Friday. Jill Pace, an up-and-coming stage actress with more than a passing resemblance to Vivien Leigh, is being eyed for the Scarlett O'Hara role. The show would have its birth in London's West End, according Fox News columnist Roger Friedman.

Reportedly, the musical would be based more on Margaret Mitchell's original novel than on the movie version. Which means it would be a somewhat more somber story. "If you remember, Scarlett is really left with the slaves, and they become her family," a production insider told Friedman. "That will be more of the emphasis of the story, with Rhett more of a darker, more complicated character."

ANNA NICOLE SMITH UPDATE: The epic battle between Anna Nicole Smith's mom and boyfriend resumed Friday, when the mom, Virgie Arthur, filed an emergency request to block Smith's burial in the Bahamas.

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