A man in Japan worked himself to death by working 106 hours of overtime in a month. Apparently he was an employee of Toyota. We always say a little overwork won't kill us -- but now we appear to have evidence to the contrary. (article)

Britney Spears is reportedly pregnant again. That's what all the magazines are saying. Of course, I haven't bothered to read the articles, but that's what they all claim. With all due respect to Britney, does she really need to have yet another child that the courts can take away from her down the road? (article)

Celebrated author Norman Mailer recently won the award for Bad Sex in Fiction. Apparently he wrote such a wretched sex scene in his novel that it was deserving of an award. The kicker? The poor man died over a month ago, so he never got to know about his award. Seems kind of unfortunate that they would dole it out after his death. (article)

Friends and family will gather on Saturday, March 31, to celebrate the life of Travis Britt. The 19-year-old was initially diagnosed with Ewing's Syndrome (a form of bone cancer) in June of 2005, and gained nationwide attention with his upbeat attitude and determination to beat the disease. In April of 2006 he was told he was in remission, but the cancer returned only six weeks later. Initially given only three to six months to live, Travis held on for another ten months.Flowers and donations can be sent to the Travis Britt Foundation at Children's Hospital, P.O. Box 50020, Seattle, 98245.

TJX, the organisation running such companies as TJ Maxx, Winners and HomeSense, have finally admitted that over 45.7 million bank and credit card records have been compromised. They are being investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office as to why they kept so much information for over three years, since retailers are only supposed to keep that information if there is a legitimate business need. 

It's not just the wet pet foods anymore that are believed to have been infected by mass contamination in the wheat gluton (which is now being stated as melamine rather than rat poison). Hills just recalled their dry Prescription Diet for cats, which is only sold through veterinarian's offices.

Two twelve-year-old girls in Washington have been charged with assault in the second degree after they deliberately poisoned their teacher, who was allergic to strawberries, by applying strawberry flavored lip gloss to the teacher's coffee cup and water bottle.

It's happy first birthday to the Bremerton quintuplets -- Aniston, Weston, Belle, Camilee and Scarlett Stevenson.

 

A young mother in Sacramento has died after taking part in a radio station contest. The goal of the contest was too see how much water the entrants could drink before having to go to the bathroom. So far it's not clear exactly how much the woman drank. She reported a headache to her bosses before going home, and was later found by her mother.

Scientists have discovered that defects in a certain gene lead to a buildup of toxic protein byproducts in the brain and can contribute to Alzheimer's. This is the second major gene that has been linked to later onset Alzheimer's (others have been linked to early onset), but there is no known 'cure' yet.

Golden Globes are on Monday night. Anyone got any favorites?

A woman in British Columbia has given birth to sextuplets. The six babies were born at 25 weeks gestation, and each weighs less than two pounds. They're nearly a week old -- four boys and two girls. Amazingly enough, their names have not been released to the press. Curious, in this day and age of the Internet and news. Then again, the family's religion has been revealed, as has the fact that the government has already stated they would step in and assume custody if it becomes obvious that the family's religious beliefs are, in any way, interfering with the baby's health.

24 seems to be up and running again. One thing puzzles me about the format of the show, which seems to do one whole day in 24 hours. Does he sleep? Eat? Go to the bathroom? That's more than one, isn't it. Really, the thing that puzzles me is this (and keep in mind I know nothing about this show): Are the days consecutive, or is there a passage in time? Is it a year between each 'day'? A month? A week?

Britney and Kevin appear to be front page news again. Seriously -- what will it take to get these two off the cover? Love 'em or hate 'em, it's time to give 'em a break. It seems as though he wants some serious change from her, and in exchange, he'll let her have the kids. Those little boys are the biggest victims of all -- thanks to Brit and K-Fed's notoriety, they'll get to read all about the divorce in the archives years from now. Hopefully that's not how they find out they were bargaining chips.

It's awful for fans of the show, but could it be a good thing in the long run? Is it better to be remembered for going out while the series was still fresh and new, or is it better to die a slow, painful death like many other shows have throughout the years? No matter what, it is horrible news for the fans, because it's always sad when a beloved show is canned.

What else is hot? Or not, as the case may be? TV is going crazy with rumors or Owen Wilson / Kate Hudson and Justin Timberlake / Cameron Diaz breaking up. The first isn't much of a shock. The second? It's reported on a bi-weekly basis that they've broken up. They'll be back together within a week.

Rosie and The Donald is bound to get fun. It's a bit like watching Jerry Springer. It's hard to tell who to root for. On the one hand, The Donald's right -- there are a good chunk of people out there that probably don't fall at Rosie's feet in worship. On the other hand, The Donald's hair is pretty funny. Either way, it's better than the never-ending Anna Nicole Smith saga.

First, Britney and K-Fed have an SPF factor of only one. Not two, as previously believed and reported by pretty much every major news source. He's actually Jayden James, not Sutton Pierce. Too bad. Sutton went better with Sean.

Second we get the Cruise wedding. Nightly news claims the nuptials will take place in three weeks. Not betting on that personally -- this wedding has been 'scheduled' more times than the average person can count on regular hands.

Third, Madonna's adoption. The child's father, Yohane Banda, is now stating he did not agree to the adoption and believed Madonna would be ... well, like some magical form of foster mother / good fairy.

Why are these the top stories? Surely there's something in the world happening right now that doesn't revolve around a celebrity.

A medical mixup in Indiana has resulted in the deaths of two premature infants -- five-day-old D'myia Sabrina Nelson and two-day-old Emmery Miller. The parents of four other babies are praying for their childrens' quick recovery. All six of the infants were accidentally given adult doses of the drug Heparin, which is often used to prevent blood clots in premature babies. The adult doses had inadvertently been placed in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit, and were then mistaken for the child dosage as the adult and children doses apparently have similar packaging. Of the remaining four children affected by this mistake, three were in stable condition as of September 18, and one in critical condition.

Seems to me no one knows the name of Britney Spears second child for sure, but people are saying it's Sutton Pierce, to go with Sean Preston. For some reason, all I can think about is all the mail they will get addressed to 'S P Federline' and not know who to give it to. A sad thought to be stuck in my head right now considering there are much more important things on this planet, but that's all I can think about.

Few in North America have not yet heard of the September 13 tragic shooting in Montréal that left teenager Anastasia DeSousa dead and twenty others wounded. In the days since the news first broke, it's been revealed that the shooter, 25-year-old Kimveer Gill, was not shot by police as originally reported but actually took his own life after being non-fatally shot by police. There appears to be no motive for the crime, and no evidence (yet) that Gill knew any of his victims. This is the second major incident in Montréal, which was also where fourteen women were killed by Marc Lépine at L'École Polytechnique back in 1989, in what is known as the Montréal massacre.

Japan's new prince, the first male heir to the Chrysanthemum throne in forty years, has a name -- Hisahito.