| NFL Combine | Seahawks sit in good shape entering draft
With Holmgren saying that Chris Gray should be available for another season in 2008, the line is now a position of strength and depth. Seahawks personnel here are also extremely pleased with the personnel on the defensive side of the ball. Cornerback Marcus Trufant, who went to the Pro Bowl, was tabbed as the franchise player at about $9.5 million. With defense and offensive-line play seen as strengths, will the Seahawks try to supplement the sexier positions, such as running back, quarterback and wide receiver? The answer seems to be: They're looking at it. At running back, Holmgren has said the offensive line was the greater issue in the slowed running game, and said improvement up front should improve Shaun Alexander's standing. Yet Holmgren admits the position might merit a look.
Jessica Simpson performing for the troops
Jessica Simpson is set to perform for the troops in Kuwait on March 10. She's taking a break from her country album to make the trip according to the following message on her fansite: "Hey ya'll. I just wanted to say hi, and let you know that I am hard at work on my country record, and I can't wait to share it will all of you. I am heading to Kuwait to do a show for the troops, then back in the studio. I love you all and am so blessed by the support and love you show me everyday!! xoxo jess" While I'm happy to see Jessica Simpson doing something nice for our men and women in uniform, I hope to God she gets topless because otherwise that's just a slap in the face to these brave individuals. I mean, they're out there on the front lines catching shrapnel in the anus and, if that happened to me, I'd feel entitled to some boob.
'Vantage Point' Gets Top Box Office Vote
The weekend's other two debuts, Lionsgate's "Witless Protection" and MGM's "Charlie Bartlett," came in at Nos. 13 and 14, respectively.
Box office revenues were down for the second straight week. The top 12 movies grossed $90 million, down 23 percent from last weekend and 10 percent from the same weekend in 2007.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Vantage Point," $24 million.
2. "Jumper," $12.7 million.
3. "Spiderwick Chronicles," $12.6 million.
4. "Step Up 2 the Streets," $9.8 million.
5. "Fool's Gold," $6.3 million.
6. "Definitely, Maybe," $5.2 million.
Health ministers to push for fluoridation
LONDON, Feb. 3 Health officials in England plan to lobby Parliament for fluoridation as an effective and inexpensive way to help prevent dental problems, it was reported.
Only two areas in England -- the northeast and the West Midlands -- currently have fluoride automatically added to their municipal water supplies, The Mail on Sunday reported.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson says the plan will help poorer children avoid developing dental cavities.
"I want the NHS to do much more to prevent rather than just treat disease," he was quoted as saying. "Fluoridation is an effective and relatively easy way to help address health inequalities, giving children from poorer backgrounds a dental health boost that can last a lifetime."
Proponents point to studies indicating that children living in non-fluoridated Manchester are twice as likely to have dental caries as children in Birmingham, where fluoride has been added to the water supply for over 40 years, the newspaper reported.
Don't drink if you want to be merry
As Dolan Cummings argued in a recent essay, when smokers say they welcome the ban on public smoking because it will help them quit, they 'express a peculiar sort of resolution: one which they claim to be incapable of exercising without external compulsion. By banning smoking in pubs, we collectively save ourselves from temptation.' (5) An Australian business venture provides a startling illustration of this increasing rejection of personal responsibility. In 2004, Virgin Mobile responded to an apparent Aussie epidemic of embarrassing drunken calls to exes and colleagues. Their service allowed customers, before drinking, to dial '333' followed by the number they wanted to avoid 'drunk dialling'. For 25 cents, attempts to phone blacklisted numbers initiate a message: 'This call cannot be connected; this is for your own good.' Psychologist John McIlroy believed 'it could come in handy for Americans who know themselves well enough to not have self-control over their impulses' (6).
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