The Inquisitr

Texas Rangers trade for Ray, sign Harden

Joshua Lobdell — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:14:49 +0000

While teams like the Detroit Tigers are spending the annual Winter Meetings to moving around salary and making blockbuster Trades, the Texas Rangers, a team with their own financial problems, as gone about tweaking their own the field product somewhat under the radar. On Wednesday The Rangers traded their ace, pitcher Kevin Millwood to the Baltimore Orioles for reliever Chris Ray. They are now using the money they saved from Millwood’s contract to extend an offer to pitcher Rich Harden. Both moves are upgrades for the Rangers, who were on the verge of making the playoffs in 2009.

While Ray’s 2009 stats are not all that impressive, he was a situational reliever on a very poor team. While there is no guarantee that he can turn that around, sometimes getting a player out of a situation like Baltimore, and into a better one like that of the Rangers can spark a turn around in said players performance. While we wait that one out, trading Millwood for Ray opened up the possibility for the Rangers to extend an offer to Harden.

Harden has a career ERA of 3.34, and in 2009 he went 9-9 with a 4.09 ERA in 171 innings pitched. After he passes his physical he will join a Rangers staff that already sports 26 year old Scott Feldman who went 17-8 in 2009 with a 4.08 ERA. With Feldman as their ace and Harden as the number two the Rangers now have a powerful starting five that may get them into the playoffs in 2010.

More Texas Rangers News and Notes

Book industry joins the news business on the stupid train

Steven Hodson — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:05:00 +0000

The Internet and technology is transforming just about every industry there is. Some at more breakneck speed than others but the change is coming. Changing as well is the consumer’s buying habits as more of our goods are obtainable as never-ending digital goods and for an almost zero distribution cost.

The creators of the goods are finding even fewer reasons each year to depend on the largess of rich and powerful middleman companies. News is finding readers on its own as more and more avenues of distribution appear leaving the paper megalith corporations with drastically shrinking revenues.

The same thing is happening to the book publishing industry as authors are finding that the stigma associated with self-publishing and marketing is quickly evaporating. The publishers are facing a future of electronic distribution that is beyond their control as e-reader, and more typical devices like smartphones and computers, gain market momentum as principal ways to read our books.

As with the newspaper industry these draconian methods of publishing and distribution are finding themselves becoming marginalized. Unfortunately they are also following in the footsteps of the news industry in their battle to maintain their centuries old status quo.

Today Simon & Schuster announced that they will be holding back any e-book versions of published books for at least 4 months. They argue this is needed in order to make a stand against the current pricing practice of e-books at $9.99 which they consider to be cut-rate pricing of their goods.

“The right place for the e-book is after the hardcover but before the paperback,” said Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS Corp. “We believe some people will be disappointed. But with new [electronic] readers coming and sales booming, we need to do this now, before the installed base of e-book reading devices gets to a size where doing it would be impossible.”

Source: Wall Street Journal Online

The problem is that companies like Simon & Schuster are fighting against the inevitable future where their closely guarded profit margins won’t matter because the consumer and the creators will go around them.

Addition the really big elephant in the room has yet to make its presence official but the word is that Apple is coming out with a tablet with designs on the e-book market. If the book publishers thought that companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble were hard negotiator on price they would do well to take a quick lesson from the music industry – Apple doesn’t negotiate.

If Apple is coming to market with a tablet priced at a level that makes it attractive to a larger demographic than just Apple fans and geek heads the book publishing business is going to be in for a rude awakening.

Instead what we have is the same short term thinking that has been the bane of both the music and newspaper industry before them. As Frank Shaw pointed out

The fundamental question is pretty simple, if you think long term, are digital readers better for the industry overall? As in, over time will volume go up compared to print only sales? It certainly seems the answer is yes, which means the publishers are making short term profit decisions that will kill them over time. And seriously, seeing a publisher moan about protecting authors is a hoot as the guy from Hachette does here, “I can’t sit back and watch years of building authors sold off at bargain-basement prices. It’s about the future of the business.” Almost as good as the music industry talking about how they are “protecting” bands. Sheesh.

Sheesh indeed, but as the rhetoric is showing there is still plenty of room left on the stupid bus.

Scientists: Huge Flood 5.3 Million Years Ago Created Mediterranean Sea

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:00:05 +0000

Madrid, Spain (AHN) – Research made public on Wednesday contends the modern Mediterranean Sea was the result of a gigantic Zanclean flood from the Atlantic about 5.3 million years ago.

Researchers from Spain’s CSIC institute published their findings in the journal Nature this week. Scientists believe the Mediterranean was disconnected from the Earth’s body of waters and had dried up during an event called the Messinian salinity crisis that occurred 5.6 million years ago.

The team says a huge flood crossed the area now known as the Strait of Gibraltar and refilled the Mediterranean basin. It’s been reported that the flood may have been triggered by tectonic subsidence, erosion and rising sea levels.

Evidence of this was uncovered through technological advancements employing boreholes and seismic data that showed a 124-mile channel carved by the flood waters. It is believed the flood began slowly over several thousand years. However, 90 percent of the water may have passed through the channel in a single two-year period.

Scientists said that reconnecting the Mediterranean with the Atlantic could have involved ocean water rising as much as 32 feet a day.

Pregnant Palm Beach Woman Slips Into Coma, Dies From Swine Flu

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:27:54 +0000

Boynton Beach, FL (AHN) – Officials from the Palm Beach County Health Department have confirmed another death from swine flu. The latest person to die was 22-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant.

Claudia Hernandez, who resided in Boynton Beach, was just a few weeks short of her delivery date when she was admitted into Wellington Regional Hospital on Nov. 18 after contracting the H1N1 virus.

Hernandez fell into a coma and doctors tried to save the baby. The delivered a boy but he was premature and died five days later. A source close to the family said the young mother never regained consciousness and never knew she had delivered a baby boy.

A county spokesperson says 87 people have been hospitalized over the deadly virus, 42 of those were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Health officials say the vaccine is now available to people of all ages. Previous guidelines had officials administering the vaccine to pregnant women, children older than 6 months, young adults 18 to 24, people younger than 64 with underlying medical conditions and caregivers for children younger than 6 months.

With the swine flu outbreak leveling off now, officials nationwide are gearing up for another wave likely to hit in February coinciding with the peak of the seasonal flu virus.

Baseball Analyst Gammons Leaving ESPN, Joins MLB

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:16:50 +0000

Indianapolis, IN (AHN) – Peter Gammons, a Hall of Fame writer for ESPN will be making a transition over to MLB.com, where he will be working more closely with the league and the stories they have.

He’ll be serving a dual-role as both an on-air personality, as well as a columnist and analyst during his multi-year stay with the league.

His aim in leaving, he’s said, is focusing on new challenges, which he will tackle on a less demanding schedule, giving him more time to be with his family.

As a signature writer for the league, he’ll be adding commentary on hot stories, and his brain will be picked for opinions on “MLB Tonight” and “Hot Stove.”

Gammons brings 40 years of journalistic experience to bear, beginning his career at the Boston Globe. He was the father of the Sunday baseball column, and was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.

He was assigned to the Red Sox beat back in 1969, and enjoyed two stints with Sports Illustrated in 1976-78 and 1986-90.

He did his first TV work with ESPN as an in studio analyst back in 1988, and regularly appeared on Baseball tonight, SportsCenter, ESPNNews and ESPN radio.

Susan Boyle Moves Another Half Million Copies Of Album For Second Week at #1 On Billboard

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:52:24 +0000

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) – Susan Boyle couldn’t have dreamed up selling over a million copies in just two weeks in stores. Her “I Dreamed A Dream” sells 527,000 copies in its second week, bringing her total to 1.23 million copies and earning her the #1 spot for a second week on the Billboard Albums chart. The album, which features covers of “Wild Horses” and “Silent Night,” is already the #10 best-selling album of 2009.

Joining her near the top (and what a duet that would be) is Andrea Bocelli, who spends a fourth week at #2 with “My Christmas.” The holiday album, which continues to increase in sales each week, sells 428,000 copies, bringing his total to 1.12 million copies.

At #3 this week is Taylor Swift, who rises all the way to #3 from #8 last week, selling another 127,000 copies of her album “Fearless,” and inching that much closer to selling 5 million copies in the U.S.

R. Kelly debuts at #4 with “Untitled,” his latest studio album selling 114,000 in its first week. This is R. Kelly’s ninth album to reach the top 4 on Billboard. Lady Gaga follows at #5 with “The Fame,” which moves up one spot selling 84,000 copies. “The Fame” now includes “The Fame Monster” EP, which features “Bad Romance” and her Beyonce duet “Telephone.”

Carrie Underwood moves up to #6 with “Play On,” selling 81,000 copies this week. Norah Jones follows at #7 with “The Fall” selling 80,000 copies. Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” compilation moves up to #8 this week with 75,000 copies.

The “New Moon” soundtrack is #9 this week, moving 72,000 copies and climbing up three spots. Up from #18 last week and at #10 this week is Michael Buble. His “Crazy Love” album sells 72,000 this week.

Billboard Top 200 Albums Week Ending December 19th, 2009

1. I Dreamed a Dream, Susan Boyle

2. My Christmas, Andrea Bocelli

3. Fearless, Taylor Swift

4. Untitled, R. Kelly

5. The Fame, Lady Gaga

6. Play On, Carrie Underwood

7. The Fall, Norah Jones

8. This Is It, Michael Jackson

9. The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Soundtrack

10. Crazy Love, Michael Buble

EU Accepts Rambus Commitment On Memory Chip Royalty Rates, Spat Over For Now

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:30:31 +0000

Washington, DC (AHN) – The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union announced Wednesday its decision making legally binding commitments offered worldwide by Rambus that in particular put a cap on its royalty rates for certain patents for Dynamic Random Access Memory chips (DRAMS).

The importance of the decision can be gauged from the fact that Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition gave a press conference to announce it saying, “An effective standard-setting process should take place in a non-discriminatory, open and transparent way to ensure competition on the merits and to allow consumers to benefit from technical development and innovation.

Abusive practices in standard setting can harm innovation and lead to higher prices for companies and consumers. For its part, the Commission will vigorously enforce the competition rules in this area, for the benefit of technical progress and European consumers.”

Addressing journalists, commissioner Kroes said, “Rambus has committed to put a cap on its royalty rates for products compliant with the JEDEC standards for five years,” adding that this will result in “substantially lower royalties than the 3.5% Rambus has been charging in its existing contracts.”

The commission decision enables DRAM manufacturers to sign a bundled license for the use of Rambus’ technologies incorporated in the JEDEC standards at rates representing a considerable improvement on the status quo.

Rambus noted in a statement that the European Commission “makes no finding of liability, and no fine will be assessed against Rambus,” adding that for its part, it commits to offer licenses with maximum royalty rates for certain memory types and memory controllers on a forward-going basis.”

“We are pleased to have this matter closed with the Commission. Following a long and detailed examination of the facts, the Commission did not find that Rambus violated the law, nor did it impose any fine,” said Thomas Lavelle, senior vice president and general counsel at Rambus.

“For our part, we agree to offer licenses at attractive rates for customers to use our patented innovations in computing and electronics products for consumers worldwide,” he added.

The European Commission said that it “can still take action against Rambus for infringement of its commitments, should any clause of the template contracts be in breach of them,” but it added that Rambus agreed in its statements annexed to the commitments decision that the template contracts that will be posted on Rambus’ website, by which the commitments will be implemented in practice, will be compliant with the commitments.”

The European Commission originally brought charges against Rambus in August 2007 alleging violation of European Union competition law.

The Commission’s investigation followed complaints set forth by certain DRAM manufacturers originating with Rambus’ 1992-1995 participation in an industry standard-setting organization, the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (”JEDEC”).

Similar charges had been pursued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States. The FTC has closed its investigation following a series of U.S. Court rulings underlining that the allegations of Rambus’ wrongdoing were ill-founded.

Tigers Maul Animal Trainer in German Circus Show

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:10:54 +0000

Berlin, Germany (AHN) – Five Bengali tigers have attacked and mauled an animal trainer during a live circus performance in a zoo in Hamburg, Germany.

Christian Walliser, 28, suffered severe injuries and lost part of his left hand during the dinner circus that went wrong Tuesday at the Hagenbeck Zoo. He was taken to a hospital and is reportedly in critical condition.

Five Bengali tigers, two of which were raised by Walliser, pounced on the trainer when he tripped over inside their enclosure. The animals bit him in the head and body until they were driven back by fire extinguishers.

Walliser was immediately treated by two doctors who were watching the show before he was taken to the hospital.

The director of the zoo said the animals will not be put down because they did nothing wrong.

Stefan Pagels also said the show will go on without the tigers and wished Walliser’s earliest recovery so he could return to work again.

TSA Investigating How Secret Procedures Were Posted Online

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:00:43 +0000

Washington, D.C. (AHN) – The Transportation Security Administration has launched a probe to find out how its security manual was posted on a government website with blacked-out portions that bloggers were able to read with a click of a mouse. The manual is an outdated version, the agency says, but it includes information on what items airport security can choose not to screen, and which nationals from 12 countries need additional screening.

A blog called the Wandering Aramean revealed on Sunday that the 94-page document was posted on the website of the Federal Business Opportunities office. The manual was a redacted version, but the blacked-out sections could be read by copying and pasting them on a different file.

The PDF document had been online since March. It is no longer on the government website, but is still available, in unredacted form at cryptome.org, a website devoted to material on freedom of speech and surveillance.

The manual details how travelers escorted by the CIA are screened, and provides technical information about machines used for screenings. It was posted to give government contractors information on the services they were bidding for.

TSA said in a statement the manual “had been improperly posted,” and that it “took swift action to remove the document.”

“The version of the document that was posted was neither implemented nor issued to the workforce,” the agency added. “There have been six newer versions of the document since this version was drafted. Standard Operating Procedures change regularly as intelligence provides information on new threats and we find better ways improve security. A full review is now underway to ensure proper procedures are followed in the future.”

The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, however, called the blunder an “embarrassing mistake that calls into question the judgment of agency managers.”

“A security manual, redacted or not, is not the type of document we want to share with the world,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). “TSA must swiftly complete its investigation into this incident, institute better controls over what it posts online, and strengthen its security procedures to make sure this incident has not compromised the nation’s aviation security.”

Bank Robber Donates $1 To Charity

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:48:14 +0000

Nacogdoches, TX (AHN) – The holiday spirit is affecting everybody, including a bank robber who held up a Nacogdoches bank Tuesday morning. A bank manager confirmed his bank was robbed, but police said after apprehending the suspect, they recovered all of the money except for $1, which the bank robber dropped in a Salvation Army kettle while fleeing the scene. According to Manager Tommy Ellison, the robber ran off with the money around 10 a.m. from the North Street branch of Commercial Bank, located in Wal-Mart. The robber handed a teller a note saying he needed the money but did not want to hurt anybody.

On his way out, he dropped $1 into the kettle.

He ran toward the Nacogdoches Medical Center, where police apprehended him.

Ellison said the bank decided to leave the dollar in the kettle.

According to a press release, the robbery alarm was activated within minutes of the bank being robbed, and authorities were able to get a description of the suspect from the teller as they headed to the scene.

Police stopped 21-year-old Byron Jacovin Garrett and arrested him without incident. Business was not interrupted at Wal-Mart, but the bank branch was closed while police investigated.

Dog Rescued After Being Thrown into Traffic

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:34:22 +0000

Whitehaven, TN (AHN) – A Whitehaven Veterinarian is working overtime to save a dog’s life, after the dog was tossed from a speeding truck on I-40 during rush hour Monday.

Dr. Greg Shaw was optimistic, within reason, Monday night that the dog, whose nickname is Savior, would pull through. But Savior is still in danger. She suffered injuries from being thrown from the moving vehicle, but also has bite marks, possibly from being used in dog fights.

An eye witness recalls heading east on I-40 when he saw someone throw the dog from a white pick-up truck. He said the dog was thrown in the center lane, but managed to make her way to the side of the highway.

The witness happens to be an animal lover and rescue worker. He also had a catch pole in his truck. He used it to catch Savior. Another driver, an off-duty deputy, stopped to help the witness load the dog into the back of his truck.

The rescuer rushed Savior to Pets Choice Animal Clinic in Whitehaven. Dr. Shaw immediately started working to save the dog’s life.

The witness said he hopes someone else may have seen the incident and caught the license place of the white Ford pick-up truck involved.

U.S. President Launches National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:17:07 +0000

Washington, DC (AHN) – President Barack Obama outlined Wednesday a new revitalized approach to counter the threat of biological weapons and their use by terrorists around the world.

The president referred to “the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention,” signed by 164 countries and already ratified by 146 nations, and called for “a robust and sustained discussion among all nations as to the evolving biological threat and identify mutually agreed steps to counter it.” According to a White House release, the strategy emphasizes the need to:

* improve global access to the life sciences to combat infectious disease regardless of its cause;
* establish and reinforce norms against the misuse of the life sciences;
* and institute a suite of coordinated activities that collectively will help influence, identify, inhibit, and/or interdict those who seek to misuse the life sciences.

The White House listed the seven objectives as:

* Promote global health security;
* Reinforce norms of safe and responsible conduct;
* Obtain timely and accurate insight on current and emerging risks;
* Take reasonable steps to reduce the potential for exploitation;
* Expand our capability to prevent, attribute, and apprehend;
* Communicate effectively with all stakeholders;
* Transform the international dialogue on biological threats.

Facebook now supports astroturfing in social games

Steven Hodson — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:16:44 +0000

Facebook is getting a lot of attention today regarding its changes to the way your privacy is handled but that’s not the subject of this post. What is however is the apparent use of the ’social’ games on Facebook that use virtual currency as a way to entice users to continue playing the game(s).

Recently there has been a spate of reports about how third party game companies doing business on Facebook have been conning users in order to make boatloads of money but there is news out today via The Business Insider that political groups have discovered the joy of virtual currency as a way to get people to make some sort of political statement.

The post on The Business Insider is about an anti-health reform group called “Get Health Reform Right” who are offering game players some of this ‘virtual currency’ to fill out a survey which when finished automatically sends the following email to their Congressional Representative

“I am concerned a new government plan could cause me to lose the employer coverage I have today. More government bureaucracy will only create more problems, not solve the ones we have.”

Source: The Business Insider

This is a screen capture of the survey courtesy of The Business Insider and Dan Porter, CEO of OMGPOP online games

This type of thing is typically referred to as ‘astroturfing‘ and while it isn’t illegal the ethics behind it it are certainly questionable.

But then Facebook doesn’t seem to have much of a problem with questionable ethics it seems.

Meet Frosty The Inappropriate Snowman

Duncan Riley — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:15:39 +0000

The 1969 classic Frosty the Snowman has received an update care of CBS and How I Met Your Mother, and not everyone is cool with the joke.

Frosty The Inappropriate Snowman mashes clips from the original Frosty, with vocals from How I Met Your Mother, with Neil Patrick Harris voicing Frosty.

Frosty The Inappropriate Snowman talks about (in no particular order) porn, sex, whips, and more, which as you can imagine has got the prudes yelling from the rafters.

I guess that it’s probably not everyone’s cup of tea, and coming out of a mainstream media outlet like CBS, it’s surprisingly a little edgy. But mostly it’s harmless good fun in the vain of previous efforts from the likes of College Humor.

The Frosty The Inappropriate Snowman video as follows:

Bayer Recalls Alka-Seltzer Cold Over Labeling Issue on Some Boxes

AHN — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:06:46 +0000

Washington, D.C. (AHN) – Drug manufacturer Bayer is recalling one lot of mislabeled cold formula liquid gel capsules. The company says human error during the printing process resulted in warnings about drowsiness to not appear.

The company issued a statement saying less than 4 percent of packages of 20-capsule Alka-Seltzer Plus Day & Night Cold Formula Liquid Gels had labels incorrectly correspond with the day and night pills due to a printing error.

Bayer is telling consumers that the affected lot number, 296939L, is visible on the interior blister package in black text adjacent to the expiration date, and on the exterior carton embossed on the side panel beneath the company logo.

A statement from the company says patients unaware of the labeling error may take an improper formulation with an antihistamine that could cause drowsiness.

The recall does not affect any other lots. Reportedly consumers noticed the error, which prompted an investigation. Bayer said the recall was initiated after consultations with the FDA.

The drug company is offering consumers a replacement or refund for the recalled product. Consumers with the recalled product are urged to contact Bayer at 800-986-3307 with any questions or for instructions on obtaining a refund or replacement.

Tiger Woods Scandal Update: Lastest Mistress Count Hits 11

Duncan Riley — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:41:57 +0000

Another day, another update in the Tiger Woods scandal with Tiger linked to a second porn star, taking the mistress count to 11.

The latest alleged mistress is said to be porn star Joslyn James (real name Veronica Siwik-Daniels.) James so far has issued an obligatory no comment, which could well mean that she’s lawyering up and/or negotiating a tell all for money with a media outlet.

For an extra dose of the bizarre, Radar Online is claiming that James is on the Division of Child Support’s Most Wanted list in Washington state.

According to the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services web site, James owes $12,677.02 in child support payments for her 10-year-old child.

A word of warning: if you are looking for Joslyn James pictures, if you hit Google Image Search from work, make sure you have filtering turned on, otherwise…well, you can guess what you’ll find with safe search turned off.

Global gamers now total one billion, says EA

Chris Greenhough — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:04:48 +0000

EA boss John Riccitiello has claimed that the total number of people playing videogames of some description has now burst through the 1 billion mark. With world population still under 7 billion, doesn’t that seem a lot? Not if you use JR’s criteria:

“Conservatively, if I add up mobile users that play games, social network people that play games, people that play PC games online in Asia, all this stuff, this new audience: there’s at least a billion people gaming today, compared to a couple of hundred million just five years ago. So we have five times the audience we’ve ever had and it’s growing in leaps and bounds. And it’s no longer a niche.”

And that’s SCIENCE, folks.

Okay, perhaps not. It’s actually John Riccitiello making a wild guesstimate that sounds like it’s been calculated on the back of a fag packet. But it’s certainly very eye-catching. And maybe not far off. At least, it certainly feels like about 900 million of my Facebook friends play bloody Farmville.

[NBR, via VG247]

Feeling festive? Stream Christmas music online, free

Kim LaCapria — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:31:49 +0000

It always marked a special season of torture for my little sister and I when my mother would dust off her Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby Christmas albums- waiting for them to be packed back up was worse than waiting for presents.

I hate Christmas music- all of it. But there are many out there who welcome the stuff, Paul McCartney’s Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time and that awful Mariah Carey song, so much so that they’re out in droves Googling the stuff. If you’re not getting your seasonal allotment of horrible Christmas tunes via the car radio or in stores, there are places online you can stream the stuff for free all season.

While your local station might be streaming tunes (and ads) on their website, Pandora is a great option for Christmas tunes if you’re not using it already. (And if you’re not, why aren’t you using it already?) While you don’t have complete control over what you can play- “skips” are limited to five an hour, per station- the music streaming site offers 99 Christmas stations as of now to just click and play. Christmas Blues, Classical Christmas, Country Christmas, Folk Holidays, Jazz Holidays, Peaceful Holidays, Pop & R&B Holidays, Rockin’ Holidays and Swingin’ Holidays are just some of the options available on Pandora to sate your Christmas music cravings.

If you’re new to Pandora (who moved the rock?), then just click here to create a station. Typing in Christmas yields the dozens of stations, and you won’t have to listen to a genre you don’t like. And if you tire of streaming one type of Christmas music station, there are at least 98 others to choose from, giving you another five skips if you’re not digging it.

Sandra Bullock and Jesse James Without Sunny for Christmas

Bang — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:05:44 +0000

Sandra Bullock and her husband Jesse James will not be spending Christmas with his daughter Sunny.

A judge ruled in favor of Sunny’s mother Janine Lindemulder during a custody hearing at an Orange County court.

An eyewitness in the California courthouse is quoted by Life and Style Weekly magazine as saying: “She was told she could pick up Sunny at 4pm on Christmas Eve, December 24, and return her by 6pm the next day December 25, but her husband Jeremy Aikman, a two-time felon, won’t be allowed to be there.”

Lindemulder was imprisoned earlier this year for tax evasion and Sandra has been helping Jesse raise her.

However, since her release Jesse and Janine have been battling for custody of the child.

Speaking after the hearing, Janine said, “I’m so excited about Christmas. I can’t believe it. Thank God.”