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Alaska Republican Joe Miller is telling his supporters that he is refusing to take corporate and out-of-state money, yet the Tea-Party-backed candidate has hired a prominent K Street fundraiser to help with his bid for the Senate.

Miller, to date, has relied extensively on the Lord to raise funds for his Senate run, his campaign told supporters in an email sent Sunday evening that was obtained by HuffPost.

"So far the Lord has always provided the money in this grass roots campaign, and this time God is going to use you to provide!" Miller's campaign told supporters, inviting them to attend a fundraiser with Miller and his wife. "It cost alot of money to run a clean campaign and we all know that Joe's campaign isn't receiving any monies from corporations or from out of State entities."

That pledge, however, runs counter to news, broken by Roll Call, that Miller has hired Mike Gula, a high-powered Washington fundraiser with The Gula Graham Group. K Street will now be supplementing the Lord's work. "Gula is in the process of assembling a K Street steering committee on behalf of the Miller campaign, and sources say he would not have taken Miller on if he didn't think he could raise political action committee money for him," Roll Call reported Friday. Gula and Miller did not immediately return calls requesting comment.

Super svelte and in shape Maria, who is currently competing in the US Open, says she can’t stand the regiment of the gym and would rather get her workout doing something fun!

It’s not easy to be 23-year-old tennis superstar Maria Sharapova, recently named the Highest-Paid Female Athlete by Forbes. She literally works her butt off every day to bring in the dough — on and off the court. But when it comes to staying in shape, she admits that she DESPISES going to the gym! “Personally, I’m not a huge fan of it,” Maria confessed to HollywoodLife.com Aug. 24 at the Evian Live Young event in NYC.

“Working out is a huge part of my life,” Maria explained. But the in shape stunner says, “I love doing things outdoors like taking a run on the beach or in the park — doing things that are active and outside so you don’t feel like you’re doing so much.”

When it comes to food however, Maria doesn’t discriminate. “I love food,” Maria gushed! “I love trying different types of restaurants and different types of cuisine.” As for her food weakness — red velvet cupcakes. YUM!

Despite all the success and fame Maria has achieved in her career she says, “it’s [still] tough for me to imagine myself being a role model. When I think that the people look up to me are little girls and boys, I think they should want to be better than who I am. I don’t think anyone is perfect, [but] I always want to see them streaming to perfection.”

Most of all, Maria wants her fans to understand her life motto: “Enjoy your life! You’ve got to enjoy every moment of it — the good and the bad,” Maria said. “You’ve got to try and learn from the tough moments, because those make you stronger in life!”

Kate Hudson was a young woman when she and rocker Chris Robinson tied the knot. She was just 21 when she walked down the aisle and 28 when she and the Black Crows singer divorced. Now she is in a happy and healthy relationship with another rocker, Muse frontman Matt Bellamy, but is treading carefully.
Kate told British Elle that marriage is definitely not something she is looking for right now, but her divorce didn’t put her off the institution.

“I’ll just see what happens. I think a lot of times people are terrified of love and stop themselves from experiencing it. I don’t ever want to get that jaded. I do believe in love. I believe that when you really open yourself up to love, it’s the most beautiful thing,” Hudson told the mag.

It makes sense for Kate to be cautious.

It can take a while after a divorce before someone is ready to open themselves up to love.  Let’s face it, love is a risk and marriage is an even bigger risk.  Both can be quite scary, especially if you have already been through one that didn’t work out.  But perhaps the problem wasn’t the marital institution, perhaps the problem was that she chose the wrong person to marry,” says life and dating coach Tracey Steinberg.

“Once Kate takes the time to understand what is truly important to her for her future love life, then the best thing she can do is open herself up to love and all of the amazing opportunities that go along with it.”

Kate and her ex have a healthy relationship for their son Ryder, 6, and she says she is very comfortable with the fact that he has moved on and started a new life.

“I still feel close to him. When you’re divorced and raising a child together, the communication has to stay alive. It’s hard sometimes. If you have kids with someone, make sure you really, really like the father because, for your child’s sake, you have to be on the same page forever. Chris has moved on, he’s remarried and had a baby and when you both have new people in your life, you have to really stay on it,” Kate says.

Hudson may not think marriage is that big a deal. Her mom Goldie Hawn has been wit her partner Kurt Russell for 25 years without ever getting married. We know that Kate sees her mom as a career role model and maybe she sees her as a relationship role model too!

ALBANY, N.Y. — A new poll finds 71 percent of New Yorkers want the developers of an Islamic center and mosque near ground zero to voluntarily move the project.

The Quinnipiac (KWIHN'-uh-pee-ak) University poll released Tuesday finds the same amount of New Yorkers want Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate funding of the project.

Cuomo, a Democrat running for governor, has said little about the issue. He says the building is protected by the Constitution and that he will investigate if concerns are found.

The poll finds 53 percent of registered voters feel the Muslim developers shouldn't be allowed to build two blocks from ground zero. About the same percentage of voters say they have a right to.

Quinnipiac questioned 1,497 registered voters Aug. 23-29. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

JERUSALEM — An influential Israeli rabbi known for his vitriolic pronouncements against Arabs says Palestinians and their leader should "perish from this world."

Israel Army Radio quoted Ovadia Yosef Sunday as saying the Palestinians were "evil, bitter enemies of Israel" and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should be struck with a plague. He made the remarks in a Saturday night sermon.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are to resume this week.

The 89-year-old rabbi is a respected religious scholar among Jews of Middle Eastern descent. He is also spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas political movement – part of Israel's coalition government.

Yosef has upset many over the years with declarations against Arabs, secular Jews, liberals, women and gays, among others.

Elisabeth Moss seems determined not to let her recently reported split with 'Saturday Night Live' star Fred Armisen get in the way of having a great time during her triumphant Emmy weekend.
The 'Mad Men' star, 28, made her first public appearances since the announcement of the split, gracing two glittering pre-Emmy parties on Friday night.
But by all accounts Moss, up for a best supporting Emmy this weekend, made for a stunning (and ringless) image at both Entertainment Weekly's Women in Film party and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Performers Nominee Reception.
"She looked great," says one guest at the nominees reception. "She was wearing a sexy, tight off-the-shoulder dress with a long zipper along the back. It was definitely a new look for her. This was not Peggy Olson, for sure."
"And she was definitely not wearing her wedding ring."

Moss seemed unaffected by the recent news that her 10-month old marriage to Armisen is on the rocks and recent reports that he's getting cozy with fellow 'SNL' star Abby Elliot.
She laughed frequently and spent significant time with a girlfriend at a table near the bar through much of the nominees party. Though the party was sponsored by Grey Goose, she bucked the 'Mad Men' trend and avoided cocktails, preferring another vice: smoking cigarettes outside.
"She spent much of the night in conversation, sometimes intense, with the friend at the table," says the guest. "But she definitely had time to share some laughs."
Moss even started a Happy Birthday song for 'Breaking Bad' star, and fellow nominee, Aaron Paul from the party's stage. It was a return favor to Paul, who had cheered wildly for the actress when she took the stage earlier.
"She looked right at home chatting with the other nominees on the stage," says the onlooker. "She looked entirely comfortable. And her dress was a knock-out."

BENGHAZI, Libya — In the outskirts of this city, Libya's second largest, row after row of sand-colored concrete apartment blocks and villas are sprouting from the desert. Hundreds of kilometers away, construction cranes dot the Mediterranean skyline of the capital, Tripoli.

The multibillion dollar construction frenzy taking place is the latest and most visible sign of Libya's drive for growth. It's a push that largely ignored the global financial meltdown that left other oil-rich Arab nations stumbling over the last couple of years, and reflects how Libya is tapping its oil wealth to reshape a country isolated for years by sanctions and international disdain.

Libya is "really trying to become, for lack of a better term, a new Dubai." said Carlos Caceres, a representative of the Los Angeles-based engineering giant AECOM working in Benghazi. He was referring to the United Arab Emirate sheikdom whose stratospheric rise was rivaled only by its staggering debt woes.

AECOM is overseeing a $80 billion project to build 160,000 housing units throughout the country, about a quarter of which will be in Benghazi, and refurbishing sewage and paving roads there. Overall, however, Libya plans to spend $500 billion over the next decade on a host of projects.

New universities are being planned, Tripoli's shabby airport is being overhauled, new Toyota and Honda sedans abound in the streets and trendy cafes dot street corners.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts Libya's economy will grow by 5.4 percent this year, while the U.N. said foreign direct investment into the country quadrupled from $1 billion in 2005 to $4.1 billion in 2008.

"It's absolutely the boom country at the moment," said Richard Barber, a British supervisor with HanmiParsons, a South Korea-based construction management company. "So many engineers from Dubai and the rest of the Mideast are coming here now and finding work, including me."

The country's surge sits in stark contrast to the Libya of just over decade ago, when it was struggling under international and U.S. sanctions linked to Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi's support for terrorism and the country's weapons of mass destruction program.

Gadhafi's decision to renounce terrorism, hand over the two suspects wanted for the 1988 airline bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and pay compensation to the families of the 270 people killed in the attack paved the way for Libya's re-entry into the international community. The U.S. restored relations and reopened its embassy, American and European oil firms have flocked to the country, home to Africa's largest proven oil reserves.

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It appears the ‘Dirty Dancing’ star will be putting on her dancing shoes 23 years after her iconic role as Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman!
It looks like the cast for the new season of Dancing With The Stars is filling out well before ABC’s public announcement on Aug. 30, as it has just been reported that Jennifer Grey and Margaret Cho would be joining the reality program. EOnline reports, “Margaret Cho and actress Jennifer Grey are also among the celebrities who will be tangoing across the DWTS floor this year.”

Jennifer and Margaret will be joining a cast that is said to include Rick Fox, Michael Bolton, Audrina Patridge, Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino, Brandy, Florence Henderson, David Hasselhoff, and the one and only Bristol Palin.

Producers had long hoped to snag Dirty Dancing actress Jennifer as well as her costar Patrick Swayze before he lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in September of 2009.

The former reality star admits she’s gone too far with her G-cup boob job!
Heidi Montag seemed so content with the 12 surgeries she endured, hoping to attain a perfect body — until now. The former reality star, who has escaped Hollywood and is currently living in Costa Rica, finally opens up about the isolated life and excruciating pain she put herself through, telling Life & Style, “I’m desperate to go back to normal.” Heidi says surgery has taken a toll on her personal relationships, claiming she never speaks to her once close-knit family anymore. She says her surgery is also responsible for breaking up the marriage with Spencer Pratt. “He begged me not to get the first surgery, and it almost broke up our relationship. Then he begged me not to get the second one, and it did break our relationship.”

While Heidi plans to downgrade her “painful” G-cup boobs to a D or double D, she says, “I really like the rest of my surgeries, though. I’m really happy, and I think I look great.” Although she claims to be happy, Heidi says the surgeries have taken a toll on her everyday life, saying it’s impossible to work out, hug her dogs, and can only wear sweats on an everyday basis! While she may appear healed, the star has tape on her nose 24 hours a day since November, saying her nose is so delicate she wouldn’t be able to have it fixed again. “It’s done, so I have to be really careful. I feel like a porcelain doll.”

It turns out her breasts aren’t the only parts of her body still going through adjustments, the former reality star says she’s still in recovery. “It’s going to be at least five more months until the swelling completely comes down in my face and in the rest of my body. The nose always takes a year, and breasts also take a lot of time,” she said.

WASHINGTON — It will likely be a few years before Afghanistan is secure enough for the U.S. Marines to leave, Commandant Gen. James Conway said Tuesday, adding his voice to a growing chorus of military leaders warning of a long fight ahead.

Afghan war commander Gen. David Petraeus and other senior officers have recently said that considerable time will be needed before Afghan troops can take over the fight.

But Conway's blunt assessment was the first of its kind to come from a service chief since President Barack Obama announced that U.S. troops will begin leaving Afghanistan in July 2011. Last fall, Obama said that security conditions will determine how many forces can leave and how fast.

Conway also said intelligence intercepts suggest that Taliban fighters have been encouraged by the talk of the U.S. beginning to withdraw troops next year.

"In some ways, we think right now it's probably giving our enemy sustenance," Conway said of the 2011 deadline. "We think that he may be saying to himself ... 'Hey, you know, we only have to hold out for so long.'"

But, Conway quickly added, the perception that the U.S. is pulling out completely is likely to work in America's favor after the deadline passes, when Marines are still fighting insurgents. Taliban morale is likely to drop when "come the fall we're still there hammering them like we have been," he said.

"I think it could be very good for us in that context, in terms of the enemy psyche," he said.

The Marines have been at the forefront of America's toughest fights in the Afghanistan war, including attempts to oust the Taliban from the farming hamlets of Marjah in Helmand province.

Conway, known for his candor, is planning to retire this fall after 40 years in the Marines.