Pentagon admits Quran abuse — It is "take out the trash" night at the Pentagon...The Defense Department deep-sixed information it does not want covered by releasing it after 7p.m. ET on a Friday. Remember those allegations of Quran abuse at Quantanamo Bay? The . It turns out that prison guards at the detainee center employed a variety of creative means to desecrate the Quran: soaking them with water balloons, kicking them, stepping on them, scribbling obscenities inside them, and while none of the incidents involved actual toilets, one prison guard — it is confirmed — used his own urine to splash a copy of the Muslim Holy book and a detainee. For that, you don't really need a toilet.
Jackson jury underway — In day 564 of the Michael Jackson Investigations, . Fourteen weeks of testimony, more than 130 witnesses and over 600 pieces of evidence — weighing not only on the minds of those 8 women and 4 men who will decide his fate — but also, no doubt, on that of the defendant himself. Jackson attorney Tom Mesereau concluded his closing arguments today, telling the jury that they were the only thing standing between the accuser's family and the huge pay-day they have been working toward. Jackson's lead defense attorney directly attacked the testimony of the pop-star's teenaged accuser — pointing out numerous inconsistencies — he compared the family to sharks saying, "they've been swimming around lawyers and swimming around false claims for years." Unsurprisingly, there was invective enough for both sides. Senior Deputy District attorney Ron Zonen using the very same eccentricities the defense had used to bolster their argument and their client to knock Jackson down. Zonen portrayed the entertainer as a serial pedophile, an alcoholic who fell in love with young boys and became their constant companion.
Missing in Aruba — Send your child on a high school trip to an island paradise and the worst thing most parents would worry about is sunburn. But the parents of Natalee Holloway are facing their worst nightmare tonight. In Aruba, their . Three guys held for questioning in the case are now officially being called "persons of interest"...But four days after she was last seen, there is still no sign of Natalee.
Jaws anniversary — The poster said "See it, before you go swimming!" Of course, a lot us wish we'd done the exact opposite, and enjoyed one last, worry-free dip in the ocean before suffering from three decades of shark-induced phobia. The movie Jaws marks the , and for some, that's a cause for celebration on Martha's Vineyard.
Top stories of the week — Now to our top five favorite stories of the week... And as always, when we say "favorite" we mean dumbest. Honorable mention, this week, goes to "Gypsy," the orangutan in Tokyo's Tama Zoo, whose been taught to clean her own cage. She doesn't mind, though. Next up, planting an herb garden and building her own home theater! Not bad. To see who made cut, tune into MSNBC at 8 p.m. ET next Friday. How's that for shameless self-promotion?
