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Sharp-elbowed Republican rivals assailed the professorial demeanor of newly minted front-runner Newt Gingrich and the cool efficiency of Mitt Romney in a debate Saturday, painting them as inconsistent conservatives who agree too much with President Barack Obama to topple him.
Throughout, Gingrich was center stage for assaults, accused of whipping up the Middle East, criticized for his work for the mortgage giant Freddie Mac, and even lampooned for a proposal to mine minerals on the moon. He was forced to answer whether his three marriages and Washington insider status would hobble his campaign, as his rivals suggested that infidelity is a legitimate concern f or voters.
“If you would cheat on your wife, why wouldn’t you cheat on your business partner, or anybody else for that matter?” Rick Perry asked, adding that when he married: “not only did I make a vow to my wife, but a vow to God. That’s pretty heavy lifting in my book.”
Gingrich responded that he had made mistakes and asked God for forgiveness, and he hopes that voters will judge him as he is now.
Gingrich and Romney, the top-polling candidates, went after each other, too, as the candidates debated with just 24 days until Iowa’s January 3 caucuses. While Gingrich has surged to a lead, analysts and politicos say the field in Iowa is wide open, and any candidate could emerge with a strong showing as the GOP begins to vote for its nominee to challenge Obama.

Mitt Romney.

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Quarterback Robert Griffin III became the first player from Baylor University to win the Heisman Trophy, college football’s top individual honor.
Griffin received 1.687 points, beating by 280 points Stanford quarter Andrew Luck, who finished as runner-up to 2010 winner Cam Newton. University of Alabama running back Trent Richardson was third with 978 points.
The balloting was conducted by the Heisman Trophy Trust and the winner announced tonight at a televised ceremony in New York.
“This moment right here is unbelievably believable” – said Griffin, who had earlier shown off his blue Superman socks that had red capes draping off the cuffs.
Griffin, a 21-year-old junior at the Waco, Texas-based university, finished the season as the nation’s top-rated quarterback, completing 72.3 percent of his passes for 3,998 yards and 36 touchdowns, with six interceptions. He also rushed for 832 yards and nine scores as Baylor went 9-3 – its best season in 25 years – and had a winning record against Big 12 Conference opponents for the first time.
Griffin, nicknamed RG3, is the third Heisman winner in 14 years to play for a team that lost more than two regular-season games, joining Tim Tebow of Florida in 2007 and Ricky Williams of Texas in 1998.
Baylor is 12th in the Bowl Championship Series standings and had a 6-3 record in the Big 12 this season, with wins against No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 18 Texas Christian and No. 24 Texas. Before this year, the Bears had an 18-102 record against conference opponents since joining the Big 12 in 1996.
In the Bears’ final regular-season game, a 48-24 win over Texas, Griffin passed for 320 yards and two touchdowns while running for two more scores.

Robert Griffin III.

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The seemingly never-ending saga surrounding Trail Blazers star Brandon Roy and his balky knees has reached a stunning conclusion.
Two sources with knowledge of Roy’s decision told The Oregonian Friday morning that Roy plans to retire because of degenerative knees, confirming a story first reported by ESPN.
Roy made this decision, one of the sources said, after meeting with doctors on Thursday. After evaluating Roy’s knees, which have been operated on six times and no longer have any cartilage, the doctor flatly told Roy he should no longer play.
Brandon Roy has given Portland a mountain of memories but none more dramatic than last season’s monumental comeback against Dallas in the NBA Playoffs. Roy brought his team back from a 23-point deficit to level the series at 2:2. The all-star guard scored 18 fourth quarter points in one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history.
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Brandon Roy has given Portland a mountain of memories but none more dramatic than last season’s monumental comeback against Dallas in the NBA Playoffs. Roy brought his team back from a 23-point deficit to level the series at 2:2. The all-star guard scored 18 fourth quarter points in one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history.
“You can’t do this” – the doctor told Roy, according to one of the sources. “You might end up not walking.”
At one point Thursday afternoon, the Blazers had planned on making Roy available to reporters for the first time since last season. But minutes later, the availability was hastily called off.

Brandon Roy.

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The Virginia Tech police officer who was gunned down in a campus attack joined the force six months after the university was the scene of the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history. He was a proud policeman who recently invited a friend to ride along with him, which made his death during a traffic stop even more puzzling.
Deriek W. Crouse, an Army veteran and married father of five, was killed Thursday after pulling a driver over in a school parking lot. Police said the gunman walked up, shot the officer and then fled on foot before he apparently killed himself nearby. The deceased suspect was not involved in the traffic stop.
Police said they don’t know what motivated the officer’s killing or whether there was any link between the shooter, who has not been identified, and Crouse.
“At this point, we haven’t been able to establish any kind of immediate connection between the officer and the shooter” – State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller told The Associated Press late Thursday. “That’s obviously something that’s being looked into.”
State police said in a news release early Friday that ballistics tests confirmed Crouse and the deceased suspect had been shot by the same handgun. The tests have “officially linked the two fatal shootings” – the release said.
Authorities also said a review of Crouse’s in-car video showed a male suspect with a handgun at the officer’s car at the time of the shooting.
The news release said clothing found inside a discarded backpack recovered by Blacksburg police seemed to match that of the male subject in the officer’s video. Police said they were awaiting confirmation of the deceased suspect’s identity as well as autopsy results from the medical examiner in Roanoke.

Virginia Tech.

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Harry Morgan, the actor best known for playing Colonel Sherman Potter in the US television comedy “M*A*S*H”, has died at his Los Angeles home aged 96. Morgan died after suffering from pneumonia, his son Christopher confirmed late on Wednesday. The Emmy award-winning actor appeared in more than 100 films in a prolific career on the big screen.but was best known as Colonel Potter in “M*A*S*H”. Mike Farrell, who played BJ Hunnicutt in the series, said of his co-star – “There was not an unadorable bone in the man’s body.” Morgan also appeared as officer Bill Gannon on the crime series Dragnet from 1967 to 1970, alongside Jack Webb. His ability to play a variety of roles, dramatic and comedic, made him an actor in demand for half a century. He starred in about a dozen US TV series in the 1950′s and appeared in movies with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. But it was Morgan’s role on “M*A*S*H”, the long-running series on the US CBS network, that earned him his most fame. The series was adapted from the successful 1970 feature film of the same name, presenting an anti-war theme at the same time the US was extricating itself from the Vietnam War. Morgan was not one of “M*A*S*H” ‘s original cast members. The series began in 1972 but his first appearance came in a guest-starring role during its third season. He became a full-time cast member in 1975 after actor McLean Stevenson, who had played the fictional unit’s commanding officer, left the show. Morgan famously cried during a 1983 news conference after taping the final episode of “M*A*S*H”, which became the most-watched show in the history of US television. He told reporters – “I’m feeling very sad and sentimental. I don’t know if M*A*S*H made me a better actor, but I know it made me a better human being.”

Harry Morgan.

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The surprise Japanese bombing attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, destroyed the U.S. Naval fleet on December 7, 1941, and propelled the entry of the United States into World War II.
Four years ago, a list of World War II veterans in Decatur County was compiled and printed by The Post-Searchlight in commemoration of Veterans Day. While the number of surviving veterans has diminished somewhat, contact has been made with a few who were asked where they were on that fateful day that changed the world for ever.
Some of the biggest changes came about in the role that women played in society.
Pauline Brock recalls she was 20 and living in Bethlehem, Pa., on December 7, 1941. She and her family had been out for the day, having a good time. When they returned home and turned on the radio, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was announcing the attack. “We were all terribly shocked” – she recalls.
“I was working at that time as a switch board operator at Roller Smith Co., a manufacturing company” – she said. “The company went into production of wartime materials right away, and everything changed.”
She remembers everything was rationed, and that when all the men went to war the women had to take over their jobs. She moved to Michigan and worked for the Hudson Motor Car Co., which had ceased auto production to produce machines for the war.
Several women she knew there joined the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), and when they came back in their uniforms she was inspired to join them. She enlisted in the WAVES in 1944 and served in Washington, D.C., in the business office of medicine and surgery. While there she met her husband, Gus Brock from Bainbridge, a Marine who served in the South Pacific.

Pearl Harbor.

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“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kim Richards has entered rehab at an undisclosed treatment center.
The news that the 47-year-old reality TV star and aunt to fellow TV personality Paris Hilton entered the facility was first reported by “Entertainment Tonight” – which said that multiple sources confirmed the news.
The drinking problems suffered by Richards (who is a former child star) became a focal point of the hit reality series that follows, amongst other wealthy socialites, sisters Kim and Kyle Richards and Kelsey Grammer’s former wife Camille Donatacci.
During the shows first season Kim and Kyle Richards argued while in a limousine, with Kyle calling Kim “sick” and “an alcoholic.” This season new cast member Brandi Glanville accused Kim of being “wasted out of her f***ing mind.”
As a child, Kim Richards starred in hit films like “Escape to Witch Mountain,” and “No Deposit, No Return.” In November she revealed on the smash reality series that she is currently taking anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications.

Kim Richards.

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Megachurch leader Bishop Eddie Long announced Sunday he’s taking time off to focus on his family after his wife filed for divorce.
Long’s spokesman (Art Franklin) said the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church leader told his congregation during church services that he will continue to serve as senior pastor at the church in Lithonia just outside Atlanta. But Long said he needs a sabbatical.
Franklin declined to say how long the pastor’s sabbatical from the church would be. He said Long and his family “are asking for privacy and sensitivity to their family.”
The divorce filing comes more than a year after allegations last year that Long used his lavish lifestyle and position of spiritual authority to lure four young men into sexual relationships. Long settled the cases but has never admitted to any wrongdoing. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
The scandal has tainted Long’s reputation as an influential spiritual leader who transformed his suburban Atlanta congregation of 150 into a following of 25.000 members and an international televangelist empire that included athletes, entertainers and politicians.
Long’s wife (Vanessa Long) filed a petition for divorce Thursday in DeKalb County Superior Court to end her 21-year marriage to the embattled minister. The church sent out a press release Friday morning saying Vanessa Long planned to withdraw her petition, but her attorney said later in the day that she had changed her mind.

Eddie Long.

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What’s next for Brooke Mueller, besides her Colorado District court date on December 19?
Mueller, the 34-year-old ex-wife of Charlie Sheen was arrested Friday night in Aspen for cocaine possession and assault, a spokeswoman for the Aspen Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE.
But while the court will ultimately decide what is to become of Mueller, a source close to her tells PEOPLE – “Brooke can’t stay sober on her own.”
The source adds – “Maybe this [arrest] will force her to go into a treatment center for a long stay. Thirty-day rehabs won’t work for her.
“Her family has been trying to get her to do this, now maybe the court will force her to get the help she needs! She has enough family to take care of the kids while she’s away.”
Mueller’s rep, Steve Honig, told PEOPLE on Saturday – “We are declining comment.”
He later said – “I think anyone who is truly a friend of Brooke’s would not be spending their time talking anonymously and behind her back to the media. I seriously question the validity of any comments made by these people alleging to be friends with Brooke.”

Brooke Mueller.

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The wife of Bishop Eddie Long, the famed DeKalb County megachurch preacher accused of sexual involvement with young men, has said she will go through with a divorce with her husband.
In a statement obtained by Channel 2 Action News Friday morning Vanessa Long said “After a great deal of deliberation and prayer, I have decided to terminate my marriage to Bishop Eddie L. Long.”
She said she filed for divorce Thursday and hoped it would move along smoothly, but hours later, she issued a statement saying she plans to withdraw her petition from divorce.
“I love my husband. I believe in him and admire his strength and courage. My filing followed years of attacks in the media that frustrated and overwhelmed me” – she said. “I love my family and church family, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Therefore, my husband and I have mutally agreed to find healing from these attacks.”
Then, early Friday evening, Mrs. Long’s attorney sent a new statement saying she was still going through with the divorce petition.
“Consistent with her original statement made this morning, Mrs. Long continues to hope that this matter may be resolved expeditiously, harmoniously and fairly; however, she has determined that dismissal of her divorce petition is not appropriate at this time” – the statement said.

Bishop Eddie Long.

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