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Brinkley spouse had sex with teen, paid her $300K

CENTRAL ISLIP, New York (AP) — Christie Brinkley’s estranged husband said Wednesday he had sex with his teenage lover in his office, then paid her $300,000 while hoping to keep their affair quiet. He also showered her with spending money, including $500 hidden under a rock.

Peter Cook, called to the stand by his wife’s divorce lawyers, was questioned about his affair with Diana Bianchi, who is expected to testify that Cook seduced her shortly after hiring her for his Hamptons architectural firm.

Earlier, the fashion model’s lawyer said Cook spent about $3,000 a month on pornographic Web sites.

That is the man who’s come before this court and asked for custody of his 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter, attorney Robert Stephan Cohen said. The couple’s daughter, Sailor, had her birthday on Wednesday.

It was wrong and he said it was wrong, Cook’s lawyer, Norman Sheresky, said of the porn.

But the main focus of the trial is Cook’s affair with the 18-year-old, which set off a frenzy in the tabloids. Cohen said Brinkley found out about it from the teenager’s stepfather; the fashion model got the bad news moments before she was to speak at the Southampton High School graduation. Watch why Brinkley wants to divorce her husband

There is no way to make that right, Sheresky said. Peter has apologized. He’s cried his eyes out. He’s lost his marriage.

Cook’s lawyer said Brinkley is partly to blame for the public spectacle.

For goodness sake: She’s on her fourth husband, Sheresky told the court. Your honor, we’re here because of the self-indulgent wrath of a woman scorned.

Cook said he met Bianchi in early 2005 when she was working at a Hamptons toy store. Their affair began that March, around the time he hired Bianchi. She was paid $20,000 to type magazine articles onto the company’s Web site. He also left her cash payments in various spots: $500 under the rock outside his office; more behind a painting.

Before their relationship ended in late 2005, they had sex in the office a number of times, and at homes in the Hamptons owned by Brinkley.

Bianchi got the $300,000 in May 2007. The exact purpose of the money was not specified, but Cook said he was trying to protect himself and his family from scandal.

Sheresky said the case is no different than that of politicians who were unfaithful to their wives: former President Clinton, and former governors Eliot Spitzer of New York and James McGreevey of New Jersey.

Cohen said Brinkley paid for everything throughout the marriage as Cook quickly transformed himself as a person to the manor born. But custody, rather than money, is the couple’s main dispute. Brinkley’s ownership of her $30 million Bridgehampton home is not being contested.

Cohen said Brinkley is a doting mother whose work schedule revolves around her children. Her ex-husband, Piano Man Billy Joel, is also involved in their lives.

Uncle Billy is around to support these kids, said Cohen.

Alexa Ray Joel, 22, the daughter of Brinkley and Joel, will be called to testify about Cook’s constant criticism of Alexa, said Cohen.

Sheresky said there’s ample evidence that Cook’s a good parent, including interviews in which Brinkley referred to him as the best dad in the world.

The lawyer quoted Brinkley as saying: Peter is our rock. He’s the calm in the middle of the storm.

found here.

Who knew? Solar system is ‘dented,’ not round

WASHINGTON (AP) — When viewed from the rest of the galaxy, the edge of our solar system appears slightly dented as if a giant hand is pushing one edge of it inward, far-traveling NASA probes reveal.

Information from Earth’s first space probes to hit the thick edge of the solar system — called the heliosheath where the solar wind slows abruptly — paint a picture that is not the simple circle that astronomers long thought, according to several studies published Thursday in the journal Nature. Surprised astronomers said they will have to change their models for what the solar system looks like.

In 1977, NASA launched two space probes on missions beyond the solar system. Voyager 1 went north and Voyager 2 went south. What startled astronomers is that when the two of them hit the heliosheath they did so at different distances from the sun.

Voyager 2 hit the southern edge of the solar system nearly 1 billion miles (1.61 billion kilometers) closer to the sun than Voyager 1 did to the north. Voyager 2 hit the edge at 7.8 billion miles (12.55 billion kilometers) from the sun.

We used to assume that it’s all symmetric and simple, said Leonard Burlaga, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. It’s literally like a hand pushing.

found here.

Mbrk

MORNING BLAHS

markets open mixed after harsh pre market futures were sold on the heels of a mer dethrone and news doused of gm that they have sufficient liquidity to 2008- strong sectors include banks, internets, oils and telecom while coal, stiffen, metals and trannies lag.nsye- 250 grating losers;naz -550 strainer losers;ndx- 30 green;oex- 60 green;ibd- 25 green;vix- flattish;up volume a bit better than down;larger than expected builds in gasoline and maybe the genesis of something good- crude trading higher by 45 cents so no big reaction to the news.markets having a tough time again as bad news continues to sally forth in- s0me other bloggers with bullish outlooks in the short clauses including the quant and barry.
Related posts: Artist direct, Leonardo de caprio, Promotion calculator, Scott mclellan book, Liberty of the seas

Jerusalem bulldozer ‘terrorist’ kills 3

JERUSALEM (CNN) — Israeli authorities are investigating why a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem rammed his bulldozer into several cars and buses Wednesday, killing three people before Israeli police shot him dead.

Israeli authorities are labeling it a terrorist attack, although they say there is no clear motive and the man — a construction worker — acted alone.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told CNN the bulldozer operator drove down a busy thoroughfare in West Jerusalem, crashing into four cars and two buses, before heading toward a crowded market.

We believe he acted on his own and tried to kill as many people as possible, Rosenfeld said. Watch video of the rampage

If he would have continued … he would have made his way into an open market, hundreds of people doing shopping there … and this could have been (an) even worse terrorist attack than we have experienced today.

The rampage lasted about four to five minutes before a police officer climbed up the side of the swerving bulldozer and fatally shot the driver.

Police identified the attacker as a Palestinian man from a village in East Jerusalem with a criminal record. He worked at a construction site in the area, one of several along Jaffa Road.

Rosenfeld said because the man was a Jerusalem resident, he was able to arrive in the main part of Jerusalem without any problem whatsoever.

In addition to the fatalities, two people were seriously wounded and 42 others sustained minor injuries, paramedics said.

According to police and witnesses, the bulldozer ran over a car, crushing its front end and killing the driver before bumping into a bus shortly afterwards. It then struck another bus further down the road — knocking it over leaving a gaping hole in its side — and three other cars before a special police patrol unit arrived on motorcycles.

When the driver did not stop, one of the motorcycle police jumped onto the cab of the bulldozer, Rosenfeld said.

There was a struggle that took place inside the actual cabin of the bulldozer, he said. The terrorist himself was shot both by a security guard as well as a police special patrol unit that arrived at the scene, thus ending the killings.

The attack happened right in front a building housing several news organizations — including CNN’s Jerusalem bureau — on Jaffa Road, one of the longest and oldest streets in the city. The busy avenue is lined with shops and businesses. Several bulldozers and other construction equipment are in the area because a light rail service is being installed.

City residents walked about shocked and dazed, many of them witnesses to the attack.

When I came down it was utter pandemonium, CNN’s Ben Wedeman said. Hundreds of people in the street not knowing what was going on.

Wedeman said he had just arrived when the Israeli police officer climbed onto the bulldozer’s cab and shot the driver at point blank range.

Yosef Spielman described how a car had been picked up like a toy by the bulldozer, The Associated Press reported, adding: All the people were running. They had no chance.

And Yaakov Ashkenazi, an 18-year-old religious student, told the agency how the shovel of the bulldozer came down on a car. He smashed the guy sitting in the driver’s seat.

Soldier Hen Shimon, 19, said that the driver had a gun and started shooting at a police officer, AP added.

found here.

U.S. swimmers shatter records at trials

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) — Michael Phelps just missed setting another world record at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Peirsol showed him how to do it.

Racing about 10 minutes apart, Coughlin and Peirsol broke their own marks in the 100-meter backstroke Tuesday on another lightning-quick night at a temporary pool in America’s heartland.

Their records were the fifth and sixth of the meet — with five days to go. Both Coughlin and Peirsol were wearing the Speedo LZR Racer, which upped its tally of world marks to 44 since debuting in mid-February.

I’m really glad that I stamped my ticket to Beijing. I got that over with, Coughlin said. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted.

Phelps made a dogged run at perhaps the most impressive record on his staggering resume, the time of 1 minute, 43.86 seconds from the 200-meter freestyle at last year’s world championships. He was right on pace as he powered toward the wall, but he touched with only the third-fastest time in history, 1:44.10.

Then it was time for Coughlin and Peirsol to shine.

Coughlin became the first woman to break 59 seconds, just one day after she reclaimed the world record in the preliminaries. She touched in 58.97, locking up the first of perhaps as many as six races she could swim in Beijing.

Peirsol showed he’s still king of the backstroke, beating a strong field and his own record in the 100 back at 52.89, ahead of the 52.98 from last year’s worlds.

All of my training has definitely paid off, said Peirsol, one of the Nike-sponsored swimmers who ditched their regular suit to wear the LZR Racer. I feel relieved.

Matt Grevers took second just ahead of Ryan Lochte, who dropped a spot in the 200 free final — and another chance to race Phelps — to give himself a better chance to qualify in the backstroke. The move didn’t pay off; Lochte came on strong over the final 50 but touched in 53.37, behind Grevers’ 53.19.

Phelps returned to the pool about 50 minutes after the 200 free, posting the fastest time in the semifinals of the 200 butterfly at 1:54.02. He’ll head to Wednesday’s final as a big favorite in yet another event which has his name at the head of the record book.

Coughlin, who won five Olympic medals in Athens, will surely be one of the biggest stars of the powerful U.S. swimming team, along with Phelps and Katie Hoff.

A day earlier, Coughlin watched her world record in the 100 back snatched away by Hayley McGregory in the prelims. Two minutes later, Coughlin took it right back. Twenty-four hours later, she went even faster.

I knew I could go a 58, she said.

After briefly holding the world record, McGregory failed to even qualify for the Olympics. She finished third in the final, edged out by Margaret Hoelzer’s time of 59.21. McGregory touched in 59.42.

On a busy night, Coughlin also qualified third in the semifinals of the 200 individual medley, an event her coach persuaded her to swim only a week ago. She has another of her strongest events, the 100 freestyle, still to come and figures to be a key member of all three relay teams in Beijing.

In Tuesday night’s other final, Jessica Hardy earned her first trip to the Olympics by winning the 100 breaststroke. The 21-year-old was under world-record pace at the flip but faded on the return lap. Still, she managed to win 1:06.87.

found here.