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Rex USA The first Muslim crowned Miss USA spoke out against the planned mosque near Ground Zero yesterday, saying the project is insensitive to 9/11 victims. The first Muslim crowned Miss USA spoke out against the planned mosque near Ground Zero yesterday, saying the project is insensitive to 9/11 victims. “We should be more concerned with the tragedy than religion,” said Miss USA Rima Fakih, who was born in Lebanon but raised in Dearborn, Michigan. “I totally agree with President Obama with the statement on Constitutional rights of freedom of religion,” Fakih told “Inside Edition.” “I also agree that it shouldn’t be so close to the World Trade Center.” A planned 13-story community center and mosque two blocks north of Ground Zero, Park51 mushroomed into a national controversy last week after President Obama spoke in favor of the project at a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan. Fakih, 24, is in Las Vegas rehearsing for Monday’s Miss Universe pageant, officials said yesterday. She told the Detroit Free Press on Tuesday she’s fasting from sunrise to sunset for Ramadan. The former Miss Michigan became the first Muslim to be crowned Miss USA in May. She dazzled judges when she took the stage in a skimpy red and orange bikini. She would also be the first Muslim to be crowned Miss Universe. Fakih commissioned a flashy gold and silver eagle costume for the competition that she calls a tribute to Obama. “The symbolism of this costume is a tribute to your work to bring peace to the world,” Fakih said of the winged outfit in a promotional video for Miss Universe. “The amazing costume I will wear during the Miss Universe pageant represents the celebration of life, liberty and all that is American.” Fakih hit a rough patch in May when TMZ.com posted photographs of the beauty competing in a “Stripper 101″ competition at a Michigan bar. She was crowned pole dancing champion at the event. sgoldsmith@nydailynews.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: “Peace Envoy” Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent .

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Miss USA Rima Fakih, first Muslim winner, speaks out against mosque near Ground Zero

Winter/Getty Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva have been battling each other in court over child support. Mel Gibson ’s reputation has certainly suffered in recent months, but his fortune seems to have survived intact. The actor once known for his Hollywood charm told a judge that he needs a $7.2 million “slush fund” to support his lavish lifestyle, reported RadarOnline.com . During Wednesday’s court hearing to determine the amount of child support Gibson owes to ex-lover Oksana Grigorieva , the mother of his 8-month-old daughter Lucia, the actor argued that his own expenses – which only include living costs, not luxury items such as a private jet – were absolute “necessities.” Gibson is reportedly trying to limit Grigorieva’s monthly child support payments to $6,000 – which is only 1% of the $600,000 that the star says he spends on himself every 30 days. In addition to his brutal battle for cash with his baby mama, Gibson is also facing public backlash following the release of his now-infamous expletive-fueled audio tapes. In the recorded rants, Gibson allegedly accuses Grigorieva of being a money-grubbing “user” who “just f—ing sucks me dry.” Adding further insult to injury: photographic evidence shows a bruised and battered Grigorieva, along with the accusation that Gibson once dealt blows at the Russian beauty while she was holding their daughter in her arms. Although Gibson says he’s rolling in dough now, he was singing a different tune a few months back. In one of the tapes, an unhinged Gibson rages at Grigorieva, yelling, “I don’t have any f—ing money! I have to support you and everybody else!” According to Radar, Grigorieva explains to the court that she needs more money to pay bodyguards to keep herself and her daughter safe. Gibson says it is not necessary. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: “Peace Envoy” Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent .

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Mel Gibson thinks ex deserves only 1 percent of his monthly living expenses for child support

Seib/Pool Lindsay Lohan may avoid the full 90-day sentence in rehab, the L.A. district attorney’s office said. Despite entering rehab for a reported addiction to methamphethamine and bipolar disorder, Lindsay Lohan may not have those problems after all. According to TMZ.com , doctors who have evaluated the troubled starlet at UCLA’s Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Westwood believe she was misdiagnosed. Lohan, 24, has reportedly been “weaned off” all six of her medications, including Dilaudid, Ambien, Adderall, Zoloft, Trazodone and Nexium. Not only has she not shown any adverse reactions to the absence of her meds, but Lohan has also not had any withdrawal symptoms to the void of alcohol, TMZ reported. Doctors at the substance abuse program purportedly believe Judge Marsha Revel “overreacted” when she ordered Lohan to stay at the facility for 90 days. Last month, Revel excused herself from the case. Furthermore, docs have reportedly concluded that Lohan does not have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the condition that granted her a prescription for Adderall. Addiction specialist Dr. Joe Haraszti told TMZ that people who unnecessarily take Adderall can experience similar effects as those who use cocaine or methamphetamine. People who improperly take Adderall can display manic symptoms, such as “driving around until all hours of the morning … smoking heavily … tweeting … and texting all night long,” Haraszti told the gossip website. “They can become very impulsive.” He also listed insomnia as a side effect, a reason some people take Ambien or other sleep aids to help go to sleep. As for her psychiatric problems, Lohan appears to not be bipolar. Instead, the actress is reportedly suffering from a personality disorder, which TMZ claims is partly due to a difficult upbringing in Hollywood. The Los Angeles district attorney’s office has said that the “Mean Girls” star, recently released from the slammer for violating probation on drunk driving charges, may avoid the full 90-day sentence in rehab. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: “Peace Envoy” Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent .

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Doctors claim Lindsay Lohan was misdiagnosed for drug addiction and bipolar disorder: report

Rothenberg for News Jennifer Aniston came under fire for saying a controversial word on ‘Live with Regis and Kelly.’ Jennifer Aniston’s words seem to be getting her in trouble lately. During an appearance on “Live with Regis and Kelly” Thursday, the actress let a controversial word slip as she was discussing her recent photo shoot for Harper’s Bazaar, in which she dressed up as Barbra Streisand. “You played dress up!” host Regis Philbin told the actress. She casually replied, “I played dress up! I do it for a living, like a retard!” Following the interview, the actress, who stars in the new romantic comedy “The Switch,” came under fire for her “extraordinarily offensive and inappropriate” comment. “Frankly, someone in her position ought to know better,” Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc (a nonprofit advocate for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities), told UsMagazine.com . “She is using language that is offensive to a large segment of the population in this country.” “We estimate that there are probably in excess of 5 million people in the country with intellectual disabilities, and when you think about all of them, their family members and friends, you’re talking about tens of millions of people who find the use of that term to be really offensive,” he added. “Every time folks hear that word, it kind of reminds them of all the discrimination and oppression they’ve experienced in their lives. Even if it wasn’t intended to insult them, that is the effect of it.” Aniston, 41, isn’t the only public figure who has been attacked for using the word. Earlier this year, Sarah Palin scolded Rahm Emanuel for calling liberal groups opposed to health care reform “f—ing retards.” “Sadly, people use the word pervasively even if they don’t realize it,” said Kirsten Seckler, spokeswoman for the Special Olympics. “People with intellectual disabilities have fought their whole lives for understanding and recognition. When people continue to use the R word, it’s hurtful.” Bill O’Reilly also recently slammed Aniston for her comments made about single parenthood. The Fox News host called the actress “destructive to society.” This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: “Peace Envoy” Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent .

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Jennifer Aniston under fire for ‘retard’ comment made during ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’ interview

Ceneta/AP Larry Birkhead testified Thursday he saw Anna Nicole Smith taking numerous prescription drugs. LOS ANGELES — Larry Birkhead , one of the central figures in the Anna Nicole Smith drama, is returning to the witness stand to give jurors the inside story of his life with the late Playboy model and her drug use. Birkhead, the father of Smith’s daughter, Dannielynn, was to testify Friday for a second day as a prosecution witness in the drug conspiracy trial of two doctors and Howard K. Stern , the man who once fought him for custody of Smith’s child. Also watching in court has been Virgie Arthur , Smith’s mother who also sought guardianship of baby Dannielynn when Smith died. Birkhead, who won the battle with DNA tests, was being asked about Stern’s role in Smith’s drug-fueled existence. Birkhead said he saw Stern give her medicine when she didn’t feel well and knew he was picking up prescriptions for her at the pharmacy. Birkhead also said that when he once hid the powerful painkiller from Smith, Stern called him and asked where it was. “I was told by Howard she needed it to live, the Methadone,” he said. Prosecutors planned to have Birkhead identify videotapes of Smith before and during an appearance at the American Music Awards in which she appeared to be drugged. Birkhead testified Thursday he saw her taking numerous prescription drugs but that she told him she was not an addict. He said that from the time he moved in with Smith in late 2004 he was concerned about her excessive use of medications and questioned her about it. “She would say, ‘I’m in pain. I’m not a drug addict,’” Birkhead recalled. When he suggested she was taking too many drugs, she replied, “I have a high tolerance because I’m in pain.” An issue that has emerged in the three-week-old trial is whether Smith was an addict or was dependent on drugs for pain. Stern, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor are charged with prescribing to an addict as well as conspiring to provide excessive opiates and sedatives to the celebrity model. They are not charged with causing her 2007 overdose death in Florida . With prosecutors focusing on Stern, his sister, Bonnie Stern , testified Thursday under a grant of immunity from prosecutors. She identified e-mails in which Smith pleaded for her to have drugs sent to her in the Bahamas . But Bonnie Stern said she didn’t remember sending anything. Howard K. Stern’s lawyer, Steve Sadow , asked about the personal relationship between his client and Smith. “She was his everything,” Bonnie Stern said of her brother. “I only wish I would meet someone that loved me as much as he loved her.” This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: “Peace Envoy” Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent .

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Larry Birkhead recounts Anna Nicole Smith’s excessive drug use at trial for Howard K. Stern, doctors