Rheumatoid Arthritis

Radical honesty is not a trait most young Hollywood actors possess. Between studio expectations, the muzzle of publicists and ego-driven proclivities to appear happy and in control, the likelihood of a completely candid answer to, say, “How are you?” or “Is there truth to the rumor of…” is basically nil.

Not so with Shia LaBeouf, an actor seemingly unafraid to present himself as human, even with a gargantuan summer blockbuster like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to promote. Partly, it’s that LaBeouf, who is only 22, manages to remain likeable no matter what he says or does off camera. This is the guy who once told a TV entertainment reporter that Lindsay Lohan had made “some scary decisions,” adding, “If I’m perceived as someone like that, I’m going to be screwed.”

In 2007, with three of his movies—Surf’s Up, Disturbia and the original Transformers— on their way to grossing more than $1 billion worldwide, LaBeouf was arrested at a Chicago Walgreens on criminal trespassing charges for refusing to leave the store at a security guard’s request. Appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman to explain himself, LaBeouf admitted that he was “pretty messed up on the special magic sauce” and that he acted like a “moron.” Four months later, on the eve of the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which LaBeouf plays Harrison Ford’s son and cohort in adventure, the actor failed to show for a court appearance after being cited for unlawful smoking. That led to a warrant for his arrest. His latest outing run amok occurred midway through shooting Transformers 2 last summer, when the pickup LaBeouf was driving reportedly ran a red light, flipped over and hit another car. Though supporters rushed to defend the actor (“He was not drunk,” insisted Transformers director Michael Bay at the time), LaBeouf, who seriously injured his left hand, has spent much of the past year copping to his addiction problems while still eyeing new monster projects. His latest big move: a starring role in John Grisham’s legal thriller The Associate, currently in production.

Rachael Ray has taken the crown traditionally worn by Ellen DeGeneres: the TV chef won the Emmy for best talk show, an honor that for the three previous years has gone to DeGeneres.

“I’m just thankful to have a job in the recession and be working,” Ray said after her win at Sunday’s 36th annual Daytime Emmy Awards, held at downtown Los Angeles’s historic Orpheum Theater and aired on the CW network.

On the red carpet before her victory, Ray told PEOPLE that she lacked an acceptance speech. “You know, I’m so bad at memorization and our show is completely unscripted, so I’m just going to go up,” she said, “and if something nice happens like that then we’ll just go with our gut.”

“I love daytime television,” informative talk-show category winner Tyra Banks said at the podium. “I learned the birds and the bees from watching [General Hospital's] Luke and Laura. I learned my ABCs, 1-2-3 from Sesame Street. This [Emmy] is for the women out there that do not feel beautiful … that do not have time to do their makeup … This is for you guys.”

Backstage, Banks said, “I was a little fearful, honestly, that we wouldn’t necessarily win this year because last year was so huge – ‘Kiss My Fat Ass!’ was heard around the world.”

As the pieces are still being put together to identify the cause of Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein’s death, a police source tells PEOPLE that on Friday, Aug. 28, the day he was later discovered dead in his Manhattan apartment, the celebrity deejay had sent his last text message to two friends at 1 a.m.

The subject of his message was his scheduled Las Vegas gig that very Friday night at the Rain Nightclub in the Palms Hotel – but he never made it.

Sixteen hours after Goldstein texted, a friend called 911 because Goldstein had failed to answer his cell phone and, when it was time for him to leave for his flight, his two traveling companions could not reach him.

After the NYPD broke down the door to his SoHo apartment, says a police source, they found the lifeless Goldstein in bed, wearing sweatpants, and a crack pipe nearby. They also discovered a half bag of crack cocaine and prescription drugs.

On Saturday, the New York City Medical Examiners office announced that after an initial autopsy proved “inconclusive,” more tests, including a toxicology report that might require weeks, would be performed.

Gordon Brown was dragged into the centre of the row over the early release of the Lockerbie bomber last night after it emerged that a key decision that could have paved the way for the terrorist to serve his sentence in Libya was approved by Downing Street.

A source close to Jack Straw told The Times that the move to include Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement in 2007 was a government decision and was not made at the sole discretion of the Justice Secretary. “It wasn’t just Jack who decided this. It was a Government decision. Jack did not act unilaterally.”

The row over the early release of the Lockerbie bomber ten days ago shows no sign of abating after the Ministry of Justice indicated yesterday that the decision to include al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement had been made with the possibility of trade deals with Libya in mind.

“The negotiations over a prisoner transfer agreement were part of a wider agreement for the normalisation of relations with Libya as part of bringing them into the international community,” he said.

Damon Robinson, who moved into the vacant house in 2006, and another neighbour say that Mr Garrido acted as caretaker of the home when it lay empty. In 2006 Mr Robinson’s girlfriend called police after she saw tents and children in the backyard, but the responding deputy did not uncover the compound.

A third neighbour, Janice Deitrich, 66, said that Mr Garrido visited and helped to feed an elderly neighbour who lived in the house before Mr Robinson.

Local residents called Mr Garrido “Crazy Phil”, partly because he ranted about hearing voices from God, and some knew that he was a registered sex offender. But they assumed parole authorities were keeping a close watch on him. He was convicted three decades ago of abducting and raping a casino worker in a Nevada warehouse that a former detective described as a “sex palace” for playing out his fantasies.

An estate agent told The Times that he saw Ms Dugard and the children many times at the family home. Deepal Karunaratne, 54, a broker with Altera Signature Properties of Antioch, said that “Allissa” helped with the design of his business cards.

“I thought she was very smart, well-dressed, handling the business for him. I regarded her as his daughter,” he said.

Asked why he thought she had never asked him to call the police, he said: “I think she probably must have been in fear for her life, or for the lives of her children. Who knows what threats they had made?”

Timothy Allen, the owner of East County Glass & Window in Pittsburg, California, said that Mr Garrido would come into the shop with the girls. “They looked normal. They spoke really well and one even shook my hand,” he said.

Over the past year Mr Garrido was overtaken by his religious fanaticism, business clients and neighbours said. On his blog, called “Voices Revealed”, he claims that he has the ability to hear the voices in people’s heads.

Maria Christenson, owner of the Christenson Recycling Centre, described how the couple came into her office and asked for a $2,000 advance. He told her that they had plans to start a backyard church.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed Tehran’s Friday prayer gathering, calling on opposition leaders to be prosecuted for unrest and violence following June 12’s disputed presidential election.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had harsh words for his political adversaries from the opposition reform movement.

Mr.  Ahmadinejad, who took a low profile in weeks of unrest following his alleged “landslide victory” in Iran’s disputed June 12 presidential election, claimed that his reformist opponents are now in disarray.

He says that with God’s will, the Iranian nation has slammed the [villains] in the mouth during the elections, and after two months, they are now stunned and have lost their way.

A fierce crackdown by Iranian security forces, following weeks of opposition protests, including thousands of arrests and alleged torture of detainees, has dampened what had been a serious threat to Iran’s 30-year-old Islamic Republic.

The Iranian president went on to call on Iran’s judiciary to “prosecute” reformist leaders for their alleged crimes.

The top U.S. military officer has written a sharp critique of the Defense Department’s efforts to communicate with people around the world. In an article for a military journal, Admiral Mike Mullen says the U.S. military too often launches its messages like rockets, rather than engaging with its audiences and demonstrating its intentions through actions, rather than words.

Admiral Mullen writes that the Pentagon’s “biggest problem is credibility,” which he says comes in part from building trust and relationships, and delivering on promises. In a column for Joint Forces Quarterly, the admiral derides the popular new concept called Strategic Communications, saying there is too much attention put on message formulation, coordination and transmission, and not enough on actual policies and their impact. 

He writes, “To put it simply, we need to worry a lot less about how to communicate our actions and much more about what our actions communicate.” He also says, “…most strategic communication problems are not communication problems at all. They are policy and execution problems.”

The State Department said Friday the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran’s nuclear program shows it is still not being responsive to concerns that it might be seeking nuclear weapons. Senior diplomats from major world powers meet next week in Germany to discuss nuclear diplomacy with Iran.

U.S. experts are still studying the lengthy IAEA document, but officials here say it is already clear from the report that Iran is still not being forthcoming with the U.N. agency on its nuclear intentions.

The highly-anticipated IAEA report said Iran is continuing to enrich uranium though at a somewhat slower rate than reported previously.

It acknowledged that Tehran has again given U.N. inspectors access to its main nuclear complex at Natanz, but said it has failed to address key nuclear questions posed by the IAEA including if there are military dimensions to its program.

Initial U.S. reaction came from State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly, who said it is clear Tehran is not cooperating fully with a world community skeptical about its assertions that its nuclear program is peaceful.

Space shuttle Discovery has launched on a mission to deliver new science equipment and other supplies to the International Space Station.

Discovery lifted off one minute before midnight Friday from the Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Atlantic coast, carrying nearly 8,000 kilograms of equipment for the International Space Station.

Moments before launch, shuttle launch director Pete Nickolenko radioed Discovery commander Rick Sturckow to say that the shuttle was cleared to go, saying, “We wish you and your team good luck and god speed.”

Sturckow responded, “Thanks, Pete. On behalf of the Discover, thanks to everyone who helped prepare for this mission. Let’s go step up the science on the International Space Station.”
Two earlier attempts to launch Discovery were scrubbed this week, because of lightning storms and a technical problem with the shuttle’s fuel valve.

The Discovery crew will spend 13 days in orbit, and astronauts will conduct three space walks after the orbiter’s rendezvous with the space station on Sunday. The team will deliver a sleeping quarter and a new treadmill named after American comedian Stephen Colbert. The shuttle’s payload also includes new science equipment, including a freezer and experiment racks.

Music copywrite law is not just a hot topic in the United States. The West African nation of Senegal has a long tradition of producing talented musicians. But many of these artists find it hard to survive because few media outlets pay them for broadcasting their music. This could now change due to a landmark lawsuit brought against the country’s largest private TV station.

Youssou N’Dour, Baaba Maal, Orchestre Baobab, Akon… Some of the most renowned African artists on the international music scene come from Senegal.

If you are a musician trying to make it in Senegal, you may find success but you will find it hard to make a living.

Miriam is a popular Senegalese hip-hop artist from the all-female group, Alif. She says she has been making music for 12 years and has never made any money from the products that she has created. She has had to rely on concerts and tours to make a living. She says she gets nothing from album sales and the payment of royalties is very complicated.

Pirated music is a big challenge for Senegal’s music industry. But musicians here are grappling with an even more basic truth: most radio and TV stations play their music but do not pay royalty fees.