Bloggin The Rock

“Dancing With the Stars” takes an unexpected twist as its third celebrity is eliminated.

AP - A missile strike by a suspected U.S. drone killed at least six people in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, two Pakistani intelligence officials said Wednesday.

The vice presidential candidate of a major political party in America apparently believes dinosaurs and men once walked the earth at the same time:

After conducting a college band and watching Palin deliver a commencement address to a small group of home-schooled students in June 1997, Wasilla resident Philip Munger said, he asked the young mayor about her religious beliefs.

Palin told him that “dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth at the same time,” Munger said. When he asked her about prehistoric fossils and tracks dating back millions of years, Palin said “she had seen pictures of human footprints inside the tracks,” recalled Munger, who teaches music at the University of Alaska in Anchorage and has regularly criticized Palin in recent years on his liberal political blog, called Progressive Alaska.
Palin treads carefully between fundamentalist beliefs and public policy (Los Angeles Times)

Newly registered voters back Obama over McCain by a margin of 61% to 30%, according to a WSJ/NBC poll conducted with MySpace. (Poll findings)

AP - Janet Jackson was released from a Montreal hospital just two hours after she arrived, a spokeswoman for the facility said Tuesday, but it was still not clear why she was admitted.

Days after the loss of one of Hollywood’s greatest talents, Paul Newman, the actor’s older brother Arthur Newman Jr. spoke with Billy Bush about his immeasurable loss.

“I guess I’m doing as well as can be expected,” Arthur told Billy Bush during a touching and emotional interview for Wednesday’s “The Billy Bush Show” and Access Hollywood, earlier this afternoon. “Naturally my thoughts keep going back to him. We literally grew up as twins.”

Arthur explained how at just a little over a year apart in age, he and Paul were raised so closely that they were given the same toys and sports equipment at the same time.

And though Paul was his younger brother, Paul became the person Arthur looked up to during the boys’ youth in Ohio.

“He was always there,” Arthur said. “Literally my younger brother was my role model. He was my mentor, he was my advisor.”

Since his brother’s death last Friday at the age of 83, Arthur told Billy the past few days have amounted to one of the most difficult periods in his life.

“It’s not - I don’t expect it to be easy. Obviously we all have to adjust to adversity and this is adversity at its greatest and we have to weather it,” he said.

Arthur, who served as the production manager for his brother’s film company, said that while many people knew Paul as a great actor, he was someone who put his all into his practice. Long before he became famous for his parts in films like “Cool Hand Luke,” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” Paul told Arthur he was going to attend Yale School of Drama, which his elder brother suggested might not be the best place to spend his money.

“‘Arthur, I don’t care if I have to live out of an orange crate, I’m gonna learn my craft,’” he recounted his little brother as having said. “It wasn’t just luck… He worked hard. He was always punching ahead.”

And it was Paul’s dedication to not only his craft, but his endeavors, including his food business, that made him successful.

“No matter what he did he did it with great success and obviously I think about that all the time,” Arthur told Billy. “And he was so generous. He was generous to me and the family as well.”

In addition to speaking with Billy, Arthur also released a statement about his brother’s passing, calling Paul “just about the best human being I have ever known.”

“Beyond his place as a world famous ’superstar’, his reputation as a top international race car driver and his rightful recognition as a most generous global philanthropist, Paul was my loyal and supportive brother for the past 83 years,” Arthur’s statement read. “Although he was a year younger, from the time we were boys, I always considered him my role model and mentor. His love for Joanne and all in our family, will provide us strength in times to come. He was just about the best human being I have ever known.”

Janet Jackson has postponed two upcoming concert dates due to illness, the singer’s reps confirmed to Access Hollywood.

Jackson’s “Rock Witchu Tour” stops in Boston on October 1 and Philadelphia on October 2 will be rescheduled. The tour is scheduled to resume in Greensboro, NC on October 4.

On Monday, the singer “got suddenly ill,” during sound check and was “rushed” to a hospital before her show was due to kick off in the city according to a statement released to Access by W&W Public Relations, who rep the star.

Jackson was monitored at Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital last night, but was not admitted. She was discharged two hours after first being taken to the facility according to Canada’s CTV News.

Access Hollywood has learned that while Jackson was in Montreal, her boyfriend, producer Jermaine Dupri, was at New York City’s Marquee nightclub. He had been attending Patron’s Music Motion Tour Party, where rapper TI was performing.

Jackson’s trip to the Montreal hospital was not her first medical center visit this year. In March, Jackson was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center suffering from the flu. The March illness forced the singer to cancel a planned appearance on “Saturday Night Live” to promote her latest album, “Discipline.”

Jackson, 42, returned to the national tour circuit for the first time in seven years kicking off her “Rock Witchu” trek on September 10.

Just this past weekend, however, one of Jackson’s dates in Detroit, Michigan, was canceled according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. The show was canceled, reps for the star told the publication, due to “production constraints.”

Jackson was “extremely disappointed” she was not able to perform for her Montreal fans, W&W said in their statement. They are currently working on rescheduling the show.

Miley Cyrus will be celebrating her Sweet 16 birthday at the Disneyland Resort this weekend with 5,000 of her fans — plus up to another 30,000 members of Gay Days, an annual gay and lesbian gathering at the Magic Kingdom.

In order to accommodate Miley’s birthday bash, Disneyland will be closing the park to guests not attending the ‘tween star’s party at 5 PM.

A rep for the Disneyland Resort dispelled reports that Gay Days revelers were being shut out because of Miley’s birthday milestone.

“Many groups hold events at the Disneyland Resort and for two to occur at the same time is not uncommon,” a Disneyland rep told Access Hollywood. “Gays Days, which takes place October 3-5, overlaps with Miley Cyrus’ Sweet 16 celebration only on Sunday night, October 5.”

Disneyland plans to accommodate Gay Days’ post-5 PM guests at its sister park.

“Gay Days organizers already had scheduled activities for that evening at Disney’s California Adventure. And, to give our guests more time to enjoy the resort, we have extended operating hours for Disney’s California Adventure until 11:00 PM,” the Disneyland rep added.

As for the Gay Days organization, they remain upbeat about Miley crashing their annual get-together at the happiest place on earth — even hopeful that the “Hannah Montana” star might show for an impromptu performance.

“Yes, Miley Cyrus is having her birthday at Disneyland on Sunday, October 5 and Disneyland will be closing at 5 PM that day,” the organization said on their Web site. “That’s our scheduled day at Disney’s California Adventure so we don’t foresee any changes to Gay Days Anaheim. Although we would love her to come sing for us!”

Britney Spears is heading back out on tour.

In a promotional appearance on New York’s Z100 radio station earlier this week, the singer confirmed she will take her upcoming sixth artist album “Circus,” on the road.

“Definitely,” she said when asked about hitting the road. “Probably around the world.”

As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Britney released the first single off the album, “Womanizer,” to radio last Friday.

“I like the fact that it’s so empowering for girls because it’s basically saying, ‘Ya know, we know what you’re up to,’” Britney told Z100 about the song. “It’s about guys cheating on other girls and stuff like that. And it’s kinda like a girl anthem, so that’s why I like it.”

Britney will reportedly start her tour in 2009.

In the past, Britney has helped give a leg up to several acts including Jada Pinkett Smith’s Wicked Wisdom and “Milkshake” singer Kelis, by having them open for her on tour.

Tom Hanks released a statement Tuesday remembering his Road to Perdition costar Paul Newman, who died at age 83: “Paul Newman told me his hotel in Chicago was a room at the YMCA, which was not hard to imagine. He considered himself just another member of the acting company, who would call his wife during breaks and confess to feeling self-conscious on the first day of shooting. But he was Paul Newman, and could not mask the fact he was simply – yet elegantly – an extraordinary artist and man. How lucky we all have been.”