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British psychologists have found evidence of a link between excessive internet use and depression, research published today has shown. Leeds University researchers, writing in the Psychopathology journal (abstract here – subscription required for full pdf), said a small proportion of internet users were classed as internet addicts and that people in this group were more likely to be depressed than non-addicted users. "This study reinforces the public speculation that over-engaging in websites that serve to replace normal social function might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction," Morrison said. < /snip >

How German Homeschoolers Won Asylum in the U.S. But here's the problem: in Germany it's compulsory for children to attend school, and the Romeikes soon found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Local authorities slapped the couple with a $10,000 fine, and police even took their children to school when the Romeikes refused to send them. Fearing that they could lose custody of their kids or even be put in jail, the Romeikes fled to the U.S. in 2008, looking for a community where they could educate their kids as they saw fit.

First, the Dallas Cowboys' Web site said that they were going to keep Wade Phillips. Then the team said that wasn't official yet. At the end of the day, though, Phillips is still the head coach for the Dallas Cowboys.Wade Phillips' contract option was picked up and Jerry Jones added two more years to the deal.Phillips is 33-15 in three years with Dallas and has a major playoff win over the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. He has taken this team's defense to second overall in the entire NFL. Seven Cowboys are going to the Pro Bowl this year. More can come...

Derek Dooley will be the next head coach at Tennessee, according to published reports.Dooley has been head coach at Louisiana Tech the past three seasons, going 17-20. He has just one winning season: 8-5 in 2008, which saw the Bulldogs go to the Independence Bowl. < snip > Dooley emerged as the top candidate after Tennessee’s overtures to Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and Duke head coach David Cutcliffe were spurned.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Phillip Fulmer wants to make it clear that he’s willing to help his alma mater. But he isn’t looking to replace his successor at Tennessee. < snip > The man who was 152-52 in 17 seasons at Tennessee did not refer to Lane Kiffin’s abrupt resignation. He called “recent events” painful and embarrassing.

Lane Kiffin will be the next USC coach, Rivals.com has confirmed. Kiffin will replace Pete Carroll, who left to take the Seattle Seahawks head coaching job. Kiffin coached Tennessee for one year, leading the Vols to a 7-6 record a trip to the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

WASHINGTON – A rarely seen 400-year-old map that identified Florida as "the Land of Flowers" and put China at the center of the world went on display Tuesday at the Library of Congress.The map created by Matteo Ricci was the first in Chinese to show the Americas. Ricci, a Jesuit missionary from Italy, was among the first Westerners to live in what is now Beijing in the early 1600s. Known for introducing Western science to China, Ricci created the map in 1602 at the request of Emperor Wanli.Ricci's map includes pictures and annotations describing different regions of the world. Africa...

ESPN analyst Craig James, whose complaints about the way his son was treated led to the dismissal of Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, may be considering a career change. The former SMU football player said this week that he might consider running for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat when she steps down this year. "I’m a Texan. I’m concerned for our country," James told WFAA-TV. "I disagree with the approach that we’re having, things that are taking place, and so whatever door opens up, I’ll look at it, if and when it opens up." James, 49, joins a growing...

Post-game interviews from Alabama and Texas quarterbacks. Greg McElroy On National Title Win [youtube] Colt McCoy's Postgame Interview [youtube]Colt is humble and gives glory to God. What a testament to his strong faith and character.

Could you imagine being jailed simply because you decided to opt your children out of sex education? Well, this is exactly what is happening to a number of fathers in Germany. And, if certain forces in the United States have their way, such a policy could one day find its way to our shores as well. This story is unfolding in the German state of Salzkotten, where the government has decided that all children must be indoctrinated with a state-designed curriculum — including explicit sex education that most parents would agree is inappropriate for children. Bob Unruh reports on the...

On her Christmas in Washington special on ABC last night, Oprah Winfrey asked President Obama to grade himself. "Good, solid B-plus," the president said. Explaining, he said, "we have inherited the biggest set of challenges of any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. "We stabilized the economy, and prevented possibilities of a Great Depression or a significant financial meltdown. The economy is growing again. "We are on our way out of Iraq. I think we've got the best possible plan for Afghanistan. "We have reset our image around the world. "We have achieved an international consensus around the need for Iran...

CNN is now claiming that Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter, is a conservative. On November 10, 2009, CNN Special Investigations Correspondent Drew Griffin called Hasan “conservative,” [Rush] and now that talking point is being spewed again on today’s front page online story. The story, about Hasan’s search for a wife, discusses how two imams told CNN “about [Hasan’s] conservatism.” The story also mentions Hasan’s “conservative” clothing choices.

<p>TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — In a case being called Twittergate, a Republican Party county chairman wants to know whether state party leaders new about a fake Twitter account set up to defame him.</p>

PALM BAY, Fla. -- An illegal immigrant in Palm Bay faces multiple counts of sexual battery after officers say he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl. David Sanchez, 28, investigators say, used a family friendship to rape the child. Sanchez is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who has already been deported once for doing the same thing to another child in Alabama. Investigators say he returned to the U.S. in mid-2008 where he began having an unlawful sexual relationship with a then, 12-year-old child. On Sunday detectives arrested Sanchez after the girl’s father found him having sex with his daughter...

DAVIE - The father of a 3-year-old allegedly molested by a family friend may get a harsher penalty than the alleged offender police say he and a neighbor severely beat. Thirty-eight-year-old Luke Petruschke was so badly hurt in the weekend attack he had to be placed in a medically induced coma. Police say 27-year-old Manuel Vega and a friend tried to make it look like he was in a car accident. The boy's grandmother says Vega is a good dad who just "lost it." If he recovers, police say Petruschke will face charges of lewd and lascivious molestation. Vega and...

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) said Monday that they are backing a federal political action committee "dedicated to discarding the Bowl Championship Series and instituting a competitive post-season championship for college football." The people behind Playoff PAC – whose tagline is "Beat the BCS. Save College Football." – believe that the Bowl Championship Series is "inherently flawed," the group said in a press release. "It crowns champions arbitrarily and stifles inter-conference competition," the group argued. "Fans, players, schools, and corporate sponsors will be better served when the BCS is replaced with an...

Everyone knows that the modern mobile phone is set up to do so much more than make a simple call. From checking emails to locating friends, there seems little the latest generation of handsets can't do. However – even in this tech-savvy age – the latest offering in iPhone apps has caused a stir. For just $2.99 Apple is offering customers a service that allows them to find local marijuana suppliers. The news has created a buzz online, as the world's stoners contemplate carrying out online price comparisons between dealers in their local areas.

Private schools offering lavish extracurricular activities give their pupils an unfair advantage and should be forced to share their facilities with state pupils, says a report commissioned by the prime minister. Former cabinet minister Alan Milburn was asked to look at how class barriers could be broken down in Britain and found that middle-class children whose parents do not move in the "right" circles, as well as those from poorer families, now risk being shut out of professions that have become more socially exclusive.

One of Fidel Castro's sons carried on an eight-month flirtation over the Internet with a person he believed was a Colombian woman. Surprise! The woman was actually a Miami man. The trickster said the prank, broadcast on a Miami TV station, showed it's possible to get around Cuba's security. ''Guess where I am and I will make love to you without stopping,'' Antonio Castro Soto del Valle, Fidel's son and physician for the Cuban national baseball team, reportedly wrote ''Claudia'' during a January trip to Russia with his uncle Raúl. But ''Claudia'' turned out to be Luis Domínguez, a Cuban-born...

OVIEDO, Fla. -- According to officials, a suspect went into a Victoria's Secret store in the Oviedo Marketplace and stole more than $2,000 worth of bras and panties. Police say they want to know if the panty raid was part of a bigger crime ring. The Oviedo Marketplace has felt the brunt of tough times. It is still recovering from when its sister company went bankrupt in April. Management says the doors will stay open, but lately the wrong people have been walking through them. "Well, I'm not surprised. It's bound to come out here sooner or later," said Mary...