Update: Hot for teacher, err, waitress?

Updating a previous item:

Debra Lafave, the 27-year-old teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old boy in Nov. 2005, was found in violation of her probation in a Florida courtroom Thursday after having contact with minors, but the judge did not send her to jail.

Lafave was arrested after a 17-year-old female coworker claimed to have had one-on-one and group conversations with Lafave about "non-work related issues such as family problems, friends, high school, personal life, boyfriend issues and sexual issues."

She also had physical contact with the girl, but claimed that it was "innocent" hugging because the work staff was almost like family. Lafave also said that she did not speak about her personal life in the aforementioned conversations, but that the teenager was very forthright "in a group setting" about her sexual life.

Lafave was forced to quit her job at the restaurant and is now working at her mother's beauty salon, where hopefully no one under the age of 18 comes in, because the judge actually told the woman, "Please don't come back."

The rogue elf who stole Christmas

Dear little brat,

You're getting nothing for Christmas. I hate you and I will kill your dog when I visit your house this year.

Love, Santa

Okay, so maybe that's a little exaggerated, but children in Canada who wrote to Santa this year have been receiving some naughty letters in return, maybe like that one above.

11,000 Canada Post employees and volunteers participate in a "Write to Santa" program and deliver millions of letters to children who sent letters to the North Pole, which has a special H0H 0H0 Canadian postal code.

But at least 10 nasty letters have been sent out to children in Ottawa this year by, what the Canada Post is calling, a "rogue elf." Until the perp is caught, the service has been shut down.

Models, models, we all fall down!

WARNING: SPOILERS

Last night's America's Next Top Model finale crowned the ninth winner of the modeling competition, but in its wake, a slew of controversy.

The final three--Chantal, Saleisha and Jenah--participated in the customary Cover Girl commercial, this time for CG's new Wetslick Fruit Spritzers. Try saying that three times fast, because none of the girls could even say it once.

Though they all looked gorgeous, the commercial takes were disastorous. Chantal, who took on the role of "Lemon Splash," looked like she actually took a bite out of a lemon with her left all all squinty and awkward looking. Jenah took the Jael approach and looked like she was mocking the Cover Girl image, which definitely didn't get by Tyra at the judging panel.

Going into judging, there was no clear frontrunner, but Jenah completely fell apart and her cynical criticism of models who "spew rainbows incessantly" sent her packing, which left the blond Barbie doll Chantal and the Rhianna look-a-like Saleisha to duke it out in a Chinese fashion show.

There has never been a final performance more awkward than Chantal tripping up the stilted background dancer and landing him straight on his ass with a 'THPLUNK'--yes, that's the noise he made [watch the clip]. Her already stunted energy completely deflated and Saleisha stomped all over her in the runway challenge.

The judging panel was odd: Instead of running through and comparing a number of photos throughout the competition, only three were selected (probably because neither of them were very photogenically strong, unlike Jenah or Heather). The main debate was Saleisha being too commercial versus Chantal being too amateur, and in the end, Tyra and company selected Saleisha as America's Next Top Model, cycle 9. She was awarded a $100,000 contract with Elite Model Management and a spread in Seventeen Magazine, and she proceded to jump around like a little kid on Christmas morning.

Now for the juicy stuff...

In casting, Tyra noted that Saleisha had attended Tyra's T-Zone Camp as a young girl, and it was clear that Saleisha had more modeling experience than most of the other girls. What was left out was Saleisha's had recently participated in a national campaign and starred in a fashion show on the Tyra show.

According to ANTM rules, contestants "must not have previous experience as a model in a national campaign within the last five years (including, but not limited to, appearances on television and print advertisements)." Though she has no speaking role in it, Saleisha appears in a Wendy's television ad that some of you may remember, mostly because it's only like a year old.

And if that's not shoddy enough for you, check out this video from Tyra's talk show. It's a fashion show for Rami Kashou (yes, that's Ramo from Project Runway, more shifty-ness there, ehem). This show as a whole is really creepy, from the music to Tyra seductively moving with the models, but fast forward to about 3:50 if you're just interested in Saleisha.

Yes, that's some shady business there, but between the two, Saleisha is a better model. Then again, maybe that's why she already had a career pre-ANTM.

Bringing the game out of the shadows?

Use of steroids in Major League Baseball has been prevalent for more than a decade and practiced by players on every club in the league, according to Senator George Mitchell's report, disseminated today.

Notable names in the Mitchell Report are Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, Paul LoDuca and Eric Gagne.

It also includes names linked to steroids in the past, such as Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa.

To read the lengthy report or view the highlights, click here.

Brian McNamee has been named in the report as a possible distributor of steroids, specifically to Clemens and Pettitte. He "injected Clemens approximately four time in the buttocks over a several week period with needles that Clemens provided," the report states.

Senator Mitchell was put in charge of the investigation by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. He is urging that no disciplinary actions be taken, unless it compromises the integrity of the game, but how does deception, lying and cheating not compromise baseball??

"The commissioner should give the players and everyone else the chance to make a fresh start. That's what baseball needs."--George Mitchell

It's important to remember that because a player's name is included in the report does not mean that they definitely used steroids, because Mitchell had no subpoena power and a large majority of the information did not come straight from the players's mouths. And just because a player's name is not listed in the report, does not mean he's 100% clean, either.

Mitchell, a former federal prosecutor, is a director of the Boston Red Sox and was questioned during today's news conference if bias is present in this report. He, of course, denied that by using a perfectly politicized spin--something about Ireland?

There will obviously be more to come on this report, but this is certainly the biggest bombshell dropped on the steroid scandal in quite some time.

Bud Selig will hold a press conference today at 4 p.m.

Hot for teacher, err, waitress?

The former middle school teacher from Florida who was convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old boy is back in the limelight after having "inappropriate conversation" with a teenage co-worker.

Debra Lafave was on three years house arrest and was only permitted to leave to go to work. She was arrested after corrections officers interviewed a 17-year-old girl who worked at a restaurant where Lafave had been employed since January 2006.

The girl claimed to have had one-on-one and group conversations with Lafave about "non-work related issues such as family problems, friends, high school, personal life, boyfriend issues and sexual issues."

I've gotta agree with her lawyer here--this just seemed like "girl talk"; however, her probation had forbidden any contact with people under the age of 18.

Still, it seems more likely that this girl viewed Lafave as an older sister or peer, I mean, she did have sex with a 14-year-old. And that kid is probably still bragging--she was a pretty hot teacher!

God says: Stay within the lines

The New York Roman Catholic Church has introduced a coloring book to help children of the church grasp the concept of creepy clergy men yearning to touch them.

Yes, that's right: coloring and crayons will help to counter the more than 3,000 priests lurking in the pews as they pray.

Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but the coloring book does feature the image of a guardian angel hovering over an altar boy as a priest creeps in the background--I'm not kidding!

"For safety's sake, a child and an adult shouldn't be alone in a closed room together," the angel counsels from above.

I guess it's a step in the right direction? Or perhaps it's just a distraction so the little boy coloring after Sunday School won't see it coming...

Bust-ed

An online poker room scandal has been busted open this week. Do not play poker at AbsolutePoker.com. I don't play online poker for money, but I find this story so interesting, especially the way the scandal was uncovered.