MEL GIBSON DONATES MONEY TO CHARITY

 LOS ANGELES, California- Mel Gibson has donated $10 million US that will be split between Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA and the Cedars-Sinal Medical Center to help care for children from foreign countries. The donation, announced Tuesday, will help children with serious medical conditions who are unable to be treated in their own countries. The children who will benefit from Gibson's donation will be recommended by the Healing the Children organization. "For the past several years, the Gibson family has quietly supported Healing the Children's efforts to help sick and injured children around the world," said the organization's founder, Cris Embleton. "Not only have they given financial support, they also have given their time and hearts and as a result have seen firsthand how people working together can give a child the future they deserve." Dr. Edward McCabe, physician-in-chief of the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA, said the gift will enable the hospital to help children worldwide. "Through this remarkable contribution, the generosity of Mr. Gibson will transform the lives of children throughout the world," McCabe said.

MICHAEL MOORE GIVES MONEY TO UNIVERSITIES

DEL MAR, California- Michael Moore promised to endow a scholarship at California State University, San Marcos, where administrators had cancelled his scheduled appearance because of what they called his partisan politics. The Fahrenheit 9/11 filmmaker addressed about 10,000 people off-campus Tuesday night at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, promising $5,000 US per academic year to a student who "stands up the most to the administration of Cal State San Marcos." Moore's documentary criticizes the policies of the Bush administration following the Sept. 11 terror attacks. "I hope to encourage students in the future to do the true American thing and stand up for what they believe in," said Moore, who was accompanied onstage by folk singer Joan Baez. They sang America the Beautiful together. About 200 demonstrators gathered outside the entrance to the fairgrounds. A few were removed from the audience when they tried to disrupt Moore's talk, said San Diego sheriff's Lieut. Don Fowler. Moore has been encouraging students across the United States to vote. His college tour, which ends on election day in Tallahassee, Fla., has drawn sellout crowds, as well as heated criticism at almost every stop. The student government at California State University, San Marcos, raised more than $40,000 to pay for Moore's visit after university president Karen Haynes revoked his invitation. Moore accused Haynes of bowing to Republican pressure, and vowed to donate about $20,000 that he earned from the event to the scholarship. Haynes said she cancelled his appearance because the state was prohibited from spending state money on partisan political activity and she believed there wouldn't be enough time to find a speaker whose opinions could balance Moore's views. She welcomed him back after the November presidential election.

 

 CABLE TELEVISION WILL NOT SHOW MOORE'S FILM

Photo: Michael Moore, left, comments on the censure to his documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11," during an appearance at "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno".

NEW YORK - A cable pay-per-view company has decided not to show a three-hour election eve special with filmmaker Michael Moore that included a showing of his documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11," which is sharply critical of President Bush. The company, IN DEMAND, said Friday that its decision is due to "legitimate business and legal concerns." A spokesman would not elaborate. Moore has just released his movie on DVD and was seeking a TV outlet for the film. Earlier this week, trade publications said Moore was close to a deal with IN DEMAND for The Michael Moore Pre-Election Special, which also would include interviews with politically active celebrities and admonitions to vote. The Nov. 1 special was to be available for $9.95. Moore said Friday he signed a contract with the company in early September and is considering legal action. He said he believes IN DEMAND decided not to air the film because of pressure from "top Republican people." "Apparently people have put pressure on them and they've broken a contract," Moore told The Associated Press. "We've informed them of their legal responsibility and we all informed them that every corporate executive that has attempted to prohibit Americans from seeing this film has failed," Moore said. "There's been one struggle or another over this, but we've always come out on top because you can't tell Americans they can't watch this." The New York-based IN DEMAND, owned by the Time Warner, Cox and Comcast cable companies, makes pay-per-view programming available in 28 million homes, or about one-quarter of the country's homes with television. In a statement, IN DEMAND said any legal action Moore might take against the company would be "entirely baseless and groundless." This spring, Moore did battle with the Walt Disney Co., which refused to release Fahrenheit 9/11 through its Miramax Films because it was too politically partisan for the company's taste. Moore found other distributors. The movie, which attacks Bush's handling of the war on terrorists and war in Iraq and the Bush family's ties to Saudi royalty, earned more than $100 million US at the box office. In an interview with a Maine television station that aired this week, former president George Bush called Moore a "slimeball" and an expletive. Also Friday, Moore offered to let Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. air the movie for free. Such a deal would likely get a chilly reception at Sinclair, a broadcaster with a reputation for conservative politics that plans to air a critical documentary about John Kerry's anti-Vietnam War activities on dozens of TV stations two weeks before the election.

JOHN EDWARDS RIDICULES PRESIDENT BUSH ON NATIONAL TELEVISION

BURBANK, California- John Edwards has a theory about what was hidden underneath an unusual wrinkle that appeared on the back of President George W. Bush's suit jacket during his first debate with John Kerry. "I think it was his battery," a grinning Edwards told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show on Tuesday. "I think tomorrow, before the debate, John Kerry ought to pat him down," Edwards said, referring to the final Bush-Kerry matchup, scheduled for Wednesday in Arizona. The Democratic vice-presidential nominee, making his second appearance on the comedian's stage this year, was in turns silly and serious while chatting about issues from Iraq to chubby Secret Service agents. Leno asked Edwards if he could beat the president in a foot race. Edwards, who said he jogged about eight kilometres Tuesday, reminded the audience he played football as a student. Bush, he noted, was on a cheering squad. Bush "was on the side, with his pompoms," the North Carolina senator said. "I don't know, can you run fast with those cheerleading outfits on?" Earlier, at a campaign stop in Colorado, Edwards attacked Bush and Cheney as "out of touch." He didn't let up on Leno's show. When Leno showed a clip of Kerry windsurfing, Edwards said, "If I had to spend 90 minutes on a stage with George Bush, I'd want to clear my head too." During the first debate between the presidential candidates, a camera glimpsed what looked like a rectangular lump between Bush's shoulder blades. Bush's campaign aides have laughed off rampant Internet speculation that the president was wired to get help from advisers. Edwards' one-day trip to California was somewhat unusual. The presidential race has largely bypassed the Democratic-leaning state, which is viewed as an all but certain win for the Kerry-Edwards ticket in November. Al Gore carried the state in 2000 by 12 percentage points. The last time Edwards was in the state was nearly three months ago.-AP.

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