Paris Hilton (search) showed us a revamped version of the classic one-piece bathing suit in her steamy Carl’s Jr. ad, but she’s not the only celebrity saying, “That’s hot.” The girls of Wisteria Lane were actually the first stars to blow the whistle on this poolside trend. When the “Desperate …

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Military authorities Wednesday began investigating whether a California National Guard (search) unit was created to spy on citizens, as dozens of demonstrators confronted Guard officials while armed soldiers stood by. The federal probe of the nation’s largest National Guard force involves the U.S. Army’s inspector general, the …

WASHINGTON – The House (search) Friday overwhelmingly endorsed President Bush’s vision to send man back to the moon and eventually on to Mars as it passed a bill to set NASA policy for the next two years. The bill passed 383-15 after a collegial debate in which lawmakers stressed their …

DETROIT – Lawyers for Rosa Parks (search) went before a federal judge to seek legal fees in the civil rights pioneer’s settled lawsuit against the Atlanta-based rap duo Outkast. The April settlement ended a 1999 lawsuit in which Parks’ attorneys accused Outkast of wrongly using her name in a song …

Sallie Bernard and Morton Ann Gernsbacher, PhD, have something in common. Each is the mother of a child with autism. Both of these mothers care deeply about their children. They care deeply about other children, too — especially those with autism. But they could not differ more on what they …

LOS ANGELES – Here are the nominees in major categories for the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards announced today by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: Drama Series: “Deadwood,” HBO; “Lost,” ABC; “Six Feet Under,” HBO; “24,” Fox; “The West Wing,” NBC. Comedy Series: “Arrested Development,” Fox; “Desperate Housewives,” …

NEW YORK – TD Banknorth Inc. (BNK), a large New England banking company, on Tuesday said it agreed to buy Hudson United Bancorp Inc. (HU) for $1.9 billion to expand in the affluent U.S. Northeast. The acquisition is Portland, Maine-based TD Banknorth’s first major purchase since Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank paid …

BOWLING GREEN, Va. – The National Boy Scout Jamboree (search) closed to visitors for a day of grieving and reviewing safety procedures Tuesday following the deaths of four adult scout leaders in an electrical accident. Three sons of the victims returned home to Alaska, officials said. “Our hearts go out …

WASHINGTON – The government is investigating a possible new case of mad cow disease (search), but says there is no threat to the U.S. food supply. Testing indicated the presence of the disease in a cow that died on the farm where it lived, John Clifford, the Agriculture Department’s (search) …

NEW YORK – While military families anxiously await news of a loved one serving in the U.S. armed forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, so do families of American contractors (search). Contractor families — much like military families — deal with raising children, paying the bills, maintaining the household and …