- Spoiler controversy or no spoiler controversy, Survivor still drives viewers to CBS and so the network has decided to keep around the most successful reality television show ever for another run. CBS announced today that it has ordered 23rd and 24th editions of Survivor for the 2011-2012 season and inked a deal with host Jeff Probst that will keep him on as host and executive producer for both installments. “Survivor’ is a program franchise that continues to stand the test of time. Each season delivers new faces, exotic places, the ultimate social experiment combined with game play, and one of the most engaged audiences anywhere on primetime television,” Jennifer Bresnan, CBS Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming, said in a statement. The spoiler controversy centers around contestant Russell Hantz, who has appeared on multiple seasons of the show and stands accused of revealing secrets about the order in which contestants were eliminated in the current season of the show, Redemption Island, to a fan site blogger after the two built a relationship following a phone call from the blogger to Hantz to warn him that his personal cell phone number had leaked online. Producer Mark Burnett began firing lawsuits all over the place and Hantz was thought to be a target for a potential $5 million fine for breaching his contract with the show by revealing its secrets. That lawsuit has not materialized and perhaps Survivor is hoping that the controversy continues driving the ratings and keeps it as the top-rated reality show on network television. Redemption Island is averaging 11.7 million viewers and a 3.4 rating/10 share in adults 18-49 and has improved its time period average by 150 percent in viewers and 162 percent in adults 18-49 over the past year. Probst himself has won three Emmys for hosting the show and now it appears he will have a chance to win a few more…………


- It won't help Brandon Davies’ case and it won't cause Brigham Young University to reinstate Davies to its men’s basketball team this season after he was dismissed from the squad for a violation of the BYU honor code, but I suppose it could be kind of cool to have famous athletes riding to your defense - even if those famous athletes are ill-informed and angry about things that haven’t actually happened. The athletes in question are Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and New York Knicks center Amare Stoudemire, both of whom came to Davies’ defense over the weekend. His dismissal came after he admitted to violating the code by having premarital sex with his girlfriend. BYU’s honor code, among other things, requires students to be honest, live a chaste and virtuous life, abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and substance abuse, observe the Dress and Grooming Standards and encourage others in their commitment to comply with the Honor Code. Tebow, who is extremely outspoken about his faith and isn't someone that would be considered a defender of loose living or immoral actions, somewhat straddled the fence in his assessment of the situation but mostly supported Davies. "I do always think that people definitely deserve second chances because no one is perfect and we mess up everyday," Tebow said. "There should be a punishment, but I don't know that he should maybe ... I don't know. I don't even know the situation, but I just always think about giving people a second chance. Maybe he deserves one, but I don't know the situation." Stoudemire, who like Davies is black, was more pointed in his remarks posted on his Twitter account Friday. "Don't ever go to BYU, they kick a Young Educated (Black)Brother OUT OF SCHOOL. The kid had premarital sex. Not suspended, Not Release. Wow!" He added: "P.S.With his girlfriend. Come on BYU don't kick the kid out of school. Let's be honest he is n college. Let's the kid live a little." Sounds good and all, but Stoudemire should have checked his facts first. Contrary to what he believes, Davies has not been kicked out of the university and an honor code review committee will decide whether he will be allowed to remain at BYU. Predictably, someone close to Stoudemire got to him some time between his erroneous tweets and the time the subject was raised to him on Sunday, er, he re-thought his position and found some clarity. "I totally understand the actions of BYU, I totally respect the school an the conduct rules. BYU has a great athletic program," he posted in another tweet. Hmm, from subtle allegations of racism to contrition in two days flat, very impressive…………


- If the people of Wisconsin are willing to put ginormous (fake) hunks of cheese on their heads and sit in sub-zero temperatures to cheer on a football team that means more to most of them than their own children, it’s fair to say that they have earned the right to be America’s host of all things cheese-related. It makes even more sense that the Green Bay Packers’ home venue, Lambeau Field, is the home for the United States Championship Cheese Contest. Starting Wednesday and continuing for the next three days, cheese enthusiasts from around the country will flock to the Lambeau Field Atrium to immerse themselves in a world of cheese. As part of the event, 26 experts will examine, sniff and taste more than 30,000 pounds of cheese and butter and award gold medals to the best cheeses in 73 different classes. “These folks are looking for very specific defects. They are downgrading cheese starting at 100 points and looking for flaws like it’s too bitter, it’s too salty, it’s too flat. There are about 56 adjectives they use to describe cheese,” said John Umhoefer, executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, the event host. “Thursday morning we are going to take all of the gold medal cheeses, we are going to judge them in a final round and we are going to name one U.S. Champion cheese.” That’s right, choosing 73 gold-medal cheeses isn't the end. Those 73 championship cheeses will compete to be the United States’ preeminent cheese. Visitors to Cheese-a-Palooza will also be able to see a special salute to the Super Bowl Champion Packers, carved from cheese by famed cheese sculptor Sarah “The Cheese Lady.” Best of all, the entire event is free and open to the public and I’m going out on a limb and saying that there are probably a few free cheese samples to be had…………


- One setback cannot derail the cause, all. Just because one theory on obesity has been shot down doesn’t mean we need to give up on the battle to overcome this silent (and flabby) killer. The theory in question states that people with extra body fat tend to have a lower body temperature than thinner folks. That theory has apparently been debunked by a new study suggesting that just because the body has to burn calories in order to rid itself of excess heat and return to a desirable internal temperature doesn’t necessarily mean a cooler core temperature that would mean less heat to shed and require fewer calories to be burned. A large number of theories remain about the causes of obesity, ranging from unhealthy eating habits, a more sedentary lifestyle and a general laziness pervading American culture, but the notion that people with a relatively lower core body temperature might be predisposed to weight gain would seem to be no more. “Temperature could be a marker for the 'slow metabolism' that some people think they have," explained senior researcher Dr. Jack A. Yanovski of the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Yanovski and his team reviewed research on genetically altered obese mice and found that those mice displayed a decreased core temperature -- along with a slower than normal metabolism and bigger appetite. However researchers did not find any evidence that core body temperature is related to obesity in humans. For their own part of the study, Yanovski’s team compared the average core temperature of a group of obese adults with that of thinner men and women. In one of their experiments, 46 obese and 35 normal-weight or overweight adults swallowed a wireless, temperature-sensing capsule that continuously monitored their body temperature over 24 hours. During that time, there was no difference in the two groups' core temperatures. Both registered average temperatures of 98.4 Fahrenheit. For a second experiment, researchers used the capsules to measure core temperature in 19 obese and 11 normal-weight people over 2 days and had participants keep a daily record of their activities. Once again, the two groups were nearly identical — with no clear differences in body-temperature fluctuations throughout the day. Differences or no differences, the study was at least unique in that it explored new scientific ground and didn’t merely regurgitate information already discovered by previous studies or universally accepted by the world at large. According to Yanovski, it is the largest so far to look at core temperature and obesity in humans. To read more about this, just stroll over to your magazine rack and pick up the well-read copy of the most recent American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which many of you were probably poring over voraciously before reading this story……….


- Anyone who has ever had a dream in life has, at some point, dreamt of being the lead negotiator for a country as it seeks an international agreement to resolve a conflict with a neighboring country. We’ve all had that dream, but very few of us will ever realize it and as such, we cannot possibly fathom what life is like for those involved in the newly-launched Kosovo-Serbia reconciliation talks currently taking place in Brussels, Belgium. However, even a nincompoop with no political or negotiating experience whatsoever can probably surmise that describing your counterpart in negotiations as "respectful" but stuck in an outdated world view will not be very helpful to the process. "We didn't see much change in the position of the Serbian government vis-a-vis the new reality in Kosovo and the Balkans. It seems they came with the previous views when in fact the situation has changed," Kosovo's deputy prime minister Edita Tahiri fumed. "Kosovo has been recognised as a state by 75 different countries, the International Court of Justice has recognised the legality of the declaration of independence, Kosovo is a member of the World Bank, the IMF - this is the new reality." Her ire was primarily directed at her Serbian counterpart, Stefan Bogdanovic, a senior official in the Serbian foreign ministry. While being described as respectful would be deemed a compliment by many, in this situation it comes across as condescending and more than a little patronizing. Even when Tahiri pointed out that the very fact the meeting took place is a success given the "tragic history" of the Kosovo war, her slam on Bogdanovic stood out as the headline of the negotiations to this point. But she wasn’t backing off those remarks and took them even further by alleging that Bogdanovic used words that implied Kosovo is a province of Serbia while she used the language of statehood. "You can't stick to abstractions when you talk about concrete issues on the ground. Both sides should make an effort in their choice of words, but if one side is stuck in the past and the other is talking about reality, matching-up is difficult," she said. Needless to say, mediating the negotiations was a tough task for European Union official and Balkans expert Robert Cooper. U. assistant secretary of state Tom Countryman was also invited to the talks, as the EU and United States are the main architects of Kosovo independence. The talks covered two days and actually went on three hours longer than expected. The subjects tackled included day-to-day issues such as how ethnic Serbs in Kosovo can use Serb mobile phone services, how Kosovo can get back birth certificates and land-ownership records held by Serbia and whether Serbia will let Kosovo-bound flights use its airspace. Tahiri and Bogdanovic are expected to meet again in Brussels before the end of the month and twice a month after that for the next year. The ultimate goal is to resolve some of the lesser issues between the two sides and thereby improve their relationship enough that Serbia will eventually agree to one day recognize Kosovo and allow both of them to join the EU. Much remains to be resolved before those dreams can become reality, but at least the lines of communication are open and in use…………