Celebrating Oprah: Looking Back at her Ten Highest Rated Shows

From pulling a wagonload of fat, to her remarkable celebrity interviews, Oprah aired countless memorable episodes -- now, as "The Oprah Winfrey Show" marks its final curtain call on Wednesday, May 25, find out which programs earned the highest ratings ever!

No. 1: According to Oprah.com, her November 15, 1988 show about her amazing weight loss, in which she rolled out a red wagon filled with fat equal to the amount she'd lost, was her No. 1 rated program ever.

No. 2 and 3: Oprah's second and third-highest rated shows bookended her 1993 primetime interview with Michael Jackson at his Neverland Ranch. Her second place show on February 11, 1993 ran the day after the Jackson interview, a program in which she ran clips from some of her most memorable celebrity interviews, while her third-highest rated episode was her February 10, 1993 episode about the King of Pop that aired the afternoon before her interview with Jackson.
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No. 4: Oprah interviewed convicted murderer Betty Broderick on March 2, 1992, after Broderick was convicted of killing her ex-husband and his second wife.

No. 5: Oprah shot down pregnancy and marriage rumors and surprised staffers of her show and Entertainment Tonight with makeovers on a program that aired on February 2, 1993.

No. 6: In a show that aired on January 11, 1993, Oprah interviewed parents about whether it is ever okay to leave children home alone after David and Sharon Schoo sparked controversy and police action when they left their two young daughters unattended while they went on vacation in Mexico.

No. 7: Oprah interviewed women who date younger men in an episode that aired February 15, 1993.

No. 8: Oprah's fifth anniversary show comes in eighth place, as she counted down the show's most memorable moments thus far on September 9, 1991.

No. 9: Trainer Bob Greene made his debut on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" as Oprah discussed her weight struggles on November 22, 1993.

No. 10: On a show that aired February 2, 1989, Oprah discussed how fame affects a relationship, and got her longtime love Stedman Graham in on the conversation. For a full look at Oprah's top 25 episodes, visit Oprah.com.(via google trends)

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President Obama Tours Arlington National Cemetery's 'Section 60'

ABC News' Avery Miller and Ann Compton report: Saying "this day is about you," President Obama paid tribute to America’s fallen soldiers and participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery.

In his speech, the president told a story about two roommates at the Naval Academy, Travis Manion and Brendan Looney, who were both deployed after graduation. Travis was killed by a sniper in Iraq in 2009. Three years later, Brendan died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

“Heartbroken, yet filled with pride, the Manions and the Looneys knew only one way to honor their sons’ friendship,” the president said.  “They moved Travis from his cemetery in Pennsylvania and buried them side by side here at Arlington.

“‘Warriors for freedom,’ reads the epitaph written by Travis’s father. ‘Brothers forever.’”

Obama also quoted a letter written to him by Army veteran Paul Tarbox who mentioned he had seen a photo of the president walking amidst the marble headstones in “Section 60” in 2009. He wanted the president to know about a special friend of his and a brave warrior -- Staff Sgt. Joe Phaneuf -- who was buried under one of those headstones.

“Joe, he [Paul] told me, was a friend of his, one of the best men he’d ever known, the kind of guy who could have the entire barracks in laughter, who was always there to lend a hand, from being a volunteer coach to helping build a playground,” the president said. “It was a moving letter, and Paul closed it with a few words about the hallowed cemetery where we are gathered here today.

“He wrote, ‘The venerable warriors that slumber there knew full well the risks that are associated with military service, and felt pride in defending our democracy. The true lesson of Arlington,’ he continued, ‘is that each headstone is that of a patriot.  Each headstone shares a story.  Thank you for letting me share with you [the story] about my friend Joe.’”

“Section 60” is the part of Arlington Cemetery where mostly soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, who have died since Sept. 11, 2001, are buried.

On a rainy Veterans’ Day in 2009, the president stopped unannounced at “Section 60” -- which some people call “the saddest acre in America” -- surprising families who were visiting the gravesites. It was early in his presidency at a time when the combat mission in Iraq was augmented by a surge in additional forces.

Today, when the combat mission in Iraq is over and the U.S. is preparing for a drawdown in Afghanistan, the president again wandered amid the marble headstones with his wife Michelle Obama. Aides said they spent time greeting families whose loved ones died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Earlier today, the first couple hosted a breakfast at the White House for those who have lost family members in combat.

Although this is a holiday weekend for most Americans, the president has had a demanding schedule. After returning from his European tour late Saturday, Obama visited tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo. on Sunday where he honored the dead and vowed to help the small town rebuild.

The president did find some recreation time today after the Memorial Day ceremonies. He played golf at Ft. Belvoir, Va. despite the sweltering, 90 degrees weather.

Today’s ceremonies represent a far cry from last year when President Obama came under criticism when he decided to take his family home to Chicago for the long weekend, breaking the tradition of attending ceremonies at Arlington Cemetery. Obama, instead, laid a wreath at the national cemetery outside of Chicago, though his Memorial Day address was cut short by a rain and lightning storm.(via google trends)

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Memorial Day marked by parades, flyovers, flags

Americans from Washington to California marked Memorial Day with parades, barbecues and somber reflection in a holiday infused with fresh meaning by the approaching 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The National Memorial Day Parade in Washington honored veterans and America's war dead but also featured special tributes to Sept. 11 first responders, victims and their families. The holiday comes less than a month after U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed Osama bin Laden, who masterminded the attacks.

Elsewhere, military jets thundered through the sky above New York after a wreath-laying ceremony aboard an aircraft carrier that's been turned into a museum, while hundreds of volunteers put small flags on the 25,000 graves at a sprawling military cemetery near Las Vegas. U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan also took time out to remember fallen comrades.

Along the parade route in Washington, children sat on parents' shoulders and throngs cheered as high marching bands and floats passed. Special guests included Medal of Honor recipients, astronaut and Korean War veteran Buzz Aldrin and actor Gary Sinise, a veterans advocate who played Lt. Dan in the film "Forrest Gump."

Hamilton Peterson, who lost his father and stepmother when the hijacked United Airlines 93 crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pa., said the looming anniversary of the terror attacks should inspire Americans to be vigilant.

"Obviously, bin Laden's death is a highlight of the 10th anniversary. However, we recognize that future attacks are imminent and that, absent using 9/11 as a model for how to respond, all Americans need to get involved. It can't just be the military," the 51-year-old said.

Sgt. James Patrick McMichael of the Arlington County, Va., sheriff's office was part of a team of first responders to the Pentagon. He said that even though the looming anniversary was dredging up painful memories, it was still critical that the public remember what occurred.

A commercial jet crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, killing 184 people at the sprawling Defense Department headquarters.

"Reliving the event is not something that I look forward to, but I don't think it should be something that's not brought up to the public," said McMichael, who attended the parade in Washington. "I don't think people should forget about what occurred."

President Barack Obama participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

"Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay, but we can honor their sacrifice," Obama said at a Memorial Day service at the cemetery. "And we must."

Meanwhile, U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan paused for Memorial Day services, with some praying and holding flag-raising ceremonies to recognize the more than 1,400 who have been killed in combat there since the war began a decade ago.

Obama plans to draw down U.S. troops in Afghanistan beginning in July, while NATO has committed to handing over control of security in the country to Afghans by 2014. For now, though, the war continues.

"We reflect on those who have gone before us. We reflect on their service and their sacrifice on behalf of our great nation," said Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Craparotta, who commands a Marine division in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. "We should also remember those serving today who embody that same commitment of service and sacrifice."(via google trends)

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Army Chaplins at National Cemeteries, Like Jefferson Barracks, Do 20 Burials a Day

Lt. Col. Keith Croom's first reaction is to crack a joke and a smile. He has the ease and charm you would expect from a man raised in the South. You probably wouldn't call him serious, and definitely not somber.

Until you bring up his job. Because there's not much funny about his job.

Croom is a chaplain in the U.S. Army, assigned as that branch's senior chaplain at Arlington National Cemetery (in Virginia.) His office, with four chaplains under him at the rank of captain, buries more than 20 veterans or their spouses every day.

It's a physically draining job, with chaplains performing up to six funerals a day for up to two years.

"My guys are coming in from the gravesite basically just to wipe the sweat off their face and go meet with the next family," Croom said. "It's an honor and a privilege, and it's a busy one."

It's also an emotionally draining job.

Chaplains at Arlington spend a lot of their time contacting the families of the deceased, to give directions and guidance on the funeral ceremonies and to find out more about their loved one.

"It'd be very easy for the chaplain to fall into the honors [traditional military burial ceremony] out there, because it's so structured. As pastors, as rabbis, as priests, we want to personalize it," Croom said.

"These four guys are the best guys I've worked with. They're the cream of the crop. You've got to have the right people who are comfortable dealing with families in chaos, in grief. They are hand-picked to be here. They're guys that we know, mentally and emotionally, can come here and bury 1,000 people in two years."

In March, Croom conducted the burial service for the late Army Cpl. Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I.

Extensive education and experience prepares military chaplains for the difficult task of counseling and burying members of the armed services.

Chaplains are required to earn a bachelor's degree and go to seminary, the equivalent of a three-year master's degree program. Croom said that, typically, the long preparation of chaplains means they're older than your average officer of similar rank.

Croom, 44, is younger than most of his peers in the chaplaincy. He got a head-start on his career, seeing it as the natural result of his upbringing as a devout Southern Baptist and the son of a Green Beret.

"When I was 15 the Lord called me into the ministry. Plain as day. There's a lot of things in my life that I question. My call into the ministry is not one of them." With a laugh, he added, "And all I had ever wanted was to be a baseball player or an Army guy, whichever came first."

During college in West Palm Beach, Fla., Croom had a friend who was a Navy reservist.

"He came out of his room one day in his uniform and he was carrying a Bible. And the light bulb went off."

During his 19 years in the Army, Croom has spent most of his time at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, but was stationed at other bases across the country and in Japan. He served in a support hospital outside of Baghdad in 2003, he said, during the initial push into Iraq. In 2008, he deployed with special forces units to Afghanistan, where he lost 16 men.

Croom, who lives in Fairfax, VA with his wife Kelly and their two sons, ages 14 and 8, has been at Arlington for five months -- long enough to appreciate the hard work that goes into honoring veterans and their families. Assignment at Arlington, Croom said, is not usually a chaplain's first choice.

"Most of the captains, they want to be with soldiers," Croom said. "They want to deploy, and they want to bring the Lord to the soldiers. That battalion is their church."

He continued: "We take very seriously laying our heroes to rest. And we appreciate the honor of it before we get here [to Arlington]. But after you get here, the more you do this, the more important it becomes."

VA Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery averages 18 burials a day.(via google trends)

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Michael Lindgren reviews James Frey’s ‘The Final Testament of the Holy Bible’

What to make of this strange, ambitious, near-brilliant piece of ventriloquism from controversial memoirist James Frey? “The Final Testament of the Holy Bible” presents the reader with a knotty exercise in genre disorientation.

The book is, among other things, a vivid re-imagining of the life of Jesus Christ, a pricey quasi-objet d’art from super-gallerist Gagosian, a calculated act of provocation, a gesture of almost stupefying egotism, and a sincere and moving examination of the nature of spirituality. The multiple ironies at hand are potentially disabling.

This book of prophecy, written by one of the most famous liars of our time, is also an ode to the purity of poverty that costs $50, a cry against exploitation by the founder of a notorious digital sweatshop and an expression of hubris from a man ostensibly humbled first by his addiction and then by his very public discrediting.

Forget second acts; Frey is, to contradict F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous dictum about American lives, on the third or maybe fourth act of his deeply checkered career.

Carefully designed and formatted to resemble a traditional Bible — right down to the words of Jesus highlighted in red — “The Final Testament” tells the story of Ben Zion Avrohom, an alcoholic drifter in modern-day New York who undergoes a transformation after he miraculously survives a horrific accident.

When Ben comes out of his near-fatal coma, he is in possession of the same otherworldly powers that the New Testament ascribes to Christ. Is he the Messiah? Ben is evasive on this point, but he brings a sense of serenity and peace to everyone he meets, and he quickly develops a devoted following. His charisma and refusal to acknowledge any civil authority become a threat to the established order, which inevitably leads to a harrowing and suitably mystical end.

Frey has thus taken as a starting point for his book the not especially original but still thought-provoking question of what a contemporary Jesus would be like. His account, like all such exercises, is fundamentally interpretive, emphasizing the elements of Christ’s life and teachings that he values and de-emphasizing those that he has no use for. The historical Jesus’s poverty and lowly associations are fundamental to Frey’s conception, with Ben taking as his companions not the rich and powerful, but the truly marginalized: homeless people, drug addicts, prostitutes and criminals.

One of the book’s loveliest sections is the testimony of Judith, a self-described “fat, ugly failure” whose painfully barren existence is transcended by Ben’s ability to love and be loved. “That feeling of being alone,” she recalls, “always alone, truly and deeply and horribly alone, disappeared.”

The central force of Frey’s conception of Christ, however, lies in Ben’s rejection of the hierarchies of organized religion, which he calls “a beautiful con . . . the longest-running fraud in human history.” Not for him such worn-out and repressive concepts as the afterlife, prayer, the soul, sin and indeed the whole concept of faith in general.(via google trends)

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Countdown to the last 'Oprah Winfrey Show': A double dose of James Frey

From the moment it was announced that the 25th season of Oprah Winfrey’s talk show would be her last, there has been the giddy promise of what America’s beloved, derided, oracular maker of self-help and celebrity magic would have up her sleeve.

The possibilities seemed infinite, fantastical, destined to widen eyes, provoke shrieking excitement and inspire parody. We would live our Best Lives and make them BETTERRRRR! It would be like the Wizard of Dr. Oz: Dr. Phil would be there! And Gail! And you would be there too, John Travolta, and you, Barack Obama! It was a fun parlor game to guess at what absurdist lineups might be in store: Barbra Streisand and Jonathan Franzen! The ghost of Michael Jackson! J.K. Rowling doing an oral presentation of an eighth Harry Potter book! Bigfoot! You get a pet lion! You get a pet lion! You get a pet lion!

In many respects, the season has not let us down. Gail, Steadman, Drs. Phil and Oz, Travolta, Franzen and both Barack and Michelle Obama have all shown up. One mind-bending show featured both Jon Stewart and Liza Minnelli! Rowling appeared, conceding that she “could definitely write an eighth book"; and while there has not yet been a pet lion giveaway, one of Oprah’s guests was a talking chimp.

But now we’re at the end, the final eight days, and the fantasies must begin to abate. So I was slightly crestfallen to learn that two -– two! -- of the precious final hours were dedicated to an extended interview with James Frey, disgraced author of "A Million Little Pieces."
Back in 2005, Oprah picked Frey’s purported memoir, which had been a bestseller two years earlier, for her book club. When it was revealed in 2006 that Frey had made parts of his memoir up, Oprah first defended him and then, caught in a scrum of high-profile media criticism for her role in a culture of “truthiness,” had invited him on her show for one of the most blistering public spankings in pop culture memory.

Oprah’s 2006 flogging of Frey was fierce, fiery, unforgettable. Having him back for a quick farewell follow-up might have made sense, and perhaps been compelling, earlier in the season. But Frey is now an old story, the controversy stale. And the frustrating thing about Winfrey’s farewell season has been that every show has felt over-stuffed with too many stars shoehorned in together.

During a recent comedy episode meant to feature Tina Fey, Fey dutifully coughed up an exclusive-to-Oprah revelation –- that she was five months pregnant –- but could barely get another sly word in edgewise. She was crammed in with former cast members of "Saturday Night Live," one of whom, Jane Curtin, provocatively recalled that the late John Belushi had sabotaged skits written by women, a comment that Oprah barely had time to acknowledge, let alone follow up on, so many guests were left to attend to.

On another show, Winfrey started down a great interrogative path, asking rock legend Stevie Nicks about whether female rock stars had groupies. When Nicks emphatically replied that they didn’t and launched into a rarely heard description of life on tour for women versus men, Oprah had to rush past her to get to the rest of her agenda, which included Sheryl Crow, Joan Jett, Pat Benetar, Salt-N-Pepa, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne and a singalong with Sister Sledge!

So very many of Oprah’s final shows could have extended over two, three or four hours. But they weren’t. Instead, we get two hours with an author whose 8-year-old-book was already discredited thoroughly, on Oprah's show, six years ago?

Yes. That is what we get. And we get it because it is what Oprah wants.

Monday’s episode began with a refresher on the Frey scandal, focusing on how Oprah’s inclusion of the book in her all-powerful book club had catapulted it back to the bestseller list for 17 weeks and helped it to sell 4 million copies, and then on how Oprah’s initial support of Frey led to her being taken to task. Highlights of the ensuing Oprah-Frey showdown played briefly. “It remains the biggest controversy in our 25 years.”

Really? Bigger than Franzen? Bigger than the Secret? Bigger than her beef trial? Bigger than Tom Cruise? The superlatives have come fast and furious in Oprah’s last season; every other sentence out of Winfrey’s mouth is about how one guest elicited the biggest response in 25 years, or another affected her more deeply than any other.  So sure, maybe Frey was the biggest scandal. But don’t confuse him with the "Oprah Show’s" most scintillating conversation or its most inspiring weight loss story. James Frey was just an ambitious and opportunistic writer who happened to get Oprah in the most trouble.

Oprah appeared to be most stumped and fascinated by Frey’s confession that he had never watched the episode in question, aside from the clips he saw in O’Hare and LaGuardia on his way home from Chicago to New York. “Why? Why have you never watched it?” she asked, flummoxed.

Obsessed not with Frey’s memories of his own choices at that time, but with his memories and impressions of her choices, Oprah was stubbornly incurious about Frey’s experience of anything other than his appearance on her show. Winfrey followed her interrogation of why he hadn’t watched the episode with a question about how Frey felt in the car after having taped the episode. When he told her the tale of driving home and finding himself laughing out loud, Oprah asked, “Did you ever cry about it? Did you shed a tear about it?. . . Were you angry? Were you frustrated? Were you angry with me? Did you think you’d been set up?”

Most interesting, Frey said that he did feel that he’d been set up, that producers had not been straight with him about what the show was supposed to be, and that he did not realize he was going to be taken to task until just before he took the stage, when a producer told him, “This is gonna be rough; it’s gonna be hard. Don’t walk off; don’t yell. I promise you’ll be redeemed at the end of this.”

Oprah did not offer any reaction to the accusation that her producers had misled him. It didn’t seem to matter to Frey, who conceded that even if he’d known the extent of how bad it was going to be, he still would have come on the show.

“I wrote a book and I published it as something that it wasn’t and I was dishonest in promoting that book, and that’s how I got here,” Frey said, summing up the situation succinctly. But Oprah went on, prodding Frey to recall how he’d first felt when he’d learned he was a book club pick, whether he thought she had been too hard on him.

I cannot believe we did not get to hear more from Stevie Nicks about sex with male groupies.

But this interview –- or at least the first half of it –- was not about another person’s personal history, not even about James Frey’s. “What did you think of the way [the interview] was conducted?” Oprah was still asking at the end of the episode.  When he again told Winfrey that he’d felt ambushed, she again failed to respond directly to the accusation, and instead told the story of how her friend, the spiritualist and author Marianne Williamson had called her after the Frey show and said, “How dare you?” and castigated Winfrey for the superior and censorious pose she’d taken with Frey.

What has made Oprah compelling for more than a quarter-century has not just been her power, her tractor beam cultural pull. It has also been her all too obvious fallibilities, chief among them her obsession with what other people think of her.

A perplexing two episodes out of a final eight with James Frey appear, at least from the first hour, to be much less about James Frey and than about Oprah Winfrey. We are getting a final tour of her self-obsession and self-doubt, a return to one of the rare controversies that caused her to fall out of favor with cultural critics and friends, in which she perhaps did not wield her Oprah powers wisely or to great acclaim.

It’s frustrating but appropriate. This, along with the healers and the Scientologists and the cars and the wizards is Oprah –- personal weaknesses, narcissism and self-doubt on full display.(via google trends)

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Collmus relishes opportunity to call Triple Crown

Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is fond of saying that his colleagues often overthink while preparing for the Kentucky Derby (G1). For announcer Larry Collmus, there is no such thing.

Collmus will call his first Kentucky Derby as the new announcer for NBC Sports’ coverage of horse racing. His duties also include the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Preakness Stakes (G1), and Belmont Stakes (G1).

“I think you have to prepare more for bigger races just because they are bigger races and none are bigger than this one,” Collmus said on Friday. “I’ve been preparing for this Derby since I learned I was going to call it. I’m watching tapes of the horses in the race as well as tapes of previous [Derbys].”

Collmus replaces Tom Durkin in the booth. The New York Racing Association announcer will continue his regular duties at those tracks, but he gave up his place in the NBC booth because of concerns over anxiety.

“The brain does so much work during a race, you wonder how it handles all that information at once,” Collmus said. “I’m trying to keep focused and my emotion in check. I’ll write down a few thoughts about what I might say under certain circumstances but because this is my first Derby. I don’t want to get too cute.”

Collmus said he most relies on silks to help him determine the identity of the field. His plan is to call all 19 horses down the lane the first time. He expects the field to be about a half-mile into the race before completing that task, and then he will return to calling the action on the front end.

“It’s unrealistic to call the whole field more than once,” said Collmus, who added he has not called a race with more than 14 starters. “You watch what happens on the lead and out of the corner of your eye would like for Dialed In or Nehro or a late runner. You watch as much as you can and try to tell everyone what’s happening.”

As if calling his first Derby is not enough, Collmus has a homecoming to look forward to on May 21 when he returns to Maryland to call the Preakness. Collmus called his first race at Bowie, and he spent a few years as the back-up announcer on the Maryland circuit.

“I told NBC, obviously the Kentucky Derby is a huge thrill for me, but I’m just as excited to go to Baltimore,” Collmus said.

Triple Crown, Female Jockey Winner Predictions

Will we see a triple crown today or perhaps history made by a female jockey (Rosie Napravnik) winning the Kentucky Derby 2011..?

This year’s Kentucky Derby has a few milestones that are just waiting to be met and it just might be the year for it to happen. For starters we can’t have the Kentucky Derby without talking about the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown is when one horse wins the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes all in one year. The Kentucky Derby is up first so if the winner is a horse that had strong odds going into the race you know there will be a lot of talk about a Triple Crown.

There has not been a Triple Crown winner since 1978 when Affirmed did it. It seems like the last few years there have been horses that have flirted with it, even winning the first two legs, only to come up a little short in the end. Currently Dialed In has the best odds of winning the race so all eyes will be on that horse as the race starts.

Another milestone we could see reached this year is having a female jockey win the Kentucky Derby 2011. Rosie Napravnik is just the fifth woman in the history of the race to compete in the derby. The last female jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby was Rosemary Homeister in 2003. So far, of the five women who have ridden before, none of them have finished in the top 10.  That could change this weekend.

Napravnik will be riding Pants on Fire, a horse she piloted to a win at the Louisiana Derby. She is no fluke having won 110 of the 482 races she has competed in. Pants on Fire has solid 9-1 odds to win the race which places him 4th overall in the odds standings. Napravnik has dreamt of this moment since she was seven years old. This may well be her day and her time to make history.

The Kentucky Derby will be run at 6:24 EST Saturday May 7th. Tune in to see if Rosie Napravnik makes history and if we are all seeing the first win of the first Triple Crown in 33 years.

'Perfect trip' is key to Animal Kingdom's victory

With instructions from trainer Graham Motion to try to keep Animal Kingdom out of as much trouble as possible in the Kentucky Derby, jockey John Velazquez made the biggest decision of the race on the turn for home.

He had only a split second to choose: Take the inside or outside route?

The two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey picked the outside, shooting between Mucho Macho Man and Watch Me Go and then darting past the rest of the field.

“The whole thing that we wanted to do was try and get some sort of position and stay out of trouble,” Velazquez said. “He did everything right the whole way around. And then when I asked him to run, he was there for me.”

Animal Kingdom, breaking from the No. 16 post position, was quickly tucked in behind a wall of horses and was about four lengths off the pace into the first turn.

Velazquez said he had a “perfect trip” and stayed off the rail and was in 12th position down the backside. He started to move on the outside of Midnight Interlude, and Velazquez stayed on the outside, moving past Watch Me Go and Mucho Macho Man.

“We talked last night and in the paddock, and we felt like getting a clean trip was the main objective,” Motion said. “That's how it worked out.”

As the field made it to the top of the stretch, Nehro made a move to challenge Shackleford who was on the inside but Animal Kingdom passed them both just outside of the 16th pole.

Animal Kingdom won by 23/4 lengths.

“I had so much confidence in him after the first turn,” Velazquez said. “It was a little tight on the first turn, and by the three-eighths pole I was in a tight spot. But I held my ground and had a really good trip.

“Once I pulled him out by the eighth pole, I knew he was gone.”

The pace of the race wasn't as fast as some figured. As expected, Comma to the Top broke on the lead, but Shackleford and jockey Jesus Castanon were quick to move inside and into the front of the pack as they headed for the first turn. The first quarter was in 23.24.

“A lot of times you get into a race and everybody's talking about how much speed there is and everyone decides to try to take back,” Shackleford trainer Dale Romans said. “They get worried about it. I wanted Jesus to go ahead and take advantage if that happened, and he did, and I thought he did everything right.”

Nehro, who had been labeled a closer after rallying to finish second in the Arkansas Derby, was never worse than sixth. Jockey Corey Nakatani said he “sensed” the pace wasn't as hot as he expected and opted to stay close.

“I knew if I slowed it down any more than what I was already, then he was going to bunch up his stride and he wasn't going to run the race I needed,” Nakatani said. “It didn't set up for us, but he ran a tremendous race.”

The slow pace cost favorite Dialed In, the Florida Derby winner who is a closer and was dead last for much of the race.

“It went the way we planned today,” jockey Julien Leparoux said. “But they just didn't back up for us today.”

Animal Kingdom Produces a Day of Firsts

Late Thursday night, John Velazquez didn’t know what was worse, failing to get to the winner’s circle of the Kentucky Derby in 12 previous tries or not even making the starting gate with a certain favorite as he has in the past three years. He had gotten the news that Uncle Mo, last year’s Juvenile champion and latest wonder horse, was still not himself after a stomach infection and would not run here.

Last year, he had received a similar call about Eskendereya being unable to perform, and the year before that Quality Road. He had even already lost his mount in the Kentucky Oaks when his filly R Heat Lightning was injured earlier in the week. It hadn’t been a good week.

Velazquez’s mood improved when he got a phone call from the trainer Graham Motion, who needed a rider for a colt named Animal Kingdom. Motion, an Englishman, was having a bad week as well. His big horse, the Wood Memorial champion Toby’s Corner, had come up lame on Monday and was out of the Derby. On Wednesday, Animal Kingdom’s regular rider, Robby Albarado, broke his nose here when a horse bucked him off during a post parade, then kicked him in the face.

Did Johnny V., as he is known, want the mount? There were steeper obstacles to overcome, of course, beyond his 30-1 morning-line odds. (He wound up going off at closer to 20-1.)

For one, Animal Kingdom had never run on dirt. He was bred to be a turf horse, and had won the Spiral Stakes on a synthetic surface. But that was back on March 26, and the last horse to win the Derby off such a long rest was Needles in 1956. Even more daunting, he was lightly raced, and the last horse to win here off just four lifetime races was Exterminator in 1918.

“This is roller-coaster business, and I was more than happy to get the call,” Velazquez said.

As the field of 19 gunned into the first turn led by the speedy Shackleford, Velazquez started to feel good about the colt he had previously watched only on video. “He was so relaxed,” Velazquez said.

Ahead of him, Shackleford was loping the field through an easy half-mile in 48.36 seconds. Animal Kingdom was cruising wide down the backstretch in 12th place, and Velazquez was starting to like his chances.

“It was meant to be,” Velazquez said he thought to himself. “Things happen for a reason.”

Behind him, two of the major contenders were having problems. Dialed In, who was sent off as the 5-1 favorite, was struggling with the dirt being kicked in his face, and the rider on Archarcharch, Jon Court, was having trouble staying in his saddle after breaking from the No. 1 hole.

“My saddle slipped coming out of the gate,” Court said. “He never really was comfortable.”

As they circled the far turn, Velazquez let Animal Kingdom find another gear, then weaved him inside first before angling him out. As they hit the mile pole, they were sitting fifth behind Shackleford, Nehro, Comma to the Top and Pants on Fire.

“When I asked him to run, it was amazing,” Velazquez said.

Velezquez scrubbed at Animal Kingdom’s neck, and the big colt took off. Rosie Napravnik aboard Pants on Fire disappeared first. Corey Nakatani aboard Nehro got first jump on Shackleford in the stretch and blasted by him in mid-track. Velazquez gave Animal Kingdom more reins, and pumped in rhythm atop him, coaxing out gigantic strides.

“I knew we were gone,” Velazquez.

He shook his whip at Animal Kingdom to keep him interested, but really did little more than tap him. They crossed the wire two and three-quarter lengths ahead of Nehro. The Louisiana Derby champion Mucho Macho Man closed for third place.

Velazquez’s tortured week had ended triumphantly: He and Animal Kingdom covered the mile and a quarter in 2:02.04, rewarding his believers $43.80 for a $2 bet. With the $1.4 million first-place check, the son of Leroidseanimaux plumped the bankroll of his owners, Team Valor International.

Both Velazquez and Motion had won their first Kentucky Derby with the wrong horse. Earlier in the day, Velazquez had run into Albarado in the jockeys’ room, acknowledged his colleague’s misfortune and asked him about Animal Kingdom.

“He told me he was a very good horse,” Velazquez said with a smile.

A very good horse, indeed.

Al Qaeda Leader Osama Bin Laden Killed in Pakistan

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan on Sunday, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Justice has been done," President Barack Obama declared in a hastily called, late-night White House speech announcing the death of the elusive head of the militant Islamic group behind a series of deadly bombings across the world.

Bin Laden's death is highly symbolic but it was unclear whether it would mark a turning point in the worldwide war against a highly fractured network of militants, or end any sooner the battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan A source familiar with the U.S. operation said bin Laden was shot in the head.

His death was confirmed separately by officials in Pakistan. Jubilant, flag-waving celebrations erupted in Washington and New York.

It was the biggest national security victory for Obama since he took office in early 2009 and could give him a political boost as he seeks re-election in 2012.

Obama may now find it easier to wind down the nearly decade-old war in Afghanistan, begun after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000.

Pakistanis Not Told

But the operation could complicate relations with Pakistan already frayed over U.S. drone strikes in the west of the country and the jailing of a CIA contractor accused of killing two Pakistani men.

A U.S. official said Pakistani authorities were told the details of the raid after it had taken place.

Obama said U.S. forces led a targeted operation that killed bin Laden in a compound in Abbotabad north of Islamabad. No Americans were killed in the operation and they took care to avoid civilian casualties, he said.

Bin Laden and three adult men, including a son of bin Laden were killed along with a woman who was used as a shield by a male combatant, officials said. The operation took under 40 minutes.

A U.S. helicopter was lost due to a mechanical problem and its crew and assault force safely evacuated. The operation was monitored in real-time by CIA Director Leon Panetta and other intelligence officials in a conference room at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, an official said.

Senior administration officials said they were finally led to bin Laden after more than four years tracking one of his trusted couriers, and the man's brother, using intelligence obtained from detainees captured after Sept. 11.

They finally identified the men's residence in August 2010, and quickly realized the $1 million, three-story property was far more than the home of two individuals with no discernible source of wealth.

Possible Reprisals

Authorities said bin Laden's hideaway, built in 2005, was about eight times larger than other homes in the area, located when it was built at the end of a narrow dirt road. It had security features including 12- to 18-foot walls topped with barbed wire, internal walls for extra privacy, and access controlled through two security gates.

It had no telephone or Internet connection. Bin Laden's death triggered a travel alert for Americans worldwide, the U.S. State Department said, warning of the potential for anti-American violence.

Thousands of people gathered outside the White House, waving American flags, cheering and chanting "USA, USA, USA." Car drivers blew their horns in celebration and people streamed to Lafayette Park across from the street, as police vehicles with their lights flashing stood vigil.

"I'm down here to witness the history. My boyfriend is commissioning as a Marine next week. So I'm really proud of the troops," Laura Vogler, a junior at American University in Washington, said outside the White House.

Similar celebrations erupted in New York's Ground Zero, site of the World Trade Center twin towers felled by hijacked airplanes on Sept. 11.

A market perception that the death of bin Laden reduced the security risks facing the United States lifted the dollar from a three-year low and raised stock index futures. U.S. crude oil prices also fell.

"Current oil prices are regarded by most analysts as carrying significant risk premium at current levels and good news on the geopolitical front has the potential to move prices back below $100," said Ric Spooner, chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney However, some analysts said the market impact would be short lived.

Many Americans had given up hope of finding bin Laden after he vanished in the mountains of Afghanistan in late 2001. Intelligence that originated last August provided the clues that eventually led to bin Laden's trail, the president said. A U.S. official said Obama gave the final order to pursue the operation last Friday morning.

"The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda and a terrorist who is responsible for the murder of thousands of men, women and children," Obama said.

Captured Dead

Former President George W. Bush, who vowed to bring bin Laden to justice "dead or alive" but never did, called the operation a "momentous achievement" after Obama called him with the news.

Martin Indyk, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, described bin Laden's death as "a body blow" to al Qaeda at a time when its ideology was already being undercut by the popular revolutions in the Arab world.

Other experts were more cautious.

"It changes little in terms of on-the-ground realities — by the time of his death bin Laden was not delivering operational or tactical orders to the numerous al Qaeda affiliates across the world," said Rick Nelson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Statements of appreciation poured in from both sides of Washington's political divide.

Republican Senator John McCain declared, "I am overjoyed that we finally got the world's top terrorist."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the death of bin Laden a "resounding triumph" for Washington and its allies. India said the killing underlined its concern that "terrorists belonging to different organizations find sanctuary in Pakistan," India's home ministry said in New Delhi.

The United States is conducting DNA testing on bin Laden and used facial recognition techniques to help identify him, a U.S. official said on Monday.

The United States is ensuring that bin Laden's body is being handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition, a U.S. official said. The New York times reported the body was buried at sea.

Bin Laden had been the subject of a search since he eluded U.S. soldiers and Afghan militia forces in a large-scale assault on the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan in 2001.

The trail quickly went cold after he disappeared and many intelligence officials believed he had been hiding in Pakistan.

While in hiding, bin Laden had taunted the West and advocated his militant Islamist views in videotapes spirited from his hideaway.

Besides Sept. 11, Washington has also linked bin Laden to a string of attacks — including the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 bombing of the warship USS Cole in Yemen.

Bill Belichick throws a curveball by picking Ryan Mallett

Last night, with one pick, Bill Belichick blew the lid off Radio City Music Hall. Pass rusher? Nah, forget that. The Patriots [team stats] coach likes what he has in-house. He likes his young group of linebackers so much that he didn’t feel compelled to make a move. At least, that’s what he claimed after last night’s proceedings. We’ll respectfully disagree. But we’ve been beating that drum for a while.

So let’s move onto the pick that makes Belichick one of the shrewdest operators in the business.

You want sizzle? You want spice? You want the ultimate roll of the dice? Try Ryan Mallett.

While teams were scrambling for quarterbacks all over the board, jumping all over each other for kids who just might not be that good, Belichick merely swooped in during the third round and probably stole the best one of the bunch.

Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Christian Ponder, Blaine Gabbert, Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick were all gobbled up before the Pats locked in and selected the somewhat controversial Arkansas quarterback with the 74th pick.

Is this Tom Brady [stats]’s heir apparent? Maybe, maybe not. At the very least, he’s an intriguing possibility.

His arm certainly won’t stop him from being that guy somewhere down the road. If you’ve ever watched film of Mallett, he’s got an absolute cannon. He makes all the throws with ease. Of all the quarterbacks in the 2011 class, he easily has the best arm. It’s not even close.

Mallett, however, won’t win the character award. There’s been rumors of drugs and alcohol. But even with his troubles, there isn’t much risk for Belichick taking him in the third round and having him learn under Brady.

While he’s a bit shaky with his decision-making, Mallett would fit very well in the Pats’ vertical passing game, if he ever got the opportunity to relieve Brady for any period of time.

What this translates into is smart business. Having an eye out for grooming Brady’s replacement now is the wise thing to do. If Mallett can get his act together and realize his awesome potential, it’ll be an amazing coup for the Patriots coach.

If the 33-year-old Brady plays another half-dozen years, Mallett can always net a significant return in a trade. Last night, Mallett didn’t sound too bothered by having to wait for his chance.

“As a competitor, I want to play,’’ Mallett said. “But it’s an advantage to learn from Tom and gain as much knowledge as I can from him.”

He’s a nice chip to have in the stable for however long. So it’s a win-win situation for the Pats, assuming, of course, Mallett behaves and blossoms as a backup.

By the sound of it, Belichick has already begun the bonding process. He seems to like the kid and has a connection with him, given Mallett is also the son of a football coach, Jim Mallett.

“He’s definitely a football guy. He’s a great kid to talk to. He’s very into football,” Belichick said of Mallett. “You can’t wear him out. As long as you want to talk about it, he’ll be there, however many hours it is, he’s ready to go watch film, or go talk about a new technique or route, or read, or whatever.

Could QB Ryan Mallett fall to the 3rd round...?

I've spoken with representatives of three teams since last night's first round about the players they anticipated being among the earliest to go in the second round.

Among the names -- Clemson DE Da'Quan Bowers, TCU QB Andy Dalton, Illinois LB Martez Wilson, Pitt DE/OLB Jabaal Sheard and Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick.

I was surprised that none of the teams mentioned Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett and asked each source about the record-breaking Razorback passer, specifically.

"I'm telling you right now, he could slip right out of the second round, entirely," one source said.

The questions about Mallett are, of course, more about his lack of desired intangibles for the quarterback position than they are about his physical skill-set. Most scouts believe that Mallett is the most talented passer in the draft.

Lie to Me Releases Poster Stills

Here’s a look at one of the strong contenders in the upcoming Battle of the May Trendies: Lie to Me‘s stars shoot a few stills as the drama gears up for its premiere in just over two weeks. In case you’re feeling as rushed as I am about this drama, you’re not imagining it. The drama that was supposed to follow Midas in the upcoming May Monday-Tuesday slot was originally Poseidon, which began production many moons ago… it just hasn’t made much progress since. Once Poseidon got put on indefinite hold, Lie to Me, originally slated for the post-Poseidon time slot, got bumped up. Talk about lighting a fire under your ass.

That pretty much guarantees that Lie to Me will be a live-shoot drama right out of the gate, whereas most shows have at least a head start (a few episodes in the can) when the first half of the episodes air. At least we know that stars Yoon Eun-hye and Kang Ji-hwan are no strangers to the game. Let’s hope their chemistry is the instant-spark kind, and not the kind requiring months of prep. Because, uh…that option’s out the window. But they look great together in the poster still, and I have no doubt they’ll knock it out of the park in the romance department.

All said, the production has done a pretty good job of releasing stills and what they can, in lieu of the steady stream of promotional materials that usually comes before a show for months, eventually tiring us all out with over-saturation. Hm. Maybe this is better!

Lie to Me premieres Monday May 9 on SBS.

Pope May Make First Call to Space

The Pope may make a special call to the International Space Station during the upcoming flight of the space shuttle Endeavour, according to a NASA official.

In what would be the first papal call to space, discussions are underway to try to arrange for Pope Benedict XVI to speak to two Italian astronauts onboard the space station, NASA spokesman Rob Navias told SPACE.com.[Stunning Space Photos by Italian Astronaut Paolo Nespoli]

NASA is discussing the potential call with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italian or ASI), he said.

"No final decision has been made – it is under discussion," Navias said. "We are discussing with ESA and ASI the potential of the pontiff calling the crew in a scheduled event slot that belongs to ESA."Part of what will drive this, in whether or not it comes to fruition, is whether or not we launch on April 29, what the Pope's schedule looks like and whether there is any other opportunities if we launch later than the 29th."

If Endeavour launches as scheduled next Friday, the call may occur on May 4, according to an Associated Press report, which cited the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.


European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori, who has flown twice before to the space station, is one of the crewmembers of Endeavour's STS-134 mission, which is slated to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 29.

The satellite call will occur when Endeavour is docked to the orbiting outpost. Endeavour's STS-134 mission will be the orbiter's last before the shuttle is retired from service.

The second Italian astronaut, Paolo Nespoli, has been living and working on the International Space Station since December. Nespoli launched to the station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.

Nespoli is expected to return to Earth in September with two of his station crewmates, NASA astronaut Cady Coleman and Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev.

New Boot Camp Tool: Xbox-Style 3D Video Games

Sailors-to-be are jumping on a vessel to take control of floods, fires and massive casualties -- all while sitting in a computer lab or on a laptop in their bunks. The recruits say it's akin to playing a few rounds on their Xbox or Playstation; their instructors say they're learning.

Whatever you call it, just don't try to pry it from their hands.

“A lot of my shipmates loved it. We didn’t want to stop playing,” recruit Shaunna Edwards told FoxNews.com. Edwards said the game reminds her of the popular game Fallout 3, where the mission is to protect Washington, D.C., from a nuclear blow in a bleak and distant future.

But this isn't a game and the point isn’t to entertain the recruits. It's a 3D virtual training system, released by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va. The names of the games that make it up are simple, based on the training simulations they offer: flood control, fire control, mass causality. The system was built to help train recruits, getting them ready for on-board training -- damage control, to be precise.


“It catches things like reminding you to close water-tight integrity doors behind you, making sure the ship stays afloat,” recent boot camp graduate Travis Osborne told FoxNews.com. Fail at your mission in the game and lives can be lost and damage done to the ship -- just what would happen at sea.

Dr. Ray Perez, a program officer at ONR, reports the recruits are performing at high levels quicker and stronger, thanks to the training system.

“Playing this game 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the student, prior to practicing on a full-scale ship, they not only completed the tasks 50 percent faster, and they performed them 50 percent better,” he said.

Realistic training is essential, Perez told FoxNews.com, because 80 percent of all new recruits have never been on a vessel.

“It gives them direction of what the vessel looks like," he said, and answers the recruits' most common questions: “What’s starboard? What’s port?” It also forces recruits to navigate the ship aggressively -- as in a real emergency, there’s no dilly-dallying in the game.

“The game is in real time. It helps you manage your time,” added Edwards.

And no, it wasn’t 3D Realms or Activision that put together the system. A team from such disparate locations as UCLA, the University of Central Florida, Raytheon and BB&N Technologies developed the software.

Osborne said he got much more out of the virtual training than he would have from reading about it in his Naval classes.

“I felt much [more] prepared for the simulation training -- it was very real,” he said, explaining that every scenario was different. “It catches things that you forget to do so that the ship can stay afloat.”

Beyond gaming, ONR uses similar virtual technology for other types of training. Since 2008, they’ve been using digital tutors to increase recruits’ reading comprehension, for example.

Many recruits come from underachieving high schools; many couldn’t read up to the required eighth grade level.

“We found this was an issue,” Perez said, explaining that manuals recruits must become familiar with are written at the eighth grade level. With 40 hours of virtual instruction, a recruit can move up two grade levels in reading comprehension, he said.

The Navy hopes their successful program is implemented in public schools. Perez described it as individualized instruction, so recruits can proceed at their pace and take exams when they are ready.

“After entering answers, they are provided with feedback,” Perez said. This way, they are successful and move onto the next lesson when they have mastered the prior one.

Next up for the program: digital math tutors. With a greater background in math, recruits can move up in the ranks, possibly towards careers as nuclear engineers or electronics techs. And Super Mario Bros. never had that promise.

Marc Anthony Wants Jennifer Lopez to 'Gain Weight': Which Star Has the Sexiest Curves?

She may be the most beautiful woman in the world, but Marc Anthony misses Jennifer Lopez's legendary curves.

A source tells In Touch magazine that Anthony is kind of bummed about his wife's 10-pound weight loss and "doesn't want her to turn into one of those super-skinny Hollywood types."

"He wants her to gain weight," the source added.

Well, Lopez's famous booty may not be quite as prominent as it once was, but her super-toned legs more than make up for it. And the "American Idol" judge is still seductively curvy by Hollywood standards, giving us one more reason to look forward to Wednesday and Thursday nights.

From Lopez to Kim Kardashian to Sofia Vergara, click through our slideshow and let us know: Which seleb has the sexiest curves?

Lee Bo-young Takes on New Weekend Drama

Lee Bo-young (Birth of the Rich) has signed on to her next drama, an MBC weekend production titled The Woman Who Doesn’t Lose. But maybe a better way to refer to it would be She Never Loses, since we’re full up on drama titles about men and women who can’t, want, or still want to do things. (Mostly marrying.)

She Never Loses is a success story of a late-20s divorced woman overcoming obstacles, in another example of the Candy narrative (sigh, another one). (I’ve had some confused questions about Candy, so the basic explanation is this: Candy is the heroine of a famous manhwa from the ’70s, whose M.O. was to be knocked down by life but bounce back cheerily. An orphan from a poor background, she was romanced by a couple dreamy heroes, making her a very popular example of a modern Cinderella. The story’s become such a pop-culture fixture that the “Candy type” has become a shorthand in dramas for poor, plucky heroines. You know. Her. In every drama ever.)

Lee Bo-young’s version of Candy is, of course, a bright and upbeat personality who is named, appropriately, Kang Jae-mi. (Jae-mi also happens to be the word for fun or interesting. Coincidence? I think not.)

The creative team behind the production are PD Joo Sung-woo (Goldfish, Chun-ja’s Happy Events) and writer Park Hyun-joo (My Precious You, Golden Bride). Given the tone of those series, I presume this drama will fall into the category of familiar weekend fare lighthearted, family-friendly, with smaller stories as Jae-mi goes about her daily struggles.

She Never Loses will complete its casting by May, and plans to begin shooting in June. It’ll air following Do You Hear My Heart?

Rewrite the English Title for You’ve Fallen For Me

Speak now or forever hold your peace! Here’s your chance to name the drama that has already undergone one name change, from Festival to You’ve Fallen For Me [넌 내게 반했어], which is now the Korean title of the drama.

But apparently one title is not enough, since the production company has decided to hold a second title contest, for a separate English title. And YOU get to do it! I know there are some very talented people ’round these parts, from the myriad of hilarious titles some of you threw out when Maids was being renamed.

You’ve Fallen For Me / Festival / Whatchoo Wanna Callit stars Jung Yong Hwa as a bad boy rocker with his band The Stupid, and Park Shin-hye as a classical musician training in traditional Korean instruments (think gayageum, the stringed instrument people play sitting down, wearing hanboks). One day, the girl who knows nothing of contemporary music gets dragged to a concert where she sees The Stupid rockin’ out, and the rest, as they say, is history. Song Chang-eui (yay!) will co-star as the broadway-producer-turned-director who will ignite their dreams.

You can throw down your title ideas here at Drama Fever, and vote.

Okay…now I have to come up with one. How about… Love me Stupid? For Whom the Gayageum Tolls? Yeah…I suck at this game. (I vote Stupid In Love. Or I'm With the Band. Okay, I suck at it too)

The drama, whatever its title, premieres Wednesday June 29 on MBC, following Best Love, and will be available simultaneously over at Drama Fever.

Firefox Addon to enhance Computer Keyboard Functions

I just reviewed a Firefox addon, but found another extension which completely enhances your browsing experience. Focus Keyboard is a Firefox add-on which adds a few keyboard enhancements to make your browsing experience seamless. It makes complicated tasks like opening websites, editing URL in address bar, copy URL within a webpage to the address bar etc so easy. You can use Enter key to reload the page, Delete key to jump to the end of the URL address to edit it etc.

If you don’t want these keyboard enhancements on specific webpages or sites, you can add to ignore list or blacklist them.

Once the extension is installed, you can configure the options from Extension Manager window. Under Main features section, options to Automatically type into the location bar, Tab in order between checked elements, and to Highlight tabbed element can be found. From right side, you can add additional keyboard enhancements, such as, Escape key to blur focus from any web element, Enter key to reload the current page, Delete key to jump to end of URL in address bar, and Ctrl + V to either paste the copied text to address bar or to search bar.

Download HERE...!!!

The extension works on Firefox 3.0 – 4.0.*