Allen Iverson and Newt Gingrich are just the latest celebrity jewelry fiends to be be embarassed by their undying love for bling. 

Allen Iverson, aka The Answer, apparently didn’t live up to his nickname in 2010, when Aydin & Company Jewelers sued him for not paying a $375,000 bill for jewelry he bought there, TMZ reported this week. Rather than being “The Answer,” the former NBA star apparently played the part of the “The Ignorer,” never even responding to the suit, according to TMZ, and now a judge in Georgia is garnishing his wages to pay a default judgement of $859,896.46 (the number ballooned when the former 76er failed to answer the jeweler’s lawsuit.)

But Allen Iverson is not the first celebrity jewelry fiend to be embarassed by their infatuation with shiny things.

Republican presidential primary candidate Newt Gingrich also found himself being excoriated by the press over his jewelry habit when his massive, six-figure Tiffany & Co. tab (valued at between $500,000 and $1 millon) was publicized. He spent the money on a number of items–including an expensive diamond necklace–for his wife, Callista.

This slideshow is a rogue’s gallery is a photo tour of some of the top celebrities whose love for jewelry has embarassed them the most over the years.

never hides her affection for sloths, and she brings proof of how deeply she cares for the slow, three-toed creature to “”. On Tuesday, January 31, the former “Veronica Mars” star revealed that she went to having a meltdown at the prospect of meeting one on her 31st birthday, and shared the footage.

Before the footage was played, the actress recalled the time she sensed her fiance was going to surprise her with a sloth as birthday present. She said, “I had no context for knowing what it was, but I grabbed the dogs and walk into the back room of the house and I was immediately overcome and I thought, ‘There’s a sloth near.’ “

“And I didn’t know how to process that because my entire life had been waiting for this moment, where I would get to interact with a sloth,” she told host . “I start to have a full-fledged panic attack. I don’t know how to compete with all this emotion, so I just kind of crawl up on the bed and I’m crying so hard.” That’s when Shepard came into the room with camera in hand.

In the home video taped by Shepard, Bell can be seen crying so hard that she could barely speak when her fiance comes into the room to surprise her. After learning that the sloth was staying for the day, the Jeannie Van Der Hooven of “” asks the “” star, “He’s coming for the party?”

After the footage was shown, Bell came close to break down in tears once again as DeGeneres suggested that there is a sloth waiting backstage.

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Daniel S Levine

During a fundraising appearance at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY on Thursday night, President Obama showed off his vocal talents, singing a little bit from Al Green’s 1972 hit, “Let’s Stay Together.” Adding to the fun was the fact that the Rev. Al Green was actually among the crowd of 1,400 supporters.

According to ABC News, Obama broke into the song shortly after taking the stage and thanking the hosts of the event and recognizing those who performed ahead of him, including Green. CBS News adds that India/Arie also performed.

“To know that Rev. Al Green was here!” Obama said looking off stage.

“I…I’m…soooo in love with you,” Obama sang as the crowd began to applause and cheer, reports USA Today. Still, Obama admitted that he doesn’t quite have the same amount of talent as Green. “Don’t worry, Rev, I cannot sing like you…but I just wanted to show my appreciation,” he joked.

He also pointed to people backstage, telling the audience that “These guys didn’t think I would do it, but I told them I was going to do it!”

President Obama had a whirlwind of fundraisers Thursday, attending four, including one at director Spike Lee’s home. Obama was also in Orlando at Disney World, reports The Miami Herald. There, he tried to promote tourism, saying that over 1 million jobs could be created in the US if the country expands its sector of the worldwide travel industry.

You can check out Obama’s singing below:

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Acura made noise last week at the Detroit Auto Show, as parent company Honda unveiled the return of the NSX and boldly dubbed it the return of the “supercar.” And that certainly caught the most eyes on the first day of the press preview at the 2012 North American International Auto Show.

Honda introduced three planned new Acura models Jan. 9, hoping to build momentum for a slumping brand. And in a vote of confidence for American manufacturing, Honda said the car will be produced in Ohio factories. Honda hopes the move also will lead to increased U.S. sales of the brand.

“Supercar” was a popular word during Honda President and CEO Takanobu Ito’s press conference reintroducing the NSX, which was discontinued in 2005. The new NSX concept is a hybrid built from lightweight materials. It features a mid-mounted V-6 engine. 

“Like the first NSX, we will again express high performance through engineering efficiency,” Ito said in his remarks. “In this new era, even as we focus on the fun to drive spirit of the NSX, I think a supercar must respond positively to environmental responsibilities.”

Honda also will look to the ILX compact sedan and a redesigned RDX crossover — both also introduced in Detroit last week — to boost slumping sales. The Acura brand’s 2011 sales were down 8 percent, but that was due in part to a loss of production because of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. But Honda is predicting a huge jump for the Acura brand’s sales in 2012 — 46 percent.

The NSX concept should hit the market by 2015, Honda said.

Ito touted the “supercar” features, such as a V-6 engine with direct injection that works with a dual clutch transmission to give the feel of “supercar acceleration.” It will have all-wheel drive and could have a 400 horsepower.

The NSX was the major hit of the first day of the press preview in Detroit. An hour and a half after Honda’s announcement of the car, crowds still gathered to take a look at the “supercar.”

Take a look for yourself and click ahead.

Jenna Katherine Nelson

Actor Gene Hackman was rushed to the hospital Friday after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle in the Florida Keys.

The Florida Highway Patrol said Hackman had suffered injuries to his head and was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami. The Sun Sentinel reports Hackman had been riding in Islamorada around 3 p.m. Eastern time when he was struck from behind.

FHP Sergeant Thomas E. Pikul spoke with reporters, saying, “We’re not sure who was at fault yet because that’s still under investigation but the vehicle hit the bicycle and he was ejected off the bike and airlifted to Ryder Trauma with leg and bodily injuries.”

The Oscar winner was awake and in good condition while in transit to the hospital. TMZ spoke with Hackman’s rep on Friday afternoon who says the actor is “fine.” Hackman had “suffered bumps and bruises after a woman bumped him from behind in her vehicle.”

The 81-year-old was riding without a helmet, says ABC News, but was released from the hospital after a short visit and several routine tests.

No charges have been filed or reported, and it’s unclear if Hackman will file against the woman who hit him.

With over 50 years in Hollywood, Hackman has won two Oscars and was nominated for three others. He has also won three  Golden Globes and two BAFTAs. His breakthrough role was as Buck Barrow, Clyde Barrow’s brother, in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. Hackman’s most famous role is as Superman’s nemesis, Lex Luthor, in three of the Superman films.

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The Associated Press

PORTO SANTO STEFANO, Italy — Divers searched the submerged part of a luxury cruise liner that went aground off Italy’s coast in case any of 70 people unaccounted for might be trapped inside, a coast guard official said Saturday, as passengers described a delayed and terrifying evacuation.

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The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia leans on its side as after running aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio. The luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. (AP Photo/Enzo Russo)

AP

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The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia lays on its side after running aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

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Three bodies were recovered from the sea after the Costa Concordia ran aground off the tiny island of Giglio near the coast of Tuscany late Friday, tearing a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in its hull and sending in a rush of water.

One of the victims was a Peruvian crew member, a diplomat from the South American country said, adding that a Peruvian woman was also missing. The ANSA new agency identified the other two fatalities as French passengers, but didn’t cite a source.

Passengers described a scene reminiscent of “Titanic”, saying they escaped the ship by crawling along upended hallways, desperately trying to reach safety as the lights went out and plates and glasses crashed. Helicopters whisked some survivors to safety, others were rescued by private boats in the area, and witnesses said some people jumped from the ship into the dark, cold sea.

The ship was lying virtually flat off Giglio’s coast, its starboard side submerged in the water and the huge gash showing clearly on its upturned hull.

Passengers complained the crew failed to give instructions on how to evacuate and once the emergency became clear, delayed lowering the lifeboats until the ship was listing too heavily for many of them to be released.

Carnival Corp., which owns the cruise line that the ship belongs to, didn’t address the allegations in a statement it issued.

“Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the grounding of the Costa Concordia and especially the loved ones of those who lost their lives. They will remain in our thoughts and prayers in the wake of this tragic event.”

Authorities have been checking names against the passenger list, but have had a hard time accounting for everyone. They still hadn’t counted all the survivors by the time they reached the mainland 12 hours later.

An evacuation drill was scheduled for Saturday afternoon, even though some passengers had already been on board for several days.

“It was so unorganized, our evacuation drill was scheduled for 5 p.m.,” said Melissa Goduti, 28, of Wallingford, Connecticut, who had set out on the cruise of the Mediterranean hours earlier. “We had joked ‘What if something had happened today?’”

“Have you seen ‘Titanic?’ That’s exactly what it was,” said Valerie Ananias, 31, a schoolteacher from Los Angeles who was traveling with her sister and parents on the first of two cruises around the Mediterranean. They all bore dark red bruises on their knees from the desperate crawl they endured along nearly vertical hallways and stairwells, trying to reach rescue boats.

“We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing,” her mother, Georgia Ananias, 61 said. “We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls.”

She choked up as she recounted the moment when an Argentine couple handed her their 3-year-old daughter, unable to keep their balance as the ship lurched to the side and the family found themselves standing on a wall. “He said ‘take my baby,’” Mrs. Ananias said, covering her mouth with her hand as she teared up. “I grabbed the baby. But then I was being pushed down. I didn’t want the baby to fall down the stairs. I gave the baby back. I couldn’t hold her.

“I thought that was the end and I thought they should be with their baby,” she said.

“I wonder where they are,” daughter Valerie whispered.

The family said they were some of the last off the ship, forced to shimmy along a rope down the exposed side of the ship to a waiting rescue vessel below.

Survivor Christine Hammer, from Bonn, Germany, shivered near the harbor of Porto Santo Stefano, on the mainland, after stepping off a ferry from Giglio. She was wearing elegant dinner clothes — a gray cashmere sweater, a silk scarf — along with a large pair of hiking boots, which a kind islander gave her after she lost her shoes in the scramble to escape. Left behind in her cabin were her passport, credit cards and phone.

Hammer, 65, told The Associated Press she was eating her first course, an appetizer of cuttlefish, sauteed mushrooms and salad, on her first night aboard her first-ever cruise, which was a gift to her and her husband, Gert, from her local church where she volunteers.

Suddenly, “we heard a crash. Glasses and plates fell down and we went out of the dining room and we were told it wasn’t anything dangerous,” she said.

Several passengers concurred, saying crew members for a good 45 minutes told passengers there was a simple “technical problem” that had caused the lights to go off. Seasoned cruisers, however, knew better and went to get their life jackets from their cabins and report to their “muster stations,” the emergency stations each passenger is assigned to, they said.

Once there, though, crew members delayed lowering the lifeboats even thought the ship was listing badly, they said.

“We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats from the side,” said Mike van Dijk, a 54-year-old from Pretoria, South Africa. “We were standing in the corridors and they weren’t allowing us to get onto the boats. It was a scramble, an absolute scramble.”

Passengers Alan and Laurie Willits from Wingham, Ontario, celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, said they were watching the magic show in the ship’s main theater when they felt an initial lurch, as if from a severe steering maneuver, followed a few seconds later by a “shudder” that tipped trash cans over. The subsequent listing of the ship made the theater curtains seem like they were standing on their side.

“And then the magician disappeared,” Laurie Willits said, adding that the panicked audience members fled for their cabins as well.

Once at their life boat station, crew members directed passengers to go upstairs from the fourth floor deck; Alan Willits said he refused.

“I said ‘no this isn’t right.’ And I came out and I argued ‘When you get this boat stabilized, I’ll go up to the fifth floor then,” he said. Eventually, his lifeboat was lowered down.

But things didn’t improve for passengers once aboard the lifeboats or on land.

“No one counted us, neither in the life boats nor on land,” said Ophelie Gondelle, 28, a French military officer from Marseille. She said there had been no evacuation drill since she boarded in Marseille, France on Jan. 8.

A top Costa executive, Gianni Onorato, said Saturday the Concordia’s captain had the liner on its regular, weekly route when it struck a reef.

“The ship was doing what it does 52 times a year, going along the route between Civitavecchia and Savona,” a shaken-looking Onorato, who is Costa’s director general, told reporters on Giglio, a popular vacation isle about 18 miles (25 kilometers) off Italy’s central west coast. The captain is an 11-year Costa veteran, he said.

He said Costa was cooperating with Italian investigators to find out what went wrong.

Costa Cruises said about 1,000 Italian passengers were onboard, as well as more than 500 Germans, about 160 French and about 1,000 crew members.

Some 30 people were reported injured, most of them suffering only bruises, but at least two people were reported to be in grave condition. Several passengers came off the ferries on stretchers, but it appeared more out of exhaustion and shock than serious injury.

The evacuees were taking refuge in schools, hotels, and a church on Giglio. Those evacuated by helicopter were taken to the port of Porto Santo Stefano on the nearby mainland.

Passengers sat dazed in a middle school opened for them, wrapped in wool or aluminum blankets, with some wearing their life preservers and their shoeless feet covered with aluminum foil. Civil protection crews served them warm tea and bread, but confusion reigned supreme as passengers tried desperately to find the right bus to begin their journey home.

Tanja Berto, from Ebenfurth, Austria, was shuttled from one line to another with her mother and 2-year-old son Bruno, trying to figure out how to get back to Savona, where they began their cruise a week ago.

“It’s his birthday today,” she said of her son, rolling her eyes as she held Bruno and tended to her mother, who had grown faint and was lying on the ground. “Happy birthday, Bruno.”

Survivors far outnumbered Giglio’s 1,500 residents, and island Mayor Sergio Ortelli issued an appeal for islanders — “anyone with a roof” — to open their homes to shelter the evacuees.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Francesco Paolillo said the exact circumstances of the accident were still unclear, but that the first alarm went off about 10:30 p.m., about three hours after the Concordia had begun its voyage from the port of Civitavecchia, en route to its first port of call, Savona, in northwestern Italy.

The coast guard official, speaking from the port captain’s office in the Tuscan port of Livorno, said the vessel “hit an obstacle.”

The cruise liner’s captain, Paolillo said, then tried to steer his ship toward shallow waters, near Giglio’s small port, to make evacuation by lifeboat easier. But after the ship started listing badly, lifeboat evacuation was no longer feasible, Paolillo said.

Five helicopters, from the coast guard, navy and air force, took turns airlifting survivors and ferrying them to safely. A coast guard member was airlifted aboard the vessel to help people get aboard a small basket so they could be hoisted up to the helicopter, said Capt. Cosimo Nicastro, another Coast Guard official.

Costa Cruises said the Costa Concordia was sailing on a cruise across the Mediterranean Sea, starting from Civitavecchia with scheduled calls to Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo.

The Concordia had a previous accident in Italian waters, ANSA reported. In 2008, when strong winds buffeted Palermo, the cruise ship banged against the Sicilian port’s dock, and sustained damage but no one was injured, ANSA said.

Those who knew 9-year-old Kathleen Edward will never forget her infectious smile, one seen often throughout her battle with Juvenile Huntington’s disease.

The girl who received support from people all over the world after being taunted about dying lost her battle with the disease Wednesday. She died at her Wyandotte home, surrounded by people who love her, said Kathleen’s maternal grandmother, Rebecca Rose.

“She suffered with this disease for a while, and she never complained,” Rose said. “She was always happy, always smiling.”

Rose said her last words to Kathleen were that it was OK to go be with her mom. Laura Edward, Kathleen’s mother, died in 2009 of Huntington’s disease, a hereditary, incurable brain disorder.

“I didn’t want her to suffer anymore,” Rose said.

Kathleen received an outpouring of support from around the world after doctored pictures of her appeared on Facebook, showing the girl and her mother being held by the grim reaper. They were posted by neighbors of Kathleen’s grandmother in Trenton.

The story touched people across the globe, including toy store owner Hans Masing, who began a fund-raiser to provide Kathleen with a dream shopping spree in October 2010 in Ann Arbor.

“That day was just about making sure that she knew that she was loved and special,” Masing said Thursday.

Kathleen had free rein to pick out whatever she wanted at Tree Town Toys. But instead of racing for items she wanted, Kathleen first picked out gifts for family members.

“She’s the most caring person in the world,” her father, Robert Edward, said after the shopping spree. Part of that day was spent at lunch, where Kathleen ate steak and watermelon, two of her favorite foods, Masing said.

In addition to Kathleen’s father and stepmother, she is survived by two younger sisters — Ashley and Maddison.

Kathleen’s story has helped raise awareness about Huntington’s disease, which affects 1 of every 10,000 people nationwide, said Dave Stickles, president of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America’s Michigan chapter.

Michigan Memorial Funeral Home in Flat Rock is handling services for Kathleen. Visitation will be 1-8 p.m. today at the funeral home, 30895 W. Huron River Drive. The funeral will be held there at noon Saturday.

Kathleen will be buried next to her mother at Mt. Hope Memorial Gardens cemetery in Livonia.

Our good friend Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports has penned yet another intriguing and thought-provoking item.  This one focuses on the possible reasons for the termination of Raiders coach Hue Jackson.

Silver’s theory is that Jackson knew too much about how poorly late owner Al Davis used to treat his son, Mark Davis, and that Mark Davis wants to remove from the organization anyone with direct knowledge of those interactions.  “To project an image of authority,” Silver writes, “Mark Davis needs to surround himself with employees who didn’t see him routinely disparaged and condescended to by his legendary father.”

Silver believes that Mark Davis is the classic Chris Farley (pictured) character known simply as “Tommy Boy,” and that Mark Davis couldn’t stomach “the thought of presiding over a team with a brash, intelligent and charismatic coach who knew how dismissively his father used to treat him.”

It’s funny and it’s fresh and it’s clever, but it’s also quite possibly dead wrong.

Upon the passing of his father, Mark Davis promptly sought the counsel of John Madden and Ron Wolf for assistance in finding the right person to assume the reins of the football organization, and Mark Davis accepted their advice that Reggie McKenzie is the right man for the job.  Silver criticizes Mark Davis for not going through the motions of interviewing other candidates, praising 49ers owner Jed York for doing the same thing last year when a stream of second-tier possibilities rolled through the offices at a time when everyone knew Trent Baalke was getting the job.  But York was, in the opinion of many, simply was setting up a phony competition that Baalke would be able to win.  Mark Davis decided not to waste time and money by bringing in a bunch of guys with no shot at the job, something Al Davis routinely did when hiring a coach, if only to pick their brains regarding the things other teams do.

Moving forward, Silver thinks that Mark Davis will urge McKenzie to dump any members of the football operation who know about the way that Al Davis supposedly used to mistreat Mark Davis.  If that happens, then perhaps Silver’s theory is right.  If it doesn’t happen, then Silver’s hypothesis is wrong.

For now, Mark Davis deserves the benefit of the doubt.  Mark Davis acknowledged on Tuesday that he knows what he doesn’t know, a rare trait among NFL owners who think that knowing a lot about something other than football gives them the ability to figure out a game that is far more difficult than it looks on TV.  By all appearances, Mark Davis has handed the keys to McKenzie, and Mark Davis plans to get out of the way.

Likewise, the annual sense of urgency that often characterizes the latter years of an aging NFL owner’s life likely will evaporate now, with a longer-term view of the franchise replacing the continuous tweaking that Al Davis surely felt compelled to do in order to get one more Lombardi Trophy during his lifetime.

And maybe, in the end, Mark Davis is opting not to “kneecap” (as Silver puts it) guys like Hue Jackson because they know too many embarrassing facts about Mark Davis.  Maybe Mark Davis opted to move on from Hue Jackson because Hue Jackson behaved too much like Al Davis — and maybe Mark Davis believes the Raiders can be run without big egos, hot tempers, or dismissive comments.

Maybe Mark Davis really is Tommy Boy.  In the end, however, Tommy Boy figured out how to save the company.  If Mark Davis, like so many other owners smart enough to know the limitations of their abilities do, defers to the football experts, the company owned by Al Davis may not only survive, but once again thrive.

In the past twelve hours the six men running for the Republican presidential nomination have debated not once but twice.

We live-blogged both debates — the Saturday night set-to sponsored by ABC/WMUR and the “Meet the Press” debate this morning.

Read more at PostPolitics

N.H. Debate II: Romney takes fire

Romney cruises in first N.H. debate

N.H voters hammer Santorum on views

N.H. Debate I: What you missed