Contest

"Oh, you mean the guy with the 70-year-old head and the 20-year-old body-builder body? That picture has got to be Photoshopped." Dr. Jeffry Life smiles when I tell him about the general reaction I get about the famous picture of him with his shirt off, the shot that turned a mild-mannered doctor in his mid-60s into a poster boy for super-fit aging and controversial hormone replacement Appearing in medical-clinic ads in airline magazines and...

CAIRO - Seizing a moment in history they never imagined, the two old men walked arm in arm into a polling station on a day that was thoroughly and wonderfully Egyptian: Opinion polls were unreliable, intrigue was high, and there was a sense of destiny to rekindle the grandeur of the nation's ancient past. But it was also unlike any other day in this troubled land that has veered from euphoria to disgust to resilience: The name Hosni Mubarak wasn't on the ballot, and the two men didn't already know the outcome when they walked into the polling booth in an election that was as thrilling as it was unpredictable.

The hotly contested issue of whether to recall Wisconsin's Republican governor has the state's voters evenly divided, according to a newly released poll. Gov. Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, his most likely Democratic opponent, were virtually tied, with Barrett leading 47%-46% among all registered voters and Walker ahead 48%-47% among those most likely to vote, according to the poll by Marquette University Law School. Barrett holds a strong and growing lead over three other Democrats a week before the party's May 8 primary, the poll showed.

WASHINGTON - Upstart state Sen. Deb Fischer triumphed in Nebraska's bitterly contested Republican primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday night, winning the right to face Democrat Bob Kerrey in November. The race had become a high-profile showdown among tea party leaders, who split their support among three candidates. The seat being vacated by Democrat Ben Nelson is considered the GOP's best opportunity for a Senate pickup this fall. Former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin had endorsed Fischer last week, giving the little-known rancher from the Sandhills region a boost.

Calling all inventors: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wants you to parade your stuff. The nation's largest retailer is holding a contest, called Get on the Shelf, for a chance to snag a spot on its stores and website for your product. Think of it as American Idol: Retail Edition “That's uncovering the next great singer, this is uncovering the next product,” said Chris Bolte, vice president of @WalmartLabs, the retailer's social media and e-commerce arm. “This is a way for us to really provide our consumers with a voice on the kind of products that Wal-Mart carries.” That's because the contest will be determined by the public, who will vote on videos created by contestants and posted onto http://GetOnTheShelf.com . Aspiring businesses and individuals have until Feb. 22 to upload a clip about their product onto the site.

The largest showdown of its kind, the 20th Annual Belly Dancer of the Universe Competition offers something for everyone: dance classes, competitions at every age, world-renowned belly dancers in different styles and an evening performance featuring international stars Suhaila Salimpour, Sadie and Atlantis. Long Beach Convention Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. $15-$30. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (562) 433-6615. www.bellydancerofthe universe.

A round-up of entertainment news stories for Thursday. Mel Gibson (remember him?) is expected to plead no contest to domestic violence charges and avoid jail time. ( Los Angeles Times ) Julie Taymor is out of the troubled "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," but the Broadway show will go on. ( Los Angeles Times ) Spider-Man's first comic book appearance sold for $1.1 million -- or about 1/65th of the budget of his new musical ( New York Daily News ) Julianne Moore has landed the plum role of Sarah Palin in HBO's "Game Change.

Newt Gingrich, facing a double-digit loss to rival Mitt Romney that some predict will doom his presidential bid, sought to turn the results of Tuesday's critical Florida primary into a victory, arguing that the contest is now defined as between himself and the former Massachusetts governor. "Florida did something very important coming on top of South Carolina. It is now clear this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader Newt Gingrich and the Massachusetts moderate," Gingrich told a few hundred people in a half-empty ballroom here.

When California pushed back its presidential primary to June to save money, the declarations came swiftly: The state's 5 million GOP voters would be bystanders to a race that was widely expected to be decided long before then. It was a variation on a complaint made for decades — behemoth California left with no voice while pipsqueak states have all the fun. But now, as the Republican contest to take on President Obama has slogged on far longer than most expected, there is at least an outside chance that California could have a decisive role when voters head to the polls June 5. And the presidential field is starting to notice.

In yet another sign of hard times, officials are looking to a contest sponsored by Coca-Cola for funds to keep a popular coastal park open. Without $500,000 to replace an aging sewer line, McGrath State Beach, a camping spot just down the coast from Ventura Harbor, will shut down after Labor Day . With less than two weeks left and no check in hand, local and state officials on Friday urged people to head for livepositively.com ...

The Los Angeles Times won Newspaper of the Year for 2011 among the state's largest daily newspapers and a total of 20 journalism awards as part of the annual Better Newspaper Contest, officials announced Saturday. The Times won first-place awards among newspapers with a circulation of 150,000 or more in the following categories: local government coverage, investigative reporting, sports, and arts and entertainment. The paper also received second prize for design and general excellence in the contest sponsored by the California Newspaper Publishers Assn., a nonprofit trade group.

The hotly contested issue of whether to recall Wisconsin's Republican governor has the state's voters evenly divided, according to a newly released poll. Gov. Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, his most likely Democratic opponent, were virtually tied, with Barrett leading 47%-46% among all registered voters and Walker ahead 48%-47% among those most likely to vote, according to the poll by Marquette University Law School. Barrett holds a strong and growing lead over three other Democrats a week before the party's May 8 primary, the poll showed.

Anida Yoeu Ali and Masahiro Sugano were excited when they heard about the White House video contest on issues affecting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. They spent two weeks putting together a three-minute film on the plight of Cambodian deportees, then watched as online views outpaced the competition. But they found out last month that they didn't win, and since then have been unable to find out how the contest was decided. They, and one contest winner, think the film's topic cut too close to a controversy over the record number of immigrants deported by the Obama administration.

Up, up and not quite away. That's the frustrating story of human-powered helicopters and the prize coveted by virtually everyone who has designed the cumbersome beasts and tried to get them aloft. So far, nobody has come up with a muscle-driven machine capable of hovering for 1 minute and rising 3 meters - requirements for the Igor I. Sikorsky Prize, an honor the helicopter industry has dangled before aeronautics buffs for 32 years. The prize has been offered so long that the booty, initially $10,000, became embarrassingly small.

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Sudan and its southern rival slid toward a ruinous war Thursday, with fighting continuing along their contested border and Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir threatening to teach the world's newest country "a final lesson by force. " A protracted war between Sudan and South Sudan, which separated peacefully in July, would almost certainly have a devastating civilian toll and seriously damage the oil sector on which both economies depend. But diplomacy has gotten nowhere, and civilians on both sides were urging their governments not to back down.

Former star center fielder Lenny Dykstra will not be allowed to post or solicit on social networking or e-commerce sites over the next three years as part of a plea deal with city prosecutors, authorities said. Dykstra pleaded no contest Wednesday to misdemeanor charges of lewd conduct and assault with a deadly weapon involving women who responded to housekeeping ads he placed on Craigslist, authorities said Wednesday. Prosecutors said he would receive nine months in jail. Under the plea deal, Dykstra also was placed on three years' probation, including provisions to prevent him from misusing the Internet, which he used to lure women who traveled long distances and were desperate for work in the bad economy.

The Chicago Bears punished the Green Bay Packers for their undisciplined play with a 20-17 upset on Monday to join the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers as the NFL's only unbeaten teams. Robbie Gould booted a 19-yard field goal with four seconds left to clinch the victory in front of a soldout crowd at Soldier Field and keep the surprising Bears at the top of the NFC North standings with a perfect 3-0 mark. Devin Hester returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown while Jay Cutler passed for another but the Packers were the architects of their own demise.

Sculptors Michael Davis, Guy Dilland and Eric Orr have been named finalists in a $40,000 project to design a new outdoor sculpture for the Laguna Beach Museum of Art. The competition attracted 119 entries. Each finalist will receive a $1,000 stipend to cover costs of submitting a design model. The winning sculptor will be announced in the spring by a six-member jury. The sculpture is to be installed after the museum's permanent facility at 307 Cliff Drive is reopened in December.

OXON HILL, Md. - A team of skilled teenagers from Highland Park traveled across the country recently to test its ability to protect American interests from potentially dangerous attacks. Its only weapon: laptops. Cloaked in blue oversized hoodies, a handful of students from Benjamin Franklin High School hunched over their computer screens, armed with the knowledge to thwart hackers from infiltrating computer networks and stealing sensitive information. At CyberPatriot: The National High School Cyber Defense Competition, held here, a stone's throw from the nation's capital, students mostly played defense against sophisticated computer whizzes with ill intentions.