Liberty at stake, Liddy warns

Greenville, N.C. Conservative radio talk-show host and Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy says the expansion of government in the wake of the terrorist attacks threatens liberty.

The former assistant to President Richard Nixon broadcast his national radio show on Friday from WCZI-FM in Greenville.

Liddy praised President Bush for his response to terrorism, but said “We have seen a gradual but accelerating erosion of our liberties” since Sept. 11.

“The people who trade liberty for security end up with neither,” Liddy said.

Brit’s cause is osteoporosis

Lisbon, Portugal Prince Charles’ longtime companion Camilla Parker Bowles joined prominent women from around the world Saturday to draw attention to a debilitating bone disease.

Parker Bowles spoke at a women’s round-table meeting during a congress organized by the International Osteoporosis Foundation. Queen Rania of Jordan presided at the meeting attended by some 5,000 delegates.

The congress called on global policy-makers to make earlier diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis “a public health priority.”

Ushering in cardio training

New York Usher has a sculpted physique, but he didn’t get it from pumping iron.

“I do cardio but I don’t touch weights. It’s not good for your body,” the 23-year-old R&B crooner told The Associated Press.

“It’s better to lift your own weight; it makes you stronger and gives you that long endurance. That’s why you see boxers punching the bag, you see them doing jump-rope,” he said. “It makes you stronger, and gives you a better cut.”

Usher’s latest album, “8701,” has sold more than 3.5 million copies.

Papa wants a brand new verdict

Los Angeles James Brown and a woman awarded $40,000 in a wrongful termination lawsuit have both appealed the verdict, their attorneys said.

Lisa Agbalaya claimed Brown fired her as West Coast president of New James Brown Enterprises because she rejected his sexual advances. She sued the 69-year-old “Godfather of Soul” for $1 million for sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful firing and infliction of emotional distress.

A jury awarded Agbalaya about a year’s salary for wrongful termination but rejected the other charges.

Her attorney, Shelly McMillan, said Wednesday there were problems with the handling of evidence and jury instructions.

Brown’s lawyer, Debra Opri, took issue with the language of the verdict. She said the cause listed in the lawsuit was “wrongful termination in violation of public policy.”

“This was a mistake of law that we seek to correct,” Opri said.