WASHINGTON -- House Democrats triggered the countdown Monday for the climactic vote on President Barack Obama's fiercely contested remake of the health care system, even though the legislation remained incomplete and lacked the votes needed to pass.

Obama pushed his vision of affordable and nearly universal coverage to seniors in Ohio, declaring "we need courage" in the legislative struggle now in motion, as congressional leaders showed signs of progress winning over anti-abortion Democrats whose votes are pivotal. As well, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., among the bill's sharpest opponents, said he was "less confident" than before that it could be stopped.

Christian author and social justice advocate Rev. Jim Wallis appeared on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" Friday evening to talk about Glenn Beck's recent attack on churches and religious leaders who preach social justice.

Last week, Beck, a Mormon, told his fans to scour their churches for any mention of social justice or economic justice. He said that both terms are "code words" that were used by Nazis and Communists and that if a church preached either, one should "run as fast as you can!"

Dick Button is speaking from Vancouver, where he will offer his immediately insightful and honest commentary on Olympic figure skating for NBC.

"We need the Olympics," he said on the eve of the opening ceremony for the Winter Games.

Button, 80, has been around 17 of these Olympic Games, and if you want to suggest that the Olympics don't matter so much anymore, what with television coverage tape-delayed (at least for those of us in the West -- you know, the time zone where Vancouver, Canada, is) and scattered around various NBC platforms, don't suggest that to Button.

Apple on Thursday began its "Countdown to 10 Billion Songs."

Apple is getting close enough to having 10 billion songs downloaded since opening in 2003, that it is beginning a countdown on iTunes. Official rules are available from Apple's Web site.

The winner of the countdown--the person that downloads the 10 billionth song--will win a $10,000 gift card. You can download any song from iTunes and be eligible for the prize, the company said.

Clouds have delayed the launch of space shuttle Endeavour.

NASA called everything off early Sunday morning, with just 9 minutes left in the countdown. The band of low clouds started moving into the area late Saturday and forced the delay.

Launch managers said they would try again Monday. Slightly better weather was expected.

Endeavour is loaded with a new room for the International Space Station, as well as an observation deck.

NASA has begun counting down toward the planned predawn launch of the space shuttle Endeavour on Sunday.

Endeavour is poised to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday morning at 4:39 a.m. EST (0939 GMT) to deliver a brand-new room and observation portal to the International Space Station.  The clocks began ticking down toward launch time early this morning.

"We're right on schedule, where we're supposed to be," said NASA test director Jeff Spaulding during a Thursday status briefing.

As the countdown goes on to the moment when the almighty Apple tablet is introduced (and geekery as we know it is forever changed), a preponderance of fake "leaked" photos and even commercials for the much-hyped gadget have spread across the Internet like wildfire.

How do we know they are fake? Well, we don't, actually. One WSJ.com reader posted a link to a YouTube video, which features a 360-degree view of a tablet-like device and some paintball splotches that are similar to the graphics on the invite for the Apple event.

As grapevine surround Apple's much-hyped tablet computer, deals are being struck under the table. For the latest, Apple is trying to strike a deal with both AT&T and Verizon for its rumored tablet's wireless data service. Countdown for Apple's new device is on and the device is all set for a launch in less than a week. According to Fox News, reports from unknown sources suggest that Apple plans to allow its users to choose their preferred wireless service that works on their tablet. It could be interpreted that Apple is releasing two versions of its tablet device for AT&T and Verizon, as both the services rely on different technology  .

Once in a blue moon there actually is a blue moon on New Year's Eve.

There'll be a so-called blue moon around for the New Year's countdown on Thursday.

According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue - the name has nothing to do with its color.

This month's first full moon occurred on Dec. 2. On New Year's Eve, a full moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa.

New Moon doesn't hits theaters until Nov. 22, but the red carpet will be rolled out six days prior for its star-studded world premiere.

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and many others are expected at the invite-only event Nov. 16. Just as Summit did with Twilight’s premiere, there will be two screenings happening simultaneously at the Mann Village and Bruin Theatres in the Westwood neighborhood of L.A.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will be the first guest on Jay Leno's new primetime TV show in September, NBC said on Friday.

The star and co-creator of the 1990s TV comedy "Seinfeld" will help kick off "The Jay Leno Show" when it premieres on NBC on September 14.

Seinfeld, one of America's most popular comedians, will join R&B singers Kanye West, Rihanna and Jay-Z, who will be performing on the opening show.

The media buzz around the Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) Pre is rising to deafening levels as the countdown to the Pre's release on Saturday proceeds.

Generally, early reviewers like its design and ease of use.

The Israel countdown seems to have begun. The president leaves tomorrow for an overseas trip that will put him, on Thursday, in Cairo, where he will give a major speech. In this speech he is expected to send the signals that will indicate whether it's a new deal for Israel.

While there will surely be no fighting words here, there could well be a sense of how far the present administration is going to move from standard policy, in which Israel gets the benefit of the doubt, to, in effect, doubting Israel.

In just a few days, the smartphone-buying public will be able to get its grubby mitts on the long-awaited Palm Pre, which is expected to hit stores June 6.As the Palm Pre countdown continues, all eyes-and the bulk of the blogosphere-are keeping a keen watch on anything and everything Pre. And, as with all major smartphone releases, the rumor mill is spinning wildly with anticipation. Along with the speculation, however, come a few truths.

The countdown to the Incident (and the Lost season finale) has begun, and it's not yet clear whether the Losties will prevent the Incident, cause it or merely suffer through it as victims. But which players in are position to do what? And what's the deal with fancy new-fangled Locke? We've got your look back at what happened in "Follow the Leader" along with a mess of all-new insight into the finale from the real Lost leader, Mr. Damon Lindelof himself...

A two-year-old girl has become the youngest member of Mensa, the societystrictly for geniuses.

With intelligence far beyond her years, Elise Tan Roberts can name 35 capitalcities and identify the three types of triangle. Her IQ is 156 - higher thanCarol Vorderman’s, the maths expert and former Countdown host. The averageIQ in the population at large is 100.

The toddler, from Edmonton in North London, can already spell her name aloud,read the words “mummy” and “daddy” and recite the alphabet.

If about 110,000 AT&T workers nationwide go on strike Sunday morning, that will include about 500 AT&T workers in the Akron area.

Five regional union contracts expire on Sunday. A sixth that expires a few months later is being negotiated at the same time.

Amy Acker is a favorite among Whedonites (followers of Joss Whedon) for her role as Fred Burkle and Illyria on "Angel," and also co-starring in an influential arc on the show "Alias."  Joss woke up and "smelled the Acker" -- he said it.