Source: www.bnamericas.com --- Saturday, December 31, 2011
Argentine President Cristina Fern?ndez has asked the Mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, for "a little effort" to take over control of the city's metro system starting January 1. In November, th... ...
david archuleta hobbit trailer greenhill nj plane crash plane crash new jersey beef o bradys bowl the hobbit
FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2008 file photo, Republican presidential hopeful former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, left, is joined by his wife Janet as he addresses a victory party in Des Moines, Iowa, after being declared the winner of the Iowa Caucus. Sen. John McCain, who won the party nomination, ended up fourth. The Iowa caucuses draw outsized attention from politicians and the news media because they are first and can put a symbolic political wind behind the sails of the top finishers, making them more attractive not only to voters but also to donors who finance campaigns. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2008 file photo, Republican presidential hopeful former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, left, is joined by his wife Janet as he addresses a victory party in Des Moines, Iowa, after being declared the winner of the Iowa Caucus. Sen. John McCain, who won the party nomination, ended up fourth. The Iowa caucuses draw outsized attention from politicians and the news media because they are first and can put a symbolic political wind behind the sails of the top finishers, making them more attractive not only to voters but also to donors who finance campaigns. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? All across Iowa next Tuesday, tens of thousands of Republican voters will travel through a chilly Midwestern night to the warmth of a local church or gymnasium for caucus meetings to select presidential candidates, the first voting in the 2012 election campaign.
These Midwestern, mostly white voters hardly resemble America as a whole, and their voting system puzzles most people. Yet Iowa holds substantial sway over how the nation chooses the president.
"Iowa will choose the next president of the United States in their early caucuses," Republican hopeful Michele Bachmann said recently. "This is the cannon shot."
The caucuses ? essentially community meetings ? have served as a launching pad to the nomination, and often to the White House, for the past 40 years, though they've been around since the 1840s. Candidates tend to lavish attention on Iowa, hoping that a good showing will give them a burst of publicity to improve their chances in New Hampshire, which votes Jan. 10, and in other early voting states.
It's this contest that helped propel Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore to their parties' nominations in 2000. It also helped Democrat John Kerry become Bush's challenger in 2004. And the caucuses gave Democrat Barack Obama his first win in 2008, though Mike Huckabee won on the Republican side, not the eventual GOP nominee, John McCain.
The caucus process seems arcane and mysterious, even to people in Iowa. That is in part because most people don't even participate. About 359,000 people ? 17 percent of registered voters in Iowa ? showed up for Democratic and Republican caucuses in 2008. Turnout will certainly be lower this year, since Obama is unopposed. And the GOP turnout may not exceed the record-setting 120,000 attendees that the party's contest saw four years ago.
Caucuses are held in all of the state's 1,774 voting precincts, some in remote spots where only a handful of voters gather, others in big community centers or schools that host several precincts under one roof. In all, Republicans will gather in about 800 locations.
This relatively small number of voters, and their overwhelmingly white makeup, routinely bring Iowa's caucuses under attack by outsiders who want more clout for their own states. Only 5 percent of Iowa's electorate is Hispanic and only 3 percent is black, compared with a national electorate that is 16 percent Hispanic and 12 percent black.
For their part, Iowans jealously guard their first-in-the-nation nominating contests.
While both parties in Iowa use the caucus system to choose candidates, Republicans and Democrats go about things differently.
For the GOP, the caucuses are simply a straw poll, meaning the results are not binding. While Democrats use the caucuses to choose delegates who are expected to support their favored candidate, Republicans handle that later at county and district conventions.
After electing a temporary chair to run the meeting and a secretary to record the proceedings, any Republican who chooses can briefly speak in favor of a candidate. Ballots are then passed out and participants mark their choices in private. Those ballots are quickly counted and the results called into party headquarters, where they are posted online as they are received.
Any Republican voter can participate, including those who register when they arrive at the event. People too young to vote can also take part if they will be 18 by the general election.
Democrats, when there are multiple candidates, take a more convoluted approach.
Democrats break into preference groups at their caucuses, publicly declaring which candidate they favor. Candidates must get support from 15 percent of those attending the caucus in order to receive votes. Once they break into those groups, activists try to attract those whose candidates have fallen short of the 15 percent threshold.
After the results are reported to party headquarters, the numbers are run through a formula that changes the value of votes based on a county-by-county analysis of Democratic performance in the last gubernatorial and presidential elections.
"The Republican caucuses and Democratic caucuses are two different beasts," said Democratic strategist Phil Roeder. "In the big picture, it makes for a very different result."
Democratic strategist Jerry Crawford put it another way: "Democrats always like to make things more difficult."
Although the Republicans have a simpler system, caucuses by both parties require more time and greater participation than in a primary election.
Activists said that level of commitment means that for a candidate to be successful, he or she must make connections with voters, then build an organization that can get them to their precinct gatherings.
"People still expect to see the candidates in person," said Steve Scheffler, who heads the influential Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. "The candidates who have spent the most time here will benefit."
___
Associated Press writer Libby Quaid in Washington contributed to this report.
Associated Pressnba lockout over gone with the wind nba lockout news nba lockout news gifts for mom gifts for mom pepper spray
LG Prada 3.0 sashays over to South Korea because Android phones are so hot right now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink
Unwired View | 
LG (Translated) | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/27/lg-prada-3-0-sashays-over-to-south-korea-because-android-phones/
uss arizona memorial d day fun. words with friends words with friends roy orbison red solo cup
by Kristen Walker | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 12/28/11 5:43 PM
The Washington Times reported Thursday that Colorado Christian College is suing the Obama administration.
If you?re thinking to yourself, ?Self, if someone?s suing the Obama administration it?s probably because of health care,? well, you?re right. Last year, Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, issued a mandate as part of the health care reform bill requiring businesses to pay for Plan B and ella, two ?emergency? contraceptives.
But you and I know nothing is free. Who pays for that abortion pill? The taxpayer. In other words: you.
Although medical literature states these drugs will not terminate an ?established? pregnancy, they don?t tell you exactly what ?established? means. The drug information for both Plan B and ella states that they can stop or delay ovulation, or they can keep a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine wall.
When used effectively as an emergency contraceptive, it is obviously too late for the drug to keep a woman from ovulating. The woman takes the drug in that case to keep a fertilized egg ? which is to say, a zygote; which is to say, a living human being ? from implanting in the uterus. This is, quite simply, a very early abortion.
Colorado Christian College is suing on the grounds that this mandate violates freedom of speech and religion. There are still a few exceptions being made for religious objections, but the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and other organizations ? such as Colorado Christian College ? are saying the exemptions are not broad enough.
This week the USCCB ran a full-page ad in the New York Times and the Washington Post condemning the mandate. ?As written, the rule will force Catholic organizations that play a vital role in providing health care and other needed services either to violate their conscience or severely curtail those services,? the ad said. ?This would harm both religious freedom and access to health care.?
Discussing this with someone, I heard an argument I often hear: ?Well, you don?t get to choose where your tax money goes.?
I have two answers to that argument. First: well, we do get to choose. By voting. Except we the people did not get to vote on abortion. The Supreme Court discovered a right to abortion in the Constitution one day. ?Oh, hey, look! There it is!?
Second: so we don?t all get to order where our taxes go, a la carte. It would be pretty cool if you could fill in a little form and say, ?I want my money to only go to schools and roads, not to pay grants to ?artists? who submerge sharks in formaldehyde and call it ?Untitled No. 3: Man?s Existential Dilemma? so they can get invited to parties in SoHo.? It doesn?t work that way. We pay taxes and the government spends our money however they want.
But wait a second! We?re supposed to be in charge of the government and how it spends our money. In theory, they work for us.
So where do we draw the line? Here?s a hypothetical: we all wake up tomorrow and the President or the Speaker of the House comes on TV and says, ?Good morning, my fellow Americans. We?ve decided that 80% of all tax revenues will be spent building a giant machine that will find and murder all the world?s puppies.? Couldn?t we object to ? and stop ? our tax dollars being spent on a puppy-killing machine?
Or let?s say a government representative came on TV and said, ?From now on, some of your money is going to be spent to pay for other people?s abortions, and if you refuse, you?ll be fined.? That is exactly what?s happening.
All pro-lifers should be educated about these so-called ?abortion pills.? Our whole argument ? our entire cause ? is based on the simple, scientific fact that a unique, priceless human life begins at the moment of conception. If this is true ? and it is ? Plan B or ella, when used effectively as an emergency contraceptive, is every bit as responsible for the death of a living person as an abortionist.
Can we, as members of a free society, require people to participate ? financially or otherwise ? in an act they believe is wrong? This issue is different from one of, say, national defense, where Congress has the Constitutional authority to act as they see fit on behalf of the nation. This is the case of a private individual committing what I believe to be murder, and expecting me to foot the bill.
What do you think? Does Colorado Christian College have a case? Do you have a problem paying for other people?s abortions, whether caused by a pill or surgically?
LifeNews.com Note: Kristen Walker is Vice President of New Wave Feminists.This post originally appeared at the Live Action blog and is reprinted with permission.
Source: http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/28/college-sues-obama-admin-over-morning-after-pill-mandate/
veterans day paterno oakland raiders carson palmer al davis edmund fitzgerald vincent brown
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45799881#45799881
tj houshmandzadeh tj houshmandzadeh san onofre the little couple bubba smith bubba smith oakland strike
new york snow braxton miller braxton miller noreaster noreaster steve miller band boston weather
Chicago Bulls star guard Derrick Rose hit a short go-ahead jumper with 4.8 seconds to play, completing an 11-point comeback and sealing a 88-87 victory over the Lakers.
In what was both teams' Christmas Day opener, Luol Deng blocked Kobe Bryant's short shot right before the buzzer as the Bulls hung on for a wild finish in Los Angeles.
Playing with a torn wrist ligament, Kobe scored 28 points and nearly helped L.A. shake off a tumultuous preseason with win. But alas. Here's Rose's game-winning shot:
With the lockout finally over, the best pro basketball league/reality show on earth is just getting started. If you missed it, check out THG's 2011-12 NBA Preview!
mary did you know seattle seahawks grammy nominations philadelphia eagles vince young vince young john carter
Now over 20,000 Halloween costumes & props consolidated from the biggest online costume sites. Easy Halloween shopping - type in a costume and compare.
Mens historic/patriotic costume features a mask and jacket with attached vest and jabot. George Washington was the father of our Nation. He was a brave military officer and a fearless leader. You can look like this great man in your Men?s George Washington Costume. This costume includes?
? 
Source: http://www.scareyou.com/mens-george-washington-costume-2/
demi moore and ashton kutcher tebow meteor shower playstation network down martin scorsese kim zolciak kim zolciak
Onlookers gather around a car destroyed in a blast next to St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Nigeria, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria's capital Sunday, killing scores of people, officials said. A radical Muslim sect claimed the attack and another bombing near a church in the restive city of Jos, as explosions also struck the nation's northeast. (AP Photo/Sunday Aghaeze)
Onlookers gather around a car destroyed in a blast next to St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Nigeria, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria's capital Sunday, killing scores of people, officials said. A radical Muslim sect claimed the attack and another bombing near a church in the restive city of Jos, as explosions also struck the nation's northeast. (AP Photo/Sunday Aghaeze)
Onlookers and security staff gather around a car destroyed in a blast next to St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Nigeria, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria's capital Sunday, killing scores of people, officials said. A radical Muslim sect claimed the attack and another bombing near a church in the restive city of Jos, as explosions also struck the nation's northeast. (AP Photo/Dele Jones)
An armed soldier walks past a car destroyed in a blast next to St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Nigeria, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria's capital Sunday, killing scores of people, officials said. A radical Muslim sect claimed the attack and another bombing near a church in the restive city of Jos, as explosions also struck the nation's northeast. (AP Photo/Dele Jones)
A victim of a bomb blast at a Catholic church near Nigeria's capital lays on a bed at Suleja General Hospital in Suleja, Nigeria, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria's capital Sunday, killing scores of people, officials said. A radical Muslim sect claimed the attack and another bombing near a church in the restive city of Jos, as explosions also struck the nation's northeast. (AP Photo/Dele Jones)
A victim is tended to by medics in an ambulance following a blast at a Catholic church near Nigeria's capital lays on a bed at Suleja General Hospital in Suleja, Nigeria, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria's capital Sunday, killing scores of people, officials said. A radical Muslim sect claimed the attack and another bombing near a church in the restive city of Jos, as explosions also struck the nation's northeast. (AP Photo/Dele Jones)
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) ? Terror attacks across Nigeria by a radical Muslim sect killed at least 39 people, with the majority dying on the steps of a Catholic church after celebrating Christmas Mass as blood pooled in dust from a massive explosion.
Authorities on Sunday acknowledged they could not bring enough emergency medical personnel to care for the wounded outside St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla near Nigeria's capital. Elsewhere, a bomb exploded amid gunfire in the central Nigeria city of Jos and a suicide car bomber attacked the military in the nation's northeast as part of an apparently coordinated assault by the sect known as Boko Haram.
The Christmas Day violence, denounced by world leaders and the Vatican, shows the threat of the widening insurrection posed by Boko Haram against Nigeria's weak central government. Despite a recent paramilitary crackdown against the sect in the oil-rich nation, it appears that Africa's most populous nation remains unable to stop the threat.
The White House condemned what it called a "senseless" attack, offered its condolences to the Nigerian people and pledged to assist authorities in bringing those responsible to justice.
In a statement, Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said, "These are cowardly attacks on families gathered in peace and prayer to celebrate a day which symbolises harmony and goodwill towards others."
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called in a statement for an end to sectarian violence in the country.
The first explosion on Sunday struck St. Theresa Catholic Church just after 8 a.m. The attack killed 35 people and wounded another 52, said Slaku Luguard, a coordinator with Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.
Though billions of dollars of oil money flow into the nation's budget yearly, Luguard's agency could only send text messages to journalists asking for their help in getting more ambulances.
Those wounded filled the cement floors of a nearby government hospital, with television images showing them crying in pools of their own blood. Corpses lined an open-air morgue.
The bombing and the delayed response drew anger from those gathering around the church after the blast. The crowd initially blocked emergency workers from the blast site, only allowing them in after soldiers arrived.
"We're trying to calm the situation," Luguard said. "There are some angry people around trying to cause problems."
In Jos, a second explosion struck near the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church, state government spokesman Pam Ayuba said. Gunmen later opened fire on police guarding the area, killing one officer, he said. Two other locally made explosives were found in a nearby building and disarmed.
By noon Sunday, explosions echoed through the streets of Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state where fighting between security forces and the sect already had killed at least 61 people in recent days. The most serious attack on Sunday came when a suicide bomber detonated a car loaded with explosives at the state headquarters of Nigeria's secret police, the State Security Service.
The bomber killed three people in the blast, though the senior military commander apparently targeted survived the attack, the State Security Service said in a statement.
After the bombings, a Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in an interview with The Daily Trust, the newspaper of record across Nigeria's Muslim north. The sect has used the newspaper in the past to communicate with public.
Boko Haram has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people. The group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is responsible for at least 504 killings this year alone, according to an Associated Press count.
This Christmas attack comes a year after a series of Christmas Eve bombings in Jos claimed by the militants left at least 32 dead and 74 wounded. The group also claimed responsibility for the Aug. 26 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Nigeria's capital Abuja that killed 24 people and wounded 116 others.
The sect came to national prominence in 2009, when its members rioted and burned police stations near its base of Maiduguri, a dusty northeastern city on the cusp of the Sahara Desert. Nigeria's military violently put down the attack, crushing the sect's mosque into shards as its leader was arrested and died in police custody. About 700 people died during the violence.
While initially targeting enemies via hit-and-run assassinations from the back of motorbikes after the 2009 riot, violence by Boko Haram now has a new sophistication and apparent planning that includes high-profile attacks with greater casualties. That has fueled speculation about the group's ties as it has splintered into at least three different factions, diplomats and security sources say. They say the more extreme wing of the sect maintains contact with terror groups in North Africa and Somalia.
Targeting the group has remained difficult, as sect members are scattered throughout northern Nigeria and nearby Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Analysts say political considerations also likely play a part in the country's thus-far muted response: President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, may be hesitant to use force in the nation's predominantly Muslim north.
In a statement, Jonathan condemned the blasts as a "unwarranted affront on our collective safety and freedom."
"I want to reassure all Nigerians that government will not relent in its determination to bring to justice all the perpetrators of today's acts of violence and all others before now," Jonathan said.
However, Jonathan has made the same promises after a series of spiraling attacks by the group. His spokesman, Reuben Abati, defended the president by saying the country planned to spend more on security and had made arrests targeting the group.
"The administration is very determined to address this new threat of terrorism that seems to have slipped into our environment," Abati told the AP.
But anger continues to grow over the sect's apparent ability to strike at will ? anger that could be seen at St. Theresa Catholic Church. After the blast, someone picked up a burnt piece of wood to scrawl: "Revolution now in the country" on its cement walls.
___
Associated Press writers Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria and Njadvara Musa in Maiduguri, Nigeria contributed to this report.
___
Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
Associated Pressduke basketball brian williams patrice o neal patrice o neal paulina gretzky paulina gretzky wayne gretzky
Did you get a NOOK Tablet or NOOK Color for Christmas? If so, congrats! Both are very nice e-reader tablets with an added bonus, if you so desire, for rooting/hacking to install other Android apps that aren?t among the official NOOK Apps.
(photo credit: Barnes and Noble)
However, if you are fine with sticking to the official curated selection of NOOK Apps, then you?ll be happy to know that Words with Friends has been optimized for the NOOK Tablet and NOOK Color and is available for purchase. Other popular apps that are already available for purchase (or are pre-loaded on the NOOK Tablet or NOOK Color) from the NOOK Apps store include Netflix, Hulu Plus, Angry Birds, Scrabble, QuickOffice Pro, Dropbox, Pulse, and Taptu.
Barnes and Noble has also said that an official Twitter app and the popular game Plants vs. Zombies are coming to the NOOK Apps store very soon.
It?s a little bit of a bummer that the Android Market isn?t officially supported on the NOOK Tablet or NOOK Color, but at least Barnes and Noble are continuing to stock up on the popular apps for which people are clamoring.
Via Slashgear
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/netbooknews/nbn/~3/311fjEd7A4M/
cyber monday best deals cyber monday best deals brownback brownback salvia cybermonday deals cybermonday deals
Source: my.telegraph.co.uk --- Monday, December 26, 2011
As the 5th generation of the iPhone is on the verge of being released, and with all the speculations spreading on the World-wide-web about the iPhone five, people are anticipating and desperately waiting for the start of the smartphone. Numerous enthusiasts and recent Apple iPhone consumers are wanting to know what groundbreaking capabilities Apple will include to the new iPhone five. UPDATE It is official, it is a refreshed iPhone four, named the iPhone 4S study about it the following, but we will hold updating this submit with new iPhone 5 capabilities and information, so this is the latest we know about the iPhone five This write-up summarizes the various capabilities and specifications that are predicted to sport the system. iPhone 5 Functions Although Apple does not expose the precise requirements and iCloud characteristics right up until the gadget is officially unveiled, we could dictate some of the most important characteristics that are predicted. Nevertheless, rumor of the new iPhone five features, in conditions of each hardware and application upgrades, will absolutely entice any smartphone customer. The upcoming telephone is expected to sport the Apples most recent and greatest A5 processor chip, iCloud services, bigger-resolution camera, and a four-inch display screen dimension. The following are some of the most predicted iPhone 5 attributes iCloud The iPhone5 is predicted to have the iCloud services. Apples iPhone f ...
Source: http://my.telegraph.co.uk/reaganjohnstonjoot/reaganjohnstonjoot/1/hello-world/
cyber monday grover norquist grover norquist nfl week 12 picks nfl week 12 picks jason witten ucla vs usc
Looks like LogMeIn Inc. has suddenly cottoned on to the freemium business model, deciding to offer its basic remote desktop app for iPhone and iPad entirely gratis. Previously, you had to hand over $29.99 for the simple pleasure of accessing your PC and Mac desktops via LogMeIn Ignition, but the new free version (simply 'LogMeIn') amply provides for that barebones service, while bells and whistles are reserved for those who buy an in-app subscription to LogMeIn Pro at $40 per year -- including things like HD video and sound streaming, file transferring and integration with cloud storage services . Confusing matters slightly, the old Ignition app won't die. It'll live on in the App Store with a massively inflated price to support old Ignition customers and -- most importantly -- give them grandfather rights to Pro features, so they don't feel left out and start sniffing around the competition. There's a full PR after the break, and it also mentions that Android update is on its way in 2012.Continue reading LogMeIn remote desktop app goes free on iPhone and iPad
LogMeIn remote desktop app goes free on iPhone and iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkSlashGear, TUAW | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/24/logmein-remote-desktop-app-goes-free-on-iphone-and-ipad/
oklahoma earthquake new madrid fault current time earthquake today earthquake today droid razr oklahoma news
Christmas Eve in LA @ Los Angeles Union Station instagr.am/p/bUwOg/ 
samhumphries Sam Humphries
Source: http://twitter.com/samhumphries/statuses/150735516164300800
greenhill nj plane crash plane crash new jersey beef o bradys bowl the hobbit sopa the hobbit an unexpected journey
Sony promises Ice Cream Sandwich update to Tablet S, fails to mention a release date: Sony may not have had a lo... bit.ly/vgwLj9 
gsmarena_com GSMArena.com
Source: http://twitter.com/gsmarena_com/statuses/150579823771795456
banana republic apple store academy barnes and noble nook 12 days of christmas a christmas carol arkansas football player dies
In-Flight Wi-Fi provider Gogo has just filed for an IPO, and will raise as much as $100 million in a public offering. Gogo, which has raised over $500 million in funding, provides in-flight connectivity to nine of the ten North American airlines that provide internet access, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Virgin America, Alaska Airlines, US Airways, Frontier Airlines and Air Tran Airways. The company also has trial agreement with United Airlines and Air Canada.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/yg6dbZK2LDc/
house of wax survivor north korea news north korea news patrick willis team america snow day
Hawaii Boat Parade post.ly/4PC3e 
Scheopner Source: http://twitter.com/Scheopner/statuses/149636889853427712
ali fedotowsky krill oil krill oil black friday 2011 rhodium uppity uppity
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Every year, the entertainment industry gifts us with its share of moments so shocking that you just have to ask yourself, "WTF?!"
This year has provided its bumper crop of head-scratchers, thanks to the combination of hubris and cluelessness that seems to infect so many in this business of show.
It was tough to narrow it down, but here are the five biggest goof-ups of 2011.
1. BRETT RATNER'S OSCARS MELTDOWN
If there were an Academy Award for Best Squandering of a Golden Opportunity, Brett Ratner would definitely walk away with the statuette. Instead, he'll have to settle for a prestigious slot on this list.
With his Oscars co-production gig, Ratner had the opportunity to bring a fresh, energetic sheen to the Oscars telecast. Instead, he went full frat boy -- and a homophobic one at that, opining, "Rehearsal's for fags" during a screening for his film "Tower Heist" and giving a gross-out interview to Howard Stern during which he discussed, among other topics, his cunnilingus prowess. (If only Ratner's tongue was as exacting when it comes to choosing words.)
"Being asked to help put on the Oscar show was the proudest moment of my career," Ratner said while announcing that he was tendering his resignation in November. Which is no doubt true, but in Ratner's case one gets the impression that "proud moments" isn't exactly a competitive field.
Not only did Ratner's blunder put an end to his own Oscar dreams, but it led do the departure of his "Tower Heist" star Eddie Murphy from the hosting gig, meaning Oscars audiences will get ... Billy Crystal. Yet again.
2. HERMAN CAIN'S IMPROBABLE RISE (AND INCREDIBLE FLAME-OUT)
In the ongoing reality TV series that is the GOP presidential debates, Herman Cain was like Snooki -- outrageous and entertaining, but more than a little wobbly.
Cain's antics -- the "Imagine There's No Pizza" John Lennon re-work, the campaign ads featuring people puffing cigarettes and tossing back margaritas while extolling Cain's virtues -- were so entertaining that they almost made us forget how scary it was that he was not only running for president, but leading the GOP pack.
And then it all dissipated, in a hazy burst of sexual harassment allegations, like a delirious dream that subsides along with the fever. But before climbing into the dustbin of history, Cain left us with one more little nugget -- in the form of a Pokemon-inspired speech announcing that he was suspending -- but not ending -- his campaign.
3. KIM KARDASHIAN'S WHIRLWIND DIVORCE
Who needs the homosexual community to diminish the sanctity of marriage, when headline-humping reality TV sensation Kim Kardashian is on the case? The "Keeping Up" queen enraptured America through her whirlwind romance with NBA player Kris Humphries -- and then enraged the nation after filing for divorce from Humphries just 72 days after their August nuptials.
Given the tidy haul that Kardashian and Humphries pulled in for tying the knot -- an estimated $250,000 for each day of marriage -- plus Kardashian's penchant for, well, being a Kardashian, many came to the conclusion that the marriage was a big publicity stunt. Others sharply disagreed, maintaining that it was a hoax. Can't we all just get along, and agree that it was a sham?
4. CHARLIE'S BOUT OF IN-SHEEN-ITY
Charlie Sheen entered 2011 with what could charitably be called a checkered past. His legendary cocaine habit. A self-professed affinity for hookers. And that whole alleged Christmas Day domestic-violence incident. (Hopefully, that doesn't become a tradition.)
Then the new year came along, and Sheen dove into the crazy like it was a big ol' pile of Colombian marching powder. Endlessly taunting Chuck Lorre, the creator of his hit series, "Two and a Half Men." Astronomical salary-increase demands. Yet another rehab stint. The "goddesses." "Tiger blood." A "20/20" appearance that made Geraldo Rivera's interview with Charlie Manson seem like an installment of "Inside the Actors Studio."
The actor's shenanigans put "Two and a Half Men" on hiatus, and eventually got him sacked from the series. But the craziest part of it all? Sheen came out smelling pretty good, for a guy who'd been rolling around in his own nutty slop for the majority of the year.
His Comedy Central roast -- running on the same night as the premiere of the revamped, Sheen-less "Men" -- drew 6.4 million total viewers, a record for the network. He reportedly reached a $25 million settlement in his lawsuit against Warner Bros. TV -- which, sure, was mostly back-pay for "Men," but it would have kept a younger, more-reckless Charlie nostril-deep in party favors for a while.
And he landed a new series -- an adaptation of the 2003 Jack Nicholson film "Anger Management" (which will air on FX -- arguably a better venue for Sheen than CBS). Was he crazy like a fox all along?
5. ALEC BALDWIN FLIES OFF THE HANDLE (BUT NOT ON AMERICAN AIRLINES, EVER AGAIN)
When Alec Baldwin does something, he doesn't do it halfway -- including joining the Celebrity No-Fly List.
While other famous folks have been removed from aircraft for the relatively benign transgressions of being too portly (see: Kevin Smith) or wearing saggy pants (we're looking at you, Billie Joe Armstrong -- just as soon as you pull those things up), the "30 Rock" star was booted from the flight for continuing to play "Words With Friends" while the plane was at the gate, despite an attendant's repeated request to turn the phone off.
Oh, and according to a flight-crew member on Baldwin's plane and American Airlines itself, he threw a five-star hissy-fit, slamming the plane's lavatory door with such force that the flight's captain was compelled to intervene.
What might be written off as a typical bout of celebrity self-entitlement was amplified by Baldwin's actions in the ensuing days. First the actor taunted the airline with a series of tweets, then he penned a snotty, non-apology apology for the Huffington Post that managed to deride the entire airline industry, a bilious missive that managed to piss off the Greyhound bus company too.
Then he appeared on "Saturday Night Live" in a skit which saw Baldwin, in character as the plane's pilot, apologizing to himself.
The latest word on the saga is that some flight attendants have inquired about having "30 Rock" yanked from American's in-flight entertainment. Jack Donaghy would not be amused, Alec Baldwin.
blake griffin monta ellis kindle fire update college board mark sanchez pasco county rooney mara
ScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2011) ? We know a lot about the links between a pregnant mother's health, behavior, and moods and her baby's cognitive and psychological development once it is born. But how does pregnancy change a mother's brain? "Pregnancy is a critical period for central nervous system development in mothers," says psychologist Laura M. Glynn of Chapman University. "Yet we know virtually nothing about it."
Glynn and her colleague Curt A. Sandman, of University of the California Irvine, are doing something about that. Their review of the literature in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, discusses the theories and findings that are starting to fill what Glynn calls "a significant gap in our understanding of this critical stage of most women's lives."
At no other time in a woman's life does she experience such massive hormonal fluctuations as during pregnancy. Research suggests that the reproductive hormones may ready a woman's brain for the demands of motherhood -- helping her becomes less rattled by stress and more attuned to her baby's needs. Although the hypothesis remains untested, Glynn surmises this might be why moms wake up when the baby stirs while dads snore on. Other studies confirm the truth in a common complaint of pregnant women: "Mommy Brain," or impaired memory before and after birth. "There may be a cost" of these reproduction-related cognitive and emotional changes, says Glynn, "but the benefit is a more sensitive, effective mother."
The article reviews research that refines earlier findings on the effects of the prenatal environment on the baby. For instance, evidence is accumulating to show that it's not prenatal adversity on its own -- say, maternal malnourishment or depression -- that presents risks for a baby. Congruity between life in utero and life on the outside may matter more. A fetus whose mother is malnourished adapts to scarcity and will cope better with a dearth of food once it's born -- but could become obese if it eats normally. Timing is critical too: maternal anxiety early in gestation takes a toll on the baby's cognitive development; the same high levels of stress hormones late in pregnancy enhance it.
Just as Mom permanently affects her fetus, new science suggests that the fetus does the same for Mom. Fetal movement, even when the mother is unaware of it, raises her heart rate and her skin conductivity, signals of emotion -- and perhaps of pre-natal preparation for mother-child bonding. Fetal cells pass through the placenta into the mother's bloodstream. "It's exciting to think about whether those cells are attracted to certain regions in the brain" that may be involved in optimizing maternal behavior, says Glynn.
Glynn cautions that most research on the maternal brain has been conducted with rodents, whose pregnancies differ enormously from women's; more research on human mothers is needed. But she is optimistic that a more comprehensive picture of the persisting brain changes wrought by pregnancy will yield interventions to help at-risk mothers do better by their babies and themselves.
Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:
Other bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/zHjYh338pFE/111221140633.htm
tucson weather peyton hillis cl p cl p andy rooney andy rooney groupon ipo
At the heart of the enigma of Steve Jobs lies a riddle about authority. On the one hand, Jobs was an intrinsically anti-authoritarian figure whose like was a litany of rebellions against every kind of convention. On the other hand, however, Jobs often seemed to run Apple like a personal fiefdom, shaping products and strategy according to his own whims and instincts.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/q7SN8yWG7PM/
jets aaron hernandez aaron hernandez portland news portland news tibetan mastiff manny pacquiao
WELLINGTON, New Zealand ? The 32 crew members aboard a leaking Russian fishing ship near Antarctica have made progress stabilizing the vessel, and a plane was scheduled to drop them supplies Saturday. Rescue ships, hampered by heavy sea ice, were still several days away.
The vessel Sparta hit underwater ice Friday, tearing a 1-foot (30-centimeter) hole in the hull and causing it to list at 13 degrees. Maritime New Zealand, which is coordinating rescue attempts, said Saturday that the crew had pumped water from the vessel overnight and moved cargo around, making the boat safer and more stable.
Crew members who had donned emergency suits and boarded life rafts were now back aboard the Sparta, the agency said.
A New Zealand Defence Force C-130 plane was scheduled to drop fuel and equipment, including another water pump, to the vessel later in the day.
The crew members were making patches that they would attach to the hole in the hull if they can get the ship upright, said Chris Wilson, who was coordinating the rescue mission for Maritime New Zealand on Saturday.
"It's a very remote, unforgiving environment," said Andrew Wright, executive secretary of the Australian-based Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, which has licensed the Sparta to catch toothfish in the Southern Ocean.
Wright said he didn't know what caused the hole, although he added that an iceberg "would be a good candidate."
The Sparta, which is 157 feet (48 meters) long, sent a distress call early Friday. Maritime New Zealand said heavy ice in the Southern Ocean would make it difficult for other ships to reach the vessel.
The Sparta's sister ship Chiyo Maru No. 3 was heading toward the stricken vessel but had no capacity to cut through sea ice, the agency said. A New Zealand vessel, the San Aspiring, had some ice-cutting ability and was also en route, but was still three to four days away on Saturday. A third vessel was much closer, but was hemmed in by heavy ice and unable to move toward the Sparta.
The crew's emergency immersion suits can keep them alive for a time in freezing water, Maritime New Zealand said.
The crew is made up of 15 Russians, 16 Indonesians and one Ukrainian, the agency said.
The weather in the area was calm Saturday, with temperatures a relatively mild 37 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius).
Commission records list the captain of the Sparta, which was built in 1988, as Oleg Pavlovich Starolat, who is Russian.
christopher hitchens ron paul 2012 extremely loud and incredibly close zynga stock zynga stock sam houston state university sam houston state university
See Inside
Problems with motor control may be a key factor in bipolar disorder
?| December 16, 2011
None of us can stand perfectly still. No matter how hard we try, our bodies constantly make small adjustments, causing us to sway slightly as we stand. A new study finds that people with bipolar disorder tend to sway more than those who are unaffected, which may lead to new ways to treat and diagnose the illness.
When psychologists diagnose bipolar disorder, they typically look for mood swings between agitated mania and bleak depression. Previous studies have linked bipolar disorder to abnormalities in the cerebellum and basal ganglia, regions of the brain that are also important for motor control. This connection led Indiana University psychologist Amanda Bolbecker and her colleagues to hypothesize that people with bipolar disorder might also have problems with motor skills.
To test their idea, Bolbecker?s team had 16 people with bipolar disorder and 16 age-matched healthy control subjects stand on a device called a force platform. The platform is similar in ap?pearance to a bathroom scale, but instead of measuring weight it calculates the pressure from different parts of the feet, which indicates how the body is swaying.
In every trial?with their eyes open or closed and with their feet different widths apart?the people with bipolar disorder wobbled more than the healthy subjects, indicating problems with motor control. The patients had the most trouble with their eyes closed, which suggests that the bipolar brain has difficulty integrating sensorimotor information, those inputs from the body and senses that assist the brain in maintaining balance and body position.
Bolbecker points out that the cerebellum, located at the base of the brain, helps to regulate movement and is also involved in emotional reactions, such as fear and pleasure. In addition, the cerebellum connects to other parts of the brain linked to cognition, mood regulation and impulse control, three areas in which patients with bipolar disorder often have difficulties. If the cerebellum is damaged at the cellular level, it may create problems with both mood and motor control.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=05229f9eaf76ef7f6c94398ee132bb02
urban meyer ohio state traffic report traffic report opensky dia frampton dia frampton zook
WASHINGTON ? Congress is putting the spy world on a diet by trimming back planned growth in staff and high-tech surveillance programs.
Next year's budget stays roughly the same as this year, at just under $80 billion, and the bill doesn't cancel any programs.
But the bill passed Friday nixes many planned new hires and denies extra funding requested to expand some existing big-ticket items like multibillion-dollar spy satellites. Congress left alone plans for more staff for cybersecurity and tracking terrorist finances.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified matters.
One change in the new measure: Families of intelligence officers will get the same financial help for burial expenses as those of uniformed military, if officers are killed by terrorists.
jack the cat frank lucas house of wax lego man lego man cheryl hines john lackey
With MF Global's missing funds in focus, Bart Chilton, Commodities Futures Trading Commission commissioner, shares the calls to action that need to be made to prevent customer funds from being lost, including rules that prohibit investing outside U.S. ...
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45696067/
tower heist reviews recursion amy schumer amy schumer ascii art ascii art andrew mason
Phoenix ? Arrests of illegal immigrants along the Southwest border are down to levels not seen since the 1970s, signaling that fewer people are trying to enter the United States amid strengthened enforcement and a weakened economy.
The drop in would-be border crossers continues a downward trend that US immigration officials attribute largely to a massive and unprecedented buildup of law-enforcement manpower and technology in recent years.
?It all works together, it slows them down,? says border patrol agent Jason Rheinfrank, an agency spokesman in the Tucson, Ariz., sector.
The 327,577 people arrested along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, is the lowest number recorded since 1972. By comparison, more than 1.6 million people were caught trying to sneak into the US in 2000.
Four reasons illegal immigration across the US-Mexico border has dropped
In Arizona, which is the busiest corridor for illegal crossings, arrests totaled 129,118 ? a 41 percent drop from the previous year and the lowest since 1994, when the border patrol detained 160,680 people.
Texas followed with 118,911, California with 72,638, and New Mexico with 6,910.
Arizona authorities also recovered the bodies of 192 people who died trying to cross the border, down from 250 in fiscal 2010. Most border crossers die from exposure to Arizona's scorching summer heat in remote desert areas, where they go to escape stepped-up border enforcement.
In addition to a fortified border, US economic conditions and other factors are shown to have contributed to the steady decline, says Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization that studies the US Hispanic population.
?Right now we know that it?s hard for people to find a job here, so if it?s expensive and dangerous and difficult and you can?t get a job, it?s not surprising that the numbers have gone down,? Mr. Passel says.
The latest figures confirm that the once-common back-and-forth crossings between the US and Mexico ??? the home country for nearly 60 percent of all illegal immigrants living and working in the US ??? have been declining for the past decade.
?That?s one of the things that?s fallen off with the economy or with the enforcement, and more and more of the unauthorized immigrants, once they?re here, they tend to stay here,? Passel says.
While arrests have decreased significantly along the US-Mexico border, the numbers show an increase in drug seizures. Authorities last year confiscated 3 million pounds of narcotics, mostly marijuana, up from 2.9 million pounds. Nationally, nearly 5 million pounds of narcotics were seized, a 20 percent increase from fiscal 2010.
Could you pass a US citizenship test? Take our quiz.
Get daily or weekly updates from CSMonitor.com delivered to your inbox. Sign up today.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20111214/ts_csm/436500
nba schedule nhl realignment nhl realignment long island serial killer kristin chenoweth country music awards new earth
WASHINGTON ? Birth control drugs that were heavily promoted as having fewer side effects and the ability to clear up acne and other hormonal bothers are under new scrutiny from safety regulators.
Research suggesting that newer birth control formulations are more likely to cause blood clots than older drugs has prompted the Food and Drug Administration to consider new safety measures in meetings later this week. The increased risk is slight but significant because blood clots can cause heart attacks, strokes and blockages in lungs or blood vessels, which can be fatal.
Regulators could order new warning labels on several contraceptives that gained popularity in the last decade, including Bayer's pill Yaz, which was the best-selling birth control pill in the U.S. for 2008 and 2009.
Yaz, its Bayer precursor Yasmin, and similar drugs use a version of a female hormone that appears to reduce side effects found in older drugs, including bloating and mood swings.
On Tuesday, a judge unsealed several court documents suggesting Bayer may have withheld data from FDA about the blood clots risks of its drugs. The documents stem from expert opinion gathered by personal injury lawyers suing Bayer on behalf of patients.
According to one document, Bayer drafted a white paper in 2004 to address "FDA concerns," about clots with Yasmin. An early draft indicated that reports of blood clots with Yasmin were significantly higher than those for three other oral contraceptives. But that information was not included in the final paper submitted to the FDA, and instead the company said a more definitive study of blood clot risk would be forthcoming. That study did not show an increased risk.
"Based on the information that I have reviewed, and it is my opinion, that Bayer presented a selective view of the data, and that presentation obscured the potential risks associated with Yasmin," wrote Dr. David Kessler, a former FDA commissioner, in his expert testimony. Kessler was paid for his time and opinion by the plaintiffs' lawyers.
The FDA declined to accept the court documents for this week's hearings, saying the deadline for submissions was last month, according to an emailed message from an agency officer.
A Bayer spokeswoman said the company had no comment on the material in the documents, noting the issues would be addressed at trial.
Bayer AG spent more than $270 million on TV and magazine advertisements for Yaz between 2007 and 2010, according TNS Media Intelligence. Such big-budget campaigns are rare for birth control products. One advertisement featured young women singing the Twisted Sister anthem, "We're Not Gonna Take It," while popping balloons labeled "moodiness," "bloating" and "acne."
Sales of Yaz have fallen since regulators forced Bayer to correct advertisements that overstated Yaz's benefits and as safety questions drew scrutiny in both the U.S. and Europe.
FDA also is reviewing research on clot risks associated with Johnson & Johnson's weekly Ortho Evra patch, which is marketed as an "option for busy women who are looking to simplify life." The drug uses a different version of the female hormone progestin than the pills under scrutiny.
Millions of women have used the products since they launched a decade ago, but recent studies comparing the medical histories of women taking the newer drugs to older ones suggest a slightly higher risk of blood clots in the legs and lungs. Last year, the U.S. market for female contraceptive drugs totaled $3.4 billion, according to IMS Health.
Sorting out the blood clot risk of birth control drugs is especially difficult because all hormone-based drugs increase the risk of clotting. Further complicating the issue is that clots can be caused by factors such as smoking, obesity or family history.
Yaz, Yasmin and other pills containing a synthetic hormone called drospirenone are the focus of a discussion Thursday. The next day's meeting focuses on the Ortho Evra patch, which uses the hormone norelgestromin.
Bayer says its studies have shown no difference in blood clot risk between its drugs and the older birth control drugs. But several large, independent studies suggest the risk with Yaz and similar medications is slightly higher. The latest analysis by the FDA estimates the risk of a blood clot with drospirenone-containing pills is 1.5-fold higher than other hormone-based contraceptives. That translates into an estimated 10 in 10,000 women on the newer drugs experiencing a blood clot, compared with 6 in 10,000 women on older contraceptives, according to the FDA.
"It's a very small percentage of patients that develop these, but it's such a serious side effect that I think doctors have to use a lot of caution," said Dr. Jennifer Wu, of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.
Even if Yaz and other newer drugs get additional warning labels, some doctors say they don't expect to stop prescribing them. Doctors say the risk of blood clots with any birth control pill is still far lower than that associated with pregnancy and birth, when hormone levels and reduced blood flow increase clotting risk.
"At the end of the day I tell my patients the absolute risk is still very, very low compared to pregnancy and post-partum risk," said Dr. Rebecca Starck, of Cleveland Clinic's Fairview Hospital. "There are still many benefits to combination birth control pills."
The Ortho Evra patch already carries warning labels about an increased risk of blood clots compared with pills. Some, but not all, studies suggest patch users have twice the risk of clots. The FDA will try to further define that risk using the latest data.
Most birth control drugs use a combination of two female hormones, estrogen and progestin, to stop ovulation and help block sperm. But for decades many women have reported bloating and mood swings as side effects.
Introduced in 2001, Yasmin was the first birth control pill to use a new form of progestin called drospirenone, which appeared to have fewer side effects. The reformulated version of the drug, Yaz, was approved in 2006 with new claims on the label that it decreased acne and a severe type of mood disorder.
Yaz quickly grew into the best-selling birth control pill in the U.S. Sales plummeted more than 50 percent in 2010, after the company was forced to run corrective TV and magazine advertisements. Among other problems, the FDA said the company's commercials suggested Yaz could treat premenstrual syndrome when it has only been shown to decrease incidence of premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a severe mood disorder associated with major depression. Less than 8 percent of U.S. women experience the disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Yaz currently ranks fourth in sales among contraceptive pills in the U.S. Last year doctors wrote roughly 13 million prescriptions for Yaz and two generic versions of the drug, according to IMS Health. Doctors prescribed the Ortho Evra patch nearly 1.6 million times.
Newer drugs like Yaz are no more effective than older pills, generally allowing one unplanned pregnancy per year for every 100 women.
"Many women will do fine on the older generation drugs, but some women will not," said Dr. Petra Casey, of the Mayo Clinic. "I think the newer drugs help many women in terms of mood and the water retention."
About 4,000 lawsuits against Bayer argue that any additional risk with the newer drugs should have been detected and emphasized to the public.
On Thursday, Cindy Rippee will tell the FDA panel about her 20-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who died Christmas Eve 2008 when a blood clot traveled to her lung. Rippee says her daughter had been taking Yasmin for about two months.
"I really feel that if my daughter had been told about the increased risk she would have made a different decision," said Rippee, of Escondido, Calif.
bet hip hop awards 2011 kraken kraken calvin johnson calvin johnson kenyon martin kenyon martin
