Marvin Ammori: First Amendment Challenges in the Digital Age

Next Friday, February 10, the Stanford Technology Law Review is holding its annual symposium, and this year's topic is an important one:?First Amendment Challenges in the Digital Age. Of the three panels, one is devoted to privacy and another to copyright. The third is devoted to a long, ambitious law review article ... written by me. The panel participants joining me to discuss the article are two of the nation's great free speech scholars--Harvard's Yochai Benkler and the University of Virginia's Lillian BeVier. The article is called First Amendment Architecture. In it, I argue that the First Amendment plays an important role in ensuring adequate physical and digital spaces for speech, and that this role is not some exceptional outgrowth of First Amendment doctrine but is central to understanding what the First Amendment "means." While I submitted the paper for publication in February 2011, the subsequent events of the Arab Spring, the Occupy Movement, and the fight over SOPA/PIPA have all highlighted the significance to democratic speech?of open physical and digital spaces.

I am using the occasion of this symposium panel to blog about First Amendment Architecture. Law review "articles" generally add up to 30,000 words, or 60 pages, and have hundreds of footnotes and use semi-colons; this article is definitely a creature of that genre. My language in the piece is simple?I think, but the blog genre is better for discussing the same arguments in bite-sized, digestible pieces. Several people have already blogged about my article briefly (saying nice things even), such as law professors Tim Wu (calling it "important work") and Susan Crawford (calling it "a terrific article"), as well MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan (saying it addresses "important ... First Amendment questions")?.

This first post is more about the amazing panel and about why I chose to research and write this article. The next pieces will present the article's arguments more fully.

First, the amazing panel.?I am so nerd-excited that two of the nation's leading First Amendment scholars will critique and respond to the arguments I have been marking. ?Harvard's Yochai Benkler may agree with me at points and Lillian BeVier of UVA will likely disagree with me at many points. For those unfamiliar with Benkler, Larry Lessig calls him "the leading intellectual of the information age," and he is a leading free speech theorist. He was also my professor and paper advisor when I was in law school. (That had a major effect on the trajectory of my life.) He is also one of the kindest people I've ever met. BeVier is also a giant in First Amendment scholarship, having made important contributions to constitutional law on impenetrable topics ranging from the state action doctrine to the public forum doctrine. I have learned a lot from her work. It's an honor that she will take the time out of her schedule to disagree with me on the ?panel. In a phone call, she has kindly called my article "um... ambitious." I'll take that.

Second, why I wrote this paper.?My mom knows that I have led something of a double life over the past few years, with one foot in public policy and one in academia. (I now keep toes in policy and the think tank world.) But a lot of people from one world don't realize I have worked in the other. For example, last week, I had lunch with technology lawyers in Washington, DC. These lawyers knew me from my work to help advance network neutrality and to help defeat the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), etc. These lawyers asked me if I had ever heard of the Space and Cyberlaw Program at the University of Nebraska. I had indeed heard of it--while a law professor for a few years, I was a co-founder of the program and helped build it into a program educating many of the US Air Force's cyber-lawyers and educating some of DC's rising legal stars in tech. Similarly, years ago, while at Nebraska, on the day the DC Circuit struck down the FCC's Comcast/BitTorrent order in April 2010, several of the other law professors on my faculty noticed the headlines on the front pages of the WashingtonPost.com, the NYTimes.com, and even the Huffington Post, which had run the ominous banner headline "The Day the Internet Lost." While several students offered me condolences on the decision, three of my colleagues on the faculty asked me, "Hey, have you heard about this Internet case everyone is talking about?" I had indeed heard of--I had brought the case before the FCC and argued it (and lost) before the DC Circuit.

I saw the need for this article because of that double life. Much of my work strikes me as pretty unified: as a lawyer, working in several areas, I have thought about how to promote freedom of speech broadly for everyone. To me, freedom of speech and debate are necessary inputs in solving any of our nation's problems, from homelessness and economic inequality to banking, the environment, and national security. Freedom of speech is what Larry Lessig would call a "root" issue; working on free speech is striking at a root issue.

Thinking about free speech brought me to media regulation, as Americans access so much of their political and cultural speech through mass media. That led me to work on the FCC's media ownership rules beginning in 2005 to fight media consolidation, working with those at Georgetown's IPR, Media Access Project, Free Press and others. I then turned to the Internet as the core speech tool of our age, and in 2006 worked on Congress's first network neutrality bills, addressing an issue that people often called the foremost First Amendment issue of our time. It was through this work that I worked with Stanford's Barbara van Schewick and Columbia's Tim Wu, among others in academia. I also worked on unlicensed spectrum and privacy and copyright, including recently on SOPA, and wrote about national security and civil liberties, and global free speech matters. All of these were unified by free speech concerns.

But the policy arguments were not enough ... ?we needed to articulate a compelling constitutional framework. The media, telecom, and studio giants, and many speech scholars, assumed and advanced First Amendment framework that would render unconstitutional?media ownership caps, network neutrality rules, and many other rules designed to promote individuals' access to spaces to speak to receive diverse sources of speech.?Just as?Citizens United?privileged the free speech rights of powerful corporations over the speech of average Americans, in my opinion, some common views of the First Amendment privilege giant telecom, cable, and media corporations over average Americans.

That is, even if Congress or the FCC did adopt the pro-free-speech rules or laws for which we advocated, the Supreme Court would be the next hurdle, as suggested by several industry lawyers and even prominent?constitutional scholars. For example, while Harvard Professor Laurence Tribe and I?agreed?on the unconstitutionality of SOPA, we disagreed on the?constitutionality?of network neutrality.

So my scholarship has attempted to articulate a framework for advancing freedom of speech in our time--and my advocacy has worked, in a small way, to advance that same goal. In my scholarship, particularly in a series of three articles (here, here, and in Architecture), I try to build on the important work of C. Edwin Baker, Yochai Benkler, Jerome Barron, Jack Balkin, Owen Fiss, Joshua Cohen, and many many scholars in my generation (Greg Magarian, among others, comes to mind). I have tried to help build a framework that recaptures the First Amendment as a principle to empower all Americans, politically and personally, through access to plentiful, diverse communications spaces.

Architecture is my biggest contribution to that project, a project that many of us are working on from different angles.

So, over the next weeks, I will aim to post a few bite-sized blog pieces setting out its arguments.

?

Follow Marvin Ammori on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Marvin_Ammori

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marvin-ammori/first-amendment-challenge_b_1243889.html

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Gannett 4Q earnings, revenue decline

MCLEAN, Va. (AP) ? Gannett Co. reported a 33 percent drop in its fourth-quarter net income Monday. The media company, which publishes USA Today and owns a network of broadcast, digital and other publishing properties, said profits were weighed down by restructuring costs and other charges, as well as a revenue decline.

The company earned $116.9 million, or 49 cents per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 25. That's down from earnings of $174.1 million, or 72 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Gannett's stock fell 7 percent, or $1.07 to $14.15 in midday trading on Monday. It has traded in between $8.28 and $18.93 in the past 52 weeks.

Excluding special items such as restructuring charges, Gannett earned 72 cents per share in the latest quarter. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 68 cents per share, according to a poll by FactSet.

The company said its results reflected $63.6 million in charges related to workforce restructuring and facility consolidations at properties in the U.S. and the U.K. The largest charge was associated with the transfer of production of The Cincinnati Enquirer to a newspaper printer in Columbus, Ohio.

Revenue fell 5 percent to $1.39 billion from $1.46 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Analysts were expecting revenue of $1.39 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.

"We are positioning for growth in print and digital media through new subscription models delivered across platforms, capturing opportunities in adjacent businesses, and continuing to focus on operational efficiencies," said Gracia Martore, president and CEO, in a statement.

Revenue at Gannett's publishing division fell 5 percent to $1.01 billion, a decline the company attributed to lower advertising amid the economic softness in the U.S. and the U.K.

Broadcasting revenue fell 14 percent to $199.8 million, due mainly to sharply lower political advertising than a year earlier.

Revenue at the company's digital division, which includes the website CareerBuilder, rose 9 percent to $181.5 million.

Company-wide digital revenue, which consists of the digital division and revenue generated by newspaper websites, rose nearly 7 percent to $290.3 million.

For the full year, Gannett earned $458.7 million, or $1.89 per share, down 22 percent from $588.2 million, or $2.43 per share, in the previous year.

Adjusted earnings were $2.13 per share.

Revenue slid 4 percent to $5.24 billion from $5.44 billion.

Analysts were expecting full-year adjusted earnings of $2.10 per share on revenue of $5.25 billion.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-30-Earns-Gannett/id-c3fa572b688840b5a8aec6c351d210ed

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Myanmar's Suu Kyi making first campaign tour (AP)

DAWEI, Myanmar ? Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi made her first campaign tour for parliament Sunday in Myanmar's countryside, advancing a bid that shows how quickly and dramatically politics is changing in this long-repressed Southeast Asian nation.

Thousands of cheering supporters crowded the airport to greet Suu Kyi in the southern town of Dawei and lined the roads shouting: "Long Live Daw Aung San Suu Kyi!" "Daw" is a title of respect in Myanmar.

Many waved bouquets of flowers, and some hoisted babies on their shoulders to glimpse the Nobel Peace laureate, who is revered as Myanmar's icon for democracy. Banners with pictures of Suu Kyi decorated the town.

"People had been afraid to discuss politics for so long," said Aung Zaw Hein, an environmental activist. "Now that she's visiting, the political spirit of people has been awakened."

Suu Kyi, 66, has devoted much of her life to the struggle against authoritarian rule, but spent 15 of the past 23 years under house arrest and has never held elected office. If she wins, Suu Kyi will have limited power in the legislature, which remains dominated by the military and the ruling party, but victory would be highly symbolic and give the longtime political prisoner a voice in government for the first time.

The one-day campaign stop in Dawei follows a series of unprecedented reforms enacted by the nominally civilian government that took over when a military junta ceded power last year. The government has released hundreds of political prisoners, reached cease-fire deals with ethnic rebels, increased press freedoms and eased censorship laws.

The April 1 by-election is being held to fill 48 seats in the lower house of parliament that were vacated after lawmakers were appointed to the Cabinet and other posts last year.

Her party boycotted the last vote in 2010, but registered earlier this month for by-elections after authorities amended electoral laws, enabling her party to legally participate.

The Election Commission must still accept Suu Kyi's candidacy. A ruling is expected in February.

Suu Kyi is hoping to run for representative for the constituency of Kawhmu, a poor district just south of Yangon where villagers' livelihoods were devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

The vote is being closely watched at home and abroad because it is seen as a crucial test of the regime's commitment to change.

Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent struggle for democracy, has rarely traveled over the last two decades outside Yangon, the country's main city.

Although she conducted one successful day of rallies in two small towns north of Yangon last August, a previous political tour to greet supporters in 2003 sparked a bloody ambush on her convoy that saw her forcibly confined to house arrest at her lakeside home.

Suu Kyi was finally released from house arrest in late 2010, just days after the country's military rulers organized elections widely viewed as neither free nor fair.

In Dawei, a coastal town south of Yangon, Suu Kyi will campaign on behalf of another candidate running for a parliament seat, party spokesman Nyan Win said.

She will make similar campaign trips to other Burmese towns, including the country's second city, Mandalay, in early February before campaigning for her own seat, Nyan Win said.

In Dawei, Suu Kyi will meet party supporters and conduct rallies. The town is home to activists who recently helped persuade the government to ditch construction of a 4,000-megawatt coal-fired power plant over environmental concerns.

A 400-megawatt coal plant is still planned, however, because it will be needed to fuel a massive industrial complex project that includes construction of a deep sea port, a steel mill and a petrochemical plant. The project also includes railroads and highways that will connect Burma's coast directly to Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_as/as_myanmar_suu_kyi

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Justin Adkins: Hot Trans Guys

Last week I saw a link to a website that listed "10 Handsome Men (Who Were Born Female)." I reposted it to Facebook with the commentary, "Of course trans guys are hot." I was just excited that we, trans males, were being seen as attractive. However, the longer I thought about the list, the more troubled I became.

This list favors specific types of trans men: well-known trans guys (including Chaz Bono), white trans men, "passing" trans men, and those who display a very stereotypical type of masculinity, the kind seen in magazines such as GQ. What does this mean? It means that the type of trans male being seen as good-looking is a famous, white, masculine, passing trans guy.

As the trans community comes into its own, we need to resist giving into the assimilationist mindset. We need to make sure that we don't leave any of our own behind as we fight for trans rights. The men on this list are good-looking -- I am not challenging that -- but what is seen as hot?

Where are the hot trans guys of color? Where are the trans guys who, for a variety of reasons, are not talking testosterone? Where are the trans guys who lack the financial resources to have "top surgery," or who choose not to have surgery?

As we grow as a movement, we need to make sure that when lists like this come out, we get our messaging out, as well. We also need to be vigilant in making sure that our organizations don't fall into the same pattern that mass media and Gay Inc. have given in to, only publishing images of the assimilated trans person. We need to hold our own accountable.

My last observation regarding this list is the name itself: "10 Handsome Men (Who Were Born Female)." Personally, I am proud of the fact that I was labeled female at birth and socialized as such for many years; I think that my experience of being perceived as female made me a better person. Because of the 25-plus years I spent living in the world as female, I am more aware of the sexism and inequality that exist in our world than I would be if I had been socialized as a middle-class white man. While my birth certificate might say "female," that does not mean that I was "born female." I was socialized and raised as female, but I am male and always have been.

What can we do? As I rode the bus home from New York last week, I listened to Kiki and Herb's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," and I was reminded that we need to shape our own message. The media is trying to televise our revolution, but we need to stand up and speak out when we are not being properly represented. We need to stand up to make sure that no trans person is left behind. We need to make sure that the genderqueer people, the effeminate trans males, the trans people who will never have the privilege of going "stealth," are represented, up front. Let's not do what Gay Inc. did and only put forward the "boy next door."

So, in response to the Oddee article, I launched a new website, hottransguys.com, and the response has been great!

I am trans and proud of my community, all of it! Oh, and we are all handsome just the way we are!

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/justin-adkins/hot-trans-guys_b_1237439.html

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British police arrest 5 in tabloid bribery probe (AP)

LONDON ? British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and four current and former staff of his tabloid The Sun as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists.

The arrests spread the scandal over tabloid wrongdoing ? which has already caused the closure of one tabloid, the News of the World ? to a second Murdoch newspaper.

London's Metropolitan Police said two men aged 48 and one aged 56 were arrested on suspicion of corruption early in the morning at homes in and around London. A 42-year-old man was detained later at a London police station.

Murdoch's News Corp. confirmed that all four were current or former Sun employees.

A fifth man, a 29-year-old police officer, was arrested at the London station where he works.

The investigation into whether reporters illegally paid police for information is running parallel to a police inquiry into phone hacking by Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World.

Officers were searching the men's homes and the east London headquarters of the media mogul's British newspapers for evidence.

Police said Saturday's arrests were made as a result of information provided by the Management and Standards Committee of Murdoch's News Corp.

News Corp. said it was cooperating with police.

"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated," it said in a statement.

A dozen people have now been arrested in the bribery probe, though none has yet been charged.

They include former Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of Murdoch's News International, ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson ? who is also Prime Minister David Cameron's former communications chief ? and journalists from the News of the World and The Sun.

Two of the London police force's top officers resigned in the wake of the revelation last July that the News of the World had eavesdropped on the cell phone voicemail messages of celebrities, athletes, politicians and even an abducted teenager in its quest for stories.

Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old tabloid, and the scandal has triggered a continuing public inquiry into media ethics and the relationship between the press, police and politicians.

An earlier police investigation failed to find evidence hacking went beyond one reporter and a private investigator, but News Corp. has now acknowledged it was much more widespread.

Last week the company agreed to pay damages to 37 hacking victims, including actor Jude Law, soccer star Ashley Cole and British politician John Prescott.

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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Zimbabwe: Mystery deepens around general's death (AP)

HARARE, Zimbabwe ? A general in Zimbabwe burned beyond recognition in flames a police officer says didn't seem quite like other fires. Questions over possible arson. And fire trucks arriving without water.

As witness after witness testifies in the inquest into the death of Gen. Solomon Mujuru, the mystery has deepened around what happened in the last hours of a man who was power broker in President Robert Mugabe's divided party and the husband of the nation's vice president.

The proceedings began on Jan. 16 will conclude, but it's far from sure even after they're concluded whether Zimbabweans will ever know whether the death was an accident.

Mujuru's death last year intensified infighting in Mugabe's party, where the general was a powerful figure who used his military, political and business connections to promote his wife's battle for supremacy.

His widow, Joice Mujuru, has attended most sessions of the inquest dressed in black. She has hired private attorneys to question witnesses called by the state and to examine forensic reports. Soon after Mujuru's death at age 66, she told mourners she could not understand why the former army commander and veteran guerrilla leader did not escape from the fire. The farmhouse of brick and stone had a fire-resistant roof, large windows and exit doors.

During testimony Thursday, a senior power company official said no electrical fault could have caused the fire that killed Mujuru at his farmhouse outside Harare. Chief firefighter Clever Mafoti said Wednesday that two fires broke out that night at the farmhouse, and that if an electrical fire was discounted, arson could not be ruled out.

Reports first circulated that a candle started the intense blaze, but that has since been rejected as unlikely.

Police officer Clatwell Garisai has told presiding magistrate Walter Chikwanha rescuers dumped 10 buckets of water to douse flames on the general's remains that were "different in color from the flames in the surrounding area." The police officer testified he saw "bluish flames" rising from the general's body.

State attorneys have submitted other testimony that Mujuru, widely known as a heavy drinker, may have been drunk. He was said also to have stored agricultural chemicals in the house.

Mujuru, a former guerrilla leader and Zimbabwe army commander, was known to carry firearms. Police say 15 weapons were found damaged by fire in the house, including his pistols and an assault rifle.

Mujuru's remains were buried Aug. 20 at a state funeral in Harare. For the first time at a state funeral, the coffin was sealed.

Crispen Makedenge, a police inspector, said Thursday the remains were little more than soot. They were not positively identified as Mujuru's by DNA tests in South Africa until at least three weeks after the funeral, Makedenge said.

Mafoti, the firefighter, said his team arrived late at the farmhouse, located some 60 kilometers (35 miles) southwest of Harare, and without water because their fire trucks' water tanks leaked.

"It is not normal to go to a scene without water, but we were ill-prepared," he said.

Police guarding the house, who have admitted sleeping on duty, said the local police station did not have a vehicle to send help.

Public and emergency services have been hard hit in the nation's decade-long economic crisis. The nation also suffers daily water and power outages.

The hearing is expected to continue through next week.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_af/af_zimbabwe_general_s_death

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St. Louis hosts 1st big parade on Iraq War's end (AP)

ST. LOUIS ? Since the Iraq War ended there has been little fanfare for the veterans returning home. No ticker-tape parades. No massive, flag-waving public celebrations.

So, two friends from St. Louis decided to change that. They sought donations, launched a Facebook page, met with the mayor and mapped a route. On Saturday, hundreds of veterans are expected to march in downtown St. Louis in the nation's first big welcome home parade since the last troops left Iraq in December.

"It struck me that there was this debate going on as to whether there should or shouldn't be a parade," said Tom Appelbaum, one of the organizers. "Instead of waiting around for somebody somewhere to say, `Yes, let's have a parade,' we said, `Let's just do it.'"

Appelbaum, a 46-year-old lawyer, and Craig Schneider, a 41-year-old school technology coordinator, said they were puzzled by the lack of celebrations marking the war's end. But, they wondered, if St. Louis could host thousands of people for a parade after their beloved Cardinals won the World Series, why couldn't there be a party for the troops who put their lives on the line?

The effort got help with donations from two corporations with St. Louis connections ? $10,000 from Anheuser-Busch and $7,500 from the Mayflower moving company. Individual donations have boosted the project's total budget to about $35,000. By comparison, more than $5 million was spent two decades ago on New York's welcome-home parade for Gulf War veterans who helped drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

Ticker-tape salutes to returning troops are part of the American culture, including parades in many cities honoring veterans of World War I and World War II.

Since the end of the latest war in Iraq, there have only been small events at military posts, gatherings of families at airports and a low-key appearance by President Barack Obama at Fort Bragg, N.C., a base that endured more than 200 deaths from fighting in the war.

In St. Louis, Army Spc. James Casey appreciates the handshakes he's gotten at local and often informal observances of his 11.5 years with the Army Reserve and three tours in Iraq, which included the 2003 invasion. But the 29-year-old father of a year-old daughter relishes attending the St. Louis parade he considers "the proper welcoming home we all know we deserve."

He hopes larger U.S. cities follow suit.

"For the longest time, St. Louis has been the east-meets-west society, so I'm not surprised it's happening here. Hopefully, everybody sees what we're doing and grabs onto this," Casey said Friday. "Something like this ? where it's showing support for those that have served ? is not just a thank you. It's an embracing of the sacrifice so many Americans have made."

Celebrating the end of the Iraq War hasn't been as simple as the outpourings after the world wars, said Wayne Fields, professor of English and American Culture Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. With 91,000 troops still fighting in Afghanistan, many Iraq veterans could be redeployed ? suggesting to some that it's premature to celebrate their homecoming.

"We're not celebrating the end of a war the way we were with V-E Day or V-J Day (after World War II)," Fields said. "Part of what this is trying to do is recognize the special service of those who were there even though we can't declare a victory over a clearly identified enemy."

In May 2003, then-President George W. Bush landed on an aircraft carrier to hail the end of major combat operations in Iraq. Behind him during that speech was a banner that read, "Mission Accomplished," yet U.S. troops remained in Iraq for 8 1/2 more years.

Even some of the festivities in St. Louis will serve as a reminder that Bush launched the Iraq War as part of the larger war on terror following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

As part of the weekend, a "Reading of the Fallen" will begin at 9:11 p.m. Friday at Soldiers Memorial downtown. It will continue until the names of the approximate 6,500 Americans killed since the attacks are read.

"Veterans have sacrificed so much for the safety and well-being of St. Louisans," Mayor Francis Slay said. "This is a chance to demonstrate our appreciation for them."

City officials agreed to waive permit fees and allow use of streets for the parade from the heart of downtown along Market Street to Union Station, the former train station that is now a shopping center and hotel. A "Resource Village" will be set up there that will include food, music and entertainment but will also connect returning vets with organizations to help ease transition to civilian life.

Organizers expect about 100 parade entries ? floats, marching bands, first-responders, veterans groups. Appelbaum said that while the parade marks the end of the Iraq War, any military personnel involved in post-Sept. 11 conflicts are welcome.

Appelbaum has no idea how many people will turn out to cheer on the troops but said response has been overwhelming despite the lack of any substantial marketing.

"It's significant that this is strictly a grassroots effort, and coming out of the heartland of the U.S., I think it really says something," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_us/us_iraq_war_parade

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Arizona Gov. Brewer gets book critique from Obama (AP)

MESA, Ariz. ? Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer came to greet President Barack Obama upon his arrival outside Phoenix Wednesday. What she got was a critique. Of her book.

The two leaders could be seen engaged in an intense conversation at the base of Air Force One's steps. Both could be seen smiling, but speaking at the same time.

Asked moments later what the conversation was about, Brewer, a Republican, said: "He was a little disturbed about my book."

Brewer recently published a book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," something of a memoir of her years growing up and defends her signing of Arizona's controversial law cracking down on illegal immigrants, which Obama opposes.

Obama was objecting to Brewer's description of a meeting he and Brewer had at the White House, where she described Obama as lecturing her. In an interview in November Brewer described two tense meetings. The first took place before his commencement address at Arizona State University. "He did blow me off at ASU," she said in the television interview in November.

She also described meeting the president at the White House in 2010 to talk about immigration. "I felt a little bit like I was being lectured to, and I was a little kid in a classroom, if you will, and he was this wise professor and I was this little kid, and this little kid knows what the problem is and I felt minimized to say the least."

On the tarmac Wednesday, Brewer handed Obama an envelope with a handwritten invitation to return to Arizona to meet her for lunch and to join her for a visit to the border.

"I said to him, you know, I have always respected the office of the president and that the book is what the book is," she told reporters Wednesday. She said Obama complained that she described him as not treating her cordially.

"I said that I was sorry that he felt that way. Anyway, we're glad he's here, and we'll regroup."

A White House official said Brewer handed Obama a letter and said she was inviting him to meet with her. The official said Obama told her he would be glad to meet with her again. The official said Obama did note that after their last meeting, which the official described as a cordial discussion in the Oval Office, the governor inaccurately described the meeting in her book. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation between the president and the governor.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama_arizona_governor

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Injecting sulfate particles into stratosphere won't fully offset climate change

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? As the reality and the impact of climate warming have become clearer in the last decade, researchers have looked for possible engineering solutions -- such as removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or directing the sun's heat away from Earth -- to help offset rising temperatures.

New University of Washington research demonstrates that one suggested method, injecting sulfate particles into the stratosphere, would likely achieve only part of the desired effect, and could carry serious, if unintended, consequences.

The lower atmosphere already contains tiny sulfate and sea salt particles, called aerosols, that reflect energy from the sun into space. Some have suggested injecting sulfate particles directly into the stratosphere to enhance the effect, and also to reduce the rate of future warming that would result from continued increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

But a UW modeling study shows that sulfate particles in the stratosphere will not necessarily offset all the effects of future increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Additionally, there still is likely to be significant warming in regions where climate change impacts originally prompted a desire for geoengineered solutions, said Kelly McCusker, a UW doctoral student in atmospheric sciences.

The modeling study shows that significant changes would still occur because even increased aerosol levels cannot balance changes in atmospheric and oceanic circulation brought on by higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

"There is no way to keep the climate the way it is now. Later this century, you would not be able to recreate present-day Earth just by adding sulfate aerosols to the atmosphere," McCusker said.

She is lead author of a paper detailing the findings published online in December in the Journal of Climate. Coauthors are UW atmospheric sciences faculty David Battisti and Cecilia Bitz.

Using the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Community Climate System Model version 3 and working at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, the researchers found that there would, in fact, be less overall warming with a combination of increased atmospheric aerosols and increased carbon dioxide than there would be with just increased carbon dioxide.

They also found that injecting sulfate particles into the atmosphere might even suppress temperature increases in the tropics enough to prevent serious food shortages and limit negative impacts on tropical organisms in the coming decades.

But temperature changes in polar regions could still be significant. Increased winter surface temperatures in northern Eurasia could have serious ramifications for Arctic marine mammals not equipped to adapt quickly to climate change. In Antarctic winters, changes in surface winds would also bring changes in ocean circulation with potentially significant consequences for ice sheets in West Antarctica.

Even with geoengineering, there still could be climate emergencies -- such as melting ice sheets or loss of polar bear habitat -- in the polar regions, the scientists concluded. They added that the odds of a "climate surprise" would be high because the uncertainties about the effects of geoengineering would be added to existing uncertainties about climate change.

The research was funded by the Tamaki Foundation and the National Science Foundation.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Washington, via Newswise. The original article was written by Vince Stricherz.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Kelly E. McCusker, David S. Battisti, Cecilia M. Bitz. The climate response to stratospheric sulfate injections and implications for addressing climate emergencies. Journal of Climate, 2011; 111202114757001 DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00183.1

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125142212.htm

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UK economy shrinks in Q4, raising recession fears (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's economy shrank by 0.2 percent in the last three months of 2011, official data showed Wednesday, a worse than expected result that raises fears of a recession and could see the Bank of England push for more monetary stimulus.

The Office for National Statistics said that the economy, which had been expected to contract by only 0.1 percent, saw no growth in the key services sector and a slide in industrial activity.

The GDP figures, which showed a meek 0.8 percent rise on the year, are subject to revision, but few analysts expect a marked improvement. Another quarter of negative growth would put Britain officially in a recession.

"With the economy sticking one foot through the recession door in the fourth quarter of 2011, more quantitative easing from the Bank of England in February looks a done deal," said Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight.

Quantitative easing is a stimulus program in which the central bank buys bonds and other high-quality financial assets from banks, increasing the amount of money flowing around the economy. The hope is that it will increase bank lending and, by extension economic activity.

The Bank of England last increased its quantitative easing program by 75 billion pounds in October.

Minutes of the last policy meeting, in January, showed that the nine members of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee had been, as expected, unanimous in voting not to approve more stimulus.

The Bank had indicated that it would take at least through January to spend the 75 billion pounds in asset purchases.

Some of the MPC members are concerned about Britain's high rate of inflation, which was last measured at 4.2 percent, still twice the 2 percent target despite dropping in recent months.

The minutes showed there some members worried that approving more monetary stimulus would slow the drop in consumer price inflation. Others wondered whether inflation was dropping so fast that more stimulus would be necessary to keep price increases close to the 2 percent target in coming months.

Inflation tends to fall as economic activity drops, and the outlook is not good. The International Monetary Fund this week slashed its forecast for U.K. economic growth this year to 0.6 percent from 1.6 percent previously.

Treasury chief George Osborne said Wednesday's figures were "not entirely unexpected because of what's happening in the world and what's happening in the eurozone crisis."

"Britain has substantial economic problems, debt built up over the past 10 years, and we are dealing with those, but the truth is that dealing with those problems is made more difficult by the situation in the eurozone," Osborne said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_economy

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Kim Kardashian 'Definitely Tried' With Kris Humphries

'I just need to rewrite my fairytale,' reality star tells Kelly Ripa while co-hosting 'Live!'
By Jocelyn Vena

Kim Kardashian
Photo: Getty Images

When she wasn't playing with exotic animals during Monday's (January 23) show, Kelly Ripa's latest "Live!" co-host, Kim Kardashian, opened up about her much-publicized split from Kris Humphries, her husband of 72 days.

"I didn't think following my heart would create this much backlash," she said, sitting by Ripa in a skin-tight red dress. The reality starlet continued that despite reports that she married the basketball player for publicity, she was in it for the long haul.

"I definitely tried everything I felt like I could ... I want babies. I want forever love," she said. "I just felt like, you know, if I feel in my heart that this isn't right, then why wait years to have the same result?"

Currently the Kris/ Kim relationship and its demise are playing out in front of America on "Kourtney & Kim Take New York." Admitting that shortly after the split she did some "soul-searching," she added that these days she's had to readjust her ideas on true love. She said, "I really learned that I just need to rewrite my fairytale."

"Me being a hopeless romantic, I wanted it to work so badly," Kardashian said. "I'm a smart woman! I would have stayed married longer!"

On the same day that Kim opened up about her own split, Heidi Klum and Seal announced that they'd be splitting after seven years of marriage. What's Kim's advice for them in the wake of their own very public split?

"It's so sad," she said. "I would never wish anyone to go through a divorce, but then again after what I went through, you don't really know until you're in this person's shoes ... When I see other people when I might not understand their situation, now I really just step back because you don't really know what they're going through."

How did Kim Kardashian do co-hosting with Kelly Ripa? Let us know in the comments!

Related Photos

• Kim Kardashian And Kris Humphries: A Whirlwind Romance

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677712/kim-kardashian-kelly-ripa.jhtml

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Video: Investigating the state of the presidency

Tablets, e-readers in 1 of every 4 hands now

Get an iPad, Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet over the holidays? You're not alone: Tablet and e-reader ownership increased by nearly double over the holidays, and more than 1 out of every 4 Americans now has one of the devices, according to a new study.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46107009#46107009

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Tracy Morgan of '30 Rock' out of Utah hospital (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? Comedian and "30 Rock" cast member Tracy Morgan has been released from a hospital after collapsing during the Sundance Film Festival, and he says he'll be back at work Tuesday.

Morgan's publicist, Lewis Kay, confirmed Monday that the actor left the Park City Medical Center after he suffered from exhaustion and altitude Sunday night in Park City, where the elevation is 7,000 feet.

Morgan posted a comment Monday on Twitter that the high altitude "shook up this kid from Brooklyn."

"Superman ran into a little kryptonite," he quipped.

He also said on Twitter that he would be back to work Tuesday on "30 Rock."

Ron Nyswaner, co-director of the Sundance film "Predisposed," in which the actor stars, said Morgan's collapse resulted from "altitude sickness combined with his diabetes. And he hadn't eaten. He hadn't had enough water."

Kay said hospital officials report no drugs or alcohol were found in Morgan's system.

Morgan had been attending an event for the Creative Coalition at which he had just received an award.

In "Predisposed," which stars Jesse Eisenberg and Melissa Leo, Morgan plays a drug dealer caught up in the push-and-pull between a piano prodigy and his troubled mother.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_en_tv/us_film_sundance_tracy_morgan

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FACT CHECK: Gingrich flubs history in GOP debate (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Newt Gingrich called rival Mitt Romney a "terrible historian" but flubbed his own history in Congress on Monday night when he claimed the nation ran four consecutive budget surpluses during his time as House speaker. Romney attacked Gingrich's financial links to Freddie Mac while ignoring his own.

The accusations were fast out of the gate in the latest Republican presidential debate, and reality got tromped in the process.

A look at some of claims and how they compare with the facts:

___

GINGRICH: "When I was speaker, we had four consecutive balanced budgets."

THE FACTS: Actually, two.

The four straight years of budget surpluses were 1998 through 2001. Gingrich left Congress in 1999, so he only had a hand in surpluses for his last two years. The budget ran deficits for his first two years as speaker.

The highest surplus of that four-year string came in budget year 2000, after Gingrich was out of office.

Overall, the national debt went up during the four years Gingrich was speaker. In January 1995, when he assumed the leadership position, the gross national debt was $4.8 trillion. When he left four years later, it was $5.6 trillion, an increase of $800 billion.

___

ROMNEY: "I don't think we can possibly retake the White House if the person who's leading our party is the person who was working for the chief lobbyist of Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac was paying Speaker Gingrich $1.6 million at the same time Freddie Mac was costing the people of Florida millions upon millions of dollars."

THE FACTS: While going after Gingrich forcefully on the issue, Romney did not mention his own earnings from the government-backed lender and its sister entity, Fannie Mae, which came to light in his most recent financial disclosure report.

The report shows he has as much as $500,000 invested in the two lenders. GOP presidential hopefuls almost across the board have blamed the two institutions for contributing to the housing crisis that helped to drag the nation into recession. Among Romney's ties: a mutual fund worth up to $500,000 that includes assets from both lenders among other government income, and separate investments in each of the lenders in Romney's individual retirement account, each worth between $100,000 and $250,000.

Romney campaign officials said Monday the investments were handled by a trustee with no direction by the candidate.

___

GINGRICH: "I left the speakership after the 1998 election because I took responsibility for the fact that our results weren't as good as they should be. I think that's what a leader should do. I took responsibility. And I didn't want to stay around, as Nancy Pelosi has. I wanted to get out and do other things."

ROMNEY: "He had to resign in disgrace."

RON PAUL: "I think the reason he didn't...run for speaker, you know, two years later ? he didn't have the votes. That was what the problem was. So this idea that he voluntarily reneged and he was going to punish himself because we didn't do well in the election, that's just not the way it was."

THE FACTS: Gingrich didn't exactly resign in disgrace after he became the first speaker reprimanded and fined for ethics violations, slapped with a $300,000 penalty, in January 1997. He limped to re-election as speaker after that. But his number was soon up.

Within months, he was fending off a revolt from fellow Republicans weary of his antics and mercurial ways.

As Paul suggested in the debate, unexpected GOP losses in the 1998 elections were the last straw for Gingrich in the eyes of House Republicans. Three days later Gingrich announced he was stepping down as speaker and giving up his seat in Congress.

Paul's recollection now is supported by some of Gingrich's words back then. He told Republicans, "I'm willing to lead but I'm not willing to preside over people who are cannibals," sounding less like a man interested in a career change than one intent on escaping a boiling pot.

___

ROMNEY: "Our Navy is now smaller than any time since 1917. And the president is building roughly nine ships a year. We ought to raise that to 15 ships a year. Under this president, under prior presidents, we keep on shrinking our Navy."

The FACTS: Romney is correct about the size of the Navy, but the numbers alone don't tell the story.

At 285 ships the Navy is small by its own historical standards but still larger than the navies of the next several nations combined. These days, it's not how many ships but what they can do. There is a longstanding trend toward smaller numbers of more complex and expensive vessels.

Still, the Navy has noted the smaller size of the current fleet and plans to add 28 ships over several years. The shrinking of the fleet size has spanned Republican and Democratic administrations, as the Navy restructures and plans for the addition of new platforms.

___

RICK SANTORUM: "One of (my proposals) would be to be able to deduct losses from the sale of your home. Right now you can't do that. You have to pay gains, depending on the amount, but you can't deduct the losses, as other capital losses can be."

THE FACTS: For a brief description, it was accurate. What Santorum did not explain, in appealing to Floridians who have one of the worst housing markets in the country, is that the tax code is already stacked in favor of home ownership.

Homeowners get many tax breaks from the government, most notably mortgage interest and property tax deductions. Under federal law, when you sell your private residence, you can make up to $250,000 in profit ? $500,000 if you are married ? and not owe any capital gains taxes. That's a large tax break. There's no such break if you have such a profit in selling stocks or works of art.

But there is a trade-off: You can't claim a loss when you sell your private residence.

___

ROMNEY: President Barack Obama's $814 billion economic stimulus program "didn't create private-sector jobs."

THE FACTS: There is no support for that assertion. Between 1.2 million and 3.7 million full-time-equivalent jobs were created last year because of the stimulus, according to an August 2011 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Meanwhile, another government report found the stimulus program has paid $34.5 billion in tax incentives to businesses, including $260 million to hire younger, unemployed war veterans.

Economists debate whether the stimulus lived up to its promise or was worth the cost, but no one seriously argues that it created no jobs. Many believe it helped to end the recession even while falling short of its employment goals.

___

Associated Press writers Tom Raum, Jim Drinkard, Anne Gearan and Jack Gillum contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_el_pr/us_republicans_debate_fact_check

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Purported Bonnie and Clyde guns sells for $210K (AP)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. ? Two guns thought to have been used by bank-robbing fugitives Bonnie and Clyde have snatched $210,000 at an auction in Kansas City, Mo.

The Joplin Globe (http://bit.ly/A9BRHg) reported an online bidder from the East Coast on Saturday bought the weapons believed to have been seized from the outlaw couple's Joplin hideout in 1933.

Sold were a .45-caliber, fully automatic Thompson submachine gun ? better known as a Tommy gun ? and a 1897 Winchester 12-gauge shotgun. Mayo Auction, of Kansas City, was not given permission to release the name of the buyer.

Two law enforcement officers died during a shootout at the Joplin apartment where the couple and members of their gang were holed up, but all the members of the Clyde Barrow gang escaped.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_us/us_bonnie_and_clyde_guns

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Generation 88 activists back Myanmar's reform path (AP)

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_as/as_myanmar_politics

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Video: Christie on Romney?s ?connection? with voters

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/46090595#46090595

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Salvage Efforts Begin for Stricken Cruise Ship Costa Concordia

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A Dutch marine salvage company is preparing to pump half a million gallons of fuel from the stricken Costa Concordia cruise liner, the first step toward determining whether to save or scrap it.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=580d7f46c32023c832732d2863870580

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LOIC: The Tool Anonymous Is to Essentially Turn You Into a Botnet [Hackers]

Gawker's uncovered a pretty devious plan of Anonymous to wage war in its Megaupload retaliation—tricking Twitter users into firing the Low Orbit Ion Cannon. But what the hell is that? Giz explains. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/hBXSE4huNxE/heres-the-tool-anonymous-is-tricking-the-internet-into-using

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Marg Helgenberger On 'The Late Show With David Letterman'

While actress Marg Helgenberger has announced her departure from the popular CSI series after 12 seasons, the 53-year old is looking forward to some much-needed time off. She described one of her "lousiest jobs" as a working actress to David Letterman while appearing on his show Tuesday night. Check out the clip above to find out what Steven Segal had to do with it.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/20/marg-helgenberger-on-the-letterman_n_1217562.html

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Nike to build 600,000 square foot campus in China

(AP)? SHANGHAI ? Nike Inc. said Monday it plans to build a corporate campus in Shanghai, China.

The sports equipment maker said the campus will be nearly 600,000 square feet and will be located in a new mixed-use development in Shanghai's Yangpu District. Nike said it expects to move into the new campus by the first quarter of 2014.

Nike said the new campus will support its long-term strategy in China, where it has been in business for 30 years. The campus will consist of up to three office buildings and a five-story multi-purpose conference center. It will feature a soccer pitch and regulation-size indoor basketball court.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsGamecore/~3/ImpDjYXihqc/

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Five Best Tuesday Columns (The Atlantic Wire)

Evan Osnos in The New Yorker on Bill Daley's exit The White House announced Monday that Chief of Staff Bill Daley, son of tough Chicago mayor Richard Daley, had resigned his post. "In '83, Richard [Daley] ended up brawling on the floor of a toy store with a guy who blamed him for splitting the white vote ...So when a Daley concludes that the political atmosphere is poisoned, that's saying something," writes Osnos. He recalls Daley's mission upon taking the job a year ago of working with corporate types and Republicans and bringing Democrats closer to center. But he recounts the ways uncompromising Congressional Republicans got the best of him on issues like the debt ceiling. Since then, it's become clear that Obama was phasing him out of the role. "Daley leaves next month. Rarely, I suspect, will anyone have been so eager to land in Chicago in the dead of winter."

Related: Five Best Friday Columns

Joe Nocera in The New York Times on BP's claimants Nocera has high praise for the behavior of BP in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill, and less kind words for litigation lawyers suing BP. "The Gulf Coast Claims Facility has been a remarkably effective alternative to the cumbersome way damages are usually meted out after a corporate accident: through the tort system," Nocera argues.The system appointed an administrator to dole out some of the $20 billion BP made available to Gulf Coast claimants provided they agree not to sue. He compares the efficiency of the system to more drawn out processes for Exxon Valdez claimants, but says the new system leaves out litigation lawyers. He condemns a judge's decision to reserve 6 percent of claims money for plaintiffs' lawyers, who claim their threat of a lawsuit convinced BP to provide claimants funds in the first place. "[I]t's?not just companies that have to put aside their greed. So do the lawyers," he says.

Related: Five Best Thursday Columns

Ron Klain in Bloomberg View on Congress and Romney In 1995, House Republicans had weakened President Clinton by obstructing most of his initiatives, but as Clinton gained more support, Congress's popularity declined and they backed off. "Could the 2012 election year shape up the same way? Could the most do-nothing, gridlocked Congress in memory change direction ... by cooperating with President Barack Obama, even if it undercuts the party's front-runner for the presidential nomination, Mitt Romney?" Klain thinks it could, though he points out important differences in the '96 to '12 comparison. But he argues that Obama's poll numbers and economic signals show a similar turn-around, making Congress more worried about their own popularity if they continue not to work with him. Added to that is the party's already "tepid" embrace of Romney as the nominee, much as it wasn't very enamored with Bob Dole in 1996. "Think it can?t happen? Ask Gingrich."

Related: Five Best Tuesday Columns

Alfred Blumstein and Kiminori Nakamura in The New York Times on hiring former criminals?In 2010, Chicago public schools denied a man convicted of?possessing?a half gram of cocaine in 1985 a job as a boiling room engineer until a newspaper article brought the issue to light. "The ubiquity of criminal-background checks and the efficiency of information technology in maintaining those records and making them widely available, have meant that millions of Americans ? even those who served probation or parole but were never incarcerated ? continue to pay a price long after the crime," write Blumstein and Nakamura. They use statistics to show how rising arrest rates affect huge percentages of the population, and disproportionately affect minorities. Employers should balance risk prevention with the need to reward those who have stayed crime free so as not to encourage recidivism. State and local rules that punish offenders for their entire life should be reexamined. "Policies that encourage employers to hire people who made a mistake in the past but have since rebuilt their lives would not only help those people, but also our economy and our society," they write.

Related: Five Best Tuesday Columns

Jonah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times on Romney's authenticity problem Mitt Romney embodies the odd pairing of a candidate who can't energize voters but who is nonetheless sweeping all the early primaries. Goldberg says the persistence of his detractors isn't because of some inability to take on President Obama. "Romney can sell ideas, and he can criticize Obama well. But he has a very hard time selling himself," Goldberg says. He rehashes several unlikely statements Romney's made in the past few weeks, including that he's feared "pink slips" before, or that he hasn't always been politically ambitious. He links Romney's lack of?authenticity?in selling?himself?to low turnout in Iowa in a year when voter energy against Obama should be high. "The most persuasive case for Romney has always been that if he's the nominee, the election will be a referendum on Obama. But that calculation always assumed that rank-and-file Republicans would vote for their nominee in huge numbers no matter."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/atlantic/20120110/ts_atlantic/fivebesttuesdaycolumns47202

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Sweet Wedding Day

Description:
Beautiful girl Amy has found her Mr. Right. They two are a perfect match. Look at glamorous bride, dress her up and design a perfect pose. Her handsome groom is looking forwards to their romantic and sweet wedding. Wish them a happy marriage!

Source: http://www.hotgirlsgames.net/sweet-wedding-day.html

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George Clooney Charms On National Board Of Review Red Carpet

Seth Rogen, Viola Davis, Rooney Mara also celebrate their 2011 films at event.
By Eric Ditzian

George Clooney on the NBR red carpet
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — Is there anything George Clooney can't do at this point? A nearly perennial presence on the awards-season circuit and just so freaking dapper in a tuxedo he's almost a parody of himself, Clooney managed to gently mock a reporter at the glittering National Board of Review red carpet Tuesday night — "I was going to say, where the hell's the tie?" — and it still came off as charming.

For the record, Mr. Clooney, the reporter in question was going for the casual, unshaven look — though it's difficult to stand next to the "Descendants" star and come off looking good, especially when the A-lister has girlfriend Stacy Keibler on his arm. Oh well. At NBR's bash, the focus was on film — ones that we're going to be talking a lot about as the Golden Globes and Oscar approach. For Clooney, though, the goal in making movies like "Descendants" and "Ides of March" isn't about getting awards-season love.

For photos from the red carpet, click here.

"You don't do them for that," he told us. "You do them because you want to make films that last longer than an opening weekend. Both films were films I was really proud of and felt we could tell interesting stories and hope they find an audience. We were lucky enough that they did."

He's not the only one feeling fortunate. Joining Clooney on the carpet were folks like Rooney Mara, Emma Stone, Keira Knightley, Alec Baldwin, Seth Rogen, Naomi Watts, Sir Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren, Lars Ulrich, Jessica Chastain, Michael Fassbender and Martin Scorsese. For his part, Rogen couldn't quite believe he and his film "50/50" were part of all the craziness.

"It slowly keeps happening," he said of the continuing stream of nominations. "Every time we get one thing, I think that's going to be the last one for sure — and then we get another one. I remember for the Golden Globes, I didn't even wake up to see. I honestly did not assume we were going to get nominations for any of this."

"Hugo" star Asa Butterfield echoed that sentiment when he confessed to MTV News, "I'm surprised. What's to like about me?"

A lot, kid! But hey, humility was the theme at the NBR, as star after star professed him or herself simply happy to be along for the ride — which is not to say these folks don't think they've delivered something special.

"I knew we had something the moment we arrived in Mississippi July 11," "The Help" star Viola Davis said. "It's a special story. It's a human story. It's an honest story. No other movie this year looks like this — all these women, all these races, all these ages. I knew we had something."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Photos

• 2012 National Board Of Review Awards Gala

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677098/national-board-of-review-george-clooney.jhtml

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Bioethicist: A final reason to lose weight

By Art Caplan, Ph.D.

Those who are grossly overweight often feel guilty about many things. Now, add one more to the list: Their weight even gets in the way of helping others after their death by donating their bodies, according to an msnbc.com article.

If warnings about health issues don?t motivate people to lose weight, perhaps that reason will?for those who want others to learn from their bodies after their deaths.

Fat bodies are not ideal for teaching anatomy in medical school. Given all the health issues associated with being blubbery you might imagine that students could learn a lot from an overweight corpse.? But first, they need to learn what a body not affected by the ravages of too much weight looks like. You simply can?t start with the abnormal and work your way back.

The fact that so many of us are obese does not, contrary to the laments of some fat advocacy groups, make obesity normal. When it comes to learning about the body and its parts, a student needs to be able to see what a healthy body is even if there are a lot of folks who do not have one.

Another, more practical problem, is that?anatomy class equipment is not built for plus-sizes. Even if those who run body donation programs want to take bigger bodies, they simply cannot manage them. The process of embalming involves 5 to 6 gallons of fluid which adds as much as one hundred pounds to an already heavy body.? It is hard for the staff to transport, lift and manipulate this kind of dead weight.?

As we know, Americans are packing on the pounds.? The obesity epidemic will be a huge factor in driving up the bill for the next generation.

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of furniture, clothes, towels, seat belt extenders and funeral caskets aimed at large people.? But, that revolution hasn?t and, given the cost, won?t reach the world of body donation and anatomy class.

If you want yet another reason to lose weight, know that if you want your last act to be the gift of helping medical students to learn after your death,?you need to slim down.

Story: Donating your body to science? No one wants a chubby corpse

Source: http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/09/10073445-a-final-reason-to-lose-weight

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Caterpillar is stretching its branches into China mining machinery market and enterprise

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