Titanic in 3D: Why it 'truly impresses' (The Week)

New York ? It cost James Cameron $18 million to convert his sinking-ship romance into a third dimension ? but even skeptical critics say it was money well spent

Fourteen years ago, James Cameron's Oscar-winning epic Titanic first introduced us to Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack, who froze in icy waters as the unsinkable ship sank, and Kate Winslet's Rose, whose heart went on and on via YouTube and Netflix. Next spring, the beloved/ridiculed film will return to theaters painstakingly converted to 3D at a cost of $18 million. Cameron recently previewed 18 minutes of the 3D footage for the press and, while films rarely dazzle when a third dimension is belatedly tacked on, commentators say the Titanic 3D conversion?"truly impresses." Here's why:

1. Cameron's film is unusually well-suited for conversion
Typically, "I absolutely hate post converted 3D," says Peter Sciretta at Slash Film. But this "looks almost as good" as a film that was natively shot in 3D. "If I had never seen the movie before, you would have been able to convince me" that it was originally shot in 3D. It doesn't hurt that "Cameron's cinematography is usually slow and steady and wonderfully composed for depth."

2. 3D heightens the emotional intensity
The 3D is especially evocative during the sequence in which Jack is trapped in handcuffs at the bottom of the ship, and Rose rushes to free him, says Adam B. Vary at Entertainment Weekly. "As she raced through the ship's empty bowels, water rising with every passing second, the 3D really did give me a greater feeling of how alone she is in those long and deserted hallways." And "watching the water lap against the frame, always threatening to spill into the theater, certainly helped add to the sense of anxiety."

3. 3D aside, it'll be great just to have Titanic back in theaters
Watching Cameron's preview in a movie theater was "a reminder of all the great details in the picture that get lost ? even on a big screen TV," says Gregory Ellwood at HitFix. "The detail in the production and costume design was immense." The striking chemistry between Winslet and DiCaprio also really comes across when the film is in theaters ? in a way that it just can't "on a cable repeat on TNT."

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Qantas Airways grounds global fleet due to strikes (AP)

CANBERRA, Australia ? Australia's government ordered an emergency arbitration hearing on Sunday after Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet amid a bitter dispute with striking workers, stranding passengers around the world.

Government leaders, who expressed frustration over the airline's actions, were expected to argue at the hearing that Qantas should be forced to fly in Australia's economic interests.

"It's not our place to start allocating responsibility, but what I also know is there is a better way to resolve these matters ... than locking your customers out," Australian Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten told reporters ahead of the arbitration hearing in the southern city of Melbourne. "We want more common sense than that."

Qantas, the world's 10th-largest airline, announced Saturday that it would ground all flights. But CEO Alan Joyce said the airline could be flying again within hours if the three arbitration judges rule to permanently terminate the grounding and the unions' strike action.

The unions want the judges to rule for a suspension so that the strikes can be resumed if their negotiations with the airline fail.

"Within six hours, we can get the fleet flying again" after the aviation regulator provides a routine clearance, Joyce told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television Sunday.

"We have to wait and see what that process generates today," he said, referring to the court hearing.

Planes in the air when the grounding was announced continued to their destinations, and at least one taxiing flight stopped on the runway, a passenger said. Among the stranded passengers are 17 world leaders attending a Commonwealth summit in the western Australian city of Perth.

When the grounding was announced, 36 international and 28 domestic Australian flights were in the air, the airline said.

Qantas, which flies 70,000 passengers a day, said 108 airplanes were being grounded at 22 airports, but did not say how many flights were involved. Spokesman Tom Woodward said 13,000 passengers were booked to fly international flights to Australia within 24 hours of the grounding.

The lockout was expected to have little impact in the United States. Only about 1,000 people fly daily between the U.S. and Australia, said aviation consultant Michael Boyd. "It's not a big deal," he said. Qantas is "not a huge player here."

Douglas Phillips and his wife, Diane, were among about 400 travelers at Los Angeles International Airport who were scrambling to find another way to Australia after their Qantas flight to Melbourne was halted at the last minute.

Douglas Phillips said they were buckled in and awaiting takeoff early Saturday when the pilot informed passengers that all Qantas flights had been grounded due to a company-wide "industrial action."

"At first everyone thought they were kidding for some reason, but then we realized they were deadly serious," said Phillips, of Dover, Delaware.

After getting a few hours of sleep at a Los Angeles motel, the couple managed to secure a spot on a Saturday night Virgin Australia flight to Sydney. They expected an eight-hour layover there before finally getting to Melbourne, nearly three days late.

Los Angeles International Airport spokeswoman Diana Sanchez said Saturday that she was not aware of any passengers stranded at the airport because of the strike. Five Los Angeles-bound Qantas flights were already in the air when the lockout began and were expected to arrive as scheduled, she said.

Sanchez said Qantas indicated it planned to cancel the handful of flights scheduled to depart from Los Angeles on Saturday.

The real problems for travelers were more likely to be at far busier Qantas hubs in Singapore and London's Heathrow Airport, said another aviation consultant, Robert Mann.

Booked passengers were being rescheduled on a 24-hour basis, with Qantas handling any costs in transferring bookings to other airlines, said Woodward, the Qantas spokesman.

Bookings already had collapsed after unions warned travelers to fly other airlines through the busy Christmas-New Year period.

Joyce told a news conference in Sydney that the unions' actions had created a crisis for Qantas.

"They are trashing our strategy and our brand," Joyce said. "They are deliberately destabilizing the company, and there is no end in sight."

Union leaders criticized the action as extreme. Qantas is among the most profitable airlines in the world, but Joyce estimated that the grounding would cost Qantas $20 million a day.

Qantas already had reduced and rescheduled flights for weeks after union workers struck and refused to work overtime out of worries a restructuring plan would move some of Qantas' 35,000 jobs overseas.

The grounding of the largest of Australia's four national domestic airlines will take a major economic toll and could disrupt the national Parliament, due to resume in Canberra on Tuesday after a two-week recess. Qantas' budget subsidiary Jetstar continues to fly.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her government would help the Commonwealth leaders fly home after 17 were due to fly out of Perth on Qantas planes over the next couple of days.

"They took it in good spirits when I briefed them about it," Gillard told reporters.

British tourist Chris Crulley, 25, said the pilot on his Qantas flight informed passengers while taxiing down a Sydney runway that he had to return to the terminal "to take an important phone call." The flight was then grounded.

"We're all set for the flight and settled in and the next thing ? I'm stunned. We're getting back off the plane," the firefighter told The Associated Press from Sydney Airport by phone.

Crulley was happy to be heading home to Newcastle after a five-week vacation when his flight was interrupted. "I've got to get back to the other side of the world by Wednesday for work. It's a nightmare," he said.

Qantas offered him up to 350 Australian dollars ($375) a day for food and accommodation, but Crulley expected to struggle to find a hotel at short notice in Sydney on a Saturday night.

Australians Len and Christie Dunlop were stranded at London's Heathrow Airport when their flight to Sydney was grounded.

The couple, who have lived in Leeds for four years, said they would have to catch up with fewer friends when they return to Perth for three weeks for a friend's wedding.

"We've got dinners and lunch booked every day, so now we've missed two or three days worth of catching up with friends," Len Dunlop told ABC television. "It just a lot of frustration."

Gillard said her center-left government, which is affiliated with the trade union movement, had "taken a rare decision" to seek an end to the strike action out of necessity.

"I believe it is warranted in the circumstances we now face with Qantas ... circumstances with this industrial dispute that could have implications for our national economy," Gillard said.

Transport Minister Anthony Albanese described the grounding as "disappointing" and "extraordinary." Albanese was angry that Qantas gave him only three hours' notice.

All 108 aircraft will be grounded until unions representing pilots, mechanics, baggage handlers and caterers reach agreements with Qantas over pay and conditions, Joyce said.

"We are locking out until the unions withdraw their extreme claim and reach agreement with us," the chief executive said, referring to shutting staff out of their work stations. Staff will not be paid starting Monday.

"This is a crisis for Qantas. If the action continues as the unions have promised, we will have no choice but to close down Qantas part by part," Joyce said.

Richard Woodward, vice president of the pilots' union, accused Qantas of "holding a knife to the nation's throat" and said Joyce had "gone mad."

Steve Purvinas, federal secretary of the mechanics' union, described the grounding as "an extreme measure."

Long-haul budget airline AirAsia tried stepping into the void with what it called "rescue fares" for Qantas passengers. The offer was valid for ticket-holders flying within 48 hours to AirAsia destinations, the airline said.

Malaysia-based AirAsia flies to three Australian destinations, as well as New Zealand.

The recent strike action, in which two unions have had rolling four-hour strikes on differing days, has most severely affected Qantas domestic flights.

In mid-October, Qantas grounded five jets and reduced domestic service by almost 100 flights a week because aircraft mechanics had reduced the hours they were prepared to work.

Qantas infuriated unions in August when it said it would improve its loss-making overseas business by creating an Asia-based airline with its own name and brand. The five-year restructure plan will cost 1,000 jobs.

Qantas also announced in August that it had more than doubled annual profit to AU$250 million, but warned that the business environment was too challenging to forecast earnings for the current fiscal year.

___

Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Katie Oyan in Phoenix and Associated Press Economics Writer Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111030/ap_on_bi_ge/as_australia_qantas

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Prestigious Hartford grants bolster awardees' social work research

Public release date: 28-Oct-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Todd Kluss
tkluss@geron.org
202-587-2839
The Gerontological Society of America

Twelve outstanding students have been chosen as the newest participants in the Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program in Geriatric Social Work. The program is funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, administered by The Gerontological Society of America, and directed by James Lubben, DSW, MPH.

Each fellow receives a $50,000 dissertation grant plus $20,000 in matching support from his or her home institution, which enables the recipient to more fully concentrate on a dissertation research project over the next two years. Fellows also receive supplemental academic career guidance and mentoring, as well as professional development enabling them to more successfully launch an academic career in gerontology and social work.

This year's cohort consists of:

Jean Balestrery
University of Michigan School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Culture and Communication in Rural Alaska's Health and Social Services

Keith Tsz-Kit Chan
Boston College Graduate School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Examining the Measurement of Physical and Psychological Health and Their Relationship to Acculturation for Older Asian Americans

Noelle LeCrone Fields
The Ohio State University College of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Aging in Place in Assisted Living: Understanding the Personal and Environmental Factors that Influence Length of Stay

Angela Ghesquiere
Columbia University School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Patterns and Outcomes of Bereavement Support-Seeking Among Older Adults with Complicated Grief and Bereavement-Related Depression

Jennifer C. Greenfield
Washington University School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: How Does the Caregiving Experience Affect Asset Trajectories of Informal Caregivers?: Findings from the Health and Retirement Survey

Andrea Jones
University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Why People Volunteer as Guardians in the Community

Skye Nichole Leedahl
University of Kansas School of Social Welfare Dissertation Topic: Older Adults in Nursing Homes: Assessing Relationships Between Multiple Constructs of Social Integration, Facility Characteristics, and Health

Gina M. McCaskill
The University of Alabama School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Validation of the Self-care Utility Geriatric African American Rating (SUGAAR) for Type 2 Diabetes

Julie Norstrand
Boston College Graduate School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: What Pathways Link Social Capital to Physical and Mental Health Among Older Adults?

Katherine Supiano
University of Utah College of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Complicated Grief in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Complicated Grief Group Therapy

Tiffany Washington
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Older Adult Kidney Disease Self-Management Behaviors and Their Relationship to Depression, Self-Efficacy, Illness Perceptions, and Social Support

Mark Williams
University of Washington School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Partnership Status and Differences in Health and Well-Being for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Older Adults

The fellowship program is a component of the nationwide Geriatric Social Work Initiative, which seeks to expand the training of social workers in order to improve the health and well being of older persons and their families. It was created to help social work doctoral students overcome their greatest obstacles, such as limited teacher training and career guidance. These fellowships cultivate the next generation of geriatric social work faculty as teachers, role models and mentors for future generations of geriatric social workers.

Lubben, the Louise McMahon Ahearn University Chair at Boston College and a professor emeritus at UCLA, works together with a national program committee to select the fellows.

###

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society and its 5,400+ members is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA's structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational branch, the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.

The John A. Hartford Foundation, founded in 1929, is a committed champion of training, research, and service system innovations that promote the health and independence of America's older adults. Through its grantmaking, the Foundation seeks to strengthen the nation's capacity to provide effective, affordable care to this rapidly increasing older population by educating health professionals and developing innovations that improve and better integrate health and supportive services.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 28-Oct-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Todd Kluss
tkluss@geron.org
202-587-2839
The Gerontological Society of America

Twelve outstanding students have been chosen as the newest participants in the Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program in Geriatric Social Work. The program is funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, administered by The Gerontological Society of America, and directed by James Lubben, DSW, MPH.

Each fellow receives a $50,000 dissertation grant plus $20,000 in matching support from his or her home institution, which enables the recipient to more fully concentrate on a dissertation research project over the next two years. Fellows also receive supplemental academic career guidance and mentoring, as well as professional development enabling them to more successfully launch an academic career in gerontology and social work.

This year's cohort consists of:

Jean Balestrery
University of Michigan School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Culture and Communication in Rural Alaska's Health and Social Services

Keith Tsz-Kit Chan
Boston College Graduate School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Examining the Measurement of Physical and Psychological Health and Their Relationship to Acculturation for Older Asian Americans

Noelle LeCrone Fields
The Ohio State University College of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Aging in Place in Assisted Living: Understanding the Personal and Environmental Factors that Influence Length of Stay

Angela Ghesquiere
Columbia University School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Patterns and Outcomes of Bereavement Support-Seeking Among Older Adults with Complicated Grief and Bereavement-Related Depression

Jennifer C. Greenfield
Washington University School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: How Does the Caregiving Experience Affect Asset Trajectories of Informal Caregivers?: Findings from the Health and Retirement Survey

Andrea Jones
University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Why People Volunteer as Guardians in the Community

Skye Nichole Leedahl
University of Kansas School of Social Welfare Dissertation Topic: Older Adults in Nursing Homes: Assessing Relationships Between Multiple Constructs of Social Integration, Facility Characteristics, and Health

Gina M. McCaskill
The University of Alabama School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Validation of the Self-care Utility Geriatric African American Rating (SUGAAR) for Type 2 Diabetes

Julie Norstrand
Boston College Graduate School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: What Pathways Link Social Capital to Physical and Mental Health Among Older Adults?

Katherine Supiano
University of Utah College of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Complicated Grief in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Complicated Grief Group Therapy

Tiffany Washington
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Older Adult Kidney Disease Self-Management Behaviors and Their Relationship to Depression, Self-Efficacy, Illness Perceptions, and Social Support

Mark Williams
University of Washington School of Social Work Dissertation Topic: Partnership Status and Differences in Health and Well-Being for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Older Adults

The fellowship program is a component of the nationwide Geriatric Social Work Initiative, which seeks to expand the training of social workers in order to improve the health and well being of older persons and their families. It was created to help social work doctoral students overcome their greatest obstacles, such as limited teacher training and career guidance. These fellowships cultivate the next generation of geriatric social work faculty as teachers, role models and mentors for future generations of geriatric social workers.

Lubben, the Louise McMahon Ahearn University Chair at Boston College and a professor emeritus at UCLA, works together with a national program committee to select the fellows.

###

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society and its 5,400+ members is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA's structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational branch, the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.

The John A. Hartford Foundation, founded in 1929, is a committed champion of training, research, and service system innovations that promote the health and independence of America's older adults. Through its grantmaking, the Foundation seeks to strengthen the nation's capacity to provide effective, affordable care to this rapidly increasing older population by educating health professionals and developing innovations that improve and better integrate health and supportive services.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/tgso-phg102811.php

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Bill Gates Speaking At University Of Washington ? Watch The Stream Here (Update: It?s Over)

Bill Gates is set to give a talk today for an event at the University of Washington's School of Computer Science and Engineering. It starts at 3:30, so in just about fifteen minutes. We've got the stream embedded here so you can watch it live. The topic will be advances in computing, including natural user interfaces and pervasive computing that could change the way the bottom 1/3rd of the world's population lives. For all the fanfare about the 99% here in the states, it's humbling to remember that to much of the world, we are the 1% with adequate fresh water, free and comprehensive public schooling, working sewage and other basic utilities, and so on. Update: The talk is over, but I'll be posting some highlight quotes and commentary shortly, and the video will be available to watch tonight or tomorrow as well. Later: And here they are.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Qn6OJLyV158/

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Once Upon a Time and Grimm

Once Upon a Time (ABC, Sundays at 8 p.m. ET) debuted this week to impressive ratings. By the network's count, 16 million people tuned in. If you were among them and you have a ballpark idea about the workings of its overarching structure, then please do get in touch. Is the show a glossily renovated fairy tale? A richly costumed fable about fantasy? A genial bunch of heigh-ho heigh-hokum? I am willing to accept "all of the above" as an answer, but I may reject the show if that's the case. It would confirm a suspicion that Once Upon a Time, created by two veterans of Lost, offers a young-reader version of the earlier series' metaphysics and mythology.

Tell me if I've got this straight. Long ago?many years before ABC's parent company started along the road leading inexorably to Campbell's Cool Shape Disney Princess Soup?there existed a place called Fairy Tale Land. Here, Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) chastely planted one on the cold kisser of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and brought her back to life and made an honest woman of her. Alas, the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) darkened their wedding when, deliciously rolling the R in the word destrrroy, she promised to visit doom on all the nicest citizens of FTL, including its talking cricket. Why? Unclear. The series, fueling itself with folklore, proceeds as if no characterization is required, and she is the Motiveless Evil Queen. When the day of the doom comes?"out of your sufferrring will rrrise my victory!"?the Land falls under the gloom of a curse. The lone escapee is Snow White's daughter, Emma.

Meanwhile, in the present day, there lives in Boston a tough and tender loner, an orphan in her late 20s, named Emma (Jennifer Morrison). One night, a 10-year-old kid?a plucky lad lugging around the book in which the above fantasy unfolds?interrupts Emma's solitary brooding to claim that he is the boy she gave for adoption. Emma warily gives the kid a ride back to his hometown of "Storybrooke," which is in Maine. What will this Storybrooke be? A depressed mill town? A voluminous saltwater-taffy shop? A hallucination from Stephen King's drug days? It is postcard-pretty, but the Fairy Tale Landers are accursedly trapped within the postcard's edges. Snow White is the kid's saintly schoolteacher, The Evil Queen his brittle mother, the cricket his human shrink. The imp formerly known as Rumpelstiltskin is now a local tyrant named Mr. Gold, and Robert Carlyle is energetically skeevy in the dual role. The show, braiding its strands of plots at its own pace, encourages us to climb into a narrative about motherhood and childhood and escaping from narrative. I will go, but gingerly, drawn by playful performances but wary that Storybrooke, Me., is essentially Pine Valley, Pa.

This brings us to Grimm (NBC, Fridays at 9 p.m. ET), which begins with a college student wearing a sorority-issue sweatshirt popping out for her morning run. The red of her hoodie is all the more conspicuous for clashing with the pink of her sneakers and of the iPod that speeds her jog along to the pulse the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams." Trotting through the green woods, she spots a gewgaw on a log?a ceramic doll on the order of a Hummel figurine?stoops to pick it up, and is promptly punished for her curiosity by getting swept from the frame by a hairy blur and torn to pieces.

No such fate befalls the audience, which is likewise examining a minor piece of kitsch. Instead, we live to lay eyes on hero Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) as he bounces out of a jewelry store, having just spent two months of his cop's salary to buy his girlfriend a surprise present. When Nick's partner teases him for being "young and innocent," he is referencing the man's idealism about love and his unshaken belief in "happily ever after." But also Nick is a relatively green crimefighter. He has not yet discharged his gun in his career (though he must have brutally clubbed a malefactor or two with that studly chin of his).

Nick never gets a chance, in the pilot, to put a ring on it. His aunt abruptly rolls into town to tell him that he was born into a line of supernatural criminal profilers: "Your parents didn't die in a crash. They were killed." Aha! This explains why, when Nick's partner implored him to check out a random hottie on the street, he alone saw her face contort into the gruesome visage of a vivacious zombie. Nick has the power to recognize the literal monsters among us. "The misfortune of our family is already passing to you," the aunt explains, warning him that he shouldn't complicate his GF's life by dragging her into all of this. (This is just as well, since the girl is less a character than a plot complication.) Later, the aunt's voice rings in Nick's head, Yoda-like, as he pursues the murder case: "You need to be careful now. This isn't a fairy tale." No, it certainly isn't. Grimm is a familiar procedural in big bad wolf's clothing. Nick's uncanny talent puts him in the same category as all of your favorite mentalists, psych-out artists, mnemonic superfreaks, intuitive geniuses, and human lie detectors enforcing the law elsewhere on television.

The protagonist is running a distant second in the contest to be the most interesting character on his own show. Grimm is most alive in the scenes where Nick teams up with Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell), a monster who is trying hard to walk the straight path. These moments introduce some much-needed levity to a drama where every echoing slam of a file-cabinet drawer amounts to a portentous groan. Monroe is offended that Nick views him as an amplus malus lupus: "As you can see, I am not that big and I am done with the bad thing.... How do I stay good? Through a strict regimen of diet, drugs, and Pilates." This guy's got a sense of humor. But is he technically a guy? I'm asking because Nick's been playing fast and loose with the search and seizure. Are the beasties on Grimm sufficiently human as to enjoy due-process rights?

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=0ecaf7cf1b2589553c75ed8fa79852b9

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Bret Michaels creates music room at Ariz. hospital (AP)

PHOENIX ? Rocker Bret Michaels is set to rock a Phoenix hospital with a donation that will benefit its patients and their families.

The Poison frontman is set to announce plans Thursday to give new TVs and sound systems for a hospitality and music room at the St. Joseph's Barrow Neurological Institute. It's the facility where he was treated in April 2010 for a brain hemorrhage.

Michaels will help design the room to include music listening stations and relaxation areas.

Michaels was treated at the hospital earlier this year for a procedure to fix a hole in his heart. Doctors found the hole when they treated him for the brain hemorrhage.

The "Celebrity Apprentice" winner has made a full recovery but still remains under the care of physicians.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111027/ap_en_mu/us_people_bret_michaels

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'Dexter' star opens up about working with ex

Jennifer Carpenter is on her way to a weekend bender! And it's the best of all kinds for TV fans.

"I'm working on 'The Good Wife' and we're working a 'Fraturday,'" she tells us of her guest stint opposite Michael J. Fox. "Which means you start work Friday and don't get off til the crack of dawn Saturday morning."

Good times! But before that, we caught up with J.Carp to ask about that other awesome show she's on, Showtime's "Dexter," to find out if Deb knows Dex's secret, and what it's like working with that other middle-initialed Michael, her ex-husband Michael C. Hall...

MORE: Casting Scoop: Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter Comes to The Good Wife to Face Michael J. Fox

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We met with Jennifer as she shot a fashion feature for the site Stylecaster, and she told us she still looks forward to going to work on "Dexter."

"I'm grateful that it is successful," she explains. "Because, you know, six years in and to still be challenged by the work and proud of the work is quite an accomplishment. It's largely in part to our writers. They are all powerhouses and sick in the greatest way!"

Despite filing for divorce late last year from "Dexter" star Michael C. Hall, Jennifer tells us the pair remain close while working together on the show.

"Has it changed anything? Yes," she says of their time on the set. "[But] I mean, he is and always will be one of my best friends in the world. And just because the marriage ended doesn't mean the love isn't still there. We take very good care of each other and our cast, we always have, and I'm just really lucky."

(Told ya she's crush-worthy. Gotta love that positivity!)

MORE: Spoiler Chat: Get Dexter Scoop Here!

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As for the seasons-long question "Dexter" fans are always wanting to know?whether Deb (Jennifer) will find out her brother Dexter is a serial killer?Jennifer tells us, "Just between us, I think that [Deb] has always suspected something dark, sort of like a dark undercurrent with him. There are just too many gaping holes with his schedule with how he connects and disconnects from her and other people. So I don't think that she would say that 'He must wrap people in plastic, and drive knives through their ribcage.' You know? ... I don't think it's quite cut and dry like that for her, but there is always a suspicion, and I feel like ... I've always been right there with you the audience."

Jennifer also revealed her own personal deepest, darkest secret, and we'll let you be the judge on whether it's worse than Dex's.

"I watch ["Jersey Shore"] at the gym. I'm not going to lie. Yeah, I'm a fan, it's entertaining to sort of turn your brain off. It's like probably getting into the car with a drunk driver or something. [Laughs.] But you're safe, you're in the confines of your home or your gym."

?Reporting by James Chairman

PHOTOS: Happy Halloween From All Your Favorite Spooky Shows!

Do you think Deb should find out about Dexter's secret? Share your thoughts on the Facebook page for our TV blog, The Clicker!

? 2011 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45083424/ns/today-entertainment/

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Sony PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi Cover with Light Review

I just posted a review of the new PRS-T1 Reader Wi-Fi ebook reader from Sony, and I mentioned that you have to have a light to read in dim or dark rooms. ?That’s the nature of eInk screens – they have no backlighting, so you’ll need an external light of some sort. ?I’ve had lighted [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/10/29/sony-prs-t1-reader-wi-fi-cover-with-light-review/

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PFT: Dolphin rips fans pushing for 'Suck for Luck'

Getty Images

Last week, Rosenthal and I disagreed on three games.? He was right on two of them, and I now trail by seven for the season.

To make matters worse, I was a pathetic 7-6.? He was 8-5.

To make matters even worse, there?s a chance it gets worse this weekend, with another 13 games.? At least he can only increase his lead to nine games, since we disagree on only two of them:? Bengals-Seahawks and Cowboys-Eagles.

For the year, he?s 71-32 and I?m 64-39.

Read on to see who we?ve picked and specifically how we disagree.? Given the choice of photo for this item, it?s safe to say I?ll be singing Fly, Eagles! Fly! on Sunday night.

Cardinals at Ravens

Florio?s take:? The Ravens play well at home.? The Ravens don?t play well against bad teams.? The Ravens are playing at home.? The Ravens are playing a bad team.? But the Cardinals are really bad, and the Ravens have gotten a kick in the pants after losing to the Jaguars.

Florio?s pick:? Ravens 31, Cardinals 17.

Rosenthal?s take: The Steelers struggled in the second half against the Jaguars two weeks ago, and took out their aggression on the Cardinals in Arizona. The Ravens lost to the Jaguars Monday night, and can take it out on the Cardinals in Baltimore. Passing game problems magically disappear when teams play Arizona.

Rosenthal?s pick: Ravens 31, Cardinals 13.

Vikings at Panthers

Florio?s take:? The Panthers have made it through a rough stretch of their schedule, and they have a chance to enter the bye on a two-game winning streak.? The Vikings have never won in Charlotte, and it?s unlikely that they?ll change that on Sunday.

Florio?s pick:? Panthers 28, Vikings 20.

Rosenthal?s take: It?s not really fair to Andy Dalton, Christian Ponder, and Blaine Gabbert to be rookies the same year as Cam Newton. The Panthers quarterback is starting to mix better decisions with his weekly ?wow? plays. Newton just doesn?t play like a rookie. He really doesn?t play like anyone that came before him.

Rosenthal?s pick: Panthers 33, Vikings 23.

Jaguars at Texans

Florio?s take:? The best of a bad crop of early games, this one got much more interesting after the Jaguars stunned the Ravens on Monday night.? Tied 9-9 all-time, the Texans can put a stranglehold on the AFC South with a win, and the Jaguars can make it interesting with an upset.? The edge goes to the home team.

Florio?s pick:? Texans 27, Jaguars 20.

Rosenthal?s take: If defense really wins championships, the Jaguars could be contenders. But Jacksonville needs something more from Blaine Gabbert, and teams need more in the gameplan than not turning the ball over. The Texans have a pretty decent defense, not to mention a guy named Arian Foster and a great run-blocking line.

Rosenthal?s pick: Texans 23, Jaguars 13.

Dolphins at Giants

Florio?s take:? The Dolphins return to MetLife Stadium only 13 days after being steamrolled by the Jets.? It wouldn?t be a shock if the Giants stub their toe, given their performance against the Seahawks.? But, c?mon, they?re playing the Dolphins.? The Matt Moore/J.P. Losman-led Dolphins.? A Miami win would be an even bigger upset than Super Bowl XLII.

Florio?s pick:? Giants 24, Dolphins 7.

Rosenthal?s take: It sounds weird, but this is a ?must? win for the Giants. They can?t afford another bad home loss with the following schedule coming up: at Patriots, at 49ers, Eagles, at Saints, Packers, and at Cowboys.? Luckily, the Giants face a squad this week that seemingly approaches every game as a ?must? lose.

Rosenthal?s pick: Giants 28, Dolphins 10.

Saints at Rams

Florio?s take:? This week, Sean Payton will be able to eat a hot dog, some nachos, a soft pretzel, and a box of popcorn.

Florio?s pick:? Saints 42, Rams 14.

Rosenthal?s take: The Rams defense is most disappointing group in the league.? The pass rush vanished.? They are a mess at cornerback and special teamers starting at linebacker.? Free-agent pickup Quintin Mikell has struggled.? Only the Colts have given up more points than St. Louis, and that?s because of what the Saints just did to Indy.? The Rams will be last in points allowed after this one.

Rosenthal?s pick: Saints 41, Rams 20.

Colts at Titans

Florio?s take:? Four days ago, the Colts lost by 55 at New Orleans.? Two years ago, the Titans endured a 59-point blowout against the Patriots.? The Titans won their next game.? That?s where the similarities end.

Florio?s pick:? Titans 30, Colts 14.

Rosenthal?s take:? The Titans were outscored 79-14 the last two games.? The Colts were outscored 62-7 last week.? Something has to give here, so I?ll guess it?s the winless team staying winless.

Rosenthal?s pick: Titans 26, Colts 17.

Redskins at Bills

Florio?s take:? Another week, another Super Bowl rematch.? The last three (Bills-Giants, Steelers-Cardinals, Colts-Saints) resulted in the same outcome.? The trend will now be reversed, thanks to a rested Bills squad and a Redskins team that has been sliding back toward reality.

Florio?s pick:? Bills 34, Redskins 24.

Rosenthal?s take: The Bills defense may have finally found a passing attack they can stop.? Or perhaps John Beck found a defense he can make noise against.? Either way, the Bills are better equipped to win a shootout. Plus Ryan Fitzpatrick?s beard just belongs in Canada. (This is the hard-hitting analysis you come to PFT for.)

Rosenthal?s pick: Bills 31, Redskins 24.

Lions at Broncos

Florio?s take:? When a Christian is thrown to the Lions, sometimes the Christian wins.? But not yet.?? Though it?s tempting to predict an upset, the Lions can?t afford to run their losing streak to three, and the Broncos simply don?t have the horses to beat a team much better than the Dolphins.

Florio?s pick:? Lions 24, Broncos 14.

Rosenthal?s take:? The Lions offense hasn?t consistently sustained drives for weeks. The Broncos passing attack had two yards halfway through the fourth quarter last week before Tim Tebow recovered an onside kick and sacked Matt Moore in overtime, before Tebow kicked a 52-yard field goal.? In short:? Expect a defensive game, with Matthew Stafford providing the drama this time.

Rosenthal?s pick: Lions 17, Broncos 13.

Patriots at Steelers

Florio?s take:? Tom Brady, not Art Rooney, owns the Pittsburgh Steelers.? Yes, it?s that simple.

Florio?s pick:? Patriots 34, Steelers 20.

Rosenthal?s take: Is the Steelers defense dominant again or have they just fattened their stats on the Seahawks, Colts, Jaguars, and Cardinals? I?m not sure the answer makes a difference. Tom Brady has a habit of shredding the Steelers even when Pittsburgh?s defense is truly elite.

Rosenthal?s pick: Patriots 30, Steelers 24.

Bengals at Seahawks

Florio?s take:? It?s easy to write off the Seahawks in this one based on their performance (or whatever that thing should be called) in Cleveland.? But they?re a different team at home, and the Bengals? 4-2 start is a little deceiving.? So whether it?s Tarvaris Jackson or Charlie Whitehurst, the Seahawks and their 12th Man will continue their up-and-down season with a showing that will be enough to generate a win.

Florio?s pick:? Seahawks 20, Bengals 17.

Rosenthal?s take: If you liked Browns-Seahawks last week, you?re going to love this one.? Cedric Benson won?t be available.? Tarvaris Jackson might be, but Charlie Whitehurst?s effort last week guarantees the Seahawks crowd won?t be chanting for the backup anymore.? I?m picking the Bengals because I want to live in a world that Andy Dalton?s crew is in first place to start November.

Rosenthal?s pick: Bengals 10, Seahawks 7.

Browns at 49ers

Florio?s take:? Now that the 49ers have gotten through a difficult stretch to start the season with a 5-1 record and are emerging from a bye, it would be fitting to see them come up flat against the Browns, especially since it?s a homecoming game of sorts for team president Mike Holmgren.? Unlike the team led by Jim Harbaugh?s brother, John, the 49ers won?t play down to the level of the Browns, who while improving have a long way to go before they can be regarded as truly improved.

Florio?s pick:? 49ers 27, Browns 17.

Rosenthal?s take: The Browns are the worst 3-3 team possible, with Colt McCoy regressing by the week. They play an ugly brand of football, but that?s the kind of game the 49ers like.? San Francisco runs better than the Browns, and they defend better too.? The 49ers are a legit 5-1 team.? Make it 6-1.

Rosenthal?s pick: 49ers 22, Browns 13.

Cowboys at Eagles

Florio?s take:? The rested Eagles can?t completely shake controversy, thanks to the comments of cornerback Asante Samuel.? But the Eagles surely sense the opportunity to seize the division, and they can?t do it without beating the Cowboys.? Though Dallas defensive coordinator Rob Ryan will have cooked up a good plan for containing Mike Vick, Andy Reid has had two weeks to come up with a way for generating offense, presumably with heavy doses of LeSean McCoy.

Florio?s pick:? Eagles 30, Cowboys 24.

Rosenthal?s take:? The Eagles are a team of extremes.? They lead the league in rushing.? They lead the league in interceptions and turnovers.? They outgain their opponents by 100 yards-per-week, and find a way to lose.? Dallas knows how to blow fourth-quarter chances too, but they have something Philly does not:? One of the best defenses in the league.

Rosenthal?s pick: Cowboys 27, Eagles 21.

Chargers at Chiefs

Florio?s take:? Suddenly, the Chiefs have become the hottest team in the AFC West.? Just as suddenly, the Chargers seem to be falling apart.? After losing 31-0 in San Diego last year, the Chiefs played the Chargers close on the road in Week Three.? Now that the rivalry returns to Arrowhead Stadium, it?s time for the Chiefs to tighten up the top of the division.

Florio?s pick:? Chiefs 27, Chargers 21.

Rosenthal?s take:? The Chiefs have quietly survived Jamaal Charles? injury, ranking seventh in rushing yards.? The Chargers have quietly stunk defending the run, giving up exactly 162 yards to the Broncos and Jets the last two games. Put them together in Arrowhead, and there might be a three-way tie for the AFC West lead.

Rosenthal?s pick: Chiefs 26, Chargers 21.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/26/fasano-says-fans-pushing-suck-for-luck-are-sick/related/

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Palestinian leader: Arabs erred on 1947 partition (AP)

JERUSALEM ? The Palestinian president, in a remarkable assessment delivered on Israeli TV, said Friday the Arab world erred in rejecting the United Nations' 1947 plan to partition Palestine into a Palestinian and a Jewish state.

The Palestinian and Arab refusal to accept a U.N. plan to partition the then-British-controlled mandate of Palestine sparked widespread fighting, then Arab military intervention after Israel declared independence the following year. The Arabs lost the war.

"It was our mistake. It was an Arab mistake as a whole," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Channel 2 TV in a rare interview to the Israeli media. "But do they (the Israelis) punish us for this mistake 64 years?

Abbas also addressed his negotiations with former Israeli leader Ehud Olmert, now in the spotlight because of the publication of the memoirs of former U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

Rice backs Israel's account that Olmert made a peace offer that was rejected, while Palestinians say that talks never actually reached a point where a firm offer was on the table.

Abbas claimed that he and Olmert were "very close" to reaching a peace agreement in 2008, before the Israeli leader left office under the cloud of corruption allegations.

"It was a very good opportunity," he said. "If he stayed two, three months, I believe in that time we could have concluded an agreement."

He confirmed Olmert's account that the Israeli leader was prepared to withdraw from 93.5 percent of the West Bank. The Palestinians, Abbas added, responded by offering to let Israel retain 1.9 percent of the West Bank.

In her forthcoming book, "No Higher Honor," excerpted in Newsweek this week, Rice claims that the Palestinians rejected Olmert's proposal.

Rice said Olmert proposed in a May 2008 conversation with her to cede about 94 percent of the West Bank, and to share sovereignty over the disputed holy city of Jerusalem and put an international body in charge of its religious shrines.

In its waning days, Rice wrote, the administration of President George W. Bush tried one last time to wrest a peace deal: "To have an Israeli prime minister on record offering those remarkable elements and a Palestinian president accepting them would have pushed the peace process to a new level. Abbas refused."

In their last meeting before Bush left office in December 2008, "The President took Abbas into the Oval Office alone and appealed to him to reconsider. The Palestinian stood firm, and the idea died," Rice wrote.

On Friday, the chief Palestinian negotiator told The Associated Press that the Palestinians had never rejected the Israeli offer.

With Abbas offering in his counter-proposal to let Israel annex 1.9 percent of the West Bank, Bush set a meeting for Jan. 3, 2009, to lock in the positions, which had been delivered verbally, "so the next administration could begin where we left off," he said.

That meeting was scuttled because of Israel's December 2008 invasion of Gaza, Erekat said, and Olmert was soon out of office. Since that time, talks revived for only a brief three weeks last year.

Last month, Abbas bypassed the troubled negotiations route to ask the U.N. to recognize an independent state of Palestine.

In his interview with Channel 2, Abbas acknowledged the Palestinians might not be able to muster the necessary nine votes in the 15-member Security Council to approve the statehood bid.

But majority support would be a moot point, anyway, because the United States has threatened to veto the statehood petition. Israel also opposes the U.N. bid, arguing, like the U.S., that only negotiations can yield a Palestinian state.

Abbas said "it is difficult ... to launch any kind of negotiations" with the current Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who takes a hawkish stand on territorial concessions.

He said Netanyahu wants to retain an Israeli military presence along the West Bank's eastern border with Jordan for 40 years, even after the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"I told him, I prefer occupation," Abbas said.

Netanyahu has never publicly specified how long he wants to hold on to that territory, known as the Jordan Valley, and his office had no reaction to Abbas' comment.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111028/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

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Egyptians cross home, U.S.-Israeli leaves Egypt in swap (Reuters)

JERUSALEM/TABA, Egypt (Reuters) ? Egyptians crossed the border home on Thursday and some bowed down in prayer during a prisoner exchange involving an American-Israeli man who Egypt charged with spying and who was on his way by plane to Tel Aviv.

Israel agreed to swap 25 jailed Egyptians for Ilan Grapel, 27, who was detained in Egypt in June on accusations he was out to recruit agents and monitor events in the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak, an ally of Israel and the United States.

Israel, whose relations with Egypt have been strained since the uprising, denied the charges. Israeli officials said Grapel had been released and was flying to Tel Aviv.

"Thanks be to God," Abdullah, one of the Egyptians being released, told Egyptian state television at the border, which interviewed several as they crossed one-by-one. Several bowed down in prayer.

Another, Rabia Suleiman, who had been serving a four-year jail term on drugs charges, was asked what he would do on his return: "I'll come here and find any job, and I won't go back."

The United States, which provides the army that now runs Egypt with billions of dollars in military aid, had called for Grapel's release. Analysts said the exchange provided a cover for Egypt to resolve the diplomatic headache.

"I consider it a cover for returning this spy with pressure from the United States," Egyptian analyst Hassan Nafaa said.

"The release of those 25 represents a cover that has no meaning in fact. It does not harm Israel and it does not significantly benefit Egyptians," he added. Many of those detained by Israel were convicted of smuggling offences.

The U.S.-brokered exchange deal was reached shortly after a more high-profile, Egyptian-brokered swap between Israel and Hamas Islamists that freed captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

U.S. Congressman Gary Ackerman, who pressed for Grapel's release, traveled to Israel to accompany him back to the United States, his office said in a statement.

"It is ... hard for me to accept the fact that an innocent and perhaps naive citizen travels (to Egypt) to identify with the Arab Spring -- and it's clear this is not a spy, nor an agent, nor a drug trafficker -- and he is arrested under all kinds of false allegations, and we are then forced to pay a price in order to free him," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel's Army Radio.

Israel has also called for steps to help free another Israeli, Oudeh Suleiman Tarabin, jailed by Egypt 11 years ago.

DRUGS AND GUNS

The family of one of those to be released, Ashraf Abdallah el-Swarky, said the 18-year-old had been sentenced to three years in prison by Israel on charges of illegally crossing the border.

They say he had lost his way. He has spent one year in jail.

"We just want to see our brother. It is a good thing from Egypt to work on freeing them," said his brother, Mohamed.

Others in the area said many of the Egyptian prisoners to be released had been involved in smuggling, which is rife along Egypt's border with Israel and the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

Israel's Prisons Service said Abdallah had been jailed for drug trafficking as well as "infiltration." The others on the release roster were held for similar offences, including gun-running, but not for espionage or attacks on Israelis.

Many Bedouin in Sinai complain of neglect by the state. Sinai resorts such as Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh, with their five-star hotels, are popular with tourists. But Bedouin say they are excluded from jobs there and have to scratch a frugal living, or turn to smuggling.

The Sinai Peninsula was captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and was handed back in the 1980s after Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, the first such deal between an Arab state and the Jewish nation.

Grapel's mother has said that her son, a law student in the United States, had been working for Saint Andrew's Refugee Services, a non-governmental organization, in Cairo. Grapel emigrated to Israel in 2005 from New York and served in its military in the 2006 Lebanon war.

Over the years, Egypt has arrested a number of people accused of spying for Israel.

Israel flew its ambassador out of Egypt in September when the Israeli embassy was attacked by protesters angry at the killings of Egyptian border guards when Israeli troops pursued raiders who killed eight Israelis in August. Israel said the gunmen infiltrated from the Gaza Strip via the Sinai.

(Additional reporting by Dan Williams and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem and Shaimaa Fayed in Cairo; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111027/wl_nm/us_egypt_israel_swap

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New 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Poster Isn't Nude, But Noirish

by Rachel Molino
?The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo? has adapted Swedish author Stieg Larsson?s crime thriller novel of the same name in a perfect cacophony of white hot director David Fincher, newly most-sought-after score master Trent Reznor and fan-approved leads Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. The film, which features Mara as a tormented computer hacker, [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/10/26/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-poster-nude-noir/

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Thermostat Automagically Learns Your Heating Habits [Video]

Winter is coming. Why not keep you and your dire wolves warm with a temperature gauge that learns your heating habits without making you press that damn SET button on your thermostat. Does that button even work? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/09hST062TBA/thermostat-automagically-learns-your-heating-habits

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Tunnel tolls just the start (hamptonroads)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/152920276?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Eurozone gets ECB boost, summit deal uncertain (Reuters)

BRUSSELS/ROME (Reuters) ? The incoming head of the European Central Bank threw the euro zone a lifeline hours before a crucial summit on Wednesday which looked set to fall short of a definitive plan to tackle the bloc's debt crisis.

Mario Draghi signaled the ECB would go on buying troubled states' bonds as leaders of the 17-nation single currency area struggled to agree a convincing set of measures.

"The Eurosystem (of central banks) is determined, with its non-conventional measures, to prevent malfunctioning in the money and financial markets creating an obstacle to monetary transmission," he said in typically coded ECB language in a speech text released in Rome.

Draghi, who will succeed Jean-Claude Trichet on November 1, made clear that measures could only be a temporary expedient and said it was up to governments to tackle the roots of the debt crisis that began in Greece two years ago.

However, his statement appeared to rebuff pressure from Germany's powerful Bundesbank for the ECB to end the bond-buying program which prompted the resignation of the two most senior German ECB policymakers this year.

The second euro zone summit in four days, due to start at 1730 GMT, seems unlikely to produce a detailed masterplan despite Franco-German assurances that a "comprehensive solution" to two years of debt turmoil would be found.

Bank of Canada chief Mark Carney said he had received guidance that "that there will need to be subsequent meetings to provide more detail."

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged decisive action now.

"We need a real solution, we won't buy anything with mediocre compromises," he told reporters upon his arrival in Brussels. "We are in this job to take decisions. It's not easy, but it really has to happen."

Greek debt needed to be made sustainable, the bloc's rescue fund must be made strong enough to convince markets and Europe's banks had to be shepherded through "this difficult phase," Rutte said.

The leaders may agree on broad outlines but leave crucial details, including the numbers on a Greek debt write-down and on funds available for financial fire-fighting, for later negotiation among finance ministers.

A European Commission spokesman said there would not be detailed numbers on all aspects of the political agreement.

While there is consensus on the need for European banks to raise around 110 billion euros ($150 billion) in extra capital to withstand a potential Greek debt default and wider financial contagion, two other critical parts of the plan remain unclear.

Governments and banks are still haggling over the scale of write-offs private bondholders will have to take on their Greek debt holdings, sources familiar with the negotiations said.

"There will be give and take with the banks until the last minute," a Greek government source involved in the Brussels negotiations said. "As far as now, the talks are going on."

Uncertainties also remain around complex plans to scale up the region's 440 billion euro ($600 billion) bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility, without allowing it to draw on the ECB.

Investors stayed cautious, with the euro surrendering earlier gains and inching higher against the dollar and European shares flat on the day.

50 PERCENT "HAIRCUT?"

One proposal set to be adopted involves creating a special purpose investment vehicle (SPIV) to tap foreign sovereign and private investors, such as Chinese and Middle Eastern wealth funds, to buy bonds of troubled euro zone countries.

The EFSF said its chief, Klaus Regling, would visit China to meet with investors on Friday.

But Chinese and European officials said there was no word yet on whether Beijing, which holds AAA-rated EFSF bonds and an estimated 600 billion euros in euro-denominated debt, would also put money into the SPIV.

The other proposed method for scaling up the EFSF involves using it to offer partial guarantees to purchasers of new euro zone debt. The two options may be used in combination.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a parliamentary vote of support for strengthening the rescue fund after warning in a dramatic speech that Europe was facing its most difficult situation since the end of World War Two.

"If the euro fails, then Europe fails," she declared, saying there was no certainty that the continent would then enjoy another 60 years of peace.

Merkel earlier told parliament that private bondholders would have to take a substantial write-down so that Greece's debt could be reduced to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 from 160 percent this year.

Experts say that implies a 50 percent "haircut" for private investors, which Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos was reported to have told Greek banks was the most likely outcome.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers, forecast an eventual deal on a 50 percent write-off but officials said it might not be sealed on Wednesday and the banks wanted a menu of options for the bond swap rather than a single solution.

European leaders' pattern of responding too little, too late has spawned a wider economic and political crisis that threatens to undermine the euro single currency and the European Union project.

EU sources said detailed figures may not materialize until November 7-8, when EU and euro zone finance ministers hold their next regular meeting.

LETTER OF INTENT

Also weighing on the summit was deep concern about Italy, which is now in the bond market firing line.

Rome's inability to deliver a substantive plan for reforming its pensions system has raised doubts about Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's seriousness in tackling a crisis that threatens the euro zone's third largest economy.

Berlusconi was bringing to Brussels a "letter of intent" to his European partners on long awaited reforms, aides said, after his government nearly collapsed on Tuesday over their demands that Rome fulfill a pledge to raise the retirement age.

The letter was expected to contain only vague promises of economic reform rather than the firm undertakings sought by exasperated EU leaders in return for support for Italy's bonds.

Italy has the euro zone's largest sovereign bond market, with a public debt of 1.8 trillion euros, 120 percent of GDP. If it went the same way as Greece, Ireland and Portugal, the rescue fund does not have enough money to bail Rome out.

Draghi's statement appeared to supersede a dispute between Germany and France over how the ECB, the ultimate defender of the euro, should be involved in trying to resolve the crisis.

Paris had wanted the summit to endorse a continuation of the ECB's "non-standard measures" as long as Europe faces exceptional circumstances.

Merkel said Germany opposed a line in the draft summit conclusions urging the ECB to continue these measures. A euro zone source said the phrase would be dropped.

(Additional reporting by Annika Breidthardt and Sarah Marsh in Berlin, Daniel Flynn and Harry Papachristou in Athens, Barry Moody in Rome; Writing by Luke Baker and Mike Peacock; editing by Janet McBride)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111026/bs_nm/us_eurozone

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Video: Comics roast Caine for smoking video

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45053409#45053409

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Apple television, the next great unicorn chase

Now that we have the iPhone and iPad, the next great unicorn to chase seems to be an Apple television. Not the Apple TV set top box, mind you, but a full on elegant glass and aluminium object de panel art from Jony Ive and co. Something to hang...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/1G9sh6J15GA/

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Netflix to provide service to the UK, Ireland

LOS GATOS, Calif. (AP) ? Netflix Inc. plans to offer its online subscription service to the United Kingdom and Ireland starting early next year, providing access to movies and television shows.

The company said Monday that subscribers will get unlimited TV shows and movies streaming online to their televisions and computers, Macs, tablets and cellular phones for a monthly fee.

The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company, which will report its third-quarter financial results after the stock market closes on Monday, said details about pricing, content and supported devices will be disclosed closer to launch.

Netflix started streaming to the U.S. in 2007 and added Canada in 2010 and 43 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in September. The company has more than 25 million members in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.

Those in the U.K. or Ireland interested in the service can sign up at Netflix's web site to receive an email alert that will let them know when the service has launched, the company said.

Netflix has faced criticism lately due to a recent price increase and a failed attempt to split up its video subscription service. Netflix boosted prices for combination packages of DVDs-by-mail and Internet video streaming by as much as 60 percent, effective Sept. 1. After the higher prices kicked in, CEO Reed Hastings announced a plan to spin off the DVD rental side into a separate website called Qwikster. The move was so reviled by subscribers that Hastings changed his mind within three weeks.

Netflix's stock has dropped by 60 percent since the price increases were announced in mid-July. The sell-off has wiped out $9 billion in shareholder wealth.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2011-10-24-US-Netflix-Ireland/id-632d45a545034cdb81d44a664b56bd8a

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House votes to honor first black Marines (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The nation's first black Marines received a rare national tribute Tuesday as the House voted to award the Montford Point Marines with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor given by Congress.

History books and Hollywood have chronicled the Army's Buffalo Soldiers and the Army Air Corps' Tuskegee Airmen, but the men who integrated the Marines during World War II often have been forgotten. That is starting to change, beginning with the House's 422-0 vote.

The black Marines received their basic training adjacent to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where conditions were harsh and the treatment from their fellow Marines could be even harsher. The black Marines were not allowed to enter Camp Lejeune unless accompanied by a white officer. In the few times they participated in training exercises, they could not eat until the white Marines had finished. They were routinely passed over for promotions.

"People forget they were fighting two wars ? both foreign and domestic," Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., said.

More than 300 lawmakers were co-sponsors of the legislation, providing Republicans and Democrats with a rare moment of bipartisanship. Lawmakers from both parties spoke in favor of the resolution, which was sponsored by Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla.

In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Marine Corps to accept blacks. The Marine Corps was the last military branch to do so.

Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., noted that the Montford Point Marines were presumed unsuited for combat and not allowed to fight alongside their white counterparts until the Korean War. Still, they underwent intense fire in their supporting roles in the Pacific during World War II, serving at Okinawa and Iwo Jima.

"They served with great valor and distinction and loved their country more than their country loved them at the time," Miller said.

Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., said he hoped that the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal would "soothe the pain of yesterday with the glory of today."

About 19,000 men trained at Montford Point between 1942 and 1949. Most have since died. Eugene Groves, a staff sergeant who fought in Korea, was one of four Montford Point veterans on hand for the vote Tuesday. The lawmakers gave the four a standing ovation shortly before the vote.

Commandant Gen. James Amos has made it a priority to honor the group and ensure that their history is taught to all Marines.

Groves, who trained at Montford Point in 1946, said he appreciated the recognition. He served in the Korean War and said he felt for a time like the Marine Corps did not want to acknowledge the Monford Marines service.

"They did not want us involved in the history," Groves said. "It's been a hard fight."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111025/ap_on_go_co/us_black_marine_recognition

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