UN: Ex-rebels still hold 7,000 people in Libya (AP)

UNITED NATIONS ? Former Libyan revolutionaries still hold about 7,000 people, and some reportedly have been subjected to torture and ill treatment, according to a U.N. report circulated Monday.

The report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, made public before a Security Council briefing about Libya on Monday afternoon, says that many of the inmates have no access to due process in the absence of a functioning police and judiciary.

It also says that sub-Saharan Africans, in come cases accused or suspected of being mercenaries hired by Moammar Gadhafi's regime, constitute a large number of those held.

"While the (National Transitional Council) has taken some steps toward transferring responsibility for the detainees from brigades to proper state authorities, much remains to be done to regularize detention, prevent abuse and bring about the release of those whose detention should not be prolonged," the report says.

"I believe that the leaders of the new Libya are indeed committed to building a society based on the respect for human rights," Ban said in his report. "Achieving this requires the earliest possible action, however difficult the circumstances, to end arbitrary detention and prevent abuses and discrimination, against third country nationals as well as against any group of Libya's own citizens."

The spokesman for Libya's new army, Ahmed Bani, said in Libya on Monday that he was unaware of the reported mistreatment.

"I am not sure if it happened. Maybe, but if it happened, don't blame us. We were suffering for 42 years. He was hurting us, he was killing us and he raped our women," he said.

Ban's special representative for Libya, Ian Martin, was scheduled to provide the Security Council with an update on the situation in the country later Monday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_re_us/un_un_libya

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Outrage - Autoreiji 2010

Outrage ( 2010) DVD DVDRip 1 Link NO RAR

IMDB Rating: Outrage (2010) - IMDb
Genre: Drama
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Writer: Takeshi Kitano
Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Kippei Shiina and Ryo Kase
Trailer: 'BEAT' Takeshi Kitano's OUTRAGE (Autoreiji) English Subtitled Trailer - YouTube
Spoken language: English
Texted language (subtitles): English/Spanish

Plot:
The boss of a major crime syndicate orders his lieutenant to bring a rogue gang of drug traffickers in line, a job that gets passed on to his long-suffering subordinate.

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Something to cheer: NSU, ODU, U.Va. and Tech (hamptonroads)

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6 inmates nabbed after Hollywood-style escape

MEXICO CITY?? Six inmates from the last island penal colony in the Americas were recaptured at sea Thursday after they used buoyant containers and wood planks to try to swim to freedom in an escape reminiscent of the 1973 movie "Papillon."

The Mexican Navy said the inmates used empty plastic gas or water tanks to help stay afloat as they swam about 60 miles south of the Islas Marias, a Mexican penal colony where inmates live in small houses and are normally not locked up. Prisoners can tend small gardens and raise food.

The six men were only about 58 miles from the Pacific coast resort of Puerto Vallarta when they were spotted by a passing boat early Thursday.

Sunburned
The boat called in a tip to a local naval base, and patrol boats were quickly dispatched to take the men into custody. Photos provided by the Navy showed them men sunburned but alert ? and unhappy ? on the deck of the patrol vessel.

The men, who ranged in age from 28 to 39 years, were taken back to Puerto Vallarta for a medical check and to be turned back over to prison authorities.

Later, the Interior Department, which is in charge of Mexico's prisons, said the men had been found to be in acceptable health and would be returned to the penal colony "within hours."

The department said prison oversight agency had only been notified the men were missing from the prison on Thursday, the same day they were found at sea, suggesting that their absence had not been noticed when they set off on the escape bid.

Currents
The Islas Marias penal colony lies about 70 miles from the mainland, but the prisoners did not swim to the closest shore, which is due east. Instead they apparently swam about 60 miles south, either because prevailing currents carried them that way, they didn't know where they were going or because they were aiming for Vallarta.

The Pacific Ocean forms the main security barrier at the island; while dozens of prisoners are believed to have tried to escape since the penal colony was founded in 1905, local media reports indicate few if any are believed to have made it to the mainland.

The escape bid drew comparisons to the movie "Papillon," in which the main character, played by Dustin Hoffman, uses a buoyancy device to swim away from a penal colony in French Guyana.

Islas Marias is the last island penal colony in the region.

Panama closed Coiba Island, the only other remaining island penal colony in the Americas, in 2004. That same year, Mexico announced it would spend $2 million to revive the crumbling prison at Islas Marias and increase the inmate population. Normally, about 1,000 to 1,200 inmates are held at the facility.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45433765/ns/world_news-americas/

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British police investigating climate email hackers (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? British police will examine a batch of email exchanges between climate scientists which appeared on the Internet Tuesday as part of an inquiry into the hacking of the private documents, police said Wednesday.

The University of East Anglia, whose Climate Action Research Unit is considered one of the world's leading institutions on climate science, said the emails appeared to be "a carefully-timed attempt to reignite controversy over the science behind climate change."

Negotiators from almost 200 countries meet from November 28 in South Africa for a U.N. climate summit, where only modest steps are expected toward a deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions despite warnings from scientists that extreme weather will likely increase as the planet warms.

An anonymous group or individual called FOIA posted a file on a Russian server, http://files.sinwt.ru/download.phpfile=25FOIA2011.zip,

which included more than 5,000 emails.

Two years ago, a series of emails written by climate experts from the university were stolen by unknown hackers and spread across the Internet in what became known as "Climategate," just before a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen.

The leaked emails contained private correspondence from 1995 to 2009. Climate change skeptics claimed they showed scientists manipulating data to support global warming.

However, independent inquiries cleared the university of all accusations of fraud and data manipulation, although they did recommend it change the way it handled requests for information.

"We are aware of the release of the document cache. The contents will be of interest to our investigation which is ongoing," said police spokeswoman Nicola Atter.

"Nothing so far leads us to believe the emails raise any new issues. If, on closer study, we see anything that requires further investigation, that we will do," Edward Acton, vice chancellor of the university, told reporters Wednesday.

"It may throw more light on the perpetrator rather than the victims of this invasion of privacy. I am very keen to know who did it," he added.

Police would not reveal information about suspects but said it was following "all lines of enquiry, some of which have been international in nature."

Acton said the way numbers appeared, using full stops instead of commas, was uncommon among British or American English speakers.

In addition to the 5,000 emails released Tuesday, there are another 39,000 pages which cannot be accessed yet as they require a password, the vice-chancellor said.

Those seen so far include quotes on discussions between scientists over how to portray climate data, the workings of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and how to share information.

"I have looked at 100 or so and those highlighted are quite cherry-picked (...) They are quite representative of frank and honest discussion between scientists," said Phil Jones, head of the university unit.

In a statement immediately after the emails appeared on the Internet Tuesday, the university said: "This appears to be a carefully-timed attempt to reignite controversy over the science behind climate change when that science has been vindicated by three separate independent inquiries and a number of studies."

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111123/wr_nm/us_climate_emails

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Moody's cuts Hungary to "junk" (Reuters)

BUDAPEST (Reuters) ? Credit rating agency Moody's cut Hungary's debt to "junk" grade late on Thursday, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's unorthodox economic policies and prompting his government to denounce the move as a "financial attack."

Moody's lowered Hungary's sovereign rating by one notch to Ba1, just below investment-grade, with a negative outlook, only hours after rival Standard & Poor's held fire on a flagged downgrade after Budapest said it would seek international aid.

The move followed warnings from all three major ratings agencies that Orban's policies, which have eschewed traditional austerity in favor of revenue-boosting steps like a special bank tax and the nationalization of $14 billion in private pension assets, could put Hungary's public finances at risk.

It also came after a policy reversal last week in which, after the forint hit a record low, the right-of-center cabinet rowed back on a 2010 election vow to end talks with the International Monetary Fund to regain "economic sovereignty."

Moody's cited rising uncertainty about Hungary's ability to meet fiscal goals, high debt levels and what it called increasingly constrained medium-term growth prospects as the main reasons behind the downgrade from Baa3.

"Moody's believes that the combined impact of these factors will adversely impact the government's financial strength and erode its shock-absorption capacity," it said in a statement.

"The rating agency's decision to maintain a negative outlook on Hungary's ratings is driven by the uncertainty surrounding the country's ability to withstand potential event risks emanating from the European sovereign debt crisis."

Hungarian bond yields soared by about a full percentage point, lifting its entire debt curve above 9 percent, while the cost of insuring Hungarian debt against default jumped to near record highs hit in March 2009. The forint fell 1.8 percent to 316.5 to the euro at 0900 GMT, near an all time low.

The Czech crown fell to a 17-month low and the Polish zloty dipped beyond the 4.50 per euro level and briefly approached a 27-month low of 4.537 hit in September.

Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy, said that although most of central and Eastern Europe was better off than southern Europe, fears over the euro zone debt crisis and the Hungarian downgrade indicated turmoil ahead.

"There's no question that sentiment toward the region is deteriorating rapidly and that even the most resilient economies are in for a rough ride in the months ahead," he said.

SHORT-LIVED SURPLUS

Orban has cut taxes for families and small firms while raising tariffs on banks, utilities and other big mainly foreign-owned firms, putting the country of 10 million on track to run one of the European Union's only budget surpluses this year.

But the government has failed to spur growth. The European Commission forecasts the economy will expand by only 0.5 percent at most next year, far lower than the 3 percent initially forecast in Orban's medium-term budget plan.

The Economy Ministry said the downgrade was unwarranted and part of a string of "financial attacks against Hungary."

The government cited its commitment to keep the budget deficit below 3 percent of economic output next year, 1 percent of GDP's worth of reserves in the 2012 budget, and an expected decline in debt levels as arguments against the rating cut.

"Obviously, the forint's weakening is not justified by either the performance of the Hungarian economy, or the shape of the budget," the Economy Ministry said in a statement.

"Therefore, it can be driven only by a speculative attack against Hungary, which can be fueled by exactly these kinds of professionally unfounded assessments by rating agencies."

Moody's said the government's 2.5 percent of GDP budget deficit target for next year may be difficult to meet due to high funding costs and low economic growth.

The IMF and EU extended a 20 billion euro bailout to Hungary at the start of the crisis in 2008 but Orban made clear he wanted no such cooperation under his administration.

His unexpected about-face last week gave pause to other ratings agencies, but Moody's said it illustrated Budapest's funding challenges even if it could alleviate the need to raise credit in the near term.

"Moody's believes that, even with such an arrangement, the government's debt structure will remain vulnerable to shocks in the medium term, which are inconsistent with a Baa3 rating," it said.

Hungary must roll over 4.7 billion euros in external debt next year as it starts repaying part of its 2008 IMF loan.

"SAFETY NET"

Budapest has said it wants to use a new IMF/EU deal as a "safety net" against turmoil in the euro zone. It wants insurance funding with no conditionality but market watchers say the Fund will most likely demand policy action and monitoring.

The weak forint pushed Hungary's government debt to 82 percent of economic output by the end of the third quarter, undoing the impact of Orban's $14 billion pension asset grab.

The effective nationalization of pension assets cut debt by several percentage points but economists and ratings agencies say it has clouded the picture for future government finances.

Moody's said it would further lower Hungary's rating if there was a significant decline in government financial strength due to a lack of progress on structural reforms and implementation of a medium-term plan.

It said it would consider stabilizing the ratings outlook if the country were to embark on a sustainable consolidation path, involving a more consistent implementation of the medium-term plan and its euro convergence program.

The ratings cut came just hours after S&P deferred its decision on a possible downgrade of Hungary to non-investment grade until the end of February, pending talks with the IMF/EU about a new aid package.

Fitch, another rating agency which has Hungary in the lowest investment-grade category, said on November 18 that an agreement on a new IMF program would be a positive step and could reduce downward pressure on Hungary's sovereign rating.

(Additional reporting by Marton Dunai; Writing by Michael Winfrey; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/bs_nm/us_hungary_moodys

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Bahrain report: excessive force in crackdowns (AP)

MANAMA, Bahrain ? In a stinging blow to Bahrain's leaders, a special commission that investigated the kingdom's unrest charged Wednesday that authorities used torture, excessive force and fast-track justice in crackdowns on the largest Arab Spring uprising in the Gulf.

The head of the panel, Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, also said there was no evidence of Iranian links to Bahrain's Shiite-led protests. That was a clear rebuke Gulf leaders, who accuse Tehran of playing a role in the 10-month-old showdown in the Western-allied kingdom.

The 500-page study ? authorized by Bahrain's Sunni rulers in a bid to ease tensions ? marks the most comprehensive document on security force actions during any of the revolts that have flared across the Arab world this year. It also displayed a stunning image of a powerful Arab monarch facing a harsh public reckoning, as King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa listened to a bullet-point summary of the report's conclusions.

Bassiouni's summary ? presented at a royal palace news conference attended by Bahrain's king and crown prince ? read like a checklist of complaints by rights groups since February: Middle-of-the-night raids to "create fear," purges from workplaces and universities, jail house abuses including electric shocks and beatings and destruction of Shiite mosques that "gave the impression of collective punishment."

At least 35 people have been killed in violence related to the uprising, including several members of the security forces.

It appeared unlikely that even the strong criticism would satisfy opposition forces, who accused the Sunni monarchy of using all methods at its disposal to avoid sharing power with the nation's Shiite majority. Just hours before the long-awaited report was released, security forces used tear gas and stun grenades in the latest of nearly daily clashes on the strategic island, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

Still, the inquest was seen as a bold step in a region of monarchs and sheiks who rarely acknowledge shortcomings or face uncomfortable criticism in public.

Bahrain's government promised "no immunity" for anyone suspected of abuses and said it would propose creating a permanent human rights commission.

"All those who have broken the law or ignored lawful orders and instructions will be held accountable," said a government statement, adding that the report notes that the "systematic practice of mistreatment" ended shortly after martial law was repealed on June 1.

Bahrain's Shiites comprise about 70 percent of the island nation's 525,000 citizens. They have complained of widespread discrimination such as being blocked from top government or military posts. The monarchy has offered numerous concessions ? including more powers to the parliament ? yet have refused to bow to protest demands to surrender its command of all top positions and main policies.

"A number of detainees were tortured ... which proved there was a deliberate practice by some," said Bassiouni, whose report covered the period between Feb. 14 and March 30.

The report also was highly critical of a special security court created under martial law that "overtook the national system of justice" and issued harsh sentences ? including life in prison and death row rulings ? that "denied most defendants elementary fair trial guarantees."

Bahrain has abolished the security court and some of its decisions are under review by civilian magistrates. Bassiouni urged Bahrain to review all the security court verdicts and drop charges against all those accused of nonviolent acts such as joining or supporting the protests.

"You found real shortcomings from some government institutions," Bahrain's king told Bassiouni, an Egyptian-born professor of international criminal law and a former member of U.N. human rights panels.

But the king lashed back at finding that Iran did not influence the uprising, saying his government could not provide clear evidence but insisting Tehran's role was clear to "all who have eyes and ears."

He blamed Arabic-language outlets in Iran's state media of "inciting our population to engage in acts of violence, sabotage and insurrection. Iran's propaganda fueled the flames of sectarian strife ? an intolerable interference in our internal affairs."

Although Bahrain's bloodshed and chaos is small in comparison with the huge upheavals across the Arab world, the island's conflict resonates from Tehran to Washington.

Bahrain is a critical U.S. ally and Washington has taken a cautious line because of what's at stake: urging Bahrain's leaders to open more dialogue with the opposition, but avoiding too much public pressure.

Some U.S. lawmakers have shown signs of growing impatience with Bahrain's rulers. A $53 million arms deal with Bahrain is on hold until the upcoming report is examined.

For Gulf leaders, led by powerful Saudi Arabia, Bahrain is seen as a firewall to keep pro-reform protests from spreading further across the region. Gulf rulers have rallied behind the kingdom's embattled monarchy and sent in military reinforcements during the height of the crackdowns and Saudi-led units still remain.

Shiite-led protesters began occupying a square in the capital Manama in February ? just days after crowds in Cairo's Tahrir Square celebrated the downfall of Hosni Mubarak.

Weeks later, security forces stormed Manama's Pearl Square, tore down the landmark six-pronged monument at its center and imposed martial law. Hundreds of activists, political leaders and Shiite professionals such as lawyers, doctors, nurses and athletes were jailed and tried on anti-state crimes behind closed doors in a special security court that was set up during emergency rule.

On Tuesday, a group of Bahrain rights groups issued their own report on the unrest, accusing authorities of "systematic" abuses and "unceasing human rights violations."

___

Online: http://files.bici.org.bh/BICIreportEN.pdf

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain

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Blocked holes can enhance rather than stop light going through

ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2011) ? Conventional wisdom would say that blocking a hole would prevent light from going through it, but Princeton University engineers have discovered the opposite to be true. A research team has found that placing a metal cap over a small hole in a metal film does not stop the light at all, but rather enhances its transmission.

In an example of the extraordinary twists of physics that can occur at very small scales, electrical engineer Stephen Chou and colleagues made an array of tiny holes in a thin metal film, then blocked each hole with an opaque metal cap. When they shined light into the holes, they found that as much as 70 percent more light came through when the holes were blocked than when they were open.

"The common wisdom in optics is that if you have a metal film with very small holes and you plug the holes with metal, the light transmission is blocked completely," said Chou, the Joseph Elgin Professor of Engineering. "We were very surprised."

Chou said the result could have significant implications and uses. For one, he said, it might require scientists and engineers to rethink techniques they have been using when they want to block all light transmission. In very sensitive optical instruments, such as microscopes, telescopes, spectrometers and other optical detectors, for example, it is common to coat a metal film onto glass with the intention of blocking light. Dust particles, which are unavoidable in metal film deposition, inevitably create tiny holes in the metal film, but these holes have been assumed to be harmless because the dust particles become capped and surrounded by metal, which is thought to block the light completely.

"This assumption is wrong -- the plug may not stop the leakage but rather greatly enhance it," Chou said.

He explained that in his own field of nanotechnology, light is often used in a technique called photolithography to carve ultrasmall patterns in silicon or other materials. Thin metal film patterns on a glass plate serve as a mask, directing light through certain locations of the plate and blocking other locations. Given the new finding, engineers ought to examine whether the mask blocks the light as expected, Chou said.

Conversely, Chou said, the newly discovered "blocking" technique might be used in situations when a boost in light transmission is desired. In near-field microscopy, for example, scientists view extremely fine details by passing light through a hole as tiny as billionths of a meter in diameter. With the new technique, the amount of light passing through the hole -- and thus the amount of information about the object being viewed -- can be increased by blocking the hole.

Chou and colleagues stumbled on the phenomenon of enhanced light transmission through a blocked hole in their research on developing ultrasensitive detectors that sense minute amounts of chemicals, with uses ranging from medical diagnostics to the detection of explosives. These detectors use a thin metal film with an array of holes and metal disks to boost faint signals produced when laser light encounters a molecule, allowing much greater sensitivity in identifying substances.

In one of their experimental detectors, the researchers studied transmission of light through an array of tiny holes that were 60 nanometers (billionths of a meter) in diameter and 200 nanometers apart in a gold film that was 40 nanometers thick. Each tiny hole was capped with a gold disk that was 40 percent larger than the hole. The disks sat on top of the holes with a slight gap between the metal surface and the disks.

The researchers pointed a laser at the underside of the film and tested to see if any of the laser light went through the holes, past the caps, and could be detected on the other side. To their surprise, they found that the total light transmission was 70 percent higher with the holes blocked by the metal disks than without blockers. The researchers repeated the same experiment shining the light in the opposite direction -- pointing at the side with the caps and looking for transmitted light under the film -- and found the same results.

"We did not expect more light to get through," Chou said. "We expected the metal to block the light completely."

Chou said the metal disk acts as a sort of "antenna" that picks up and radiates electromagnetic waves. In this case, the metal disks pick up light from one side of the hole and radiate it to the opposite side. The waves travel along the surface of the metal and leap from the hole to the cap, or vice versa depending on which way the light is traveling. Chou's research group is continuing to investigate the effect and how it could be applied to enhance the performance of ultrasensitive detectors.

The researchers published their findings Oct. 7 in the journal Optics Express, and it quickly became one of the most downloaded papers. In addition to Chou, the team included graduate student Wen-Di Li and postdoctoral researcher Jonathan Hu in the Department of Electrical Engineering. The work is sponsored in part by the Defense Advanced Research Agency and the National Science Foundation.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Princeton University, Engineering School. The original article was written by Steven Schultz.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Wen-Di Li, Jonathan Hu, Stephen Y. Chou. Extraordinary light transmission through opaque thin metal film with subwavelength holes blocked by metal disks. Optics Express, 2011; 19 (21): 21098 DOI: 10.1364/OE.19.021098

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://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/49CF5yFx-Xk/111122133326.htm

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Watch: Food Blogger: Obama Family Causing 'Paradigm Shift' (ABC News)

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Oil hovers near $97 ahead of US crude supply data (AP)

SINGAPORE ? Oil prices hovered near $97 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as traders looked to the latest U.S. crude supply reports for signs demand may be improving.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 8 cents at $97.00 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 75 cents to settle at $96.92 in New York on Monday.

Brent crude for January delivery was up 10 cents at $106.98 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to report later Tuesday crude inventories data for last week. Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., are predicting crude levels were unchanged.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data Wednesday.

Crude has pulled back from above $103 last week after jumping from $75 early last month. Some analysts expect oil prices will push higher as the U.S. economy slowly expands.

"We are still in the midst of a slow economic recovery and as demand finds its way back to pre-recession levels, so will oil prices," energy trader Blue Ocean Brokerage said in a report.

Crude rose to a record $147 in July 2008 before dropping to $32 later that year amid a global recession.

Investors are closely watching the latest economic indicators from China, which is the world's second-largest crude consumer. The World Bank said Tuesday it expects China's economy to grow 8.4 percent next year, down from 9.1 percent this year.

"Though challenges in the external environment may buffer some of China's growth, the domestic market in itself will generate enough momentum to maintain positive Chinese commodity demand," Barclays Capital said in a report. "The government's plan to ease monetary policy should provide more stimulus to demand in the coming months."

In other Nymex trading, heating oil fell 1.0 cent to $2.99 per gallon and gasoline futures added 0.3 cents to $2.50 per gallon. Natural gas slid 0.7 cent at $3.39 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_re_as/oil_prices

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DARPA to develop biometric sensor capable of seeing through walls, pulling your heartstrings

The feds may soon know the way to your heart. Literally. Earlier this month, the forward-thinkers over at DARPA announced plans to develop new technologies capable of identifying human life through walls. The program, known as "Biometrics-at-a-distance," would essentially combine two pre-existing Pentagon projects: the Radar Scope, a device that can see through walls, and 2009's LifeReader, a system that uses Doppler radar to detect heartbeats. Though the military already employs a handful of devices to help soldiers see humans from behind walls, DARPA apparently thinks there's room for improvement. Most contemporary technologies, for example, only work from a maximum distance of eight meters, and aren't as accurate within more densely populated areas. DARPA wants its next project to extend this range beyond ten meters, while sharpening its ability to penetrate thicker obstructions. The agency also wants its sensor to identify individual humans using electrocardiography, which traces the heart's electrical activity. According to DARPA, this could allow users to pinpoint up to ten people at the same time, which could pay dividends during disaster rescue efforts, military operations, or your next Eyes Wide Shut party.

DARPA to develop biometric sensor capable of seeing through walls, pulling your heartstrings originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/darpa-to-develop-biometric-sensor-capable-of-seeing-through-wall/

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Harry Potter Interest Check

Hello,

BambiSempremie here, after months and months of absence - due to education (coursework and exams are absolutely time-consuming) among other things; like momentary loss of interest in role-playing. But I am back, and back for good! So little about me, for those who don't know me: I have been role-playing for a very long time and I tend to have lots and lots of ideas running around in my mind. I always try to keep my grammar and spelling at a decent level and I like to write long posts wherever possible. I have very varied interests - from horror to fantasy and fluffy high school romance, I love it all. Although I really like horror-esque romance theme due to my love for all things dark and evil. And being a massive fan of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Twilight is definitely not my thing however, I do not find sparkling men and women appealing.

So, I'm looking for a role-playing partner or two. I expect a thing or two from you, that is if you are interested. I would like at least decent grammar and spelling, definitely no text-talk. Also, no one-liners. Unless its dialogue, that is, but even then you can pull off two-three sentences. There is another thing, I am looking for a role-playing PARTNER, i.e. someone who actually contributes to the plot, etc. I don't want a mindless zombie who only responds to what my character does.

If you have an idea, then tell me. I'm not going to attack you with a battle-ready sword if you disagree with me or have an idea you want to share. I can be nice, you know, I'm not just the devil incarnate who wants your soul. If you're nice, I'll be nice. But if you're not, well, I do not make promises I cannot keep and I will bite your head off if you are being awful.

Okay, now that we have that behind us, lets get to the part for which you actually came here - the Harry Potter Role-Play idea!

The plot follows the lives of two characters: a Slytherin pureblood who is friends with Malfoy, Zabini and other Slytherins like that and a Gryffindor blood-traitor who betrayed their heritage on the day they started Hogwarts (they are related to one of the main Slytherin's friends - I'm thinking Malfoy). The catch is: the Slytherin does not follow Lord Voldemort as they are the grandchild of Gellert Grindelwald and they don't believe Voldemort to be the true Dark Lord. Also they are planning to become a Dark Lord themselves, but this remains a secret for a long time. The Gryffindor is the supposed child of Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange (although, that is kept secret. What is a bigger secret is that they are really not Bellatrix's but Narcissa's - no on but the two know of the second one.). The Gryffindor was raises by the Malfoys until their departure to Hogwarts (they are a year younger than the Slytherin, therefore a year younger than Draco) when the Gryffindor decides to abandon their roots and becomes a ward of the school and becomes friends with the Golden Trio. Years later, Voldemort comes back to life and both the Slytherin and Gryffindor are targeted for different reasons. They are eventually forced to work together, but will it all work out?

I am willing to change things in this, and I don't mind playing either character. Also, they can be of either gender. This plot has a romance potential, but it doesn't have to be. Also if it is, I don't mind it being girl x girl, boy x boy or girl x boy. I'm fine with all :)

My preferred Rping way would be through email, PM or a private forum but I can also do thread or the RP tab thing. I don't really mind.

If you're interested, then send me a PM or post on here :)

NOTE: I can also do other Harry Potter RPs, if you have ideas. Or Naruto or Night Angel Trilogy ones. Original non-fanfic ideas are welcome too!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/pWIk-jkR2GI/viewtopic.php

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Cutler, Peterson among stars hurt in games (AP)

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has a broken thumb, Titans QB Matt Hasselbeck is dealing with an injured right elbow, and Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has a high left ankle sprain.

Those three stars were injured in games Sunday, placing their status in doubt not only for next weekend's games, but for a longer term.

Also hurt Sunday were Cardinals nose tackle Dan Williams, gone for the season with a broken left arm; Bills cornerback Terrence McGee (left knee), who also is likely done for 2011; and Buffalo running back Fred Jackson (right calf).

Sustaining concussions were Giants running back D.J. Ware, Cardinals tackle Brandon Keith, and Browns fullback Owen Marecic.

Bills receiver Donnie Jones aggravated an ankle problem, while Carolina DE Charles Johnson hurt his left shoulder.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_nfl_injuries

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Greenhouse gases soar; no signs warming is slowed (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are building up so high, so fast, that some scientists now think the world can no longer limit global warming to the level world leaders have agreed upon as safe.

New figures from the U.N. weather agency Monday showed that the three biggest greenhouse gases not only reached record levels last year but were increasing at an ever-faster rate, despite efforts by many countries to reduce emissions.

As world leaders meet next week in South Africa to tackle the issue of climate change, several scientists said their projections show it is unlikely the world can hold warming to the target set by leaders just two years ago in Copenhagen.

"The growth rate is increasing every decade," said Jim Butler, director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Global Monitoring Division. "That's kind of scary."

Scientists can't say exactly what levels of greenhouse gases are safe, but some fear a continued rise in global temperatures will lead to irreversible melting of some of the world's ice sheets and a several-foot rise in sea levels over the centuries ? the so-called tipping point.

The findings from the U.N. World Meteorological Organization are consistent with other grim reports issued recently. Earlier this month, figures from the U.S. Department of Energy showed that global carbon dioxide emissions in 2010 jumped by the highest one-year amount ever.

The WMO found that total carbon dioxide levels in 2010 hit 389 parts per million, up from 280 parts per million in 1750, before the start of the Industrial Revolution. Levels increased 1.5 ppm per year in the 1990s and 2.0 per year in the first decade of this century, and are now rising at a rate of 2.3 per year. The top two other greenhouse gases ? methane and nitrous oxide ? are also soaring.

The U.N. agency cited fossil fuel-burning, loss of forests that absorb CO2 and use of fertilizer as the main culprits.

Since 1990 ? a year that international climate negotiators have set as a benchmark for emissions ? the total heat-trapping force from all the major greenhouse gases has increased by 29 percent, according to NOAA.

The accelerating rise is happening despite the 1997 Kyoto agreement to cut emissions. Europe, Russia and Japan have about reached their targets under the treaty. But China, the U.S. and India are all increasing emissions. The treaty didn't require emission cuts from China and India because they are developing nations. The U.S. pulled out of the treaty in 2001, the Senate having never ratified it.

While scientists can't agree on what level of warming of the climate is considered dangerous, environmental activists have seized upon 350 parts per million as a target for carbon dioxide levels. The world pushed past that mark more than 20 years ago.

Governments have focused more on projected temperature increases rather than carbon levels. Since the mid-1990s, European governments have set a goal of limiting warming to slightly more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above current levels by the end of this century. The goal was part of a nonbinding agreement reached in Copenhagen in 2009 that was signed by the U.S. and other countries.

Temperatures have already risen about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius) since pre-industrial times.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors Ron Prinn, Henry Jacoby and John Sterman said MIT's calculations show the world is unlikely to meet that two-degree goal now.

"There's very, very little chance," Prinn said. "One has to be pessimistic about making that absolute threshold." He added: "Maybe we've waited too long to do anything serious if two degrees is the danger level."

Andrew Weaver at the University of Victoria, Granger Morgan of Carnegie Mellon University and Gregg Marland of Appalachian State University agreed with the MIT analysis that holding warming to two degrees now seems unlikely.

"There's no way to stop it. There's so much inertia in the system," Morgan said. "We've committed to quite a bit of warming."

Prinn said new studies predict that if temperatures increase by more than two degrees, the Greenland ice sheets will start an irreversible melting. And that will add to sea level rise significantly.

"Over the next several centuries, Greenland slowly melts away," Weaver said.

___

Online:

World Meteorological Organization's Greenhouse Gas Bulletin: http://bit.ly/vu04vB

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Annual Greenhouse Gas Index: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_sc/un_greenhouse_gases

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Spaniards vote for new gov't amid economic gloom (AP)

MADRID ? Spaniards hit by the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone voted Sunday in an election expected to give a landslide victory to opposition conservatives who have vowed to prevent the zone's fourth-largest economy from imploding but have offered scant details on how they will do so.

The vote came as Europe is engulfed in a debt crisis that is causing financial havoc across the globe, and polls showed that Spain was poised to become the third European country in as many weeks to throw out its governing party, following Greece and Italy.

Ireland and Portugal ? which like Greece received huge bailouts to avoid default ? have also seen their governments change hands because of the crisis.

Spanish opposition leader Mariano Rajoy and his Popular Party were expected to win control of Parliament and oust the ruling Socialists but Rajoy has said little ? other than lower taxes on small- and medium-size companies ? on what his party would do to fight Spain's 21.5 percent jobless rate and precisely what kind of austerity measures he would enact.

A win for Rajoy, 56, would bring the conservatives back to power after nearly eight years of rule by Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

On social policy, Zapatero put a patently liberal stamp on traditionally Catholic Spain by legalizing gay marriage and ushering in other northern European-style reforms. But on economic matters he has been widely criticized as first denying, then reacting late and erratically, to Spain's slice of the global financial crisis and the implosion of a real estate bubble that had fueled Spanish GDP growth robustly for nearly a decade.

Zapatero slumped so badly in popularity that he decided not to run for a new term, and former Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba ? a veteran figure and powerful force within the party ? emerged as the candidate to succeed him. The outgoing premier was jeered and cheered by people on the street outside his polling station in Madrid as he left in his motorcade after voting.

Unlike Italy and Greece, which recently replaced their elected governments with technocrats with financial expertise in an attempt to better cope with the euro crisis, Spain will end up with a career politician no matter who wins.

"I am ready for whatever Spaniards may want," said Rajoy after casting his vote Sunday.

Rubalcaba, 60, urged his supporters not to let a low turnout reduce his Socialist party's chances. "The next four years are going to be very important for our future," he said. "The big decisions that have to be taken must be made by citizens, so it's important to vote," he said.

But poor weather caused some polling stations to open late, and a station in the country's south had to be relocated because of flooding, said election office spokesman Felix Monteira. He also said voter turnout was running lower than during Spain's 2008 election.

Voters are casting ballots to elect 350 members of the lower house of Parliament and 208 senators.

In Barcelona, Juan Sanchez said he had voted for Rajoy's party because unemployment fell while it was in power from 1996 to 2004, while it has skyrocketed to nearly 5 million people under Zapatero.

"Hundreds of small and big businesses have closed down," Sanchez said.

But Spain's socialists fear that the Popular Party will cut spending so deeply that it will hit Spain's social welfare system hard and hamper chances for economic recovery.

"I voted for the Socialists because I am sure that if the Popular Party comes to power it is going to begin to cut everything," said civil servant Diana Bachiller after voting.

Spain has the eurozone's fourth largest economy, and experts say it is too big to be bailed out. In a sign of how dire the nation's finances have become, the interest rate on bonds sold by Spain last week hit almost 7 percent, a level seen as unsustainable. Greece, Portugal and Ireland were all forced into bailouts after their rates went beyond that rate.

The winner of Sunday's election will almost certainly be forced to implement additional unpopular austerity measures started during Zapatero's tenure.

Maria Angeles Redondo, a doctor in Madrid, said she had voted for the Popular Party but doubted any Spanish politicians will be able to solve the nation's problems soon.

"I am not sure if a change of government is really going to usher in the improvements we want and need," she said.

Zapatero over the last year cut civil servants' wages, froze pensions and passed legislation making it easier for companies to hire and fire workers.

The winner of Sunday's election will be forced to lower Spain's budget deficit, boost investor confidence and try to improve growth of a listless economy by a delicate balancing act of cutting spending or raising taxes just enough so the economy does not plunge into another recession.

Rajoy has been vague about his plans for the economy, but his platform included plans for business tax cuts to encourage hiring and lower unemployment.

Rajoy also said he would meet Spain's commitments to the European Union on deficit reduction, although with economic growth at a standstill hardly anybody thinks the current government's goal of cutting it to 6.0 percent of GDP this year from 9.2 in 2010 is achievable.

___

Alan Clendenning and Daniel Woolls contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111120/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_spain_elections

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Anything can-happen feel in Iowa's 2012 vote (AP)

ANAMOSA, Iowa ? The race for the Republican presidential nomination is deeply unsettled with an anything-can-happen feel six weeks before Iowans start the state-by-state process of choosing a GOP challenger for President Barack Obama.

Hoping to sway the many voters who are still undecided, most of the contenders visited the state in the past week and the pace of campaigning is certain to accelerate after Thanksgiving, when the monthlong sprint to the Jan. 3 caucuses begins. A crush of new TV ads is certain. Expect mailboxes filled with brochures and repeated visits by candidates to diners, town squares and other must-stop venues.

"People are getting close to decision time," former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, one of several candidates whose bids depend on a strong Iowa showing, told The Associated Press. "You're going to see some coalescing in the next couple of weeks."

A recent poll found that 60 percent of Republicans who plan to participate in the caucuses are willing to change their minds and 10 percent are fully undecided. That Bloomberg News survey showed a four-way race: Clustered at the top were Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Ron Paul, candidates whose positions, backgrounds and personalities run the gamut. Languishing far behind were Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, who at one point enjoyed huge bursts of support.

Iowa's outcome matters because it will shape the contest in New Hampshire, which holds its primary Jan. 10, and in states beyond.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has started stepping up his efforts in Iowa after playing it cautiously all year. He plans to return to the state Wednesday after skipping a multi-candidate forum in Des Moines on Saturday night.

Nearly all his rivals, promoting themselves as a viable alternative to Romney, gathered on one stage to discuss how their religious faith influences their public life before a large and influential audience of social conservatives.

Considered the one to beat because of his strength on several fronts, Romney spent the weekend in New Hampshire.

In Iowa, he's hoping that social conservatives who make up the GOP's base will splinter their support among the crowded field of candidates who are considered more conservative than Romney. No one has emerged as the consensus choice of those conservatives, though many are trying.

They include Cain, a Georgia businessman, and Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker, who seem just as poised to break out of the pack as they are to fade. Both are seen as attractive for a Republican electorate craving a candidate who will take it to Obama in a no-holds-barred style. But both also are trying hard to weather increased scrutiny.

Cain continues to fight decade-old sexual harassment allegations, along with questions about his grasp of an array of policies. Iowans don't seem to be punishing him for any of it, so far. He cheerfully greeted a crowd of more than 200 at a Dubuque restaurant Tuesday on just his second trip to Iowa in the past three months.

"Herman Cain's support at this point has intensified," Johnson County GOP Chairman Bob Anderson said. "There's been no decrease in his level of support based on the controversy that's erupted."

But Cain has little campaign structure in the state and a tiny staff. Despite the upbeat tone of his visit, he did little outreach to influential Republican activists. He took no audience questions in Dubuque, spent most of his time in Iowa recording a campaign advertisement and headlined a five-minute news conference spent primarily defending an awkward response to an interview question about Libya a day earlier.

Like Cain, Gingrich returned to Iowa last week to find himself on the defensive over a number of issues, including the roughly $1.6 million he received as a consultant to Freddie Mac, the federally backed mortgage giant detested by conservatives. He found himself spending the bulk of his three-day trip trying to portray his history with the company as a sign of valuable experience.

"It reminds people that I know a great deal about Washington," Gingrich said. "We just tried four years of amateur ignorance, and it didn't work very well. So having someone who actually knows Washington might be a really good thing."

As the week ended, Gingrich introduced a website that collects, and provides answers for, what he long has claimed are myths about his background and explanations for policy position changes throughout the years. Among the issues Gingrich addresses are his admissions of adultery and divorce, topics likely to rile cultural conservatives in Iowa.

Paul, a Texas congressman, returned to the state at week's end to find that he was steadily drawing sizable crowds to restaurants and community centers in small towns such as Vinton and Anamosa, where audiences applauded his proposal to cut $1 trillion from the federal deficit his first year in office, primarily by vastly reducing U.S. foreign aid.

Long dismissed by the GOP establishment, the libertarian-leaning candidate is now turning heads beyond his hard-core followers four years since his failed 2008 bid. This year, he's running a more mature Iowa campaign and it's showing. He finished a close second to Minnesota Rep. Bachmann in August test vote, an indication of his stronger organization.

Texas Gov. Perry, trying to get back on track after a damaging few weeks that has affected his once-robust fundraising, is accelerating his already aggressive TV advertising schedule in Iowa and is making government reform, as well as assailing Obama, the cornerstone of his campaign in hopes of rebounding.

"Washington's broken, and needs a complete overhaul," Perry says in a new ad. "Replacing one Washington insider with another won't change a thing. If you want an outsider who'll overhaul Washington, then I'm your guy."

It's a message that has some sticking with Perry, despite his troubles.

"I haven't given up on Rick Perry, personally," said Hamilton County Republican Chairman Mark Greenfield, who supports Perry. "He's a lower-tier candidate now. But he's the one person who can turn the economy around if he can only clarify his message."

Bachmann, too, is fighting to come back with a second act after a blazing hot summer and a victory in the Iowa GOP straw poll. Some of her evangelical base has drifted elsewhere, but she's still focused on trying to get them to rally behind her like they did former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the Iowa caucus winner in 2008.

"It is amazing to me how God uses those challenges to shape your life," Bachmann said of her parents' divorce, noting during the Saturday forum how it influenced her decision to be a foster parent to more than 20 children in addition to her five biological children.

The candidate who may stand to gain from Bachmann's inability to wrap up the evangelical vote is Santorum. The former Pennsylvania senator is the only Republican with staunch socially conservative credentials competing hard in Iowa who hasn't enjoyed a burst of support this year.

That's not for lack of trying.

He's essentially camped out in the state for months and has campaigned in all 99 Iowa counties on a shoestring budget.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111120/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_wide_open_iowa

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Crosley Radio CR3001A Ranchero

They might not make things like they used to, but they at least design things to look like they used to. Crosley created the Radio Ranchero for exactly that purpose. It's a combination iPod dock and AM/FM radio that looks like it came straight out of the 1950s. There?s no doubt the retro Radio Ranchero looks cool, but at $199.95 (list), it should offer more than good looks. But few features and disappointing audio quality make this speaker dock a bit of a tough sell.

Design
The first thing you?ll notice about the Crosley Radio Ranchero is how strikingly retro it is. Rectangular and blocky, with glossy colored sides, the system is available in black, red, or green, the latter is an exclusive version you can only get at Urban Outfitters stores. There's also a large silver grille, and a big analog frequency meter with metal dials. It looks like it would be at home on a 1950s diner counter or kitchen table. The only modern concessionshows is an iPod dock on the top, with playback controls set into the bezel of the dock. The back is minimal, with only power, auxiliary 3.5mm, and coaxial antenna inputs.

The feature set on the Crosley Radio Ranchero is similarly minimal. It?s an iPod speaker dock with an AM/FM radio?and that's about it. There is no remote (despite playback controls sitting right in front of the iPod dock, where the iPod itself is clearly accessible), no display, not even a clock function. For a $200 speaker dock, it really doesn?t offer much beyond retro aesthetics. While not offering an iPod dock (but it works with auxiliary input), the Grace Digital Victoria Nostalgic Internet Radio ($229.99, 3 stars) includes a clock, a remote, and access to thousands of Internet radio stations while offering a similarly attractive retro design for just a little more.

Performance
Audio quality is disappointing for a $200 speaker dock. I listened to Charlie Mingus?s "Reincarnation of a Lovebird," and the usually crisp (despite the decades-old recording) piano notes sounded muddled and soft. It doesn?t sound terrible, but it also doesn?t sound satisfying for a speaker of its size and price.

Our standard bass track, The Knife's "Silent Shout," produced mixed results. While the flat bass notes got fairly loud and were distortion-free, any sort of textured bass (deep bass notes coming from an instrument, and not a flat low-frequency tone) suffered from heavy distortion.

If you love the 1950s aesthetic, the Crosley Radio Ranchero is a nice conversation piece. However, at $200 with no remote, significant connectivity, or even a clock, it falls fall short for the price. Its middling audio quality only makes it more disappointing, considering you can get more useful speaker docks for less and a much more functional and vintage-looking Internet radio for just a little bit more. For the same price as the Crosley Radio Ranchero you can get our Editors' Choice iPod dock, the Altec Lansing Octiv 650 ($199.95, 4 stars), which adds a useful app with EQ functions and better audio quality. If you have an iPhone or other iOS device, consider instead a wireless speaker, like the Logitech Wireless Boombox ($99.99, 3.5 stars). Both speakers offer better sound quality and a much more convenient experience, even if they don't have any retro appeal.

More Speaker reviews:

??? Crosley Radio CR3001A Ranchero
??? Genius SP-HF2020 Digital 4-Way Hi-Fi Speakers
??? Sony RDP-X500IP Personal Audio Docking System
??? iHome iW1
??? Altec Lansing iMT630 Classic
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/z9yKRqdmDjI/0,2817,2395186,00.asp

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Slideshow: What home buyers can get for $300,000

Editor's Note:
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Capsule reviews of new releases (AP)

"Arthur Christmas" ? This pleasant holiday treat from Aardman, the British animation outfit behind "Chicken Run" and the "Wallace and Gromit" cartoons, has the old-fashioned spirit of Christmas at heart, spinning a snowflake-light tale with warmth, energy and goofy humor. The movie unveils the vast high-tech enterprise run by Santa to deliver all those presents as his big-hearted but bumbling younger son, Arthur (voiced by James McAvoy), races to deliver a single gift that fell through the cracks. The delightful, drolly funny voice cast includes Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton and Ashley Jensen. Director Sarah Smith offers a fresh look at the Santa legend with a flawed Claus whose family is as dysfunctional as everyone else's. There are lulls and comic misfires that feel like stocking stuffers thrown in to pad the simple story to feature length, and the manic banter comes a bit too fast for viewers to digest it all. Still, the visual gags will carry youngsters along, while there are plenty of clever wisecracks to keep their parents occupied. PG for some mild rude humor. 97 minutes. Three stars out of four.

? David Germain, AP Movie Writer

___

"The Descendants" ? Alexander Payne makes movies about men on the brink ? of a nervous breakdown, of personal or professional ruin and, ultimately, maybe even some hard-earned peace. That's certainly true of George Clooney here. As real-estate lawyer Matt King, he finds everything in his life is in flux and on the verge of collapse simultaneously. This isn't any easier even though he lives in Hawaii, a place that's supposed to be paradise. Clooney being Clooney, though, makes every stage of his character's arc believable, from grief through anger and eventual acceptance, and he gives a performance that's so understated as to appear effortless. Matt's wife, Elizabeth, is lying in a hospital bed in a coma following a boating accident. Matt, who hasn't been the most available or hands-on father, must now take care of the couple's two daughters on his own: 17-year-old boarding school rebel Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and 10-year-old troublemaker Scottie (Amara Miller). Then Alexandra drops another bombshell on her father: Elizabeth was having an affair at the time of her accident. As if all this weren't enough to handle, Matt's enormous family has put him in charge of deciding what to do with the 25,000 acres of pristine land on Kauai that they've inherited from their royal Hawaiian ancestors. Payne's pacing is often so languid that we don't feel the sort of mounting tension that we should. But the story keeps us guessing as to where it will go, and it features some piercing moments of emotional truth. R for language including some sexual references. 115 minutes. Three stars out of four.

? Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

___

"Happy Feet Two" ? The dancing, singing penguins are as adorable as ever. Yet a couple of shrimplike krill almost steal the show in this animated sequel that sticks to the formula of the original while adding enough variety to give it a life of its own. It helps to have Brad Pitt and Matt Damon voicing the krill with great companionability as they join a vocal cast that includes returning stars Elijah Wood and Robin Williams. Wood's tap-dancing penguin now is a dad dealing with a misfit, runaway son embarrassed over his own lack of rhythm. Director and co-writer George Miller, who handled the same chores on the 2006 Academy Award-winning first film, keeps the focus on penguins in peril while adding an interesting nature-in-perspective angle with the side journey of those tiny krill trying to find their place in a world of bigger, hungrier things. The sequel delivers the key ingredients that made its predecessor such a hit: lovable characters, a rich blend of pop tunes employed in showstopping song-and-dance numbers and remarkable Antarctic landscapes whose bleak beauty pops off the screen even more than in the original, thanks to some of the finest use of 3-D animation since the digital age brought an extra dimension to the screen. PG for some rude humor and mild peril. 99 minutes. Three stars out of four.

? David Germain, AP Movie Writer

___

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part 1" ? "Laughable" probably isn't the word the filmmakers were aiming for, but there it is; laughter, at all the wrong places. The fourth movie in the freakishly popular girl-vamp-wolf love triangle series is so self-serious, it's hard not to cackle at it. The dialogue is, of course, ridiculous and the acting ranges from stiff to mopey. But moments that should be pulsating with tension are usually hilarious because the special effects are still just so distractingly cheesy. This latest installment has yet another new director: Bill Condon, a man capable of both panache ("Dreamgirls") and serious artistry ("Gods and Monsters"), little of which you'll see here. The first of two films adapted from the final book in Stephenie Meyer's series (with part two coming next year), this serves as a placeholder for the ultimate finale but is jam-packed with developments in its own right. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and her vampire beau, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), marry in a lavish, romantic outdoor ceremony. Bella's childhood best friend and the other man in the equation, werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), stops by as a gesture of goodwill. Finally, Bella and Edward can have sex, the thing she has wanted all along but he has been reluctant to do for fear that deflowering her will, you know, kill her. And he may have been right. He impregnates her on the honeymoon and the resulting hybrid spawn threatens to destroy her from inside. PG-13 for disturbing images, violence, sexuality/partial nudity and some thematic elements. 117 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

? Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111117/ap_en_mo/us_film_capsules

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House GOP launches mobile transparency app (Daily Caller)

Want a way to keep up with legislation passing through the House, even while on the run? ?There?s an app for that,? says House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy.

McCarthy announced the official launch of Whipcast, a app that gives members, staffers and constituents the ability to access bills, GOP policy talking points, press releases, floor schedules and video ? all from their mobile devices.

?While in the minority, we saw how the Democrat majority obscured their actions from the public as they wrote legislation behind closed doors and limited floor debate, and we vowed to chart a new course,? McCarthy said in a statement on Thursday.

Whipcast only makes available House GOP ? not Democratic ? communications and policy.?The Democrats, McCarthy told reporters, ?can make their own app.?

Another app by the same name was originally debuted by former House Minority Whip Eric Cantor in 2009, but it only worked with Blackberry. The new app is available for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android. It will be updated from the whip?s office before email lists, and will alert users to key congressional updates.

Whipcast is also a social app: Users will be able to Facebook, Tweet and email about bills and policy right from the program to family and friends, or their members.

Watch:

?This is about opening up this place,? McCarthy told reporters during a Tuesday morning briefing at the Capitol. ?This is revolutionary.?

It is the job of the whip to communicate information to the rest of the House, McCarthy said, adding that in the past, the last Congress used the control of information to give them power because the release of information gives the people more control over their government.

?This,? he said, ?is the people?s house.?

The app was developed by CRAFT | Digital/Media, a political digital communications firm based in Washington, D.C.?The video promoting the app was also created by CRAFT, in addition to the newly updated whip website.

?Congressman McCarthy believed it was very important for the app to have visual appeal and was intuitive for a wide range of users,? Donahue, a partner at CRAFT, told TheDC. ?It was important for Congressman McCarthy to have an app that the average person could use, as well as a House staffer or a member of Congress. That?s one of the main tenets of producing an app that contributes to government transparency.?

While specifics on the cost of the project were not provided, reporters were told that it was comparable to that of a website. Funds from the majority whip office were used to pay for the app, McCarthy told reporters.

?The pricing was different and separate for each product,? Donahue said. ?Integrating the delivery of services cut down all overall costs. By streamlining aesthetics and deliverables we were able to help provide different platforms at an affordable price. The whip office is very conscious about keeping costs down, so efficiency was critical.?

The number one question from reporters Tuesday morning was if the app counted floor votes in real time, which McCarthy said it did not. There is, however, room for expansion, he said.

?The app will look different one from today than it does now,? said McCarthy. ?It is a continual rollout.?

?The whip?s office is encouraging feedback o how to make the app better,? said Donahue. ?We are working to incorporate improvements into future updates and versions.?

McCarthy ? a founding member of House Republican group the Young Guns ? spoke at Facebook?s Palo Alto headquarters with the other two founding members of the group, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the same day as President Obama?s LinkedIn town hall.

?It?s exciting to have two key figures in the Republican leadership who understand new technology,? said Donahue. ?They are constantly pushing for new ways to communicate using digital and social mediums. They have a strong grasp on the future trends of efficient communicating.?

Since its launch on Tuesday, the app has already received numerous positive reviews. The app is, ?What I expect from my government,? one reviewer wrote:??A promise made by one party, and kept by another. Excellent access/fluid info for anyone who cares about their money and how their government is spending it.?

Another reviewer did have an issue with the lack of information from Democrats: ?Needs to be more politically transparent. This app is useful for Republicans who like to stay in their own bubble. There is a lot more going on than reading about anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage bills.?

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20111115/pl_dailycaller/housegoplaunchesmobiletransparencyapp

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TV gold: Angry Sonnen walks off Canadian talk show

Sometimes it's hard to tell if Chael Sonnen is serious when he goes off certain media members. Often times it's part of the bit.

Today, during an interview on Canada's "Off the Record," Sonnen's seemed pretty real. Towards the end of a contentious interview, Sonnen took off his microphone and bailed on the conversation.

OTR host Michael Landsberg began the discussion by asking Sonnen why he backed down from his challenge of "leaving the UFC" if lost to Anderson Silva in their eventual fight in 2012.

"You might want to take the base out of your tone, I'm not sure you know who you're talking to here, but I've never backed down from anything, so check your facts," stated Sonnen.

Landsberg asked again.

"What are you talking about?," asked Sonnen. "What is this, your first day on the job? You're mixing five different stories here. This is like doing amateur hour or something. What show am I on here? Is this for public radio?"

Sonnen said he couldn't back away from an offer, since the offer was never accepted by Silva. That's when his sharp tongue began slice away at Canada.

"That's not how offers work. Is that how you do business in Canada? Cause in my country, that created business, offers expire," Sonnen said. "I made him an offer, apparently it didn't work, he didn't accept it. It's not that I backed down, but apparently I need to present him with a new offer. You guys probably don't do that in socialism, but in America, in a capitalistic society, that's how things work."

Five minutes into the second take, Landsberg and Sonnen were still verbally sparring and the fighter decided to leave.

Quotes via TSN

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/TV-gold-Angry-Sonnen-walks-off-Canadian-talk-sh?urn=mma-wp9533

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