Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/193735467?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Camilla Williams, black opera pioneer, dies at 92 (AP)
INDIANAPOLIS ? Camilla Williams, believed to be the first African-American woman to appear with a major U.S. opera company, has died. She was 92.
Williams died Sunday at her home in Bloomington, her attorney, Eric Slotegraaf, said Monday. She died of complications from cancer, said Alain Barker, a spokesman for the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where Williams was a professor emeritus of voice.
Williams' debut with the New York City Opera on May 15, 1946, was thought to make her the first African-American woman to appear with a major U.S. opera company and came nearly nine years before Marian Anderson became the first African-American singer to appear at New York's more prestigious Metropolitan Opera.
In her City Opera debut, Williams sang what would become her signature role, Cio-Cio-San, in Puccini's "Madama Butterfly." She displayed "a vividness and subtlety unmatched by any other artist who has assayed the part here in many a year," according to a New York Times review of the performance.
She also appeared with the City Opera that season as Nedda, in Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci." The following year she performed the role of Mimi, in Puccini's "La Boheme," and in 1948 she sang the title role of Verdi's "Aida."
Williams first appeared overseas in 1950 on a concert tour of Panama, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. She also appeared as Cio-Cio-San with the London Sadler's Wells Opera in 1954 and later that same year as the first black artist to sing a major role with the Vienna State Opera.
Williams, the daughter of a chauffeur, was introduced to "Madama Butterfly," Mozart and other classical works at age 12 while growing up in Danville, Va. A Welsh voice teacher came to the segregated city to teach at a school for white girls and taught a few black girls at a private home. By that time she had been singing at Danville's Calvary Baptist Church for four years.
"My grandparents and parents were self-taught musicians; all of them sang, and there was always music in our home," she wrote for her entry in the first edition of "Who's Who in the World."
A graduate of Virginia State College, she was teaching third grade and music in Danville schools in 1942 when she was offered a scholarship from the Philadelphia Alumni Association of her alma mater for vocal training in Philadelphia, where she studied under Marion Szekely-Freschl and worked as an usher in a theater.
A lifetime member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, she performed in her hometown of Danville in 1963 to raise funds to free jailed civil rights demonstrators and sang at the 1963 civil rights march on Washington, D.C., immediately before the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. She also sang at King's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony the following year. The Chicago Defender lauded her in 1951 for bringing democracy to opera.
In 1950 she married Charles Beavers, a fellow Danville native and a defense attorney whose clients included Malcolm X. He died in 1970. The couple did not have children.
Williams retired from opera in 1971 and taught at Brooklyn College, Bronx College and Queens College until becoming the first African American professor of voice at Indiana University. In 1983, as a guest professor at Beijing's Central Conservatory, she became that school's first black professor. She retired from teaching in 1997.
A memorial service has been scheduled at the First United Methodist Church in Bloomington on Feb. 18.
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Monday, January 30, 2012
Terry scores 34, Mavs beat Spurs 101-100 in OT
Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) looks to shoot as San Antonio Spurs forward DeJuan Blair (45) watches during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) looks to shoot as San Antonio Spurs forward DeJuan Blair (45) watches during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Dallas Mavericks guard Vince Carter (25) shoots against San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry (31) shoots against San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner (15) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan (21) dribbles against Dallas Mavericks center Ian Mahinmi (28) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
San Antonio Spurs forward Richard Jefferson (24) and Dallas Mavericks guard Vince Carter (25) greet each other after an NBA basketball game in Dallas, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. The Mavericks won 101-100. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
DALLAS (AP) ? Jason Terry was more than willing to take the big shots, with Dirk Nowitzki just getting back into the Dallas Mavericks' lineup. Terry made them when they mattered, too.
Terry scored the last four points in overtime, after hitting a tying 15-footer with a half-second remaining in regulation, and the Mavericks came back after blowing a big lead against San Antonio's reserves to beat the Spurs 101-100 Sunday night.
"He put us on his shoulders there," said Nowitzki, who played for the first time after a four-game hiatus to strengthen his sore right knee and do some conditioning work. "He made some great pull-ups. He got to his sweet spot to send it to OT."
Terry put Dallas ahead to stay when he took a pass from Nowitzki and made a 12-foot baseline jumper with 42 seconds left to make it 99-98. After Shawn Marion stole the ball from Gary Neal, Terry got fouled and made both free throws with 17 seconds left.
"It's just the will to win when the game is on the line," Terry said. "I like to take the shot when the game is on the line. ... When my team needs me the most, I'm going to come through regardless of what's going on the entire night. Fourth quarter is winning time."
Terry scored 26 of his season-high 34 points after halftime, though the Spurs still had a chance after his last two free throws.
Neal, who finished with 19 points, drove for a layup and was fouled by Marion with 12 seconds left. But Neal missed a potential tying free throw that was rebounded by Ian Mahinmi, who was fouled and missed two free throw attempts.
After Neal got that rebound and the Spurs called timeout, Vince Carter knocked the ball loose. Danny Green grabbed it and threw up a 3-pointer that ricocheted off the front of the rim as the game ended.
Green and the Spurs thought he had a game-winner at the end of regulation, but his 14-footer was disallowed when replay clearly showed that shot didn't get out of his hands before the buzzer sounded.
"I thought it was good, but I guess it was too good to be true," Green said.
Dallas led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter before San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich decided to go with his reserves. The Spurs' last 51 points after that came from bench players, and they went ahead by as many as nine in the fourth quarter with the help of a flurry of 3-pointers.
"We were just on fire shooting 3s and it got us back in the game. It's as simple as that. I thought the energy defensively was great; we double-teamed everywhere," Popovich said. "They were playing great. There's no sense in taking them off the court."
The last Spurs starter to score was Richard Jefferson on a 3-pointer with 4:28 left in the third quarter. When Jefferson came out less than 2 minutes later, the only starter to re-enter the game was Kawhi Leonard for 1.1 seconds in overtime.
Terry's tying shot at the end of regulation was set up after Rodrigue Beaubois, starting for injured Jason Kidd, drove for a layup with 30 seconds left and then blocked a shot on a drive by Neal. Nowitzki grabbed the rebound and got the ball to Terry.
San Antonio still had a chance to win the game. Green swished his jumper off the inbound pass, but officials looked at the replay before ruling it didn't count and sending the game to overtime.
"We got a little lucky there," Nowitzki said. "I thought it was over."
Carter had 21 points, his most with the Mavericks, while Beaubois had 14. Nowitzki had 10 points on 5-of-14 shooting with 13 rebounds.
"I'm moving better," Nowitzki said. "Definitely that was an improvement from before. I'm going to keep working and get back to normal soon."
Richard Jefferson, Tim Duncan and Green each had 12 points for the Spurs.
Dallas (13-8) took over the Southwest Division lead, ahead of Houston (12-8) and the Spurs (12-9).
The Mavericks had a 67-49 lead after Terry's basket with 3:48 left in the third quarter. That's when San Antonio's reserves took over.
There were seven consecutive points to cut the gap, that capped by Matt Bonner's 3-pointer that helped ignite a frenzy of 3-pointers.
San Antonio opened the fourth quarter with a 17-2 surge that included five 3-pointers. Bonner's trey from the right wing with 8:24 left in regulation put the Spurs up 75-71.
That was from about the same spot that Green had hit before a missed shot by Nowitzki.
San Antonio, which made seven 3s in the fourth quarter, led 84-75 with 5? minutes left when Neal stole the ball from Terry and had a fast-break jumper. It was still 89-81 only 2 minutes later when Neal made a 3-pointer.
"We were unable to capitalize on it," Neal said. "They were able to make shots and forced it into overtime."
Notes: Kidd has a right calf strain, and is expected to miss at least five games. ... San Antonio finished with 12 3s, which was four less than they made when the teams first played 3? weeks ago when the Spurs won 93-72 at home. ... Manu Ginobili (broken left hand) missed his 16th consecutive game for the Spurs, while T.J. Ford (torn left hamstring) has missed 11 in a row. ... When former Mavericks owner Don Carter and his wife were showing on the video board during a timeout in the first quarter, both flashed their 2011 NBA championship rings. ... Brendan Haywood had a season-high five blocked shots for Dallas.
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Ruling party gets expected win in Cambodian Senate (AP)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia ? Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's party secured an expected victory at Senate elections Sunday, according to preliminary results following the vote that was closed to the general population and criticized for lacking credibility.
The ruling Cambodian People's Party won almost 78 percent of votes, while the opposition Sam Rainsy Party won almost 22 percent, Election Commission chairman Im Suosdey told reporters. Official results were expected Feb. 4.
The 61-seat Senate has no power to amend or veto legislation and is widely seen as an ineffectual body that rubber-stamps bills from the lower house, or National Assembly, which the ruling party dominates.
The National Assembly and some 11,300 local officials vote to fill 57 of the Senate seats. Two of the seats are appointed by King Norodom Sihamoni and two by the lower house.
Local monitoring groups have denounced the Senate elections, saying they do not reflect the will of the people and that a sweep by Hun Sen's party is a foregone conclusion, given its dominance in the lower house.
In the last Senate election in 2006, the ruling Cambodian People's Party won 45 seats, followed by the royalist Funcinpec party with 10. Two seats went to the opposition Sam Rainsy Party.
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Iran official says oil will reach $150 per barrel (AP)
TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran's official news agency reports that the head of the state oil company is claiming that the price of crude will go up to $150 per barrel.
Head of the National Iranian Oil Company Ahmad Qalehban did not give a time frame for the prediction, nor any other details in the Sunday report by IRNA.
The price of benchmark U.S. crude on Friday was around $99.56 per barrel.
Qalehban's statement comes as Iranian officials prepare to debate a ban on crude sales to European Union countries, in response to a planned EU embargo on Iran's oil by summer because of that country's nuclear program.
The United States and its allies argue that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons technology, while Tehran says the program is for purely peaceful purposes.
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sudan sells seized South Sudan crude at deep discount: sources (Reuters)
SINGAPORE (Reuters) ? Sudan has sold at least one cargo of crude seized from South Sudan at millions of dollars discount and is offering more, industry sources said, as Khartoum looks to recover oil revenue from its former civil war foe.
A bitter row has escalated between the two over the value of the transit fee landlocked South Sudan should pay for oil pumped north by pipeline through its northern neighbor and exported from Port Sudan.
South Sudan is shutting down production in protest after Khartoum blocked exports and seized some of the oil as compensation. South Sudan's President Salva Kiir accused Khartoum of having "looted" revenues amounting to roughly $815 million from crude cargoes.
The seized crude was loaded onto three tankers from January 13-20, South Sudan's justice ministry said.
Sudan sold one of those cargoes, a 600,000 barrel shipment loaded on the vessel Ratna Shradha, to a North Asian trader. The final price of the sale was unclear, but one trader said that the cargo was sold at a discount as steep as $14 a barrel. That would indicate an $8.4 million discount for the whole cargo versus the last official price charged by the South.
"This is crude from the South sold by the North at a $14 discount to the South's last selling price," a Middle East-based crude trader said.
The tanker is heading to Singapore, another source said.
The last time South Sudan sold Nile Blend cargoes, it did so at a premium of $2.50-$3.00 a barrel to the benchmark Indonesian Crude Price, traders said. This would indicate that Sudan has sold the cargo at a discount of around $11 a barrel to the Indonesian price.
Sudan has also loaded two other cargoes of seized Dar Blend crude, but it is not immediately clear if they have sold those. Khartoum had offered these cargoes last week at a discount to official South Sudan prices, traders said. One of them is headed to the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, they added.
The South last sold seven cargoes of Dar Blend at discounts between $5 and $11 a barrel to dated Brent. Sudan offered the cargoes at a discount of $15-$16, another source said.
OFFGUARD
Buyers of South Sudan oil were caught offguard when Khartoum started blocking exports in late December.
In addition to the three, at least seven tankers are still waiting at the port to lift December and January cargoes, raking up demurrage costs of $20,000-$22,000 per day, traders and shipbrokers said. Buyers include PetroChina, Glencore, Vitol, Trafigura and Arcadia, they said.
"There was no reason given. They just held back sailing," a second trader with a Western firm said, adding that demurrage costs and the uncertainty were a "nightmare."
South Sudan pledged to fully shut its output of 275,000 barrels per day (bpd) in two weeks, a move that could also cut off supplies to equity holders China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Malaysia's Petronas and India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp.
A third trader said buyers could declare force majeure if they still cannot lift the oil 30 days from the date of loading.
"Force majeure is the last resort if the cargo has not been loaded 30 days after the scheduled loading date. As long as the ship has not loaded the oil," the trader said.
"It will be complicated to declare force majeure if the oil is already on board. How are you going to discharge the oil back into the shore tanks?"
South Sudan became independent in July under a 2005 peace agreement with Khartoum that ended decades of civil war but both sides have failed to agree how to untangle their oil industries.
(Additional reporting by Yaw Yan Chong and Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO Editing by Manash Goswami and Simon Webb)
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Friday Illusion: Einstein's face emerges from tapestry
Caitlin Stier, video intern
Don't be fooled: the pattern in this tapestry isn't as obvious as it seems. When viewed from an angle, Einstein's face suddenly emerges from the stripes.
The wall hanging, designed by husband-and-wife team Steve Plummer and Pat Ashforth from Woolly Thoughts, was created using a technique called shadow knitting, which requires two coloured yarns. By knitting alternate rows of each colour, and using a combination of raised and flat stitches, an image can be concealed within the ridges of the weave.
A tapestry design is planned out beforehand by overlaying a grid on a chosen image. Each square is assigned a type of stitch: either bumpy for a key feature or flat for a background element. Plummer starts to knit a pattern before he's finished encoding it, tweaking the grid as he goes along. It takes about 100 hours to produce a finished chart.
Although all shadow knitters use a grid to plan their tapestries, Plummer and Ashforth have developed a new charting process that allows for more complex images and detailed shading. The former mathematics teachers used their knowledge of 3D visualisation to come up with the revised technique.
If you enjoyed this video, check out our previous Friday Illusions to see, for example, how to stop a spinning object with your mind or how contrast can affect your perception of speed.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Finnish conductor Paavo Berglund dead at 82 (AP)
HELSINKI ? Paavo Berglund, one of Finland's most prominent conductors, has died at age 82.
Elina Siltanen, the general manager of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra said Berglund died at home in Helsinki on Wednesday after a long illness. She could not give the cause of death.
Berglund, internationally known for numerous recordings of works of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, was principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1972-1979 and principal guest conductor with the Scottish National Orchestra in 1981-1985.
He was chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic and his engagements included major orchestras in Europe, including the Berlin Philharmonic.
He debuted in New York in 1978 and since the 1990s had been a regular visitor at the New York Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra.
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Bill Gates injects $750 million into troubled AIDS fund (Reuters)
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) ? Microsoft chairman and philanthropist Bill Gates pledged a further $750 million to the troubled global AIDS fund on Thursday and urged governments to continue their support to save lives.
"These are tough economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world's poorest," he said in Davos at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria announced two days ago that its executive director, Michel Kazatchkine, was stepping down early following criticism over misuse of funds and cuts in funding.
The public-private organization, which has the backing of celebrities like rock star Bono, accounts for around a quarter of international financing to fight HIV and AIDS, as well as the majority of funds to fight TB and malaria.
But it has been forced to cut back and said last year it would make no new grants or funding until 2014.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is giving $750 million through a promissory note -- a fresh injection in addition to the $650 million that the Gates charity has contributed since the fund was launched 10 years ago.
While that will give an immediate boost, more is needed from governments, which have provided the bulk of the $22.6 billion that has been raised by the Geneva-based organization to date for its work in 150 countries.
The commitment of governments was shaken last year when the fund reported "grave misuse of funds" in four recipient nations, prompting some donors such as Germany and Sweden to freeze their donations.
Gates, however, played down the problem and praised the fund's transparency, which he said had exposed corruption problems that might well have remained hidden at other organizations.
"If you are going to do health programs in Africa you are going to have some percentage that is misused," he said.
"We've looked at where they've found money that wasn't applied properly and how they tracked that ... the fact is the internal checks and balances have worked."
Recent scientific studies have shown that getting timely AIDS drug treatment to those with HIV can significantly cut the number of people who become newly infected with the virus, increasing the case for maximum access to drugs.
So the decision in 2011 to cancel fresh funding, due to waning political commitment, has alarmed healthcare activists like Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
"Now that new scientific evidence shows that HIV treatment itself could be one of the best ways to turn the epidemic around, it's time for governments to roll up their sleeves and commit to getting the Global Fund back on track," said Tido von Schoen-Angerer, MSF's head of access.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Jon Boyle and Kirstin Ridley)
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
iPhone, iPad app rewards being a couch potato
This product image provided by Function Inc., shows the Viggle App for iPhone. When you tap the screen, Viggle's software for iPhones and iPads listens to what's on, recognizes what you're watching and gives you credit at roughly two points per minute. It even works for shows you've saved on a digital video recorder. Rack up 7,500 points, and you'll be rewarded with a $5 gift card from retailers such as Burger King, Starbucks, Apple's iTunes, Best Buy and CVS, which you can redeem directly from your device. (AP Photo/Function Inc.)
This product image provided by Function Inc., shows the Viggle App for iPhone. When you tap the screen, Viggle's software for iPhones and iPads listens to what's on, recognizes what you're watching and gives you credit at roughly two points per minute. It even works for shows you've saved on a digital video recorder. Rack up 7,500 points, and you'll be rewarded with a $5 gift card from retailers such as Burger King, Starbucks, Apple's iTunes, Best Buy and CVS, which you can redeem directly from your device. (AP Photo/Function Inc.)
This product image provided by Function Inc., shows the Viggle App for iPhone. When you tap the screen, Viggle's software for iPhones and iPads listens to what's on, recognizes what you're watching and gives you credit at roughly two points per minute. It even works for shows you've saved on a digital video recorder. Rack up 7,500 points, and you'll be rewarded with a $5 gift card from retailers such as Burger King, Starbucks, Apple's iTunes, Best Buy and CVS, which you can redeem directly from your device. (AP Photo/Function Inc.)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Want to earn stuff by watching TV? An app for that is set to debut Wednesday.
When you tap the screen, Viggle's software for iPhones and iPads listens to what's on, recognizes what you're watching and gives you credit at roughly two points per minute. It even works for shows you've saved on a digital video recorder.
Rack up 7,500 points, and you'll be rewarded with a $5 gift card from retailers such as Burger King, Starbucks, Apple's iTunes, Best Buy and CVS, which you can redeem directly from your device.
With some back-of-the-napkin math, you can figure that it would take three weeks of watching TV every night for three hours to earn enough for a latte at Starbucks.
But the company plans to offer bonus points for checking into certain shows such as "American Idol" and 1,500 points for signing up. You can also get extra points for watching an ad on your device. The beta version awarded 100 points for watching a 15-second ad from Verizon Wireless.
"Viggle is the first loyalty program for TV," said Chris Stephenson, president of the company behind Viggle, Function (X) Inc. "We're basically allowing people to get rewards for doing something they're doing already and that they love to do."
The idea behind Viggle is that by giving people an added reason to watch TV, the size of the audience will increase, thereby allowing makers of shows to earn more money from advertisers. Advertisers such as Burger King, Pepsi and Gatorade have also agreed to pay to have point-hungry users watch their ads on a mobile device.
In exchange, users earn points, which Viggle converts into real value by buying gift cards at a slight discount from retailers.
If the company gets the point-count economy right, it can end up making more money from advertisers and networks than it gives away in rewards.
The app will also give the company valuable insight into who is watching what, as redeeming rewards requires putting in your age, gender, email address and ZIP code.
"It really shows what social TV is going to evolve into," said Michael Gartenberg, a technology analyst at research firm Gartner. "For folks behind the scenes, this is a great way of seeing who really is watching."
The company hopes that user activity will grow by word of mouth, especially by offering a 200-point bonus to people who successfully get their friends to try out the service.
The app makes its debut in Apple Inc.'s app store on Wednesday. Versions for Android devices and computers are in the works.
The company has put in some safeguards. You must watch a show at least 10 minutes to earn bonus points. And you can't watch the same ad over and over again to earn more points; there's a one-ad-view-per-person rule.
Function (X) is owned and led by entertainment entrepreneur Robert F.X. Sillerman, who once owned a big stake in "American Idol" owner CKx Inc. That gives the company deep and broad connections in the entertainment business.
Function (X) has brought in $100 million in investment capital, and its stock trades on the Pink Sheets, a platform that allows people to buy shares but doesn't require the company release its financial results. Function (X) currently has a market value of about $1 billion.
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Long-Lasting Love: Celeb Couples Who've Made It Work
Heidi Klum and Seal couldn't make it work, but not every Hollywood romance has to end! See the pairs who've stood the test of time
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
iVoices: Revving Up For Election 2012
Excitement surrounds the search for the next Republican nominee but what do voters want in a candidate? iVoices Beth Engelman, Sharon Rowley, Stephanie Dulli and Joey Fortman chime in on the issues that matter to them for the 2012 election.
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Nimble Goes After Salesforce, Wants To Be The ?Pandora Of Contacts?
Jon Ferrara?thinks Salesforce is doing it wrong when it comes to social.?The founder of Goldmine, a CRM company he sold for $100 million nearly a decade ago, is attacking the market a different way with his latest startup, Nimble. "We are effectively Salesforce but social," he says, taking a jab at what is now the 800-pound gorilla. Salesforce would counter that it has Chatter?and Radian6, but punching up is always a good way to get noticed (just ask Marc Benioff, who became a billionaire tussling with Microsoft and Oracle). Ferrara just hired away the product director who made Chatter Mobile, Jason McDowall, who will now head up the team building Nimble's mobile apps.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/SmLnOmp8w3o/
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Obama: World united to address Iran nuclear threat (AP)
WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama is praising the Iranian oil embargo imposed by European nations Monday, and says that the U.S. will keep applying new penalties as well.
The U.S. added new sanctions Monday on Bank Tejerat (tee-JER-'at), which is Iran's third-largest bank. Although the U.S. does almost no business with Iranian financial institutions, U.S. sanctions help choke off Iran's access to the international banking system. Iran needs access to that system to get paid for its oil.
Obama has also approved new sanctions on Iran's powerful central bank that take effect later this year.
Obama claims global unity in confronting Iran over its disputed nuclear program, although several of Iran's large trading partners have refused to apply sanctions.
The U.S. claims Iran is preparing to build a bomb; Iran denies it.
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Monday, January 23, 2012
Marshall Fine: Live from Sundance Film Festival 2012: Sunday, Jan. 22
I started my first day at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival mostly thankful to actually be in Park City in time for my first screening of the day.
Then I saw that first movie - That's What She Said - and thought, well, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to be late.
As it was, I felt lucky to be in Park City at all. I flew out of New York on Saturday morning, in a snowstorm, concerned about a day of travel that had me changing planes in Atlanta (thunderstorms) and flying to Salt Lake City (rain, wind and snow in the forecast).
But, while weather caused delays in Atlanta, it wouldn't have mattered if my plane to Salt Lake had been on time - because when I got to the desk for the shuttle van to Park City, I was told that the roads to Park City were closed because blizzards were in the process of dropping two feet of snow on the roads through the canyons, making them impassable.
So, after hanging around the airport until after 10 - and being assured that no vans would be leaving for Park City that night (not true, as it turned out), I found myself a hotel room near the airport, then got up at 6 to try again. And, in the sunlight of Sunday morning, the roads were not only open but the van made the trip to Park City in about 45 minutes. I was able to dump my luggage at the condo I'm sharing, head to festival headquarters to collect my press credential and be in line for a 9:30 a.m. press screening of That's What She Said.
Apparently, the smell of death on this film had long since permeated the festival (which started on Thursday) because, for this Sunday morning press screening, the theater was two-thirds empty - an anomaly at any press screening, to put it mildly. It got emptier in a hurry once the movie started; I clocked walk-outs starting at the 10-minute mark, which was the point at which I mentally decided, "Uh-oh."
I hung in, however, for all but the closing credits, based on the conviction that you can learn as much from a terrible movie as from a good one. And this was a terrible movie from top to bottom, from the writing by actress Kellie Overbey and the direction by actress Carrie Preston to the over-acting by a cast that mostly consisted of Anne Heche, Alia Shawkat and Marcia DeBonis. I tend to blame the actresses less than the director, who could have toned it all down. But then, she thought this was a movie worth making.
It's essentially a play disguised as a movie, in which two female friends - Heche and DeBonis - meet so Heche can help DeBonis get ready for a hot date. Shawkat is a distraught young woman to whom DeBonis' overly empathetic character develops an attachment. It's a movie full of women; the only male character whose face we actually see is a geriatric man who becomes embroiled in a blunt-force slapstick scene in a bathroom, involving a large, runaway vibrator.
Mostly, I kept wondering: Is this really what women think is funny? Jokes about dildos, yeast infections and female masturbation? Personally, I love vulgar humor, when it's funny (a la Bridesmaids or even Bad Teacher). But vulgarity alone doesn't provoke laughter, just sighs of frustration.
So - what did we learn? Mostly that, if you can get a cast of recognizable faces, someone will give you a half-million dollars to make a movie - no matter how horrible.
Or even if you can't find familiar faces. Case in point: The Comedy, one of the films in the dramatic competition. This is the kind of movie that makes you want to grab the selection committee by its collective shoulders, shake it hard and say, "Are you intentionally programming pointless, aimless films that seem like parodies of stereotypical 'Sundance' movies?"
The program notes actually say, "Audience members are forced to question ...whether they should be laughing with it, at it, or not at all." I chose to stop trying to get on director Rick Alverson's tedious wavelength and watching his tubby, random hero and bailed after 40 minutes.
Rodrigo Cortes' Red Lights had the makings of an intriguing paranormal mystery-thriller but Cortes, who wrote and directed the chilling Buried, couldn't crack the third-act problem. His film deals with Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy, as academic debunkers of paranormal hoaxes who may have met their match in a famous blind psychic played by Robert De Niro. But the longer it went on, the less satisfying it became, leading to a finale that felt deflated, rather than explosive.
The day's one bright spot was The First Time, a romantic teen comedy with a deft, light touch by writer-director Jonathan Kasdan, son of Lawrence and brother of Jake.
This commentary continues on my website.
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Follow Marshall Fine on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Marshall Fine
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marshall-fine/live-from-sundance-film-f_b_1223396.html
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Joe Paterno, revered coach tainted by scandal, dies (Reuters)
STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) ? Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football history who was fired in November over a child sexual abuse scandal involving an assistant that rocked America, died on Sunday of lung cancer. He was 85.
Paterno won adoration from fans of the highly successful and profitable Penn State football program and they unleashed invective at the university board of trustees who fired him unceremoniously after 46 years as head coach, tarnishing his outsized legacy.
Equally outraged were his critics and advocates for victims of sexual abuse who faulted Paterno for his relative inaction upon hearing an accusation that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky had sexually abused a young boy in the Penn State football showers in 2002.
Paterno told university officials but not police, opening him to criticism that he protected an accused child molester for nine years.
Sandusky, 67, who has maintained his innocence, faces 52 criminal counts accusing him of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years, using his position as head of a The Second Mile, a charity dedicated to helping troubled children, to find his victims. The court placed him under house arrest.
Waves of mourners descended on a makeshift shrine to Paterno outside the university's Beaver Stadium. They draped an American flag on a statue of Paterno and wrapped its neck with a Penn State scarf.
Sobbing at the statue's feet was Dana Gordon, a 1982 graduate who blamed the school's Board of Trustees for hastening Paterno's death by firing him in a "callous way."
"The way the board treated him took a lot of the fight out of him," Gordon said.
The case raised questions about the measures the university took to protect Sandusky and a football program that Forbes magazine estimated made a profit of $53 million in 2010, especially since accusations against him first surfaced in 1998. At that time a university police detective admonished Sandusky to stop showering naked with boys but stopped short of bringing criminal charges.
One of the biggest scandals in college sports history, it provoked a national discussion about pedophilia in the same way charges involving Roman Catholic priests did years earlier.
The matter also drew impassioned arguments about the balance between protecting the young and the rights of criminal defendants, who are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
"I hope his passing and the controversy surrounding Sandusky will deter other people, especially powerful people, from covering up child sex crimes," said David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a support group.
"Even decades of professional achievement should not obscure dreadfully reckless and callous inaction that results in child sex crimes," Clohessy said.
Sandusky issued a statement sending condolences to the Paterno family that did not mention the investigation.
"Nobody did more for the academic reputation of Penn State than Joe Paterno. He maintained a high standard in a very difficult profession," Sandusky said.
Paterno won a reputation for making sure his players graduated and one of the program's mottos was "Success With Honor."
Paterno's downfall was spectacular. For decades he was a symbol of vitality who patrolled the Penn State sidelines with unchallenged authority, easily recognizable by his thick eyeglasses and jet-black hair that only showed a hint of gray in his later years. His two national championships, in 1982 and 1986, won him enduring loyalty from fans who affectionately called him "JoePa."
In the end, he was confined to a wheelchair upon breaking his hip in a fall one month after being fired, and he wore a wig after losing his hair to chemotherapy, according to the Washington Post, which interviewed Paterno about a week before his death.
Paterno was surrounded by family when he died 9:25 a.m. on Sunday of metastatic small cell carcinoma of the lung, Mount Nittany Medical Center said in a statement.
IMPACT ON CRIMINAL CASE
Paterno's death may not significantly affect the case against Sandusky, but was more likely to weaken the criminal case against two university officials charged with perjury, at least one legal expert said.
Paterno learned of at least one accusation against Sandusky in 2002, when graduate assistant Mike McQueary told Paterno he witnessed Sandusky molesting a boy of about 10 years old in the showers of the Lasch Football Building.
Paterno told university officials but not police, a decision that ultimately led to his downfall.
Paterno, in an interview with the Washington Post published on January 14, said he was uncertain how to handle the matter and trusted the university administration.
Paterno testified before the grand jury that he informed former athletic director Tim Curley about what McQueary told him. About 10 days later, McQueary testified, he was called to a meeting with Curley and university finance official Gary Schultz to discuss what happened.
Curley and Schultz both face perjury charges based on their inaction. Schultz also testified before the grand jury he was aware of the 1998 investigation of Sandusky.
University President Graham Spanier was fired along with Paterno, and Curley and Schultz stepped down.
"If he (Paterno) had known the devastation that this means, he would have reacted differently," said Peter Pelullo, founder of Let Go, Let Peace Come In, a support group helping some of Sandusky's accusers with counseling.
"If there had been an auto accident on the Penn State campus and a kid had been run over, everybody would have called 911. That boy was being crushed at the moment he was in the shower with Sandusky. It's not just Joe Paterno but the rest of the country that didn't understand this," Pelullo said.
Because Paterno was not believed to have witnessed any purported abuse, his testimony would not have been crucial to Sandusky trial, said Paul Callan, a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney.
But his death could set back the criminal case against Curley and Schultz.
"The Confrontation Clause (of the constitution) guarantees that criminal defendants will have the right to confront and cross-examine the witnesses against them at the time of trial," Callan said. "No defense attorneys were present at the grand jury proceedings to do such a cross-examination."
Max Kennerly, a Philadelphia trial lawyer who has followed the case, said Paterno's death was unlikely to alter any civil litigation being contemplated by Sandusky's accusers. If any were considering suing Paterno, they could just name his estate.
"Death doesn't change your status as a party," Kennerly said.
(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson, Barbara Goldberg and Noeleen Walder; Writing by Daniel Trotta and Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
The Smart Way to Play God with Earth's Limited Land
Features | Energy & Sustainability
Can humans grow enough food, produce enough energy and still preserve some of the last refuges of other species--both plant and animal--on the planet?
?| January 20, 2012?|
OIL PALM: Transforming tropical forests into oil palm plantations, as seen here in Indonesia, and other land use changes are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. Image: ? iStockphoto.com / Vaara
Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from Mark Lynas's book, The God Species: Saving the Planet in the Age of Humans.?
The vast majority of the planet?s ice-free land surface ? 83 per cent according to one study (pdf)?? is now influenced by humans in some way or another. Where I live, in the British Isles, no part of the landscape is totally unaltered by people. The Lake District, for example, if left ungrazed by sheep, would revert to dense woodland on all but the highest peaks. Throughout the entire United Kingdom, the only species that have survived into the modern era are those that are able to coexist with human domination of the land: others, from beavers to wolves, have been extirpated entirely.
Human impacts on land may be much greater than is obvious at first sight. Roads, for example, appear to directly affect only a relatively small strip of land, but they also cut ecosystems in half, altering the survival prospects of species living on either side of them. With an estimated 1 million animals killed every day on America?s road network, the effect of this constant removal of predators and prey is felt over much wider areas.?A seminal 2002 study of the ecological effects of a busy four-lane highway in Massachusetts found impacts ? varying from wetland drainage to noise ? across a broad 600-metre corridor. The consequent nationwide effects over the United States? entire 6.2-million-kilometre road network can only be guessed at.
Whilst busy paved roads are a recent phenomenon, general human transformation of the land surface has been accelerating for millennia. The Roman empire deforested large areas around the Mediterranean, contributing to soil erosion and declining fertility. The European continent?s landscape changed dramatically between ad 500, when it was still four-fifths covered by swamp and woodland, and ad 1300, when half of this natural land had already been converted to agriculture. This transformative process fluctuated in lockstep with human population growth: when the Black Death killed a third of Europe?s population in the early fifteenth century, forests stopped their decline and began to regrow. To this day, many of Germany?s most valued ?natural? woodlands owe their existence to the depopulation wrought by the medieval plague.
With so little of the Earth?s land still pristine and unaffected by humans, the idea of the ?wilderness? has less and less meaning in the modern world. Indeed, if pollution and climate change are taken into account, no part of the planet?s surface is any longer truly wild. This does not mean that we must gloomily accept the continuing diminution of semi-wild areas and the erosion of the vital ecosystem services they provide. It does mean though that we need to challenge some orthodoxies that are no longer useful in this new era of near-total human planetary dominance. ?Getting close to nature? or going ?back to the land? will generally not be good for the environment, however psychologically fulfilling these objectives may be to individuals seeking escape from industrial living. Instead, we need to intensify agriculture and other human land uses in existing areas as much as possible, and encourage as an environmental boon the growth of the world?s major cities that already successfully concentrate today?s enormous human population onto only a tiny proportion of the world?s land. The most positive trend of all in allowing us to minimise our impact on the planet?s surface is one more often bemoaned than celebrated: urbanisation.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=137b136b22acec22d5f509e73d6756fe
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Oops
?Uh, it doesn?t surprise me,? he said. ?But it?s, uh, again, the president?s focused more on the next election than on the next generation. Getting this country, uh, dependent on, uh, foreign sources of crude, and on countries that are not our friends is, uh, really problematic. So this Canadian oil, uh, there?s a possibility we could lose it to China, uh, with that decision. So I hope Americans will really become unhinged with that decision, because it is a really bad decision for our country, for energy independence, and, uh, sends a horrible message at a time that we?re headed, uh, to $4 to $5 oil?sorry, $4 to $5 gasoline, uh, to have a neighbor who?s willing to sell us crude that is, uh, available.?
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=ffd3f1009b9b7eb5464b7e5d0d164907
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Rocket with military satellite launches from Florida (Reuters)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) ? An unmanned heavy-lift Delta 4 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday to put a high-speed broadband communications satellite into orbit for the U.S. military.
The 217-foot(66-metre)-long rocket, manufactured by the Boeing-Lockheed Martin partnership United Launch Alliance, lifted off at 7:38 p.m. EST (0038 GMT Friday).
It was the first of 12 launches planned from Cape Canaveral this year.
Perched atop the Delta 4 booster was a $464-million spacecraft, built by Boeing, called the Wideband Global SATCOM 4. It is designed to relay high-resolution video, imagery, communications and other data at significantly faster rates than predecessor spacecraft.
In addition to linking ground troops and command stations, the satellite will be used to route tracking and data streams from unmanned aerial drones.
"This launch will be another important step in advancing communications capabilities for U.S. warfighters and allies around the world," Boeing Vice President Craig Cooning said in a statement before launch.
The 6.5-tonne satellite is expected to be put into service next year supporting troops in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. It joins three other wideband global spacecraft already in orbit.
(Reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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Tomlinson says Jets' turmoil was worst he's seen (AP)
NEW YORK ? LaDainian Tomlinson says the tension between New York Jets players that fractured the locker room this season was "as bad as I've ever been around, honestly."
In an interview with Showtime's "Inside The NFL" airing Wednesday night, the running back says the turmoil started in the third or fourth week and "got out of hand toward the end of the season." Tomlinson adds that quarterback Mark Sanchez and wide receiver Santonio Holmes, in particular, had a rocky relationship.
Holmes was benched during the season finale at Miami after arguing in the huddle with teammates. Tomlinson says the tensions escalated to the point where the players couldn't do anything about it.
He adds that the problems "absolutely" can be fixed, but the Jets need "to make some tough decisions."
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Video: Bill Clinton tackles child obesity
>>> and there's news tonight about one of the key risk factors for type 2 diabetes -- obesity. and tonight, in new numbers just out, the cdc finds about 1 in 3 american adults and 1 in 6 kids and teenagers in this country are heavy enough to be considered to be obese. the good news, if there is any, is that the numbers are holding steady and not going up right now. tonight, our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman rt ros ro reports on how a former president who's been scared straight and almost died for his past habits is doing his part for some of those kids.
>> reporter: with nearly 25 million american children overweight or obese, the war is being waged on frontlines. a major initiative has found its way into school, most in urban districts , changing its menu from frozen to fresh, from sodas to freshly squeezed juices.
>> i don't see a fryer anywhere.
>> oh, no. this is what a kitchen looks like in a school. there are no fryers.
>> reporter: and you might be surprised to learn who is behind it.
>> hi.
>> reporter: former president clinton 's emergency heart surgery several years ago forced him to take a second look, not just at improving his own health but others as well.
>> why do you see the investment in these kids as so important?
>> children need enough foot, the right kind of food to grow and to develop their bodies and their brains. and then if they don't get the right kind, it can slow them down dramatically. when i had all these heart problems , i realized that all of this was totally unexpected when i was growing up. i just decided that we ought to try to do something about it.
>> reporter: so the clinton foundation formed the alliance for a healthier generation. to tackle the child obesity generation with a multifacetted approach that goes beyond what's on the dinner plate. at ps 2 elementary in new jersey, the youngest children take regular breaks to get active.
>> let's warm up.
>> reporter: older ones follow an indoor fitness trail , featuring a variety of different exercises. even teachers get into the act, and it's acatching on.
>> when you grow up, you can be strong, to play basketball and soccer and more sports.
>> if you came back tomorrow without a camera and no notice, you would see the same things you're seeing today. this is in the dna of the school district now.
>> reporter: dr. nancy snyderman , nbc news, west new york , new jersey.
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46032064/
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Holy Endangered Species, Batman! Little Brown Bats Nearly Extinct in Just Six Years [Science]
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Police chiefs to discuss terrorism at White House (AP)
WASHINGTON ? The Obama administration is providing senior state and local police officials with its analysis of homegrown terrorism incidents, including common signs law enforcement can use to identify violent extremists.
The warning signs identified for police include someone joining a group advocating violence, receiving support from a network that plans attacks or seeking out charismatic leaders who encourage violence. The analysis was conducted by the Homeland Security Department, the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center. An overview of the findings was shared with The Associated Press.
The conference Wednesday at the White House marks the first time this unclassified analysis will be presented to 46 senior federal, state and local law enforcement officials, many of whom are police chiefs and sheriffs. The conference will also include sessions on other programs the federal government has for countering violent extremism and a briefing from a deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department about what the city has done on this front.
"Engaging local communities is critical to our nation's effort to counter violent extremism and violent crime, and this meeting brings together many of our partners," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said. Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder and the president's counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, planned to attend the White House conference.
There has been an uptick in attempted attacks by Americans and other legal U.S. residents in the past few years, prompting the Obama administration to place a priority on finding ways to stop this type of violence. The administration rolled out a thin strategy last year that put local communities ? not Washington ? in charge of countering violent extremism in the U.S. That strategy was short on details and did not focus on threats from Islamic extremists.
The White House has encouraged law enforcement to reach out to Muslim communities to build relationships, insisting that these communities are partners in the fight against terrorism. At the same time, the government is trying to develop ways to help local law enforcement detect behavior that could indicate someone is plotting a violent attack. The challenge has been to provide behavioral indicators that indicate the potential for violence rather than religious beliefs or other constitutionally-protected rights.
Analysts from the FBI, Homeland Security Department and National Counterterrorism Center reviewed 62 cases of homegrown violent extremists and found basic similarities. The cases included violent extremists who adhered to a mix of ideologies, including people who ascribed to white supremacist beliefs and people inspired by a violent interpretation of Islam. The analysis is not a psychological profile of a homegrown terrorist, but instead offers similarities among cases that could help local law enforcement better understand and detect threats.
In the 62 cases reviewed, the subjects increasingly spoke out against the government, blamed the government for perceived problems and did so in a way that caught the attention of other people in their communities, according to the senior counterterrorism official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private White House event. Subjects became active on the Internet to espouse extremist views. In some cases, the subjects purchased weapons, ammunition or explosive materials.
Analysts found that a person's origin, ethnic background and socioeconomic status are not good indicators for potential violent extremist activity, the senior counterterrorism official said.
Later this month, a training program for local law enforcement on countering violent extremism will be tested in Southern California, and the government intends to roll out the training to the rest of the country through 2012. Part of the training will focus on understanding constitutionally protected activities so law enforcement can distinguish between illegal acts and free speech. The official said the FBI academy plans to incorporate this training into its programs as well.
The FBI came under fire last year for some controversial training sessions that portrayed Islam as a violent religion.
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Hang Pictures Scratch-Free with Dental Floss [Clever Uses]
If you've ever used picture hanging wire in your life, you know it's prone to scratching up walls and being a bit of a pain to use. To alleviate this problem, home improvement site This Old House recommends using dental floss instead.
Typically, the back of a frame is crossed with a piece of braided wire. This unbraids over time and can scratch up a painted wall if you're not careful. Dental floss is soft, so you don't have to worry about scratching the wall and it's easier to work with since you don't need wire cutters. If you're hanging a heavy frame you can always braid the dental floss together so it holds. Find a few more unusual tips for using dental floss over at This Old House.
10 Uses for Dental Floss | This Old House via Apartment Therapy
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/2e0WoI4WJnw/hang-pictures-easily-with-dental-floss
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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
SOPA Opera: White House Shuts Down Proposed Online Anti-Piracy Bill
News |
Technology
Content providers and users are still far apart on proposed Internet piracy-protection legislation as alternative bill is offered
?| January 17, 2012?|
SINKING DIGITAL PIRACY? The Obama White House has called for a back-to-the-drawing-board approach to clamping down on Internet intellectual-property piracy while preserving free speech.
Image: Image courtesy of PashaIgnatov, via iStockphoto.com
Rather than deliver an ultimatum to those on either side of the debate, the recent White House statement related to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (PIPA) encourages the entertainment and technology industries to work together to find a solution. This call for a back-to-the-drawing-board approach to clamping down on Internet intellectual-property piracy while preserving free speech has many wondering whether lawmakers will simply rework SOPA (pdf) and PIPA (pdf) using different language or if they will take anti-SOPA and anti-PIPA concerns to heart.
The Obama administration is not backing down when it comes to shutting down foreign sites that distribute content illegally. However, the administration's position?articulated by Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and Cyber Security Coordinator Howard Schmidt?also makes it clear that any proposed laws "must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet through manipulation of the domain name system (DNS), a foundation of Internet security." In addition, new legislation must target specific lawbreakers rather than broadly punishing Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors and search engines.
Under SOPA (introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith, R?Tex., in October) and PIPA (by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D?Vt., last May), Congress sought to prevent Internet users from accessing foreign sites with pirated content by having service providers block those sites' domain names. The proposed legislation also threatened to punish any search engine providers, payment network providers and Internet advertising services that continued to support those infringing sites.
SOPA and PIPA's primary supporters are organizations?the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Rupert Murdoch?owned News Corp. among them?that invest heavily in creating movies, television programs and other content that makes its way to the Internet. The legislation's most vocal opponents have included Craigslist, Google, Twitter, Yahoo and Wikipedia?Web-based entities that benefit from this content.
Wikipedia, news-aggregator Reddit and a number of other Web sites are planning to take the English-language version of their sites offline on Wednesday to protest the legislation, even though SOPA and PIPA are likely on their last legs. These sites' reasons for opposing SOPA and PIPA are clear?namely that they would lose access to free content if that content is found to published illegally on the Web. Less clear, however, is how such a blackout would further their goal of stopping such legislation or any related proposals that might follow.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R?Calif.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D?Ore.) have already proposed an alternate bill called the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN) (pdf), which would use international trade law to punish foreign Web sites that infringe U.S. copyrights. The MPAA opposes Issa's bill, saying that it would be "cumbersome" and vows to continue lobbying for SOPA and PIPA, The New York Times reports.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=fa4cbcf79e6d276ae766cc8cf0b97da1
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Complete list of winners for the Golden Globes (AP)
Winners of the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards, announced Sunday in Beverly Hills, Calif.:
MOTION PICTURES
? Picture, Drama: "The Descendants."
? Picture, Musical or Comedy: "The Artist."
? Actor, Drama: George Clooney, "The Descendants."
? Actress, Drama: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady."
? Director: Martin Scorsese, "Hugo."
? Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jean Dujardin, "The Artist."
? Actress, Musical or Comedy: Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn."
? Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners."
? Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, "The Help."
? Foreign Language: "A Separation."
? Animated Film: "The Adventures of Tintin."
? Screenplay: Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris."
? Original Score: Ludovic Bource, "The Artist."
? Original Song: "Masterpiece" (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), "W.E."
TELEVISION
? Series, Drama: "Homeland," Showtime.
? Series, Musical or Comedy: "Modern Family," ABC.
? Actor, Drama: Kelsey Grammer, "Boss."
? Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, "Homeland."
? Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Dern, "Enlightened."
? Actor, Musical or Comedy: Matt LeBlanc, "Episodes."
? Miniseries or Movie: "Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)," PBS.
? Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Kate Winslet, "Mildred Pierce."
? Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Idris Elba, "Luther."
? Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, "American Horror Story."
? Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones."
___
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Morgan Freeman.
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