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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Exclusive Preview: OK Go's New Thousand-Instrument Music Video [Video]
How To Make Money With Real Estate Investing | Magic Money Clip
Investing in property can be a great way to earn some extra cash. The income potential that can come from real estate investing may help someone increase their financial state. When looking at buying and selling property, there are some points to consider, to make the time and effort worth it.
There are several ways to invest in property and real estate. People can buy land that is not built up yet, and hold onto it. Even if the land sits for a few years, it will increase in value. Some people will hold onto a small lot in the city or a large piece of land and wait until it becomes valuable. A valuable piece of land may have builders willing to pay top dollars for it.
Buying condos or houses can be profitable in several ways. A person could buy up new homes and sell them a few months later when their value has gone up. That can be a great way to turn a fast profit. The profit may be just a few thousand dollars but can add up when more than one house is bought.
Another way to make a profit is to buy a home and rent it out. The renter can pay for the mortgage and keep it going until the value has gone up substantially. Once the market is in favor to sell, the investor can make a great deal of money.
Whether someone buys a new or resale home, there is always an optimal time to sell it. Older homes can be flipped by renting them out for a period of time, or by fixing them up. New homes typically increase in value as soon as they are bought.
Flipping a resale home could involve fixing it up. A buyer can look for a house that is in poor condition and purchase it for a cheap price. The cheap price can allow someone to put money into minimal projects to get the house up to par with others in the area. Renovations can be made in a cheap way to maximize the money that can be made.
Buyers do not have to put in the best of flooring, paint or hardware to make a home look presentable. Renovations can also be done by cheaper contractors or by family or friends. Once a listing looks good, the buyer can then ask for market value. There may be some inexpensive ways to make a house look great without having to spend lots of cash. Homes that can be flipped may come from repossessions or could come from a family that simply needs to sell fast.
Real estate investing can help someone make more money. It can be a nice way to increase a yearly income or it can serve as an income. Some people will look for homes to flip in order to make a profit. New houses or condos can be purchased and sold right away to earn some extra dollars. There are several ways to buy open land and real estate in order to increase someone?s earning potential.
Source: http://www.magicmoneyclip.com/2012/01/29/how-to-make-money-with-real-estate-investing/
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Monday, January 30, 2012
Allmendinger leads Michael Shank Racing to win (AP)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ? NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger earned his first major victory in almost six years by closing out the Rolex 24 at Daytona for Michael Shank Racing.
Allmendinger drove the final stint in the No. 60 Ford Riley, spending almost three hours behind the wheel at the end of the twice-around-the-clock endurance race. His team included IndyCar driver Justin Wilson, and Grand-Am regulars Ozz Negri Jr. and John Pew.
Ryan Dalziel was at the wheel for Starworks Motorsports' second-place finish, and Felipe Nasar was driving for Shank when he crossed the line in third. Ford swept the top three spots of the Daytona Prototype class.
The vaunted teams from Chip Ganassi Racing finished fourth and sixth after both cars had mechanical issues.
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Myanmar's Suu Kyi calls for changes to constitution (Reuters)
DAWEI, Myanmar (Reuters) ? Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on Sunday for changes to the military-drafted constitution in her first political trip since ending a boycott of the country's political system last year and announcing plans to run for parliament.
Thousands of people lined the roads shouting "Long live mother Suu" as her motorcade moved through the rural coastal region of Dawei about 615 km (380 miles) south of her home city,
Yangon, the main business centre.
The trip, only her fourth outside Yangon since her release from years of house arrest in November 2010, demonstrates the increasingly central role of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate as the Southeast Asian state emerges from half a century of isolation.
"There are certain laws which are obstacles to the freedom of the people and we will strive to abolish these laws within the framework of the parliament," Suu Kyi said to cheers from supporters after meeting officials of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in Dawei.
The NLD, though well known in the country, has had limited real political experience. It won by a landslide a 1990 election, a year after Suu Kyi began a lengthy period of incarceration, but the then regime ignored the result and detained many party members and supporters.
The NLD boycotted the next election, held in 2010 and won by a military-backed party after opposition complaints of rigging.
Her address on Sunday offered the most extensive detail yet of the policies she would bring to parliament.
In particular, she said she wanted to revise a 2008 army-drafted constitution that gives the military wide-ranging powers, including the ability to appoint key cabinet members, take control of the country in a state of emergency and occupy a quarter of the seats in parliament.
"We need to amend certain parts of the constitution," she said, adding the international community was poised to help Myanmar "once we are on an irreversible road to democracy."
She also said fighting between government soldiers and ethnic minority rebels had to be resolved. There has been heavy fighting recently in Kachin state but rebellions have simmered in many other regions since independence from Britain in 1948.
"Diversity is not something to be afraid of, it can be enjoyed," Suu Kyi said.
Although she has not started to campaign formally for the April 1 by-elections, the speech outside her office to supporters waving party flags and wearing T-shirts showing her face felt like a campaign stop.
"She's becoming more and more explicitly political and talking about the importance of policies," said a diplomat in the crowd. "I think it is the best speech I have heard from her."
"GREAT TRANSFORMATION"
Suu Kyi and her allies are contesting 48 seats in various legislatures including the 440-seat lower house in by-elections that could give political credibility to Myanmar and help advance the end of Western sanctions.
Business executives, mostly from Asia, have swarmed into Yangon in recent weeks to hunt for investment opportunities in the country of an estimated 60 million people, one of the last frontier markets in Asia.
Myanmar is also at the centre of a struggle for strategic influence as the United States sees a chance to expand its ties there and balance China's fast-growing economic and political sway in the region.
The visit to Dawei gives rural voters a rare glimpse of 66-year-old Suu Kyi, a symbol of defiance whose past trips outside Yangon were met with suspicion and violence by the former junta, which handed power to a nominally civilian parliament in March.
But many of the same generals who dominated the junta now lead a government on a dramatic reform drive, freeing hundreds of political prisoners, loosening media controls, calling for peace with ethnic insurgents and openly engaging with Suu Kyi and other opposition figures.
As a result, this trip was very different to one last July to Bagan, north of Yangon, where she was trailed by undercover police and kept a low profile, fearful of a repeat of an attack on her motorcade in 2003 in which 70 supporters were killed.
Suu Kyi told the World Economic Forum in Davos last week that Myanmar had not yet reached its "great transformation," but the elections in April could bring that point closer.
Many believe the turning point for Suu Kyi came on August 19, when she and President Thein Sein met in the capital, Naypyitaw. The president has since repeatedly urged parliament to pursue reforms, while Suu Kyi has voiced support for his government.
Many Burmese speculate that a senior government role, possibly even a cabinet post, awaits Suu Kyi, the daughter of assassinated independence hero General Aung San.
But to get there, much work lies ahead.
Her party has limited resources. Its headquarters are cramped and crumbling. Its senior ranks are filled with ageing activists. And there are questions over how much influence it can wield in a year-old parliament stacked with military appointees and former generals.
Her supporters, however, say her presence would bring a powerful pro-democracy voice to a chamber where many members remain reluctant to speak their mind.
"She will be able to do more inside the parliament than if she remained on the outside. There are some crucial things to do urgently concerning ethnic issues and political changes," said Ko Htin Kyaw, a dissident who was arrested in 2007 and freed in an amnesty this month.
(Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Can Newt Gingrich Regain Momentum with Cain Endorsement? (ContributorNetwork)
COMMENTARY | According to Reuters, former Republican candidate Herman Cain has endorsed former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich for the GOP nomination for president.
While Gingrich's surge in Florida has tapered off ahead of the state's highly anticipated Republican primary, the endorsement of dark horse phenom Cain might provide a much-needed second wind. Cain was the original come-from-behind surge king, with legions of self-proclaimed "Cainiacs" touting his "9-9-9" tax plan and allying themselves with his "nonpolitician" image.
Cain, known for his days as the CEO of Godfather's Pizza, argued his business savvy made him the candidate to support as the Great Recession kept unemployment frustratingly high and sapped economic growth. His rapid undoing came in the form of multiple allegations of extramarital affairs, which crippled his surprisingly high poll numbers.
While critics and comedians might point out the coincidence of an accused philanderer endorsing an admitted philanderer for president, many Cain supporters who have shifted listlessly among the remaining Republican candidates might sweep toward Gingrich's campaign in droves after this endorsement.
Just how much support Gingrich might garner from Cain's endorsement is difficult to ascertain. Cain was the first Republican candidate to drop from the race, meaning many of his supporters have since scattered to the wind and taken shelter with supporters of many other candidates, some of whom have also abandoned the primary. Any Cainiacs who threw their support to Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann or Jon Huntsman are now looking for their third candidate.
The number of remaining Cainiacs might be disguised by the several months that have intervened between his candidacy and the Florida primary. Will they heed the call of their guru? Have they lost the faith, or will they trust Cain's choice of successor?
I think Cain's endorsement could be a game-changer, but if you would like to disagree we can argue about it over a slice of Godfather's Pizza .
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Mitt Romney picks up Jon Voight?s endorsement?and jokes about Angelina Jolie (The Ticket)
(Charles Dharapak/AP)
PENSACOLA, Fla.?The run-up to Florida's Republican presidential primary has already been weird, thanks in part to an extended debate over whether there should be a colony on the Moon. And on Saturday, it got a little weirder.
Stumping at a seafood restaurant here along the Gulf coast, Mitt Romney picked up the endorsement of actor Jon Voight, the star of "Midnight Cowboy" who is perhaps best known these days as the father of actress Angelina Jolie. The actor has long been active in Republican politics, stumping for Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign in 2008 and traveling with Mike Huckabee to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year.
Voight told the crowd he was backing Romney because he was "strong" and "honest." He declared President Obama had "decided to follow his father's footsteps and take us to socialism."
The actor said Newt Gingrich "fell short" of being able to take on Obama. "We cannot afford another four years of rhetoric," Voight said.
While Jolie's name wasn't mentioned on the stump, Romney did manage to sneak in a reference to the actress's wild child reputation.
Explaining to the audience that he wasn't sure how to "chit chat with a famous actor" when he phoned Voight to ask for his support, Romney said he decided to talk about his kids.
"I started talking about my five boys," the candidate explained. "I said, you know, it's easier to raise boys than girls. Well, after a long pause, he says, 'Tell me about it.'"
The line got a huge laugh from the? crowd of several hundred people who turned out to see Romney stump with Voight, as well as Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Sen. John McCain, who entertained the crowd with his own stand-up routine while introducing Romney.
The Arizona senator, who trained as a pilot at the naval base in Pensacola, joked that the money he spent as a young bachelor in the city had single-handedly kept the city's economy alive. And, in a repeat of a line he often repeated on the presidential campaign trail here four years ago, McCain joked about Zsa Zsa Gabor's sex life.
Noting the other dignitaries on hand, McCain said, "I feel a bit like Zsa Zsa Gabor's fifth husband. I know what I'm supposed to do, but I don't know how to make it interesting."
A few feet away, Romney let out an awkward giggle.
"I thought we only brought one actor and comedian here today," Romney told McCain when it was his turn at the mic. "Gosh, that was quite a repartee there, senator. That was fabulous."
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Handy with a camera? Join our?Election 2012 Flickr group to submit your photos of the campaign in action.
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Tight-fisted mortgage lenders pressure home sales
By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer
Home prices have fallen by a third since 2006, creating tremendous bargains for home buyers. Mortgage rates are at rock-bottom lows, making houses more affordable than they have been in decades. Yet home sales last year fell to the lowest levels since the government began keeping records in 1963.
One big reason: mortgage bankers have gotten a lot choosier about approving loans, according to a report by Goldman Sachs economists Hui Shan and Jari Stehn. By some measures, they're pickier than they were before the housing boom took off.?
With anecdotal evidence showing that home mortgages are harder to get, the economists crunched Federal Reserve data to show just how much tighter lending standards have become. Using the results of the Fed's survey of loan officers, the report found that lending standards rose sharply after the mortgage market collapsed and the financial system imploded in 2008. Since the recession ended in 2009, lenders haven?t eased their tight grip on mortgage money.
Part of the reason is that there?s less money available to lend. During the housing boom, as brokers produced a flood of new mortgages, Wall Street bankers churned out a torrent of mortgage-backed bonds for investors waiting to snap them up. That market has all but vanished; 90 percent of new mortgages written today are backed by the government. ??
The new mortgage pipeline also has slowed because it is clogged with paperwork. These days, you?ll have to fill out many more forms and produce a lot more documentation, on average, just to get your loan considered.
The percent of loans that required ?full documentation? declined steadily from 2000 through 2006, hitting a low of less than 60 percent. Those ?no-doc? loans were a big part of the reason mortgage bankers made the bad underwriting decisions that created the mortgage mess. Today, nearly 90 percent of mortgage applications require full documentation. That?s much higher than the pre-bubble level.
You?ll also have to show a much higher credit score than you did in the go-go days of the housing boom. In a separate report, Mortgage Marvel, an online mortgage-shopping website, analyzed data from more than 700,000 mortgage applications filed last year and found that the average FICO score was 730. That?s a significant jump from the days when borrowers with scores in the high 500s were routinely steered to high-cost subprime loans.
Applications with highest credit scores concentrated in California, Oregon, Wisconsin, District of Columbia and Hawaii, the company said. The states with the lowest credit scores were Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia, Louisiana? and Oklahoma.
Have you had trouble getting a mortgage approved?
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Obama officials back bill to hit China subsidies (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama's administration is pressing Congress to restore an important weapon in the U.S. arsenal against subsidized imports from China by quickly passing legislation to undo a recent federal appellate court ruling.
"This matter is of the utmost urgency," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Commerce Secretary John Bryson said in one of several letters they sent to members of Congress. It was dated January 18 and obtained by Reuters on Friday.
"Absent legislation, should the (court) decision become final, Commerce will be required to revoke all CVD orders and terminate all CVD proceedings involving non-market economies," the cabinet officials said.
That list includes "24 existing CVD orders on imports from China and Vietnam, as well as five pending investigations and two recently filed petitions," Bryson and Kirk said.
The ruling could require the Commerce Department to lift or deny duties on some $4.7 billion worth of subsidized imports, mostly from China, they said.
The December 19 court ruling originally was due to take effect shortly after Feb 2. However, the court this week gave the Commerce Department an extension until March 5.
On Wednesday, House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp said he was prepared to move quickly on a "narrowly targeted" bill to ensure the Commerce Department can impose countervailing duties on "non-market economies" like China and Vietnam.
(Reporting By Doug Palmer; Editing by Vicki Allen)
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Virus outbreak in Riverside, Orange counties worries horse owners
An outbreak of a deadly virus has horse trainers and owners in Riverside and Orange counties fearful for the health of their animals.
On Tuesday, a horse at the Empire Polo Club in Indio was euthanized because of complications from equine herpes virus-1. At Rancho Sierra Vista in San Juan Capistrano, 16 cases of the disease have been identified since Jan. 11 and one horse had to be euthanized.
Both sites have been placed under quarantine by state veterinarians. No horses are allowed to leave or enter, and caretakers must take sanitary precautions.
EHV-1 causes cold-like symptoms and a high fever, then progresses to inflammation of blood vessels in the spinal cord and brain, resulting in muscle weakness and, in severe cases, paralysis of the hind limbs. The prognosis is usually good for horses that can remain standing but very poor for those that can't. Some horses can carry the virus without getting sick, while others can die in as little as 24 hours.
The disease, which is spread by close contact and contaminated equipment, sent equestrians into a flurry last May, when it spread from an event in Utah to nine other states, including California.
Managers at Rancho Sierra Vista declined to comment about the outbreak, but David Provence, a manager at Sycamore Trails Stables next door, said his facility canceled a show last weekend because of the outbreak.
"Nobody would want to come to a horse show with that disease that close by," he said.
Provence is worried that the horses at his stable could get the virus, which has an incubation period of about two to 10 days. "Luckily, so far no one has shown any symptoms," he said. "It's still a knocking-on-wood type of deal."
The polo club has suspended all events, and state animal health officials put the club, stables and surrounding horse properties under a 21-day quarantine.
In the nearby town of Thermal, a weeks-long international hunter-jumper show sponsored by Horse Shows in the Sun has not been affected, said office manager Amanda Lambert.
"We're totally clean here, and we've been in constant contact with" the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she said. Organizers have, however, have instituted several sanitary precautions.
Patricia Aiken, owner of Dressage Getaway Inc., has been monitoring state updates since the death of the horse at the polo grounds. Aiken has a 27-acre ranch near the grounds and is holding a three-day dressage competition next month at the Thermal show grounds. If officials quarantine the area, she will be forced to cancel the prestigious event.
"All of my life I've been into horses and never had this situation happened before," Aiken said.
Cindy Hale of Norco, where the town motto is "Horsetown USA," said she is taking no chances with her two horses, Wally and Danny, even though she lives miles away from either outbreak. Now she prefers to ride alone rather than in groups. "You always have to be a little bit vigilant," she said.
Hale, who is also a contributing editor for Horse Illustrated magazine, said she is concerned because of how horses are kept in Southern California, especially at the big equestrian centers.
"Horses are in corrals and stalls side by side," she said. "It's very easy for disease to spread."
nicole.santacruz@latimes.com
ruben.vives@latimes.com
Los Angeles Times staff writer Phil Willon contributed to this report.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Sajak: Vanna and I drank between 'Wheel' tapings (AP)
NEW YORK ? The "Wheel of Fortune" wasn't the only thing spinning for Pat Sajak and Vanna White back in the day.
Sajak said in an interview on ESPN2 this week that the long-time game show team would occasionally walk over to a restaurant for "two or three or six" margaritas during a break in taping early "Wheel of Fortune" shows in California. Sajak has hosted the show since 1981; White joined him a year later.
Sajak recalled the margarita stops after answering "yes" to a question about whether he had ever hosted the show "a little bit drunk."
Although he joked that he had "trouble recognizing the alphabet" for shows taped after the drinks, no one ever said anything to them.
Now that he's older, Sajak said he couldn't do that anymore.
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Pat Sajak Admits to Hosting Wheel of Fortune Drunk (omg!)
Can we buy a vowel ... err a shot of vodka?
Longtime Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak says he used to host the popular game show drunk. "When I first started and was much younger and could tolerate those things," Sajak tells Dan Le Batard of "Dan Le Batard is Highly Questionable." "We had a different show then."
Watch videos of Pat Sajak
The 65-year-old, who has hosted Wheel of Fortune since 1981, says he and right-hand woman Vanna White used to go to a local Mexican restaurant in Burbank during their two-and-a-half hour dinner breaks. That break gave the duo more than enough time to knock a couple margaritas back before the night tapings. "Vanna and I would go across and have two or three or six and then come and do the last shows and have trouble recognizing the alphabet. They're really great tapes to get a hold of," Sajak said. "I had a great time. I have no idea if the shows were any good, but no one said anything, so I guess I did OK."
Unfortunately, margaritas ? or any sort of alcohol for that matter ? no longer play a part in Sajak's hosting routine. "I would be hesitant to have anything to drink now," he said. What a ?_arty ?_oo_er.
Watch Sajak's interview here:
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Crude price rises on promise of low interest rates (AP)
NEW YORK ? Benchmark oil prices rose Wednesday afternoon, briefly topping $100 per barrel, after the Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates at record lows for a year longer than expected.
The Fed's plan allows consumers and business to continue to borrow money cheaply in the U.S., which should help boost the economy of the world's largest oil consumer. The central bank, which has kept its benchmark interest rate near zero for three years, said it doesn't plan to raise the rate before late 2014.
"They're telling investors `Hey, there's a lot of uncertainty in this world, but the one thing you can count on is that we're going to keep interest rates low,'" PFG Best analyst Phil Flynn said. That kind of promise should spark more expansion among American businesses "and that will hopefully encourage more energy demand."
Benchmark crude on Wednesday rose by 45 cents to finish at $99.40 per barrel in New York. At one point it was as high as $100.40. Brent crude fell 22 cents to end at $110.21 per barrel in London.
Major stock indices also rose in afternoon trading following the Fed statement.
Earlier in the day, the Energy Department said the nation's crude supplies increased by 3.6 million barrels last week, far more than analysts expected. Demand for oil dropped by about 4 percent. Gasoline demand was down as well, with the four-week average 6.4 percent below year-ago levels.
Supplies of gasoline and distillates, which include diesel fuel, dropped as refineries slowed operations in the face of slack demand.
Meanwhile, Iran ratcheted up tensions in the Persian Gulf with threats to halt oil sales to Europe.
Iran, the world's third-largest oil exporter, has been engaged in a lengthy dustup with Western nations over its secretive nuclear program, which may be developing a nuclear bomb. The European Union recently announced plans to embargo Iranian oil this summer. Iran now threatens to cut oil off to Europe sooner than that. EU nations account for about 18 percent of Iran's oil sales, and Iranian lawmakers think stopping oil sales to Europe would hurt those nations more than it would Iran.
Natural gas prices continued to rebound from recent 10-year lows, rising 17 cents, or nearly 7 percent, to finish at $2.73 per 1,000 cubic feet on Wednesday. Prices are being pushed up by forecasts for cooler winter temperatures across much of the country, closer to average for this time of year. The mild winter thus far has slowed demand for natural gas to heat homes.
Gasoline pump prices in the U.S. were flat on Wednesday at a national average of $3.38 per gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's about the same as a week ago, 15 cents higher than a month ago and 27 cents more than a year ago.
In other energy trading heating oil was virtually unchanged at $3.02 a gallon and gasoline futures rose by 3 cents to end at $2.83 a gallon.
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Fed says no rate hikes until at least late 2014 (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it will not raise interest rates until at least late 2014, even later than investors expected, in an effort to support a sluggish economic recovery.
Without making major shifts to its outlook for the economy, the central bank described the unemployment rate as still elevated and said it expects inflation to remain at levels consistent with stable prices.
It depicted business investment as having slowed, dowgrading its assessment from the December meeting.
Economic conditions "are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014," the central bank said in a statement.
Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, an inflation hawk who rotated into a voting seat this year, dissented against the decision. He preferred to omit the description of the time period for ultra-low rates.
As part of an effort to provide more insight on its thinking to financial markets and the public, the Fed later on Wednesday will begin publishing individual policymakers' projections for the appropriate path of the benchmark federal funds rate. That release is scheduled for 2 p.m. (1900 GMT)
If the Fed can convince financial markets it will be on hold longer than they had anticipated, long-term interest rates could drop as investors price in the new information.
"A significant contingent of the committee views this exercise not so much as a process improvement but more as an opportunity to ease again via the forward rate communications channel," Stephen Stanley, an economist at Pierpoint Securities, said ahead of the Fed's announcement.
There is also the possibility that officials will announce an explicit inflation target, perhaps a hard marker of 2 percent or a range of 2 percent or a bit below. The Fed has been debating a statement on its long-run goals, but whether one will be released on Wednesday is unclear.
While forecasters expect the U.S. economy grew at a 3 percent annual rate in the last three months of 2011, they look for growth of just around 2 percent this year.
Fed officials appear likely to bide their time in determining whether more monetary stimulus is needed. Many economists expect they will eventually decide on another spurt of Fed bond buying - probably one focused on mortgage debt.
In response to the deepest recession in generations, the Fed slashed the overnight federal funds rate to near zero in December 2008. It has also more than tripled the size of its balance sheet to around $2.9 trillion through two separate bond purchase programs.
The policy is credited with having prevented an even more devastating downturn, but it has been insufficient to bring unemployment down to levels considered normal during good economic times.
In December, the U.S. jobless rate stood at 8.5 percent, and some 13 million Americans were still actively looking for work but could not find it.
Analysts said the Fed's shift in communications will put an even greater emphasis on a post-meeting news conference by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke set for 2:15 p.m. (1915 GMT).
"The chairman is likely to remain non-committal to any additional policy easing, but he is likely to reinforce the Fed's commitment to 'review the size and composition of its securities holdings' and be 'prepared to adjust those holdings as appropriate,'" said Millan Mulraine, senior macro strategist at TD Securities.
(Editing by Tim Ahmann and Andrea Ricci)
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Is Boateng hurt because of too much sex?
AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng is injured again ? on the bench for up to a month due to a thigh injury during Saturday?s 1-0 loss to Inter. And his ever-so-helpful girlfriend, Melissa Satta, thinks she knows why Boateng is on the injury list so often.
?The reason why he is always injured is because we have sex 7-10 times a week,? the 25-year-old told Vanity Fair.
Wait, in Italy, isn?t 7-10 times a week considered too little sex?
AC Milan have not commented on the matter, but they did issue a statement to validate his injury.
A statement from the Rossoneri read: ?Boateng has sustained a muscular lesion in his left thigh and the estimated time of recovery is around four weeks, unless there are complications.?
Boateng, of German and Ghanaian descent, played for Ghana in the 2010 World Cup, but retired from international soccer last year due to ?the physical demands.?
***
Sex and the Prince ? Boateng knocked out [SuperSport]
AC Milan?s Kevin-Prince Boateng is always injured because we have sex 10 times a week, claims Melissa Satta [Goal.com]
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Neil Young journeys to Utah with new concert film (AP)
PARK CITY, Utah ? Neil Young recalls how his first concert film with director Jonathan Demme was a lush, stately tribute to country music.
He says their latest, "Neil Young Journeys," is more like an electric bolt, with a "grinding, blinding beauty to it."
Their 2006 film "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was a reflective, comforting chronicle of two shows Young performed at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium alongside such longtime musical comrades as Emmylou Harris, Ben Keith and Spooner Oldham.
"Journeys" is a raw, thunderous counterpart, filmed by Demme at Toronto's Massey Hall during the closing shows of Young's solo tour last year. Solo often implies intimate and acoustic, but Young wails away on electric guitar, harmonica, piano and organ throughout the show.
The new film played Saturday at the Slamdance Film Festival, a rival showcase to Sundance. Demme says it was a fitting place because both Slamdance and the film share something of a "bad-boy" attitude.
"'Journeys' is so different from `Heart of Gold.' It's like the other side of the universe," Young, 66, said in an interview alongside Demme. "'Heart of Gold' was a massive production with great caretaking to present this whole image of this forgotten style of presenting music, in this great old chapel of country music. ...
"This film we just made is so opposite of that. It's just one person. The sound is completely different and the attitude of it is different. The look is different. ... The sounds are kind of enveloping. You get to move way inside, whereas, `Heart of Gold,' you're way back, going, `Oh, it's beautiful seeing it from the back, seeing all these beautiful people, these great musicians.' And this one here, you're like inside my instrument, inside the distortion of the guitar. There's nothing in the way."
Demme and Young seem to be on a never-ending film journey. The new movie marks the fourth film collaboration between Young and Demme, the Academy Award-winning director of "The Silence of the Lambs."
Young earned an Oscar nomination for the title song of Demme's 1993 AIDS drama "Philadelphia," and in between "Heart of Gold" and "Journeys," the two made the 2009 concert film "Neil Young Trunk Show."
"Journeys" premiered at last September's Toronto International Film Festival and has since been picked up for theatrical distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.
The film includes extreme close-ups of Young captured by a tiny camera mounted on his microphone. The camera was so close its lens catches globs of spit from Young as he's singing, adding a bit of a psychedelic tinge to the images.
"It's more distorted and funky. It's a little bit more in your face," Young said. "It's like zooming in on something, losing everything that's usually around it, and you're just losing everything else. There's no bass, no drums, there's no other guitars, there's no other voices, there's no synthesizers, there's no echo. There's just this thing. It's a big sound, because you're right up on it. It's like a fantastic voyage into your guitars."
Along with songs from Young's 2010 album "Le Noise," "Journeys" features such classics as "After the Gold Rush," "Ohio" and "Down by the River."
Intercut between the songs in "Journeys" is a road trip Young takes to one of the Toronto shows from his northern Ontario hometown of Omemee, cruising with Demme in a 1956 Ford Crown Victoria and commenting on how the towns and landscape have changed.
"This whole world of cars and music, that's a big chunk of Neil's DNA. He's all about cars and driving and music in motion," Demme said. "I don't think we had any discussions. It was just like, well, we're going to Canada to shoot the concert in Toronto. Obviously, we'll drive down there from Omemee and take a look and see what's changed, and kind of just discover the past in the present. The same way the songs are very often kind of reflective. ...
"It put a lens up to his life. He's a medium for all of our lives. Certainly, our generation, whatever Neil's been singing about for the last 40 years or whatever, it's like, `Thank you. That's exactly what I was feeling. You've put it into words and music.'"
___
Online:
http://www.slamdance.com
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Megaupload Bust Causes Cyberlocker Panic ? But It?s Only Temporary
Oh god! Megaupload has fallen and its brethren are dropping like flies! The age of the cyberlocker is passing. No longer will we be able to host a large file somewhere for free and have someone else download it. Actually, it's not quite so dire, but it's true that a number of major file hosts have either shut down, closed part of their service, or changed the way they operate. It's not the first time that file-sharing tools have received a shock to the system, though, and this little contraction is less the end of an era and more a winnowing of the herd. That's a good thing.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/3QekEunCPbM/
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Monday, January 23, 2012
Another side of Ai Weiwei shown in Sundance film (Reuters)
PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) ? A new documentary film offers a glimpse into the life of Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, conveying a creative, brave, yet humble man who has become more cautious following his 81-day government detention in 2011.
"Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry," which premiered at the Sundance film festival on Sunday, features interviews China's leading artists and activists and people who surround Ai in is life.
It includes footage that humanizes the man, showing suprising tears from his mother worried about his safety, the artist playing with his young son, and highlights from his projects such as a poor response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
Ai, who was named the world's most powerful artist by U.K-based ArtReview magazine in October since his release, appears in interviews only before his detention, but not after his release.
The 54-year-old bearded, burly Chinese artist wanted to attend the Sundance screening "but felt it was just going to invite too much trouble," the film's director Alison Klayman told the audience after a standing ovation in Park City, Utah, where the festival takes place.
Ai became a symbol for China's crackdown on artists and dissidents when his disappearance and secret detention after battling Chinese authorities sparked an international outcry.
Last November he paid a bond of 8.4 million yuan (then $1.3 million) on a tax evasion charge, which he denies, while his supporters continued to raise the full, combined bill of 15 million yuan (then $2.4 million.)
Klayman spent several years chronicling his rise to prominence and told the audience she believed the detention of the artist, which became a rallying point for China's free speech and other movements, had changed him.
"There was absolutely a change. I really think about it as: there was the time before the detention and there was the time after," she said. "The big thing is that he is constantly changing, he always has been, so I don't know where it is going to end up."
INSIGHT INTO AI
The film offers audiences some insight into Ai's childhood, family, formative time spent living for years in New York and his reasons for often criticizing China's government, which is expressed in many of his contemporary works.
"If you don't act, the danger becomes stronger," says Ai, who had a hand in designing the Bird's Nest stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and has had installations at some of the world's major museums including London's Tate Modern Gallery.
"Never Sorry" shows his efforts gathering and listing more than 5,000 names of students who died in the Sichuan earthquake,
pointing to shoddy school construction and claiming that he was punched in the head by police in Sichuan's capital Chengdu.
But it also offers glimpses of a loving father and stoic son rarely publicly separated from his art and activism.
"Every night I can't sleep," his mother, Gao Ying, says to him in the film before breaking down in tears because she is worried she will not see him again.
"We'll endure what we can," he answers calmly, before later calling himself "an eternal optimist."
Klayman, who doubted there would be a public screening of the film in China, told the audience it was clear that being a father had altered Ai's life, too, along with detention.
He seems more careful, she said, when talking about footage in the documentary showing that upon his release, Ai uncharacteristically speaks little to reporters.
"He does have to be a lot more cautious. If this was a year ago he would be here," said Klayman.
(Reporting By Christine Kearney; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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US Pacific Fleet gets new leader; admiral retires
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii?? A new leader took over at the U.S. Pacific Fleet on Friday as Adm. Cecil Haney, former deputy of the U.S. Strategic Command, replaced Adm. Patrick Walsh, who is retiring.
Haney, a former submarine squadron commander, told about 900 people at the change-of-command ceremony that he plans to build on the foundation Walsh nurtured as he takes over the helm in an area that stretches from the U.S. West Coast to the Indian Ocean.
Haney said he will work with the other military services to support U.S. Pacific Command to enhance "maritime security and freedom of the seas with the talented men and women of Pacific Fleet and our allies and partners," according to a Pacific Fleet news release.
He comes to Hawaii from Nebraska, where the Strategic Command is located at an air base outside Omaha. The Strategic Command has responsibility for the nation's nuclear forces, including long-range missiles carried aboard submarines and bombers, and land-based missiles capable of striking around the globe.
Haney is taking over Pacific Fleet at a time when the military faces looming budget cuts yet the U.S. seeks to boost its security focus on the region.
Walsh, speaking at the ceremony, warned that other nations are gauging U.S. commitment.
"They are watching with keen interest the effect of the U.S. economic challenges, the strain of more than a decade of war on the Navy's ability to remain forward, to remain engaged and ready," he said.
Walsh said he was sure the Navy would overcome these challenges.
"We have faced austere economic cycles in the past," Walsh said. "And while the American public has kept faith with the Navy, they have not changed their view of our mission or their expectations of our response to crisis conditions."
Earlier this month, the Obama administration unveiled a new defense strategy that seeks to enhance the U.S. presence in Asia because of the region's economic importance and China's rise as a military power.
The Pacific Fleet includes 180 ships, nearly 2,000 aircraft and 125,000 sailors, Marines and civilians. The command stretches from the U.S. West Coast to the Indian Ocean.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46078900/ns/us_news/
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Egypt army pardons 1,959 detainees, prominent activist (Reuters)
CAIRO (Reuters) ? Egypt's military ruler has pardoned 1,959 people convicted by military courts in the year since President Hosni Mubarak's ouster, including activist Michael Nabil whose hunger strike had brought him close to death.
The state Al Nil television channel said the convicts had been pardoned by Hussein Tantawi, head of the military council that has ruled Egypt since Mubarak's removal in February 2011 in the midst of the Arab Spring protests that swept the region.
The pardon comes just four days before the first anniversary of the 18-day Egyptian uprising which began on January 25, though it was not clear if any of the detainees had yet been released.
Nabil, jailed by a military court for defaming the army, had his prison term reduced to two years from three in December following criticism from international human rights groups.
The 25-year-old was arrested in March and began a hunger strike to protest against his conviction for posting remarks saying the army had tried to quell the uprising against Mubarak.
The generals now ruling Egypt say the army took no part in a police crackdown on protesters and have pledged to hand over to civilian rule by June.
Activists say Nabil's case highlights the Egyptian army's heavy-handed approach to dissenters who criticize its top generals for using tactics reminiscent of Mubarak's regime.
"We can only say the revolution has succeeded when they release all activists, besides Michael, who are still being held in military courts and retry all civilians who have been prosecuted by courts they shouldn't have been prosecuted by," Nabil's brother Mark told Reuters.
No To Military Trials, a pressure group set up after the uprising, says at least 12,000 cases have come before the military courts since February. The group says sentences are often handed out swiftly behind closed doors and without proper legal representation.
It is not clear exactly how many activists and protesters convicted by military courts in the past year remain in jail.
The pardon comes as youth groups plan to hold major demonstrations to mark the anniversary of a revolt they say will not be complete until the generals hand power to civilians.
"The family has only received word of the decree but Michael is still in custody and they are waiting to hear of his movements," Mark Nabil said.
"The revolution must continue as long as any civilian is still being held unjustly in a military prison."
(Reporting by Lin Noueihed and Dina Zayed; editing by Myra MacDonald)
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Video: Chris Christie on ?Meet the Press?
A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/46090673#46090673
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Suddenly 'neck and neck' ? Romney, Gingrich in SC (AP)
CHARLESTON, S.C. ? On the eve of a Southern showdown, Mitt Romney conceded Friday he's in a tight race with Newt Gingrich for Saturday's South Carolina primary in a Republican campaign suddenly turned turbulent.
It's "neck and neck," Romney declared, while a third presidential contender, former Sen. Rick Santorum, swiped at both men in hopes of springing yet another campaign surprise.
Several days after forecasting a Romney victory in his state, Sen. Jim DeMint said the campaign's first Southern primary was now a two-man race between the former Massachusetts governor, who has struggled in recent days with questions about his personal wealth and taxes, and Gingrich, the former House speaker who has been surging in polls after a pair of well-received debate performances.
The stakes were high as Republicans sought a challenger to Democratic President Barack Obama. Television advertising by the candidates and their supporters exceeded $10 million here, much of it spent in the past two weeks, and mailboxes were stuffed with campaign flyers.
In a bit of home-state boosterism, DeMint said the primary winner was "likely to be the next president of the United States."
Indeed, the winner of the state's primary has gone on to capture the Republican nomination each year since 1980.
A victory by Romney would place him in a commanding position heading into the Florida primary on Jan. 31. He and an organization supporting him are already airing television ads in that state, which is one of the country's costliest in which to campaign.
If the former Massachusetts governor stumbles in South Carolina, it could portend a long, drawn-out battle for the nomination stretching well into spring and further expose rifts inside the party between those who want a candidate who can defeat Obama more than anything else, and those whose strong preference is for a solid conservative.
Romney sounded anything but confident as he told reporters that in South Carolina, "I realize that I had a lot of ground to make up and Speaker Gingrich is from a neighboring state, well known, popular ... and frankly to be in a neck-and-neck race at this last moment is kind of exciting."
Left unspoken was that he swept into South Carolina 10 days ago on the strength of a strong victory in the New Hampshire primary and maintained a double-digit lead in the South Carolina polls for much of the week.
Campaigning in Gilbert, S.C., on Friday, Romney demanded that Gingrich release hundreds of supporting documents relating to an ethics committee investigation into his activities while he was speaker of the House in the mid-1990s.
""Of course he should," he told reporters. Referring to the House Democratic leader, he said, "Nancy Pelosi has the full record of that ethics investigation. You know it's going to get out ahead of the general election."
That was an attempt to turn the tables on Gingrich, who has demanded Romney release his income tax returns before the weekend primary so Republicans can know in advance if they contain anything that could compromise the party's chances against Obama this fall.
Gingrich's campaign brushed off Romney's demand, calling it a "panic attack" brought on by sinking poll numbers.
"Don't you love these guys?" the former speaker said in Orangeburg. "He doesn't release anything. He doesn't answer anything and he's even confused about whether he will ever release anything. And then they decide to pick a fight over releasing stuff?"
In January 1997, Gingrich became the first speaker ever reprimanded and fined for ethics violations, slapped with a $300,000 penalty. He said he'd failed to follow legal advice concerning the use of tax-exempt contributions to advance potentially partisan goals, but he was also cleared of numerous other allegations.
At the same time he fended off a demand on one front Friday, Gingrich was less than eager to face further questions made by his second wife, Marianne, who said in an ABC interview broadcast Thursday night that he had once sought an open marriage so he could keep the mistress who later became his current wife.
He denies the ex-wife's account.
On his final lap through the state, Santorum campaigned as the Goldilocks candidate ? just right for the state's conservative voters.
"One candidate is too radioactive, a little too hot," he said, referring to Gingrich. "And we have another candidate who is just too darn cold, who doesn't have bold plans," he added, speaking of Romney.
His campaign also announced endorsements from conservative leaders in the upcounty portion of the state around Greenville, where the heaviest concentration of evangelical voters lives.
Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, dismissed Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the fourth contender in the race. "There are four, three of whom have a chance to win the nomination," he said, including himself.
Paul, who finished third in the Iowa caucuses and second in the New Hampshire primary, has had a limited presence in South Carolina.
But he flew to six cities on a burst of campaigning on the race's final day, and drew applause for having returned to Washington, D.C., earlier in the week to vote against Obama's requested increase in the debt limit.
"When you hear the word principle, you think of Ron Paul. He's the embodiment of that," said Derek Smith, a 26-year-old engineer for the Navy in Charleston. "If he were to run as a third-party candidate, I would vote for him unconditionally."
Paul has said he has no intention of doing that.
Interviewed on C-SPAN, Santorum said the race "has just transformed itself in the last 24 hours." It was hard for any of the campaigns to argue with that.
In a bewildering series of events on Thursday, Romney was stripped of his victory in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses by state party officials, who said a recount showed Santorum ahead by 34 votes.
Then came an unexpected withdrawal by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who endorsed Gingrich. But Gingrich was suddenly caught in a controversy caused by his ex-wife's accusations.
At a two-hour debate that capped the day, Gingrich drew applause when he strongly attacked ABC and the "liberal news media" in general for injecting the issue into the final days of the South Carolina campaign.
By contrast, Romney faced a round of boos from the audience when he stuck by earlier statements that he would wait until April to release his tax returns.
Romney has stumbled several times in recent days, including once when he said he paid an effective tax rate of about 15 percent. That's half what many middle-income Americans pay, but it's what the law stipulates because his income derives from investments, which are taxed at a lower rate than wages.
Gingrich posted his own tax returns online during the Thursday debate, reporting he paid 31.5 percent of his income to the IRS.
___
Associated Press writers Charles Babington, Kasie Hunt, Thomas Beaumont, Philip Elliott, Beth Fouhy and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Dow and S&P 500 post best week since Christmas (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks posted their best week since Christmas, even with a mixed finish on Friday after strong earnings from tech bellwethers IBM (IBM.N) and Intel (INTC.O) contrasted with Google's (GOOG.O) disappointing report.
The market heads into the most hectic week so far in this earnings season after a mixed start, with some worries over revenue and growth offset by sharp cost-cutting to protect the bottom line.
For the week, the Dow rose 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 gained 2 percent as investors showed some relief that earnings didn't reflect the worst elements that battered the market in the last year, especially given the problems in the euro zone that have been weighing on investor sentiment.
"For the time being, investors are pretty much taking earnings in stride. They knocked Google down this morning, but the general feeling in the marketplace is (stocks) are very undervalued at these levels, even given the marginal misses they're making in earnings," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.
Indeed, investors in recent weeks have been heartened by improving economic data, even though progress has been uneven. Reflecting improved economic sentiment, the Dow Jones Transportation Average, an indicator of the economy's strength (.DJT) has gained about 2 percent in each of the last two weeks.
IBM (IBM.N) lifted the Dow a day after it offered a strong outlook and results from several big-tech names signaled they were shaking off nervousness about economic growth and boosting technology spending. IBM's stock rose 4.4 percent to $188.52.
On the flip side, Google Inc (GOOG.O) slid 8.4 percent to $585.99. The Internet search giant's quarterly profit and revenue missed expectations on declining search advertising rates.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) gained 96.50 points, or 0.76 percent, to 12,720.48 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) inched up just 0.88 of a point, or 0.07 percent, to 1,315.38. But the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) dipped 1.63 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 2,786.70.
For the week, the Nasdaq climbed 2.8 percent, making this its best week in seven.
General Electric Co (GE.N) was unchanged at $19.15 after the conglomerate's revenues missed consensus forecasts. Fellow Dow component American Express Co (AXP.N) fell 1.8 percent to $50.04 as it set aside more money to cover bad loans.
Intel Corp (INTC.O) rose 2.9 percent to $26.38, while Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) advanced 5.7 percent to $29.71. Both reported results late Thursday.
Investors also kept an eye on Greece, where a bond-swap deal between the cash-strapped country and its private bondholders appeared to be close, according to sources. An agreement was deemed possible by late Friday. Creditors could lose up to 70 percent of the loans given to the fiscally troubled nation.
Hopes are an agreement would prevent the nation from spiraling into bankruptcy and bring some stability to the debt-strained euro zone.
(Reporting By Caroline Valetkevitch; Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)
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'Thor' Star Chris Hemsworth, Wife Elsa Pataky Expecting Baby
'We don't care if it's a boy or girl, our only wish is that it's healthy,' Pataky says.
By Jocelyn Vena
Chris Hemsworth
Photo: WireImage
"Thor" star Chris Hemsworth and his actress wife, Elsa Pataky, have announced that they are expecting their first child together.
A rep for the actor confirmed the news to People.com, and the "Fast Five" actress is opening up about the baby in a new interview in Hola! magazine, revealing that their bundle of joy will join them this spring.
"Since it's our first child, we don't care if it's a boy or girl, our only wish is that it's healthy," Pataky said. "I'm only going to speak to the baby in Spanish. I already told my husband, 'Get ready fast with Spanish because, if not, you're not going to be able to understand what we say.' "
The news comes the same week the twosome was spotted on vacation in St. Barts with Pataky sporting a baby bump. "Having the person that you love by your side and starting a family with them is the best thing that can happen to you in this life," Pataky said. "You can't ask for more."
Hemsworth and Pataky were married in December 2010. In addition to impending fatherhood, Hemsworth has a busy 2012 slated for the big screen, with a number of highly anticipated flicks set for release, including "Snow White and the Huntsman" (along with "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart) and "The Avengers," in which he'll once again play the hammer-swinging Thor. Pataky also has a few films coming out, including "The Wine of Summer" and "All Things to All Men."
Related VideosSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677521/chris-hemsworth-baby.jhtml
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Bahrain: Activists defy ban on downtown protest (AP)
MANAMA, Bahrain ? Witnesses say Bahraini riot police have chased anti-government protesters out of the center of the island kingdom's capital.
The scuffles Wednesday came a day after authorities denied the country's main Shiite-backed opposition party, Al Wefaq, permission to hold protests in central Manama.
Witnesses say hundreds of protesters were scattered throughout the old city and diplomatic area, and police used stun grenades to disperse some of them.
Bahrain's majority Shiites have been the driving force behind widespread protests inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings over the past year.
Wednesday's protests erupted a day before Bahrain hosts an air show that runs through Saturday.
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"Pac-Man" Jones pleads guilty to disorderly conduct (Reuters)
CLEVELAND (Reuters) ? Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Adam "Pacman" Jones pleaded guilty on Wednesday to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and was sentenced to probation, community service and a fine stemming from a scuffle with police outside a bar last summer.
Jones, 28, was arrested last July after being kicked out of a Cincinnati bar and charged with disorderly conduct while intoxicated and resisting arrest for pulling away from police officers as they tried to handcuff him.
Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Brad Greenberg sentenced Jones to one year probation, 50 hours of community service and ordered him to pay a $250 fine plus court costs, according to court records.
The more serious resisting arrest charge was dropped.
"Like any matter of this nature, it will be reviewed under our personal conduct policy," National Football League spokesman Greg Aiello said.
A Bengals representative could not be reached for comment.
Jones has been suspended from playing in the NFL twice by Commissioner Roger Goodell in 2007 and again in 2008 for numerous violations of the NFL's personal conduct policy.
Jones was sentenced to a year's probation in February 2011 stemming from his part in a brawl at a Las Vegas strip club four years earlier that left one man paralyzed from the waist down and two others wounded.
(Editing by David Bailey and Greg McCune)
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Boxing's Freddie Roach in unusual reality show (AP)
LOS ANGELES ? When unknown actor Peter Berg wandered into the Outlaw Boxing Club in Hollywood about 17 years ago for a workout, a young trainer named Freddie Roach immediately earned his respect.
"I came in, and nobody would really talk to me," Berg said. "Freddie was the first one to come up to me and really say, `God, you're horrible.'"
Berg took Roach's counsel and stuck to his strengths, eventually becoming the powerful filmmaker behind "Friday Night Lights" and "Hancock." He's turning his cameras on Roach this winter, telling the story of the former boxer afflicted with Parkinson's disease who became the world's most respected trainer.
The six-part series, "On Freddie Roach," premieres Friday night on HBO. Fans of the network's innovative sports programming, such as the "Hard Knocks" and "24/7" series, might be surprised by what they see from Berg and fellow executive producer Jim Lampley, the longtime voice of the network's boxing telecasts.
The 30-minute episodes feature no Liev Schreiber narration, no story lines, no stunts ? just cameras silently following Roach through his complicated life training Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., while also running the busy Wild Card Gym and stoically managing his encroaching disease.
The 51-year-old Roach is still surprised anybody wanted to put his life outside the ring on television.
"I think I'm kind of a boring person," Roach said during a break in his nonstop daily training routine at the Wild Card.
"Jim and Peter thought otherwise, and they asked me if I'd be open like I am on `24/7.' I thought about it, and I always wanted to be a little bit famous, so I chose to do the show, and they were with me for almost a year. They'd catch me in good moods, and sometimes in bad moods. People really get to see what my life is about and how I deal with it. Parkinson's is always there, of course, but it's something I try to ignore as much as I can. I generally don't even think about that. Just work, work, work."
Berg, whose next studio film is the big-budget summer release "Battleship," has loved boxing since the counselors at his summer camp on Cape Cod roped off a ring in the woods and bet on the young campers' fights. Berg became a fan of Sugar Ray Leonard through his epic fights with Roberto Duran, and he trained in the sport to stay in Hollywood shape, even playing a boxer in the 1996 film "The Great White Hype."
"This is always something I've always had a great respect for," Berg said. "There's no more intense form of athletic competition. It's two men fighting for their lives. There's less safety net in boxing than any other sport, and that makes it undeniably compelling."
When Lampley approached Berg with the project, both men agreed on a bold break from traditional sports storytelling. Berg's biggest influence was the cinema-verite style of Frederick Wiseman, the prolific 82-year-old documentarian whose naturalistic purity has guided two generations of filmmakers.
"I thought this would be the right style and it would separate us from `24/7,' which I'm a huge fan of," Berg said. "I think HBO had more of an appetite to do something different. It was just a very emotional experience, and they recognized that we could do something that felt genuine and emotional."
The series gets emotional in its second episode: Roach's brother, Pepper, had a stroke at the Wild Card while Berg's cameras filmed. Not every episode features life-or-death drama, but Berg believes even non-boxing fans will be fascinated.
"I never felt like we had to make something happen," Berg said. "This place is an inherent gold mine of invention and emotion and activity. It was nice not to have to be driving the bus."
If the unfamiliar style catches on with viewers, Lampley thinks this team could examine other sports figures. They've considered doing a similar show on Washington State coach Mike Leach, another old friend of Berg.
"Some people are going to watch this and say, `It's too slow. It's too contemplative. I'm bored,'" Lampley said. "We don't want the biggest audience ? just the smartest. I really wanted to do a show that trusts the viewers. You don't need to gild this lily."
Roach quickly got used to the constant presence of the cameras: He sometimes fell asleep in his own bed while the crew filmed, and it documented his obsession with cleaning his home ? particularly his sinks. Roach's employees also get plenty of screen time, including Marie Spivey ? his ex-girlfriend turned assistant ? and Roach's mother, who lives next-door to him in Los Angeles.
"The hardest part about the TV show so far is watching it," Roach said. "The best part about the show is they never asked me to do anything. It's just truly my life, day by day, what challenges I have to go through. Some of it is sad. Some of it is sappy. I don't have Liev Schreiber to help me along the way with his voice, so I have to have my own voice."
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As GOP race reaches Fla., economy dominates
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to reporters after campaigning at the Florence Civic Center in Florence, S.C., Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to reporters after campaigning at the Florence Civic Center in Florence, S.C., Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
With the World Series trophy in the foreground, President Barack Obama waves as he arrives in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 for a ceremony honoring the 2011 World Series champions St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
MIAMI (AP) ? Property manager Nancy Leon knows all too well the effects of Florida's dismal economy. People can't pay their condominium association fees and fall behind on mortgages or rent. The condo property suffers. Then it has to cut costs, which makes the place less attractive for new residents. A vicious cycle.
"People are really struggling. We see it every day," says Leon, a 42-year-old Republican who voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 as a symbol of hope and change but now isn't sure the Democrat should get another term. Yet, she's not sold on Republican front-runner Mitt Romney or his rivals. Like many other Florida residents, she can't help but fret: "We are so knee-deep in the economic problems, so far down in the hole, who is going to get us out?"
With the Florida Republican presidential primary looming on Jan. 31 and Obama coming to the state Thursday to announce a new economic initiative, this is the grim situation in a key campaign battleground: Ten percent unemployment. Rampant home foreclosures. Nearly half the state's homeowners owing more on their mortgages than their properties are worth.
Ten months before the election, Florida's environment presents a stark challenge for Obama and an opportunity for the eventual Republican nominee in the nation's largest state with a history of vacillating between choosing Republicans and Democrats in presidential contests.
Obama carried Florida in 2008 against Republican John McCain, 51 percent to 48 percent. And, for now at least, Florida voters don't seem to be abandoning Obama in droves. A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed the president and Romney, the GOP front-runner, in a near-statistical tie in the state in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup.
Reflecting the stakes for the fall even though the GOP hasn't settled on a nominee, Republicans and Democrats alike have been busy testing lines of argument on the economy.
In a recent appearance in West Palm Beach, Romney mentioned almost nothing about Florida-specific issues such as offshore oil drilling and U.S.-Cuba relations, focusing instead on criticizing Obama and promoting his own economic plans. Campaign mailers sent to Florida Republicans echoed the strategy.
"Our economy has fallen flat. Who's to blame?" asks one mailer. Another proclaims that Romney is the strongest to lead the country out of economic turmoil, arguing this: "With conservative leadership, America can be first in the world in job creation again."
Romney is in a strong position heading into Saturday's primary in South Carolina after back-to-back victories in Iowa and New Hampshire. Entrance and exit polls from both states showed that voters overwhelmingly bought Romney's argument that he is the strongest Republican to take on Obama in the fall on voters' No. 1 issue: the economy. Romney's rivals ? former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Rep. Ron Paul ? trailed on those measures and are fighting to keep their bids alive through the Florida primary.
Obama, for his part, planned a trip Thursday to Walt Disney World outside Orlando to outline a new strategy to boost travel and tourism.
"He's pursuing every avenue possible here to tackle what he thinks is our most important challenge which is growing the economy, creating jobs, positioning the American economy to compete and dominate in the 21st century and this is another indication of that effort," said White House press secretary Jay Carney.
For Obama, the economic numbers are daunting in Florida, a state critical to his re-election chances:
?The November unemployment rate of 10 percent was good news because it was the state's lowest since May 2009. But it's much higher than the national 8.5 percent jobless figure. About 926,000 Floridians were out of work in November.
? More than 2 percent of all Florida housing units were involved in foreclosure last year, according to the RealtyTrac foreclosure listing service. That translated in December to one in every 360 units, placing Florida at No. 7 among states with the highest 2011 foreclosure rates. And 2012 is forecast to be even busier.
?Florida is third in the number of homes with "upside down" mortgages, at 44 percent of all mortgaged properties, according to the CoreLogic real estate data firm. That works out to slightly less than 2 million Florida homes where the owners owe more than the properties are worth.
For many people whose home is by far their biggest investment, the housing problem is believed to be dragging down confidence and the state's recovery as a whole. Said Mark Fleming, chief economist at CoreLogic: "This overhang is holding back the recovery of the housing market and the broader economy."
It's all causing indecision ? if not confusion ? among Florida's pivotal swing voters.
Hollywood resident Phillip James, 48, is a libertarian-leaning independent who says he cannot support Obama. "I think he has just broken too many promises," James said. But he's also suspicious that the wealthy Romney with an "aristocratic air" may favor the rich too much in his economic proposals, adding: "I don't think he has a grasp of the position of the middle class, the conditions of the working class today."
Peter Gonzalez, a registered Democrat from Miami who voted for McCain, seemed just as confounded.
He was leaning toward Romney, and assuming that the former Massachusetts governor will be the GOP nominee, but said he hadn't given up on Obama
"With Obama, I kind of know what I got." Gonzalez said. He predicted: "If the economy gets stronger, and the unemployment rate gets better, it's going to be difficult to beat Obama. Because people vote with their wallet."
Even at this early date, it's not too hard to see how Obama and the eventual Republican nominee may try to make their cases.
Obama may try to gain traction by stressing "the Republican policies that contributed to the economic problems the country is facing and make the case that the economy is improving, and jobs are growing, and that the situation would be much worse if Obama had not taken the actions he had," said Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political science professor.
As for Republicans, Jewett added: "The GOP nominee needs to continually focus on the simple theme: Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"
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Associated Press writer Laura Wides-Munoz contributed to this report.
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Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Miamicurt
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