Monday, May 25, 2009

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Arianna Huffington: Everyone Agrees We Need to Reform Wall Street... Just Like After Enron Top
Remember how during the 2008 campaign there came a moment when candidates hoping to win the White House realized they had to declare that, like Obama, they were all in favor of "change"? Hillary did it . McCain did it . So did Romney . Giuliani too . In the same way, today everyone agrees that we need reform of our financial system. Even Wall Street knows it is inevitable. So the question becomes: are we going to get real reform or are we going to get the DC version of "reform"? For a snapshot of what DC reform looks like, take a look at the 26-page memo that Frank Luntz put together to show Republicans how to kill health care reform. Here is his unequivocal advice: "You simply MUST be vocally and passionately on the side of reform." The trick, he says, is to "be for the right kind of reform" -- ie the kind of reform that doesn't reform anything. We've seen this movie before, just a few years ago. Back then the stars of the show were Enron, Tyco, Global Crossing, and WorldCom. After their orgy of greed and fraud was exposed, everyone suddenly demanded reform. But what we got instead were window-dressing changes and band-aid legislation. And the prevailing philosophy that the free market would regulate itself was, in effect, allowed to remain in place. Indeed, it was given even freer rein. So now it's déjà vu all over again. You know the drill: first comes the shock, then the outrage, then a few high-profile show trials, then the punishment of a few culprits, then some half-measure reforms, and then we all move on... until it starts again. Right now we find ourselves in the middle of that cycle. The financial bandits believe that if they just lay low for a bit, the storm of outrage will blow over. They can just wait it out, feed the people a few Luntzian reformist scraps, and then return to the party. And they may well be right. As we wait for the Obama administration to announce its plan for comprehensive reform of the financial regulatory system, the signs don't look promising. For starters, the rise in the stock market (even though anyone who knows anything knows that it says next to nothing about the real economy) has taken the edge off the sense of crisis and the need for fundamental reform. Second, Tim Geithner is still running the show. During a recent interview with the Washington Post , Lois Romano asked him about "the fault lines" that led to the economic meltdown. "Who do you think bears the greatest responsibility?" she asked. "Is it the banks for pushing these loans? Is it the consumer for borrowing over their means? The regulators?" In his answer, Geithner spread the blame around, but there was one glaring omission: the regulators. Not a good blind spot to have when you are in charge of reforming the regulatory system. As Calculated Risk put it : "Either Geithner misspoke or he still doesn't understand what happened -- and that is deeply troubling." Equally troubling is Geithner's continued reliance on the guidance of the Wall Street players who led us into the mess we're currently in. Isn't that like sticking with the travel agent who just sent you on a vacation to hell? But that is apparently what Geither did when formulating the plan to regulate over-the-counter derivatives that he rolled out on May 13th. According to a document leaked to Bloomberg News , Geithner's plan bore a marked resemblance to a plan drawn up by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, and Barclays, and sent to the Treasury department in February. According to financial analyst Brad Hintz, the banks' plan seeks "to protect their profitable market conditions." What a surprise. So, should we be worried that the banks' relentless attempts to game the system will undermine Geithner's professed desire to create "a robust regime of prudential supervision and regulation"? Not according to Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams, who assures us that the banks' proposal "had little impact on our final result." In the same way that campaign donations never have any impact on public policy, I suppose. One of the biggest challenges facing Obama's economic advisors is deciding how to overhaul the way Wall Street is regulated. Do they consolidate agencies? Reshuffle responsibilities? Create additional agencies? Blow the whole thing up and start over? At the moment, the administration seems to be leaning towards giving the Fed more regulatory power -- perhaps even folding the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission into a new, super-sized Fed. The idea of bringing together the hodgepodge of regulatory agencies is a good one. We certainly don't need companies being able to shop around for the most clueless regulatory agency, as AIG did when it placed itself under the not-very-watchful eye of the Office of Thrift Supervision. But is the Fed, which just delivered an epic failure in both its monetary policy and regulation of banks really the best choice to become our top financial watchdog? And it certainly shouldn't be the SEC, which was so weakened during the Bush years that it is now too far gone to be saved -- even by a good commissioner like Mary Schapiro. Just how bad things are at the SEC was made jaw-droppingly clear in an astonishing report on the agency released earlier this month by the Government Accountability Office. Reading it, the idea that Bernie Madoff got away with what he did for so long becomes less surprising than the fact that there was only one Bernie Madoff. To call the SEC a cesspool of incompetence, inefficiency, ineptitude, and disorganization would be an insult to cesspools everywhere. Click here to read the gory details, which TPM's Moe Tkacik sums up as "scenes from the ninth circle of financial bureaucracy" wherein the SEC is featured "in an absurdist Office Space comedy about how the crisis happened." The media are often an enabler of the transformation of real reform into DC "reform." An editorial in Saturday's Los Angeles Times offers a particularly egregious example of this. It might as well have been written by industry lobbyists (the way many "reform" bills are). Let's start with the subhead: "Stung by the excesses of the financial services industry, Congress is striking back." Actually, it wasn't Congress that was "stung" by those "excesses" -- it was the entire world. And why is regulation of out-of-control markets "striking back"? It gets worse: "Rather than trusting market forces, Democrats in Congress and the administration argue that unbridled capitalism has victimized consumers." Who wrote this, the "teaparty" organizers? Glenn Beck? Since when do things like setting ground rules and demanding transparency mean you no longer believe in "market forces"? Apparently, according to the LA Times , the call for reform is now a "backlash" in which "Democratic majorities in Congress" are going to "clip the financial industry's wings." And this is bad because reform means "raising costs and limiting the freedom of savvy investors and borrowers." Really? I wonder just how many of those "savvy investors" made money in, say, 2008, when they were blissfully free of all the wing-clipping regulations the LA Times is so afraid of? Not many -- and that's because all investors, savvy and non-savvy alike, are victimized when the entire financial system is destabilized. In fact, I believe I've heard something about the crisis affecting the LA Times , too. The closer we get to actual reform, the more hysterical the debate surrounding it becomes. The banking and financial industry's pushback becomes more desperate; the turf wars between entrenched agencies trying to keep their power become more heated; the mainstream media's habit of internalizing bad faith arguments in the name of "balance" becomes more pronounced; and the public interest loses out to the interests of the established financial/political class. But it doesn't have to. It all depends on whether the political will to implement real reform exists -- or can be created. Without it, we'll get more tough-sounding-but-ultimately-toothless "reform" that allows the cancer of greed and corruption plaguing our financial and political systems to continue to spread. More on Timothy Geithner
 
Cocaine Found In Red Bull In Germany Top
BERLIN — Six German states have told retailers to stop selling Red Bull Cola energy drinks after a test found a trace amount of cocaine. The bans started Friday after a sample test conducted by authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia state found 0.4 micrograms per liter in the drink. Five other states also banned it from shops amid concerns over possible narcotics law violations. Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment said Monday that the cocaine level was too low to pose a health risk. It planned to produce a more detailed report Wednesday. Red Bull said its cola is "harmless and marketable in both the U.S. and Europe." It said similar coca leaf extracts are used worldwide as flavoring, and a test it commissioned itself found no cocaine traces. More on Health
 
Terry Krepel: Right-Wing Media Lies About the Hate-Crimes Bill Top
President Obama is not the only subject WorldNetDaily spreads falsehoods about. WND has long opposed the idea of hate-crimes laws, especially ones that offer protection to homosexuals -- a 1999 article , for instance, asserted that such laws "are not so much intended to discourage criminal acts as they are to suppress and criminalize people's thoughts, beliefs and speech regarding homosexuality." But the relatively good prospect of passage for a hate-crimes bill that covers "sexual orientation" -- the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 -- has sent WND into a fit of mendaciousness matched only by the lies it has told about Obama. ConWebWatch has compiled the major falsehoods WND has asserted or uncritically repeated (lying by omission by refusing to tell the full truth) about the hate-crimes bill currently up for consideration in Congress, and the name of the WND reporter (when provided) or columnist who repeated it. I've focused on WorldNetDaily here, but these lies pop up elsewhere in the right-wing media -- indeed, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly has repeated the false claim that the bill protects pedophiles. * * * THE LIE: The bill criminalizes thought and silences free speech. THE LIARS: Bob Unruh, Jan. 15 , Jan. 20 , April 2 , May 4 , May 8 , May 18 ; Alyssa Farah, April 20 ; Chelsea Schilling, April 21 ; unbylined, April 30 , April 30 , May 2 , May 18 ; Joseph Farah, May 13 ; Chuck Norris, May 18 . THE TRUTH: The bill specifically states that "Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities protected by the Constitution," which would include the First Amendment protection for freedom of religion. On the few occasions that this clause is referenced by WND, it is followed, as it is followed by the claim (as stated in an April 30 article ) that "critics cite United States Code Title 18, Section 2, as evidence of how the legislation could be used against people who merely speak out against homosexuality. It states: Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal." But it's not explained that incitement to violence is the only possible way someone's words could be prosecuted under the bill, nor is it explained why someone who speaks in such a way as to incite violence -- speech that is generally not protected by the First Amendment -- must be exempt from criminal penalties. * * * THE LIE: The bill protects pedophiles and all 547 forms of sexual deviancy or "paraphilias" listed by the American Psychological Association. THE LIARS: unbylined, April 30 , April 30 , May 18 ; Bob Unruh, May 4 , May 8 , May 9 , May 18 ; Joseph Farah, May 13 ; Chuck Norris, May 18 . THE TRUTH: Pedophilia is a crime, not a sexual orientation, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), specifically excludes pedophilia , thus precluding protection for pedophiles from the hate crimes bill. Additionally, as Rep. Tammy Baldwin has noted, "sexual orientation" is already defined by federal statute as applying only to "consensual homosexuality or heterosexuality," thereby excluding pedophiles and the other "paraphilas" and making any amendment to the bill specifically excluding various "paraphilias" redundant. WND has generally failed to report the existence of these exclusions in federal law. Rather, it has claimed that Rep. Alcee Hastings has "agreed and admitted" (as stated in a May 9 column by Janet Porter) that such "paraphilas" are covered by stating on the House floor: "This bill addresses our resolve to end violence based on prejudice and to guarantee that all Americans regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability or all of these 'philias' and fetishes and 'ism's' that were put forward need not live in fear because of who they are." But Hastings' statement cannot be taken as legally binding; after all, while serving as a federal judge he was impeached and removed from the bench . Further, Hastings' statement was made not as a legal analysis but in noting "what we have to put up with in the Rules Committee" by reading an amendment that a laundry list of specific "paraphilias" to be exempted from the bill that the committee voted down. * * * THE LIE: The death of Matthew Shepard was not a hate crime; rather, it was the result of a robbery and/or drug deal gone bad. THE LIARS: Janet Porter, Feb. 17 ; Bob Unruh, April 23 , May 4 , May 8 , May 9 ; Drew Zahn, April 27 ; unbylined, April 30 , May 2 ; Joseph Farah, May 13 . THE TRUTH: This fit of revisionism over Shepard's death began in 2004 , when ABC's "20/20" interviewed Shepard's killers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, who now claim that they killed Shepard as the result of a robbery that went bad, not a hate crime. In fact, McKinney has given multiple, conflicting accounts of the events leading up to Shepard's death and attempted a "gay panic" defense during his murder trial. Further, as the Matthew Shepard Foundation has stated , the ABC report omitted the contents of McKinney's in-custody interview a few days after Shepard's death. That transcript shows "an un-rehearsed and unemotional anti-gay account of the events before, during, and after leaving Matt tied to the fence," according to the foundation. To believe McKinney and Henderson now to take the word of known liars and convicted killers over that of law enforcement -- a choice WND has clearly made. * * * THE LIE: A 73-year-old grandmother was jailed merely for trying to share Christian tracts advocating a biblical perspective of homosexuality at a "homosexual festival" in Philadelphia in 2004. THE LIARS: Bob Unruh, Jan. 15 , Jan. 20 , April 2 , May 4 ; unbylined, April 30 , April 30 , May 2 . THE TRUTH: As ConWebWatch has detailed , the grandmother in question, Arlene Elshinnawy, is a longtime anti-abortion activist was part of a group of protesters that tried to interrupt a stage performance at the "homosexual festival" with their preaching. The offense was not sharing the word of God; they were arrested only after they refused a police order to go to an area on the edge of the event. The group was led by a bullhorn-wielding preacher, Michael Marcavage, who has endorsed putting homosexuals to death simply for being homosexual. In other words, Elshinnawy is no shrinking-violet grandmother -- she knows exactly what she's doing when she protest, and she should be well aware of the possibility that she and the leaders she chooses to follow could be arrested for their confrontational behavior and the disregard for law enforcement they demonstrate. Funny that WND can't be bothered to mention that. (A version of this article appears at ConWebWatch .)
 
UN Security Council condemns NKorea nuke test Top
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council swiftly condemned North Korea's nuclear test on Monday as "a clear violation" of a 2006 resolution banning them and said it will start work immediately on a new one that could result in stronger measures against the reclusive nation. Hours after North Korea defiantly conducted its second test, its closest allies China and Russia joined Western powers and representatives from the rest of the world on the council to voice strong opposition to the underground explosion. After a brief emergency meeting held at Japan's request, the council demanded that North Korea abide by two previous resolutions, which among other things called for Pyongyang to return to six-party talks aimed at eliminating its nuclear program. It also called on all other U.N. member states to abide by sanctions imposed on the North. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, made clear in a statement that the condemnation was only an initial response, and that more will follow. He said it was too early to give any specifics. "The members of the Security Council have decided to start work immediately on a Security Council resolution on this matter," he said. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the 15-member council agreed that work on the new resolution will begin Tuesday. "What we heard today was swift, clear, unequivocal condemnation and opposition to what occurred," she said. "The United States thinks that this is a grave violation of international law and a threat to regional and international peace and security and therefore the United States will seek a strong resolution with strong measures." Churkin was asked whether Russia viewed the nuclear test as more serious than North Korea's missile launch in April, which also led to Security Council condemnation and sanctions against three North Korean companies. "This is a very rare occurrence as you know, and it goes contrary not only to resolutions of the Security Council but also the (Nuclear) Nonproliferation Treaty and the (Nuclear) Test Ban Treaty," he replied. "We are one of the founding fathers _ Russia is _ of those documents, so we think they're extremely important in current international relations. So anything which would undermine the regimes of those two treaties is very serious and needs to have a strong response." The five permanent veto-wielding members of the council _ the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France _ met behind closed doors for over an hour with the ambassadors of Japan and South Korea ahead of the closed meeting of the full 15-member council. Japan said North Korea's "irresponsible" nuclear test and the April missile launch had challenged the authority of the U.N.'s most powerful body "and the response must be firm." "It's a very clear challenge," said Japan's U.N. Ambassador Yukio Takasu, a non-permanent council member. "So therefore we need a really, really clear and firm message from this _ preferably a resolution." More on North Korea
 
Keith O'Dell Jr, Baby Pool Prodigy, Is A Wizard With A Cue (VIDEO) Top
***SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO*** JOHNSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) -- A New York toddler still in diapers has a growing reputation as a pool shark with a mean bank shot _ even though he has to stand on a chair to reach the table. Two-year-old Keith O'Dell Jr. from upstate New York has pool shooting videos posted on YouTube, has his own Web site () and is the youngest member of the American Pool Association. http://www.poolprodigy.com The son of pool-playing parents, the toddler recently traveled to Las Vegas to put on a demonstration for the APA, the governing body of amateur pool. O'Dell started playing pool on a child-size table, but has since moved up to a regulation table. His parents say his learning hasn't been limited to billiard games. Pool is also teaching him colors and how to count. More on Sports
 
Mel Gibson Baby CONFIRMED: Girlfriend Expecting This Fall Top
Six weeks after his wife Robyn filed for divorce after 28 years of marriage, Mel Gibson has some news of his own: his Russian musician girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, 39, is pregnant, the actor's rep confirms exclusively to PEOPLE. "He couldn't be happier," says a Gibson friend. "He loves being a father." More on Celebrity Kids
 
Andy Plesser: NPR CEO Vivian Schiller: Newspapers Must Keep Content Free Top
For Vivian Schiller, CEO and president at NPR and the former head of NYTimes.com, the ongoing debate about free vs. subscription for the newspaper industry is clear for her: Free is the way to go. Not only is there more revenue to be made through advertising, putting up a subscription wall will drive consumer to drive traffic to "lesser quality news content that is free," she told me in the interview. She also speaks about the decision to "ungate" the New York Times Web site. More on NPR
 
Wallace J Nichols: What will you do with your blue marble? Top
Do you know where to get the best local, sustainable seafood? Do you clean up plastic litter, even if it's not yours and no one is watching? Do you take reusable bags to the grocery store? In other words, do you live blue? Well then, here's a marble. If someone hands you a small blue marble don't be surprised. Here's what to do: give it away to someone who is also taking care of our little blue planet. Or give it to someone else along with a tip about how to live blue: where to get the best local organic food, how to avoid plastic waste, or which politicians and businesses are true blue. Then pause for a moment and consider that tens of thousands of similar recycled-glass blue marbles are passing from hand to hand right now, making their way around the Earth, our big blue marble. If you get one, give one. And then, please share your story with all of us at BlueMarbles.org and inspire others to live blue. Next World Ocean Day, in June 2010, we'll check in on all the stories those blue marbles tell. Blue Marble is the name given to the most replicated photo ever, it's the one made by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972 as they pointed their Hasselblad camera back at an illuminated Earth. From up there we looked small, fragile, beautiful...and blue. Sort of like a blue marble. Understandably, the green patches of our planet get most of the eco-attention--albeit not nearly enough--while the blue expanses quietly take the hit. I've heard it said that less than 1% of eco-funding goes to caring for the blue world. But, the fact is we live on a blue planet, not a green one, or a brown one. Earth is mostly water, surrounded by a light blue or dark blue sky. Life came from the ocean, and most of our planet's life and habitable space is in the ocean. We know all too well that the ocean gives us our climate, the air we breathe, and food to eat. But we've treated Big Blue like a giant dump. Our chemicals, exhaust, emissions and trash are blown away with the breeze or washed away with the tide. Invisible. Out of sight. Out of mind. Global warming, ocean acidification, toxic seafood and plastic-laden seas and beaches mean that dilution is no longer a viable solution to pollution. But our hope isn't false or shallow. Soon, the health of the ocean, once the wallflower of the environmental movement, will move to center stage, and not a moment too soon. Those in the know say that 2010 is going to be a big year for the blue parts of our planet. Beginning with World Ocean Day this June 8th (now recognized by the UN) a string of ocean events flows outward including the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Archie Carr, the father of sea turtle conservation, the premier of the IMAX film OCEAN, World Ocean Day 2010 and the anniversary of Jacques Cousteau's 100th birthday. Ocean explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle, aka "Her Deepness," has made a global network of marine protected areas her TED Prize wish. Our new administration put an ocean scientist Dr. Jane Lubchenco at the helm of NOAA and is poised to change climate change and energy policies at home and around the world for the better (to put it mildly). The message is quite clear: we must do more for the ocean, we must do it better and we must do it now. Your local "blue" organizations--the frontline warriors--need your help. These days "help" means money, so update your memberships at your favorite grassroots non-profit. While you're at it, renew your commitment to the national organizations like Ocean Champions, Ocean Conservancy and Oceana, the people who, day-in and day-out, lobby for and shape the plans and policies that will restore healthy oceans. Without our support these groups are not going to make it, which means neither will we. If you're not convinced, just consider what our ocean would look like without the people who have fought for it through the years. More oil rigs, an extra few thousand tons of trash, lots more runoff, fewer fish, whales and turtles, lack of public access and poorer ocean illiteracy leap to mind. But it's not all about what they do. It's also about each of us. Hit the beach, roll up your sleeves and volunteer to pick up that trash even when no one is watching, eat "blue" by making the most local and sustainable choices and shop "blue" by looking for reusables and biodegradables first. We all owe these ocean saints a world of thanks. Maybe your neighbor, teacher, co-worker or partner is one of them. In fact, I'll bet you're one of them, too. If so, then one day, very soon, I hope someone puts a blue marble into your hand and says, "thank you." And then, when that blue marble is yours, you'll know exactly what to do with it.
 
Scott Mendelson: Night at the Museum 2 triumphs over Memorial Day - Huff Post weekend box office in review (05/25/09) Top
As expected, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian pulled a rock-solid 3.5x multiplier over its three-day Fri-Sun weekend, grossing $53.5 million. The four-day estimate is about $70 million. This is a big win for a sequel that most underestimated, not remembering that the first film grossed a whopping $250 million in the US, which tops any X-Men , James Bond , Terminator , Star Trek , Bourne , or Superman picture to date. That initial film opened over Christmas weekend. It had the advantage of arriving right in the middle of Christmas vacation, but had the disadvantage of having its third day occur on the dreaded Christmas Eve. It ended up grossing $30 million over three days and $42 million over four days. It took the first Night at the Museum just over six days to reach the $70 million mark. Like the most successful family films, this sequel had its smallest day on its opening day. To wit, its first four days were - $15.3 million, $19.7 million, $18..4 million, and an alleged Monday gross of $16.5 million. The biggest single day gross for Night at the Museum was $13.7 million on December 30th, 2006. Now no one expects this sequel to have the kind of legs that the original had. Quite frankly, December releases are infamous for their long legs. Only in December can a $10 million opening weekend can still net you $90 million if the film is good enough ( The Emperor's New Groove in December 2000) or where a $5-6 million opening weekend just before Christmas still get you over the $50 million mark ( Sabrina , Mouse Hunt ). But still, in this day and age, a $30 million opener going on to cross $200 million without being an actual cultural phenomenon is a rare thing ( Cast Away was another freak occurrence over Christmas 2000). But this boffo opening weekend for Battle of the Smithsonian gives the sequel a little breathing room for the usual quick-kill nature of summer sequels. A mere 3x weekend-to-total gives the film $210 million (using the four-day $70 million total). Even if it performs like the likely 2/3 track of Angels Vs. Demons (which is currently running a bit under 2/3 the pace of The Da Vinci Code ), that still gives the film a domestic total of $167 million and an international total of $383 million. The biggest obstacles are the next two weekends, as two powerhouse family projects make their move. Next weekend brings Disney/Pixar's Up and the weekend after that is the Universal Will Ferrell comedy adventure Land of the Lost . If the Ben Stiller vehicle can weather the storm, and the IMAX screens will help with that, then this could easily be a $200 million performer. This is especially true if Up ends up being too depressing for parents and Land of the Lost ends up being too PG-13-y for younger kids. All of this is pure speculation, but one can only speculate in a summer filled with so few sure things. I've written at length about Terminator Salvation , but the new five-day total is officially estimated at $67 million. For the record, this is not even close to a flop, but merely a much-too expensive picture that won't measure up to somewhat inflated expectations. (Mis) casting Christian Bale was not enough to make up for the lack of the series's marquee name and this series was not one that justified the $200 million investment. Furthermore, nothing against McG, but Warner Bros. should not have hired a director that was so loathed (fairly or not) by the core geek community. Heck, at least bringing Jonathan Mostow back would have maintained some series continuity. Most importantly, this was a film that should have cost $150 million tops. The Terminator series has always been a vaguely cult-ish sci-fi property. Terminator 2: Judgment Day was the exception to the rule, due to a killer trailer, its groundbreaking special effects, and its opening right as Arnold Schwarzenegger was at the peak of his fame (he was coming off the crowd-pleasing trio of Twins , Total Recall , and Kindergarten Cop ). But because they allowed the budget to spiral past $200 million, a moderately OK box office performance becomes a potential disaster. I've said this a lot and it's worth repeating... studios have to stop spending so much on their major franchise pictures that each and everyone has to all-but break records just to break even. It's easy to applaud Warner Bros. when they throw unlimited funds at The Dark Knight or Harry Potter , and its easy to beat them up when they do the same for Speed Racer or Poseidon . But this is an industry-wide problem. DVDs aren't going to save you anymore and you can't always count on a doubling or tripling of the domestic gross overseas. Anyway, moving on, Star Trek continued to prove me dead wrong with another below-50% dip in weekend three. Direct competition with Terminator Salvation prevented the film from equaling last weekend's three day take over the four-day weekend, but its four-day $29 million take (and $22 million three-day take) pushed its total to $191 million. Alas, it will have to wait a day or two at most to overtake Monsters Vs. Aliens ($193.5 million) as the year's highest grossing film. It's still petering out a little quicker than the word of mouth and general audience excitement would account for, but next weekend will be the one of reckoning. If it holds up, it'll make it to $250 million+ and become the inflation-adjusted highest-grossing Star Trek picture of all time (that would be the $235 million adjusted gross for Star Trek: The Motion Picture ). If it crumbles, it'll stop dead at a still terrific $225 million. Either way, Paramount is playing long term with this franchise, so the sky is the limit for the eventual sequel. Angels & Demons dropped a disturbing 52% in its second three-day weekend (41% if you count all four days). Still, the original film dropped a larger 55%, but this sequel is still pulling in the expected 2/3 business of The Da Vinci Code . No surprises here, although I'm sure that Sony would have preferred a $100 million+ gross for the end of the second weekend, but $88 million isn't so bad. This will cross $100 million next weekend and probably has another $30 million left (especially as Sony is stupidly releasing the adult-thriller June alternative, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 in two weeks). Not a major performance, but (as expected) the international numbers are coming to the rescue. The overseas numbers, not counting this weekend, are already above $100 million, so the two-weekend international total is probably well over $200 million by now. Dance Movie opened to $13.1 million over four days. I couldn't care less, and you probably don't either. Moving on. X-Men Origins: Wolverine posted another 45% three-day to three-day weekend drop in its fourth weekend. Its $7.9 million three-day and $10.1 million four-day took the picture over the $165 million mark. It'll crap out at $180 million, and the international business is doing just fine. The current international total, not counting this weekend's overseas gross, is $310 million. Ironically, for all the insane circumstances surrounding this movie's production and release (amazing how Fox never found whomever leaked that bootleg), this one pretty much did the business that it was always likely going to do. It was never going to play like Iron Man or even a top-flier X-Men sequel, and it was lucky that it didn't end up like a Hulk film. I still can't wait for the director's commentary on the DVD/Blu Ray. And that's pretty much all the news that's fit to print. Join us next weekend when Up makes the obligatory $50-70 million over opening weekend and Sam Raimi returns to horror with the ridiculous (but often ridiculously fun) Drag Me To Hell . Scott Mendelson
 
Secret Israeli Report: Venezuela, Bolivia Supplying Iran With Uranium For Its Nuclear Program Top
JERUSALEM — Venezuela and Bolivia are supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program, according to a secret Israeli government report obtained Monday by The Associated Press. The two South American countries are known to have close ties with Iran, but this is the first allegation that they are involved in the development of Iran's nuclear program, considered a strategic threat by Israel. "There are reports that Venezuela supplies Iran with uranium for its nuclear program," the Foreign Ministry document states, referring to previous Israeli intelligence conclusions. It added, "Bolivia also supplies uranium to Iran." The report concludes that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is trying to undermine the United States by supporting Iran. Venezuela and Bolivia are close allies, and both regimes have a history of opposing U.S. foreign policy and Israeli actions. Venezuela expelled the Israeli ambassador during Israel's offensive in Gaza this year, and Israel retaliated by expelling the Venezuelan envoy. Bolivia cut ties with Israel over the offensive. There was no immediate comment from officials in Venezuela or Bolivia on the report's allegations. The three-page document about Iranian activities in Latin America was prepared in advance of a visit to South America by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who will attend a conference of the Organization of American States in Honduras next week. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is also scheduled to visit the region. Israel considers Iran a serious threat because of its nuclear program, development of long-range missiles and frequent references by its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to Israel's destruction. Israel dismisses Iran's insistence that its nuclear program is peaceful, charging that the Iranians are building nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear work is aimed only at producing energy. Its enrichment of uranium has increased concerns about its program because that technology can be used both to produce fuel for power plants and to build bombs. Israel has been pressing for world action to stop the Iranian program. While saying it prefers diplomatic action, Israel has not taken its military option off the table. Experts believe Israel is capable of destroying some of Iran's nuclear facilities in airstrikes. Iran, under Ahmadinejad, has strengthened its ties with both Venezuela and Bolivia, where it opened an embassy last year. Its alliance with the left-led nations is based largely on their shared antagonism to the United States but is also a way for Iran to lessen its international isolation. The Israeli government report did not say where the uranium that it alleged the two countries were supplying originated from. Bolivia has uranium deposits. Venezuela is not currently mining its own estimated 50,000 tons of untapped uranium reserves, according to an analysis published in December by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The Carnegie report said, however, that recent collaboration with Iran in strategic minerals has generated speculation that Venezuela could mine uranium for Iran. The Israeli government report also charges that the Iran-backed Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon have set up cells in Latin America. It says Venezuela has issued permits that allow Iranian residents to travel freely in South America. The report concludes, "Since Ahmadinejad's rise to power, Tehran has been promoting an aggressive policy aimed at bolstering its ties with Latin American countries with the declared goal of 'bringing America to its knees.'" The document says Venezuela and Bolivia are violating the United Nations Security Council's economic sanctions with their aid to Iran. As allies against the U.S., Ahmadinejad and Chavez have set up a $200 billion fund aimed at garnering the support of more South American countries for the cause of "liberation from the American imperialism," according to the report. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor refused to comment about the secret report. More on Venezuela
 
Tom Gregory: INSIDE OUT: Hate is Scorched in this Book's Glaring Sunshine Top
Gay. The word stirs up a mental picture for each one of us. Maybe it's the face of a nephew, a son, a grandson, brother, uncle, or husband. Maybe it's a co-worker, neighbor or friend that has opened up to share his story with you. If you're open minded and receptive, there is always a friendly face nearby to personalize the struggle inherent in being homosexual in today's America. For gay men (and lesbian women) childhood is filled with horrors unimagined by straight people. The questioning, bullying, and sense of loneliness leave many young people torn and separated from mainstream society and their families. It's a sad fate that has been fed by personal ignorance and the teachings of the church. Across the web and across America ministries promise to "cure" people of their sexuality, all the while homosexuals like Ted Haggard, and untold numbers of theologians are being called on the carpet for their hypocrisy and sex crimes against children. Still the church extols its rhetoric against homosexuals just like the KKK proclaimed its domain over black Americans not even a generation ago. California's marriage equality decision over PROP 8 is due to within hours. It's an embarrassment to America that we waste such time, money emotion on such a fundamental human right. I've often figured it was stupidity, anger, jealousy, or religious pomposity that fuels the fire of hate that has infected some of America's churches and the electorate. During California's PROP 8 campaign one propaganda pamphlet featured men in drag with the implication being that California was going to hell in a gay hand basket, with outlandish wigs and fake bosoms being the uniform of the devil. That ignorance will be stomped by anyone smart enough immerse himself in the disinfecting light of Barbara Benjamin Marcus' new self-published book featuring the men of drag entitled INSIDE OUT. Meeting Barbara Marcus is a refreshing ride into intelligence. She projects the strength, determination and a self-assurance for which we should strive. Barbara's past is littered with tales that she's not telling, but her eyes twinkle as she recounts her time in early television (she was a Goldwyn girl), then her fifteen years as Mrs. Robert Duvall. She is currently married thirty years to her beloved Fred. It's clear from the glow she projects that Barbara squeezes all she can out of every day. During our recent lunch Barbara not only answered my round of questions, but she wanted to know more about me than anyone else I had ever met. Soon strangers at adjacent tables became friends because Barbara wanted to know about everyone. In her white linen blouse adorned with a remarkable coral necklace, she's a former beauty queen who is now a strikingly beautiful "woman of a certain age." She gives answers candidly and asks questions intently while filtering life through that rare quality of wisdom. Her bold, fresh book opens with the quote from RuPaul: "We're all born naked, everything else is just drag", then it swings into high gear as every page turns to show each man in and out of drag. Barbara took every photograph in the book, winning her subject's trust, then interviewed each man --- not just to learn about drag but to explore more about the world we all share. Forty souls are featured who fought against hate, bigotry, sexual confusion and alienation in their journey to find peace in a world that would rather they just go away or go to hell. Calvin McNutt's story stopped me in my tracks - not because it was so sad, but it was so typical of the lifelong pain so many gay men feel simply because they are BORN differently: " It was horrendous for me in School. I was absolutely tortured by the kids. When you're nine or ten years old, you don't know you're gay. The other boys don't know you're gay, but they know you're different. One day I went to gym class and out my gym outfit on. While I was in gym, the boys took my street clothes and urinated on them. At the end of gym, they held me down and put my clothes back on me. I had to walk to the office in clothes covered in urine to get my mom to come and get me. It was horrible, just horrible. The principal wanted to know what I had done to provoke it." The insight and sensitivity of Dini Lamont who drags under the name of Musty Chiffon, pointed out one of the ills of our society that cares for the children but forgets the adults: "You look at a brand new baby, you hold it, it's beautiful and precious. Then that baby grows up, it gets hairy, it gets fat, it gets ugly, that precious person is still there. I think that's what really screws us up, when we lose sight of the preciousness of the soul of a person." Most of Barbara's subjects (now her friends) are from a religious upbringing, and every one of these tenacious men tell about how they are philanthropic in their own lives. Two Mormons, Scott Furhiman and Kelly Summers, don their alter egos by becoming Bonita Bitch and Beulah Bitch. In a narrative that's a profound and funny read. They proudly announce that together with their dog, Son-of-a-bitch they raised over $50,000 for a local AIDS charity at a single event. For even the most religious reader, this coffee table book brings the dark, drag subculture out of the closet. The final narrative leaves us left not with a sense of how different these men are from the rest of America, but how similar each one of us is despite our own unique drag. You can learn more about the book here . More on Gay Marriage
 
Tasha Gordon-Solmon: The Bachelorette: Ones To Watch Top
Tonight is round two in the quest for Jillian's heart! It's too soon to tell who her future husband/fiancé/ television boyfriend of six weeks/ ABC's next Bachelor will be. But every season has its standouts and here are some of the characters to keep an eye on: The Consummate Asshole - JUAN Not only does he seem like an asshole, but with his slight Argentinean accent, he's the most diverse one of the bunch, making him ABC's clear choice for Bad Guy. The "How the $#*$ is that guy still around" Guy - TANNER F. Tanner F is not that attractive and a total D-bag, but if Jillian doesn't jump for him, the ratings just might. Last week, he affectionately called our Bachelorette "Hot Tub Harris" and "Sassy Little Minx". What offensive pet names await us tonight? Novelty Item Guy - The Insanely Tall British Guy with Hair Plugs and Indiscernible Accent Which Warrants Subtitles Enough said. Guy Who is Totally Gonna Snap - MATHUE Just look at him. He's gonna snap. This Season's "Jesse" - MICHAEL Jesse did 100 push ups to impress Deanna, this dude danced on his head. Jesse is a snowboarder, Michael is a break dancer. Jesse was 26, Michael is 25. Coincidence? This kid is too irresponsible to ever be husband-material, but he's fun to watch. Ed who looks like the character Ed from the TV show Ed - ED Yes, he gets his own category. And he has super cute dying-puppy eyes. And he's attractive, but not too attractive, which means he'll make up for it in spooning. And he almost seems normal. I'm in love. Guy I Miss Already - GREG He compensated for his height with incessant talking, emphatic hand-gestures and a break-dancing duel. Fare thee well, animated munchkin. Fare thee well. The Real Contenders 1. KIPTYN - Cute. Speaks in full sentences. Can you ask for more? 2. DAVID- First Impression Rose. His smile is too goofy, but he'll last for a while. 3. ED- My future husband. I mean Jillian's. 4. WES- His Southern accent and guitar don't cover up the fact that he is super boring. But he did factor heavily into the previews, and previews never lie. . . Tonight's Bachelorette Drinking Game: The word "surreal" Mention of Jason Phrases "heart on the line" or "all on the line"
 
Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg: Ship To Become Second Largest Intentional Reef Top
KEY WEST, Fla. — Aboard the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a massive World War II ship last used by the U.S. Air Force to track missiles and spacecraft, it's anything but business as usual. Crews are preparing the decommissioned ship for sinking Wednesday seven miles off Key West, where it will become one of the world's biggest man-made reefs. Explosives attached to the ship's hull beneath the water level will be detonated to open it for flooding, which should quickly send it to the sea floor. The 17,000 ton, 523-foot-long ship will be sunk on a sandy bottom in about 140 feet of clear water. "Don't go to the bathroom. Don't go get a beer. It should be under three minutes for the ship to fully deploy onto the bottom," said Joe Weatherby, project organizer at Reefmakers, a Moorestown, N.J.-based company that specializes in acquiring, preparing and sinking craft to create artificial reefs. It's a project that has been years in the making. The cost is about $8.6 million, from acquiring the ship to cleaning it. Officials in the Florida Keys expect it to pay dividends, up to $8 million in annual tourism-related revenue, mostly from divers flocking to get a look at the underwater spectacle. The idea is to not only to attract tourists, but to help protect the Keys' natural reefs, already suffering from excessive diving, snorkeling and fishing along with warming ocean temperatures. Weatherby said people _ and fish _ will now be drawn to the wreck from nearby natural coral, "giving the reef a breather, which is what it needs." Preparation for sinking has taken months of inspections and cleanup to remove contaminants. Workers hauled off more than a million feet of wire, 1,500 vent gaskets, dozens of watertight steel doors, 81 bags of asbestos, 193 tons of potentially cancer-causing substances, 46 tons of garbage that could come loose and float to the surface, 300 pounds of materials containing mercury and 185 55-gallon drums of paint chips. The cleanup was performed at two Norfolk, Va., shipyards before the boat made the 1,100-mile voyage, arriving in Key West on April 22. Permitting was required from 18 local, state and federal agencies. The Vandenberg began as the Gen. Harry Taylor and was later commissioned by the Army as a transport vessel, ferrying troops and supplies from San Francisco to island bases in the western Pacific Ocean in 1944. In 1945, it carried troops home from Europe near the end of World War II. It was later used by the Navy as a transport ship, and was transferred to the Air Force in 1961, when it was renamed the Vandenberg. For about 20 more years, the ship served as a missile tracker throughout the height of the Cold War and was retired in 1983. Mac Monroe, a former mission controller aboard the Vandenberg, said he was pleased the ship won't be turned into scrap metal. "It's nice to see the old rust bucket again," Monroe said on a recent trip to Key West to see the ship. "And it's a positive outcome for it be sunk and become something useful again." Organizers say it will serve as "the anchor" to the region's wide array of existing sunken vessels and wrecks from Key Largo to Key West, where some estimate there's a shipwreck about every 300 yards. The rusty hulk is now tied up at a dock awaiting its final resting place on the ocean floor. Organizers hope the Vandenberg sinking goes more smoothly than that of the Spiegel Grove off Key Largo in 2002. That 510-foot decommissioned landing ship dock partially sank upside-down, hours before an attempt to scuttle it to create an artificial reef. The sudden sinking sent 40 workers onboard scrambling for safety and left the ship's bow sticking out of the water for three weeks. The Vandenberg will become the world's second largest intentionally sunk artificial reef. In 2006, the USS Oriskany, a decommissioned aircraft carrier nearly three football fields in length, was sunk about 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola Beach in the Florida Panhandle. That ship became the world's largest intentionally sunk artificial reef. "And it's been paying dividends since before it sank with the people coming for the event," Weatherby said. "We expect some of that same experience here."
 
US Investigators Find New Twists On Credit Scams Top
U.S. fraud investigators say they're finding new schemes to improve bad credit histories so lenders will approve mortgages or lines of credit. In one case, a Sacramento man obtained unused Social Security numbers and had employees at a furniture company create fake credit histories for real people with lousy credit ratings, The Kansas City (Mo.) Star reported Monday.
 
New Rules On Stem Cells Threaten Current Research Top
When President Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research in March, many scientists hailed the move as a long-awaited boost for one of the most promising fields of medical research. Since then, however, many proponents have concluded that the plan could have the opposite effect, putting off-limits for federal support much of the research underway, including work that the Bush administration endorsed. "We're very concerned," said Amy Comstock Rick, chief executive of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, which has been leading the effort to free up more federal funding for stem cell research. "If they don't change this, very little current research would be eligible. It's a huge issue." More on Health
 

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