Sunday, May 17, 2009

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Paul Raushenbush: Barack Obama's (and America's) Victory at Notre Dame Top
Barack Obama's graduation address at Notre Dame was a victory for the President and for the United States. From the moment he walked onto the platform, to when he was conferred the honorary doctorate, to during and after his speech, the applause for President Obama was overwhelming and continuous - apparently making up for the months of hype which gave much too much prime-time press to the most radical elements of anti-abortion movement. At the announcement of Obama's address three months ago I guessed three interruptions of his speech, and I think I got it right. But those who did the interrupting were completely diminished by the spirit of reconciliation and respect exhibited by the President and the graduating class of Notre Dame. President Obama confirmed his approach which is sincerely aimed a creating a middle way for this most divisive of issues. In surrounding himself with both pro-life and pro-choice voices, the president is at least aware of the compelling arguments on both sides and he approaches them with respect. The President did not shy away from the difficult questions at hand but addressed them head on, reminding all of us (including Catholic voters) how fortunate we are as a nation. The anti-abortion protesters who dominated the news running up to Notre Dame's graduation remind me of similar anti-abortion activists who came to Princeton University last year. They set up their massive photos of aborted fetus and began to scream invectives at students as they went to and from classes. This did not go over well. At one point the student president of the Princeton Pro-Life group went over to speak with them to tell them that their tactics were counter productive -- he was, in turn, called something akin to satanic. While I am pro-choice, because I am at a University that values the free exchange of ideas and difference of views I have had the opportunity to have the anti-abortion position clearly laid out for me. This openness of debate has added to the subtly of my thinking about the issue of abortion and made me more sympathetic to the passion exhibited by those on the other side. As President Obama said at Notre Dame, the pro-life movement is no longer filled with caricatures. Ultimately, the biggest winner today was Notre Dame. I watched their entire graduation which showcased talented students, an exciting faculty, and the University President Rev. John l. Jenkins, C.S.C. whose speech equaled President Obama's and showed that he is encouraging an environment of academic and intellectual freedom rooted in a Catholic social conscience. Well done President Obama, well done Notre Dame, well done America. More on Barack Obama
 
Pam Bristow: WEB BROWSER: What Twitter and Facebook are Doing to Retail Shopping Top
Anything plus technology is better. Especially shopping. I think that one of the best ideas ever was the big box stores installing those scanner machines that let you check the prices of items before you check out. I feel like I'm getting a better deal on just about anything if I've scanned it myself at some point in the purchasing process. In 2007, Target (as usual) took things to a new level by launching TargetLists - a system that lets you skip around the store making downloadable wish lists with YOUR OWN little scanner! You could then buy your picks online, send your lists to generous relatives, or print them out and hope for some extra cash at the end of the month. These days 2007 is like twenty years ago. Scanners? Whatever. Retailers have broadened their gaze to include the paradigm-shifting reach of sites like Twitter and Facebook - platforms that have opened up entirely new ways for retail and fashion brands to interact with us. Nimble brands like Diane von Fürstenberg, Lacoste, Barneys New York, American Apparel, and iconic fashion boutique Colette in Paris have realized that daily relevance is key to retaining loyal customers with increasingly shorter-term memories. They communicate every few hours with thousands of Twitter "followers" by broadcasting new designs, sale announcements, and even talk one-on-one with brand fans. Diane von Fürstenberg sends out daily "tweets" about celebrities spotted wearing DVF. The ultra-politically conscious American Apparel reinforces its PC image by peppering their Twitter page with posts about fair trade and First Amendment rights. Even fashion demi-god Karl Lagerfeld maintains a Chanel-centric Twitter account where we get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into one of design's most brilliant minds. Some retailers have even brought the online experience into their stores. Eyewear veteran Sunglass Hut has recently launched Social Sun, an in-store, interactive photo booth that enables customers to see themselves in several sunglass styles at the same time, email pictures, and share images on their Facebook accounts for immediate yea or nay feedback from friends. Do I really want to see pictures of my friends trying on sunglasses? Or know what's going on in Mr. Lagerfeld's head? Not sure, but I never thought I'd buy a luxury car - sight unseen - on eBay either. Let's see where all this goes... More on Twitter
 
David Wild: Justin Timberlake: Pop Culture's Smartest Guy In The Room Top
The other day I was thinking about Justin Timberlake -- a mildly curious thing for a straight man in his forties to spend much time doing, perhaps, but so be it. If it helps, I'm pretty sure that my wife was thinking about Justin too. We were both on a road trip with our two young boys, all of us happily listening as "Dead and Gone," Justin's stellar turn with T.I., kept popping up on a number of different radio stations. Later the whole family watched all the cleaner bits from last weekend's "Saturday Night Live" together and witnessed Justin kicking comedic ass yet again. That got me thinking about how amazing and impressive it is that the sweet, likeable and ambitious kid I first met in a Florida corporate park as a teenage more than a decade ago has gradually become a singular sensation -- arguably our current pop culture's smartest guy in the room, for real. Back when I met Justin in 1998, I was writing the first "Rolling Stone" profile about the then still up-and-coming boy band 'N Sync. I came away from a few days with the guys with two overriding impressions - one was that the group's self-proclaimed "Big Daddy" Lou Pearlman was pretty creepy. The fact that this middle aged boy band impresario mentioned the he'd also gotten into the Chippendale's business too should perhaps have set off a few dozen red flags, but somehow I didn't have a real clue that he was not just a creep, but a true scoundrel as well. Lou, if they happen get "Huffington Post" in whatever lucky penal facility currently houses your convicted ass, I apologize if I just ruined your otherwise lovely day in lockdown -- love or otherwise. My other infinitely more pleasant memory is of Justin himself. He seemed like very much a team player, but I recall him bringing me out to his brand new car and playing me a bunch of current favorite CDs -- a very cool and interesting selection of hip hop and soul recordings that in retrospect suggested the more interesting direction his own music would someday go. I got to see 'N Sync perform in Miami during my trip and that was my first indication of his ability as a singer and a performer. He was good even then, but you could see he wasn't going to be satisfied with simply being good for long. Somehow Justin's experiences as a child star had not made him crazy, but rather given him a sense of perspective about the business that seemed unusual for his age -- or any age actually. Since then I've had the pleasure of working with Justin a fair amount, and to this day, he strikes me as a guy with remarkably good instincts. The last time I saw Justin was at the Grammys where he graciously stepped in to help save the show after Chris Brown and Rihanna became the world's most famous no-shows. Working with Executive Producer Ken Ehrlich, Justin helped put together a spontaneously great Grammy moment with Reverend Al Green and an instant backing band. Backstage right before the show went live, I thanked Justin for helping us out. "It's what we do," Justin said. "Sadly Justin, we don't do the same thing," I told him. I won't feel too bad about that. Nobody else does everything Justin does -- or does so well. More on Chris Brown & Rihanna
 
Vivian Norris de Montaigu: "Money! Money! Money! -- Cannes Announces Film on Muhammad Yunus" Top
An Uplifting Story for a World in Financial Crisis! The multi-talented Phyllida Lloyd, director of Mamma Mia! , the highest grossing film ever made by a woman (and a team of women at that) has attached herself to the development of a feature fiction film based on the spread of microcredit around the world. She is also a highly regarded theatre director and her current production of Schiller's Mary Stuart on Broadway has been nominated for multiple Tony awards. Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work of loaning tiny amounts of money to the poorest women in Bangladesh and now the UN reports the system has spread to over 100 countries, lifting over 100 million out of poverty. "Yunus has thrown down the gauntlet to all of us," Lloyd said." How to live our lives. If the poorest of the poor can transform their worlds, what excuse is there for the rest of us? This is an astonishing story of not taking 'no' for an answer." See the following press coverage about the announcement here and here . The film was initiated in Paris, by producers Christian de Boisredon, Vivian Norris de Montaigu (yep, that's me) and Nicolas Jourdier, who began working closely with Prof. Yunus prior to his winning the Nobel. Dr. Yunus decided to work with the trio because they had international backgrounds working with microcredit and social business and women living in poverty. They also plan to make sure that the film is distributed even in the poorest countries of the world where microcredit can do the most good and are in talks with several organizations to assure that this happens. "This is not just a film, it is about believing that everyone has the potential inside him or herself to create their own world, to empower themselves, and live a life of dignity as a human being. There is no reason for people today to live in such dire poverty when there is such great wealth in the hands of such a small amount of individuals and companies. Microcredit allows women to be part of the change taking place in the world today towards creating a more just society. When my daughter took me to see "Mamma Mia!" I knew that this kind of uplifting quality of joyful celebration of women had to be part of the film about Muhammad Yunus", stated Vivian Norris de Montaigu from Cannes. David Thompson, the former head of BBC Films, came onboard with his newly formed Origin Pictures (which is behind the Cannes competition film by Jane Campion "Bright Star") to co-produce the feature. Francesca Marciano is to work on the screenplay. A first draft was created by Nicolas Meyer. More on Poverty
 
Sean L. McCarthy: The SNL FAQ: #34.23 Season Finale (Will Ferrell) Top
You have questions about the season finale of Saturday Night Live . We have answers. Did they open with a political sketch? YES. Unpopular former Vice President Dick Cheney (Darrell Hammond, in his SNL swan song), got interrupted from his newfound love of media appearances by Will Ferrell in his now Tony-nominated performance of ex-President George W. Bush. Ferrell as Bush did get in a couple of digs on VP Joe Biden, wondering why Cheney wouldn't go out for burgers with him, and why Cheney wouldn't say dumb things to make Bush look smarter. How did the host do, and did he/she do anything outrageously funny? Will Ferrell dominated the episode from start to finish, appearing in every sketch of the night and bringing back his memorable impersonations of Bush, Alex Trebek and the ghost of Harry Caray. Who played President Obama? Not present. Looks like they took the hint. Was there a digital short? NO. Was there a fake ad? YES, BUT. It was a blast from the past. Specifically, Season #26, Epsiode 11 (Feb. 10, 2001), in which Ferrell played the dog-hating Wade Blasingame, ESQ., attorney at law. He has sued more than 2,000 dogs for getting away with things humans never could. Did the musical guest lip-sync or otherwise do something worth mentioning? Green Day proved they still can provide some power chord punk-pop, with two singles off their upcoming new release, "Know Your Enemy" and "21 Guns." Did my favorite character return? YES. Aside from all of the impersonations, Kristen Wiig's big-headed, tiny-handed singing sister returned in another Lawrence Welk sketch. Were there any celebrity cameos? YES. TONS. Tom Hanks played himself in the Jeopardy sketch, pretending to be dumber than you could possibly believe anyone to be, and playing it straight. Former SNLers Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Norm MacDonald also returned; Poehler to the Weekend Update desk, Rudolph singing in a funeral sketch, and MacDonald playing Burt Reynolds on Jeopardy . Elisabeth Moss (Fred Armisen's fiancee) showed up briefly in the all-star singalong to Billy Joel's "Goodnight, Saigon." As did earlier season 34 SNL hosts Anne Hathaway and Paul Rudd. As did Artie Lange, for reasons unknown (other than being pals with MacDonald, I suppose). Did any celebrities get impersonated? YES. The Celebrity Jeopardy sketch featured Ferrell as Alex Trebek, Hammond as Sean Connery, MacDonald as Burt Reynolds and Wiig as Kathie Lee Gifford. We also saw an NBA on TNT sketch with Bill Hader as Ernie Johnson and Kenan Thompson as Charles Barkley. And Fred Armisen played Lawrence Welk. Did any politicians get impersonated? YES. See the aforementioned cold open. For the full recap and analysis of this episode of SNL, click here . More on Will Ferrell
 
Sharon Glassman: Angels and Demons - Does Hollywood Science Equal Good Science? Top
Attention: Science spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk of "Enlightenment"... Angels and Demons , Dan Brown's first novel-turned-second book adapted for the screen, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks , earned $48 million in its opening weekend . Roger Ebert gave it three stars and a warning that logic was not one of Angel's co-stars. But how does the movie Angels and Demon s rate with scientists? According to a fact vs. fiction overview presented by physicist Patricia Rankin, a professor at CU Boulder the answer is: hilariously . And she means that in the nicest possible way. Before a packed lecture hall on an otherwise irresistibly outdoorsy Colorado Saturday, Rankin offered a crash course on the true physics of Angels and Demons for non-scientists. It's a radical idea in one sense - kinda like the College of Cardinals hosting a mixer for atheists. It also feels extremely timely. If Meryl Streep , as Julia Child in the upcoming foodie film, Julie and Julia , addressed a potential soufflé crisis with a line like, "I need 1500 liters of cask-aged balsamic or she's gonna blow!" foodies would be on the fact-crash in a flash. But how much Holly-sci are we digesting with our popcorn? Enter, Rankin. As a physicist, she spends her time looking at how the universe might have started. A key part of her inquiry involves antimatter. Antimatter, it seems, is the Yin to the Yang of the stuff most of us think of as stuff. We couldn't exist without it. And that's just the start of things. 'The study of antimatter is related to questions about the start of time," Rankin tells the crowd. Which is a very cool, if not exactly human-populated idea. Enter: Angels . Antimatter is The MacGuffin - the desired thing - the sets the movie's plot in motion. The bad guys have stolen a 1/4 gram of it from a "top secret" facility called Cern in Switzerland. Tom Hanks gotta get the bottle of antimatter back. Or else the world will go Ka-Boom! Rankin starts her science-test of Hollywood with a slide showing a picture of CERN - the European Organization for Nuclear Research . In the movie, it's a "top secret," hush-hush kind of place full of folks in white coats. Très cool-looking. In reality: Cern is not top secret, Rankin says. It's bustling. As the for the groovy lab-wear? She shakes her head and smiles. "One of the great tragedies of my life is not getting to wear a lab coat," she admits. Okay. So CERN has been Botoxed a bit. We can handle that. But what about the stolen antistuff? The antimatter stolen from CERN in Angels rests in an elegantly small, imminently hide-able cigarette-pack-like container. So far, so cool. But is that feasible? In reality, Rankin informs us, antimatter can only exist in a supercollider as large as our lecture hall. The reason has to do with the relationship between energy and mass at the speed of light, ie: e=mc2. The creation of antimatter requires a ginormous amount of energy created at light-fast speeds. You can't make that stuff in a cigarette pack. Play it true, and you've created a scene that's more like the Stay Puft marshmallow man scene from Ghostbusters , in which the Illuminati manage to steal- and hide - a lecture hall-sized Supercollider with an eensy-teensy bit of antimatter inside it. How eensy? Very. But in this case, Hollywood's eensy is incredibly huge by sci-standards. If you think a good man is hard to find, try assembling a 1/4 gram of antimatter. FermiLab in Chicago, one of the world's premier antimatter creators, manages to make two nanograms of the non-stuff a year, Rankin says. Assuming Angels' bad guys could find a way to make their antimatter stick around, and carry it around, they'd need 109 million years - more than an entire American Idol season feels - to create it. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nanogram At this point, I should point out that Rankin's scientific look at Angels and Demons is being conducted with the enthusiasm of someone who obviously loves her field, and wants to help others develop an informed love of it, too. Her experiment works for me. While the science of Angels and Demons doesn't hold up on close examination, this doesn't make the movie any less appealing to me in theory. "Not having a complete theory is exciting in science," Rankin says, in response to a question about another element of the film - "The God Particle"'s role in the long sought-after Theory of Everything. Something about a film with so many sci-flaws appeals to me, too. And when I'm done at the movies, I think I'd like to become a physicist. How about you?
 
Notre Dame Protests Over Obama: Arrests Made (VIDEO) Top
Hundreds of University of Notre Dame students protested President Barack Obama's commencement address Sunday as anti-abortion activists converged on the school's front gates. At least 27 people were arrested on trespassing charges, said Sgt. Bill Redman of the St. Joseph's County Police Department. They included Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff identified as "Roe" in the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. She now opposes abortion. Signs held by some protesters declared "Shame on Notre Dame" and "Stop Abortion Now." Bishop John D'Arcy, whose diocese includes Notre Dame, joined the students, calling them "heroes" for expressing their anger over the Roman Catholic school's invitation to Obama, who supports abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research. D'Arcy declined to attend the commencement, instead speaking to the students who had gathered on the school's south quadrangle. He also attended a prayer vigil Saturday night. "It's certainly the place for the bishop to be here. There's no doubt about that," D'Arcy told the crowd Sunday. "All of you here today are heroes, and I'm proud to stand with you." Outside campus, more than 300 anti-abortion demonstrators gathered at the school's front gate. But the off-campus crowds also included Sunsara Taylor, a New York City resident and a member of the abortion-rights group Abortion on Demand. Taylor said she visited Notre Dame because she felt that "there was a voice missing" in the controversy over Obama's visit. "If women don't have a right to decide if they have a child, women aren't free," she said. "We need to expand abortion access and abortion rights and lift the stigma. Fetuses are not babies and women are not incubators." Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!
 
Roseanne Colletti: Identity Lost and Found Top
I recently covered a story that started me thinking a little more seriously about identity theft. Apparently some very daring and technically astute thieves rigged some ATM machines at two bank locations and swiped half-a-million dollars from account holders. Now mind you, they had to go into the enclosed ATM lobby to do this. Guess those security cameras are only good after the fact. At any rate, the clever criminals placed a skimming device right above the slot for the bankcard. That way whenever someone swiped a card, the skimmer recorded and stored the information on the magnetic strip. The wrongdoers also made a movie of the keypad as the pin numbers were punched in. They had positioned a tiny camera in the lighted sign directly overhead. Later they synced up the skimmer with the camera video and went to town taking from one account after another. None of this activity was discovered until one of the bank's customers reported a discrepancy on his bank statement. And this leads to my wake-up call. How many of us really check our bank statements that carefully? Perhaps its because we don't really want to see all those extra fees we may be paying and could avoid if we only changed banks or accounts. Perhaps its because we really don't want to know how many times we went to the ATM to get cash we can't even remember spending. However, denial and fear of unpleasant knowledge aside, checking your bank statement each and every month, online or in the mail, is one way to combat identity theft. And it's important to keep you from losing money and maybe fighting with your bank to get it back. You see unlike with credit cards, bank debit cards don't have the same legal protections. While you're not responsible for anything beyond $50 if you report a lost or stolen credit card, the bank assumes only you or someone authorized by you has your pin number and can access your account. You're expected to check your statement and if you don't and later discover unauthorized activity, you may have to prove to the bank it wasn't you. Could I do anything more? I picked up the phone and called Eric Gertler, author of "Prying Eyes: Protect Your Privacy from People who Sell to You, Snoop on You, or Steal from You." His words of caution: "Cover the keypad with your hands when you punch in your pin number." That's something we may not think of doing at the bank, certainly a more secure environment than an ATM at a convenience store. "Avoid convenience store ATMs altogether," counseled the security expert. And I might caution, take a peek overhead and around and make sure there isn't a little tiny camera taking your picture. As a follow-up to the ATM caper, bank security cameras did record pictures of three men believed to be the thieves. Perhaps they'll be apprehended and made to pay for their misdeeds. However, that won't guarantee another technically talented try by someone else at another bank and time. You line of first defense literally rests in your hands. (to see more of my stories go to: www.nbcnewyork.com )
 
Top 30 Websites For April: New York Times Still On Top Top
For the first time in a long while, monthly uniques at the NYTime.com fell in April, though the paper disputes it. According to data from Nielsen Online, uniques at the site dropped 8% to 16.5 million in April compared to the same month last year. The NYTimes.com is still the No. 1 newspaper Web site.
 
Obama Notre Dame Speech: LIVE VIDEO Top
President Obama will give the commencement speech at Notre Dame University . Watch his speech live below. Earlier, Obama accepted an honorary degree to hearty applause: Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter! More on Barack Obama
 

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