Auto couture: Fashion designer creates new dress using parts from Ford Focus

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:44 AM on 30th December 2011

This racy little number is guaranteed to drive the chaps crazy, having been made out of parts from a Ford Focus.

Scottish Fashion designer Judy Clark was commissioned by Ford to create the one-off gown to help launch the new 2012 model of the best-selling car.

Ford sent her two boxes stuffed full of components including keys, radio and dashboard components, seat covers and two red tail lights to weave into a head-turning creation.

Head-turner: This amazing dress from fashion designer Judy Clark was made from parts of a Ford Focus

Although she was only asked to create a dress, Judy was enjoying the assignment so much she ended up making and entire outfit.

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The main frock, described as Edwardian, is made from tweed, silk chiffon, leather and lace and features the car's tail lights swinging from the hips.?

Fast fashion: The zany creation contains car seat covers, tweed, silk chiffon, leather as well as assorted cogs and sprockets

Judy also created a matching biker-jacket using seat covers with the car's speedometer featuring as a detail on the back.

To complete the ensemble she recruited Jewellery designer Katherine Hawkins to make a necklace using various dials, cogs, springs and buttons.

Bumper: The rear of the dress is festooned with an array of mechanical and electrical components

Judy and Katherine worked completely separately so neither had any idea what the other was creating.

Judy said: 'The back of the dress - the ?engine' - comprises of all the small components stitched into a small crinoline type bustle.

Accessory: Jewellery designer Katherine Hawkins created this matching necklace

'The massive red rear lights were a bit of a challenge; I sawed of the back section with a hack saw to shed some bulk and weight, then drilled holes in top section attaching wire and kilt straps. so they could be clipped on and off.

'I attached the lights and the entire bustle to an industrial sized leather belt to carry the weight.

'Using the cover of a car seat, HTH tweed and a bit of spray-paint leather and lace I constructed the biker jacket.

'My younger sister and I had a pair of pliers and a screwdriver in hand pulling bits apart to access the circuit boards and wires finding pieces that were a suitable sizes and weight to attach to the jacket. It?s a great shape with a sexy edge.

'The needle of the speedometer on the back moves round so yo can choose what speed to go at! Underneath the jacket a tweed, gauze and chiffon corset appliqued with copper wire nips in the waist.

'I dyed layers of silk chiffon inspired by the colour of diesel, the fabric mimicking the flow of fuel. The contrast of feminine soft layers with that of industrial car mechanics was something I wanted to encapsulate.'

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Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080007/Auto-couture-Fashion-designer-creates-new-dress-using-parts-Ford-Focus.html?ITO=1490

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Roaches take over on 'Hoarding: Buried Alive'

TLC

By Ree Hines

Get ready to get bugged out!

On the next episode of "Hoarding: Buried Alive," viewers will meet Sherry, a woman who's coped with depression and the loss of her mother by not coping with the growing mess in her own home. It's driven her husband out of the house and provided the perfect environment for a slew of creepy crawly tenants.

See for yourself in this sneak peek, but roach-phobes be warned: the bugs get plenty of screen time.

"We've got a roach infestation that is very large," Sherry explained in one major understatement.

The insects were, in fact, skittering across surfaces throughout the house. An open can of food in the kitchen alone was filled three inches deep with roaches. Even the refrigerator, or what one exterminator called "an incubator," was packed with them.

And as it turned out, unbeknownst to Sherry, roaches weren't her only pest problem. Hidden beneath trash on her kitchen floor, exterminators found a nest of black widow spiders.

"I'm really concerned about the safety of you and your kids in that house," a psychologist warned Sherry after the spider discovery. "This is a really disturbing environment. It's not safe."

Sherry wasn't particularly responsive to the warning.

"I don't know what you want me to say," she muttered shortly before storming off.

Later, as members of a hazmat team removed bag after bag of garbarge from the home, Sherry told another expert she wanted nothing to do with the psychologist.

"She's a b----. I don't like her. I don't want her around me," she said while crying in her car.

Find out whether Sherry was able to fully confront her hoarding problems when "Hoarding: Buried Alive" airs Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET on TLC.

Do you think Sherry will be able maintain the changes the "Hoarding" crew and exterminators make, or do you expect the mess and the pests to come back? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.?

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Related content:

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Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/30/9828527-roaches-take-over-home-on-hoarding-buried-alive

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Odd notes, mad-dash trips mark Iowa closing sprint

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign stop at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks to local residents during a campaign stop at USA Furniture and Bedding, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, in Dubuque, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican Presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. meets with patrons at the Nodaway Diner during a campaign stop, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, in Greenfield, Iowa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? Iowa's GOP presidential contest remains deeply unsettled, if not downright strange, five days before the Jan. 3 caucus.

Rep. Ron Paul, drawing big crowds, got a surprise endorsement Wednesday night from Rep. Michele Bachmann's now-former state chairman. Former Sen. Rick Santorum, who has languished for months, suddenly seems to have momentum, just as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich may be losing his.

And Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who began the campaign by de-emphasizing Iowa, might be poised to finish on top. He's striking an optimistic tone in the final days of the Iowa campaign.

"The spirit of enterprise, innovation, pioneering and can-do propelled our standard of living and economy past that of any other nation on earth," Romney says in a new ad he rolled out Thursday. "And in the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom and opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense. And I intend to make it because I have lived it."

His allies, too, are keeping the heat on his opponents.

The Restore Our Future super PAC, made up of Romney allies, rolled out a new ad that asks "Haven't we had enough mistakes?" and notes all the times when Newt Gingrich has said he had a lapse in judgment or acknowledged errors.

It's part of an unabashed push by Romney in Iowa as his rivals scramble to deny him huge momentum heading into the Jan. 10 primary in New Hampshire, his second home.

Paul, the 76-year-old libertarian-leaning Texan, drew about 500 people at the Iowa State fairgrounds in Ames late Wednesday. A group of Occupy activists tried to interrupt the rally, but that wasn't the main surprise.

State Sen. Kent Sorenson, who had campaigned a few hours earlier with Bachmann as a state chairman of her bid, announced he would support Paul instead.

Paul's anti-government appeal appears to tap into the desire of a frustrated electorate for profound change in an era of high unemployment and an economy that has only slowly recovered from the recession.

"In the last couple of weeks I fell into Ron Paul's camp," said Bob Colby, of Newton, who spent 21 years in the military and is a former employee of a now-shuttered Maytag plant in town.

Paul, who is airing TV ads hitting Romney and Gingrich, planned a town hall meeting Thursday in Perry, Iowa, plus stops in Atlantic and Council Bluffs.

There were other odd campaign notes Wednesday.

Two politically active pastors in Iowa's robust evangelical conservative movement disclosed an effort to persuade either Santorum or Bachmann to quit the race and endorse the other. "Otherwise, like-minded people will be divided and water down their impact," said Rev. Cary Gordon, a Sioux City minister and a leader among Iowa's social conservatives.

Neither candidate appeared interested.

Meanwhile, an ever more confident Romney scheduled stops Thursday in Cedar Falls, Mason City and Ames. He has air support: TV ads say he has the best chance to beat President Barack Obama in November.

Asked Wednesday about the prospects for back-to-back victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney demurred. "I can't possibly allow myself to think in such optimistic terms," he said. "I just have to put my head down and battle as best I can."

Santorum seems to be gaining steam, according to a Time-CNN survey and some private polls. "We're very, very happy with the new numbers," he told reporters in Dubuque.

Acknowledging widespread voter anger in an age of high unemployment, Santorum told an audience Wednesday: "If you want to stick it to the man, don't vote for Ron Paul. That's not sticking it to anybody but the Republican Party."

Santorum, who planned events Thursday in the eastern Iowa towns of Coralville, Wilton, Muscatine and Davenport, says he believes his improved showing reflects voters' belief that he "can be trusted" and that "we've got a record to back it up."

He said in an appearance on NBC's "Today" show Thursday that he's the only one in the Republican field who "has a track record" of winning elections in states, like Pennsylvania, where it was necessary for GOP candidates to attract independents and Democrats.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry adjusted his position on abortion for a second straight day, telling reporters he would allow abortion if a woman's life were at risk. On Tuesday, he had told a pastor that he had undergone a "transformation" on abortion rights and now opposed the procedure in cases of rape or incest after having recently met a woman who said she was conceived by a rape.

Asked if a mother's life was the only instance when he would allow abortion, he was concise as he boarded his bus Wednesday: "That's correct."

Perry planned events Thursday in Washington, Cedar Rapids and Marshalltown.

Gingrich, who has suffered under a barrage of TV attack ads, also took aim at Paul. "I'm very uncomfortable with the idea that the commander in chief would think it was irrelevant to have an Iranian nuclear weapon," he said Wednesday.

Gingrich planned events Thursday in Sioux City, Storm Lake, Denison and Carroll.

Bachmann took aim Wednesday at her two rivals from Texas. She said Perry has spent "27 years as a political insider," and Paul would be "dangerous as president" because of his hands-off views on national security.

Bachmann scheduled events Thursday in Des Moines, Marshalltown and Nevada, Iowa.

___

Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont, Brian Bakst, David Espo, Philip Elliott, Beth Fouhy, Mike Glover, Kasie Hunt and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-29-GOP%20Campaign/id-c135b92daba84e1b8f65300ee1edc73a

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Video: NASA hopes to answer questions about the Moon

>>> finally tonight here on earth this weekend is all about new year's eve. but for a team of nasa scientists, the focus will be a quarter of a million miles away . they will be monitoring a pair of spacecraft orbiting the moon, hoping to answer some age-old questions in what's being described as the biggest moon mission since man first landed there more than 40 years ago. here's nbc's george lewis .

>> reporter: millions of years ago, earth may have had not one, but two moons. then, according to theory they collided -- an event known as the big splat. that would explain the irregularities on the present day moon. all the valleys on the side we see. all the mountains on the other side.

>> scientists have not had a good way to track that down yet. this is the going of solving that mystery.

>> zero, and liftoff of the delta ii , journey to the center of the moon.

>> reporter: in september, nasa launched two lunar probes aboard the same rocket. they'll chase each other in orbit around the moon to study it from surface to center. the mission will be run from this control room in paspasadena, california. a critical point comes this weekend when the two craft fire to get into orbit around the moon.

>> this is the big crunch time. this weekend is going to be the time when it comes together or falls apart .

>> that's one small step for man --

>> reporter: for nasa it will be the most intense focus on the moon since the days of the apollo program .

>> it's very challenging but we have done a lot of practicing and we're ready to do that.

>> reporter: former astronaut sally ride will organize thousands of middle school students to tell nasa what pictures the spacecraft should take with their on-board cameras.

>> hopefully it will encourage kids to get more involved in science and engineering.

>> reporter: so this weekend while millions are watching the new year's ball drop in times square , nasa scientists will be watching the other illuminated ball that holds so many mysteries. george lewis , nbc news, pasadena, california.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45819973/

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All eyes on German renewable energy efforts (AP)

FELDHEIM, Germany ? This tiny village of 37 gray homes and farm buildings clustered along the main road in a wind-swept corner of rural eastern Germany seems an unlikely place for a revolution.

Yet environmentalists, experts and politicians from El Salvador to Japan to South Africa have flocked here in the past year to learn how Feldheim, a village of just 145 people, is already putting into practice Germany's vision of a future powered entirely by renewable energy.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government passed legislation in June setting the country on course to generate a third of its power through renewable sources ? such as wind, solar, geothermal and bioenergy ? within a decade, reaching 80 percent by 2050, while creating jobs, increasing energy security and reducing harmful emissions.

The goals are among the world's most ambitious, and expensive, and other industrialized nations from the U.S. to Japan are watching to see whether transforming into a nation powered by renewable energy sources can really work.

"Germany can't afford to fail, because the whole world is looking at the German model and asking, can Germany move us to new business models, new infrastructure?," said Jeremy Rifkin, a U.S. economist who has advised the European Union and Merkel.

In June, the nation passed the 20 percent mark for drawing electric power from a mix of wind, solar and other renewables. That compares with about 9 percent in the United States or Japan ? both of which rely heavily on hydroelectric power, an energy source that has long been used.

Expanding renewables depends on the right mix of resources, as well as government subsidies and investment incentive ? and a willingness by taxpayers to shoulder their share of the burden. Germans currently pay a 3.5 euro cent per kilowatt-hour tax, roughly euro157 ($205) per year for a typical family of four, to support research and investment in and subsidize the production and consumption of energy from renewable sources.

That allows for homeowners who install solar panels on their rooftops, or communities like Feldheim that build their own biogas plants, to be paid above-market prices for selling back to the grid, to ensure that their investment at least breaks even.

Critics, like the Institute for Energy Research, based in Washington, D.C., maintain such tariffs put an unfair burden of expanding renewables squarely on the taxpayer. At the same time, to make renewable energy work on the larger scale, Germany will have to pour billions into infrastructure, including updating its grid.

Key to success of the transformation will be getting the nation's powerful industries on board, to drive innovation in technology and create jobs. According to the Environment Ministry, overall investment in renewable energy production equipment more than doubled to euro29.4 billion ($38.44 billion) in 2011. Solid growth in the sector is projected through the next decade.

Some 370,000 people in Germany now have jobs in the renewable sector, more than double the number in 2004, a point used as proof that tax payers' investment is paying off.

Feldheim has zero unemployment ? despite its tiny size ? compared with roughly 30 percent in other villages in the economically depressed state of Brandenburg, which views investments in renewables as a ticket for a brighter future. Most residents work in the plant that produces biogas ? fuel made by the breakdown of organic material such as plants or food waste ? or maintain the wind and solar parks that provide the village's electricity.

"The energy revolution is already taking place right here," says Werner Frohwitter, spokesman for the Energiequelle company that helped set up and run Feldheim's energy concept.

But it's not only in the country. Earlier this month in Berlin, officials unveiled a prototype of a self-sustaining, energy-efficient home, built from recycled materials and complete with electric vehicles that can be charged in its garage.

The aim of the prototype home is to produce twice as much energy as is used by a family of four ? chosen from a willing pool of volunteers who will be selected to live in the home for 15 months ? through a combination of solar photovoltaics and energy management technology, in order to show the technology already exists to allow people to be energy self-sufficient.

"We want to show people that already today it is possible to live completely from renewable energy," said German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer as the project, dubbed "Efficiency House Plus," was unveiled. The house is part of a wider euro1.2 million ($1.57 million) project investing in energy-efficient buildings.

"The Efficiency House Plus will set standards that can be adopted by the majority in the short term," Ramsauer told The Associated Press. "The basic principle is that the house produces more energy than needed to live. The extra energy is then used to charge electric-powered cars and bicycles or sold back to the public grid."

Germany's four leading car makers are also participating in the project with BMW AG, Daimler AG, Volkswagen AG and Opel, which is part of Buick's parent company, General Motors Co., each making an E-car for use by in the home.

Such strong cooperation between Germany's industrial sector coupled with a political landscape that emphasizes stability and a heightened public ecological sensibility makes Germany fertile ground to lead the way in the transformation from a post-carbon economy to one run on renewable energy.

"Germany has the most robust industrial economy per capita. When you talk about industrial revolution, that's Germany. It's German technology, it's German IT, it's German commutation," said Rifkin, who outlines what he calls the "The Third Industrial Revolution," in a newly released book of the same title that explains how the economies in the future could swap fossil fuels for renewable energies and still maintain growth.

Robert Pottmann, an asset manager with Munich Re, one of the world's biggest reinsurers, says the company seeks to invest about euro2.5 billion ($3.27 billion) in the next few years in renewable energy assets such as "wind farms, solar projects or maybe new electricity grids."

Alan Simpson, an independent energy and climate adviser from Britain who visited Feldheim as part of a wider tour of Germany last month to see what the renewable revolution looks like up close said it was inspiring to view what is being accomplished on the ground.

"It's great to think about Germany delivering on everything that we are being told in Great Britain is impossible," Simpson said.

Amid the excitement, there is also an awareness of the real need for the German experiment to succeed.

"If Germany can't pull this off," said Rifkin. "We don't have a plan B."

___

Associated Press writer Juergen Baetz contributed to this story from Berlin.

___

On the Internet:

Feldheim: http://www.neue-energien-forum-feldheim.de/

German Renewable Energy Agency: http://www.unendlich-viel-energie.de/en/homepage.html

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_germany_making_renewables_work

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The nations weather (AP)

Weather Underground Forecast for Tuesday, December 27, 2011. Another storm will develop in the Southeast while moving northeastward through the eastern third of the country. This storm will carry a significant amount of moisture that will produce widespread moderate to heavy rain through the Southeast. Many areas will receive several inches of rain. In the colder air to the north, a mix of rain and snow will fall in the Ohio Valley. Even colder air in the Upper Midwest will produce several inches of snow in Wisconsin and Michigan. This storm will represent the most active weather in the country on Tuesday.

The only other notable precipitation in the country will be in the Northwest as Pacific moisture will stream into the area and produce rain and high elevation snow from the coast of Washington through Idaho.

The very dry December will continue for most of California, but the northern reaches of the state will receive some rain and high elevation snow in the late afternoon and evening.

The Northeast will rise into the 30s and 40s, while the Southeast will see temperatures in the 50s, 60s, and some 70 1/4's in Florida. The Northern Plains will rise into the 20s and 30s, while the Northwest will see temperatures in the 30s and 40s. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Monday have ranged from a morning low of -8 degrees at Alamosa, Colo. to a high of 84 degrees at Fort Myers, Fla.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111227/ap_on_re_us/us_weatherpage_weather

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A novel FoxM1-Caveolin signaling pathway promotes pancreatic cancer invasion and metastasis.

Over-expression of FoxM1 leads to epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cell phenotype in pancreatic cancer cells.

Bao B, Wang Z, Ali S, Kong D, Banerjee S, Ahmad A, Li Y, Azmi AS, Miele L, Sarkar FH. J Cell Biochem. 2011 Sep; 112(9):2296-306.

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?tmpl=NoSidebarfile&db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=22194465&dopt=Abstract

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NH Fugitive Shot, Killed In Florida

POSTED: 5:24 pm EST December 27, 2011
UPDATED: 11:45 pm EST December 27, 2011

CAPE CORAL, Fla. -- A fugitive from New Hampshire was shot and killed Tuesday in a shootout with law enforcement authorities in Florida.The U.S. Marshals Service said 22-year-old Joseph Cleary was located in Cape Coral, but when authorities tried to arrest him, he brandished a gun. A deputy sheriff assigned to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force shot Cleary in an exchange of gunfire, the department said.No law enforcement officers were injured.Officials said Cleary managed to elude officers three times in December and had taken a moving van down to Florida when authorities found him.Cape Coral residents living near where the showdown happened said officers came to their doors Tuesday morning and told them to stay inside. Not long after that, there was an exchange of gunfire."He had violated the terms of his bail agreement, and Strafford County attorney Tom Velarde had filed a motion with the Strafford County Superior Court for his bail to be revoked and it was granted,? Strafford County Sheriff?s Office Capt. Joseph DiGregorio said.Officials said Cleary barricaded himself in a room, and then came out and was killed in an exchange of gunfire with officers."They approached the house and actually saw Mr. Cleary through the window, and when they did they ordered Mr. Cleary to come out of the house, which he did not, and then he actually went deeper into the house," U.S. Marshal David Cargill said. "If Mr. Cleary had just surrendered, he would have been taken into custody and things would have been OK."Investigators said it doesn't appear Cleary knew anybody in Florida.Reports indicate he had rented a house and officers said it looked like he was just moving to get away from local troubles and avoid justice in New Hampshire.Cleary was wanted for bail and probation violations related to a first-degree assault conviction in 2006 in Barrington, according to the Marshals Service.Cleary was convicted of stabbing a good Samaritan in the knee and in the face when that man intervened after Cleary came at a mother and her 7-year-old daughter with a boat oar. The mother said Cleary threatened them as they were riding horses, and she motioned for Cleary to slow down as he sped past them.

Copyright 2011 by WMUR. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.wmur.com/news/30083839/detail.html

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feedreadnews: #fnserv50 Microsoft news: Microsoft Is going to be Holding Last CES Keynote ? http://t.co/zb2E4OO8 #freedomnews

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Hackers target supporters of security firm

NEW YORK?? Victims of a data breach at the security analysis firm Stratfor apparently are being targeted a second time after speaking out about the hacking.

Stratfor said on its Facebook page that some individuals who offered public support for the company after it revealed it was hacked "may be being targeted for doing so."

The loose-knit hacking movement "Anonymous" claimed Sunday through Twitter that it had stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to the company's clients. Anonymous members posted links to some of the information Sunday and more on Monday.

Stratfor, based in Austin, Texas, said its affected clients and its supporters "are at risk of having sensitive information repeatedly published on other websites." The company has resorted to communicating through Facebook while its website remains down and its email suspended.

Here's more from Stratfor's Facebook-posted warning:

It's come to our attention that our members who are speaking out in support of us on Facebook may be being targeted for doing so and are at risk of having sensitive information repeatedly published on other websites. So, in order to protect yourselves, we recommend taking security precautions when speaking out on Facebook or abstaining from it altogether.

A message posted online Monday by a group asserting it spoke for Anonymous mocked victims who spoke to The Associated Press about the experience of learning that their credit card information was stolen and used to make unauthorized charitable donations. The message also ridiculed someone who criticized the hacking on Facebook, saying "we went ahead and ran up your card a bit."

A Stratfor spokesman would not say whether the information was encrypted in its database or what the company has learned since the incident began.

Anonymous has said the data was not encrypted. If true, that would be a major embarrassment for a security-related company.

The spokesman, Kyle Rhodes, said the company could not discuss any details because several law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident.

The data was posted in a series of releases in links embedded in online messages that, in turn, were linked to from Twitter.

Some of the files appear to be alphabetical listings of Stratfor clients with related credit card information. The amount posted suggests that information about more than 100,000 individuals and thousands of companies was exposed. The posts also contain files of emails within Stratfor's information technology department, and what appears to be a list of passwords for Stratfor IT staff.

The posted data identifies thousands of major financial, defense and technology firms, media companies, government agencies and multiple units of the United Nations as Stratfor clients. The hackers said this was evidence that they had breached Straftor's "private clients," a claim the company denied.

"Contrary to this assertion, the disclosure was merely a list of some of the members that have purchased our publications and does not comprise a list of individuals or entities that have a relationship with Stratfor beyond their purchase of our subscription-based publications," Stratfor said in an email and on Facebook.

Stratfor clients around the world were trying to assess whether they were impacted by the hacking.

In New Zealand, the lead government agency, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, is checking whether it has suffered any problems from the hacking. The department, New Zealand's police and fire services and national carrier Air New Zealand are among New Zealand agencies and companies using Stratfor for security purposes.

Department spokesman Ron Mackey said checks were under way to determine "whether its systems have been compromised," Radio New Zealand reported Tuesday.

Earlier, New Zealand technology commentator Colin Jackson said the hacking must be "really, really embarrassing for Stratfor."

"The government departments and (New Zealand) companies ... are going to have to go around and get those credit cards stopped, and decide whether to continue dealing with this outfit Stratfor," he said.

Stratfor "has made a press statement saying 'oh, this kind of thing happens to everybody and it's pretty hard to keep these guys out.' Yeah, right, well, you are supposed to be security experts," Jackson told Radio New Zealand.

The hackers initially claimed their goal was to use stolen the credit information to donate to charities at Christmas, and some victims confirmed unauthorized transactions were made from their credit accounts in recent days. The messages also said the hackers are targeting companies "that play fast and loose with their customers' private and sensitive information."

Stratfor provides political, economic and military analysis to help clients reduce cyber security risks, according to a description on its YouTube page. It charges subscribers for its reports and analysis, delivered through the web, emails and videos.

The company's home page carried a banner Monday that said its "website is currently undergoing maintenance."

Anonymous warned it plans more attacks this week. The movement has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on credit card processors Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., eBay Inc.'s PayPal, as well as banks, groups in the music industry and the Church of Scientology.

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a watchdog that tracks data breaches, made the Stratfor hacking its 121st such incident of the year targeting credit cards.

Anonymous, reported to be a loose-knit group of hackers, became famous for attacking the companies and institutions that oppose anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange. The message Monday said the attacks could be averted. "Have you given our comrade Bradley Manning his holiday feast yet, at a fancy restaurant of his choosing?" Manning is the Army private facing court martial for allegedly sending hundreds of thousands of diplomatic documents and Iraq and Afghanistan war zone field reports to WikiLeaks. A seven-day hearing into the biggest national security leak in U.S. history ended Thursday.

Related: 'Anonymous' hackers target US security think tank

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

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45791528/ns/technology_and_science-security/

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Movie Scores: How the critics rated the new movies (AP)

No matter what language it's in, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" casts a spell over critics.

David Fincher's English-language version of the Stieg Larsson novel, about a disgraced journalist (Daniel Craig) and a disturbed hacker (Rooney Mara) who team up to solve a decades-old killing, is debuting to strong reviews. It follows the popular Swedish film adaptation that came out two years ago.

AP Movie Writer David Germain gave it three and a half stars out of four. He wrote: "Its harsh emotional terrain, where cruelty flourishes and compassion suffocates, could have wound up softened and sweetened, yet this was an ideal match of filmmaker and material. Fincher is one of the least sentimental directors in Hollywood. If anything, his `Dragon Tattoo' is even bleaker than the 2009 Swedish-language hit."

Also opening over the Christmas weekend is "War Horse," Steven Spielberg's old-fashioned historical epic about a boy (Jeremy Irvine) and his magical horse, who are separated during World War I. AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire gave the film two stars out of four, saying: "`War Horse' features a strong cast and the sort of impeccable production values you would expect from Spielberg. ... And yet it's overlong, painfully earnest and sometimes even hokey."

Here's a look at how these movies and others fared on the top review websites as of Friday afternoon. Each score is the percentage of positive reviews for the film:

? "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo": Metacritic, 71; Movie Review Intelligence, 78.2; Rotten Tomatoes, 85. Average: 78.1.

? "War Horse": Metacritic, 73; Movie Review Intelligence: 77.7; Rotten Tomatoes, 76. Average: 75.6.

? "The Adventures of Tintin": Metacritic, 67; Movie Review Intelligence, 67.9; Rotten Tomatoes, 75. Average: 70.

? "We Bought a Zoo": Metacritic, 57; Movie Review Intelligence, 60; Rotten Tomatoes, 58. Average: 58.3.

? "In the Land of Blood and Honey": Metacritic, 56; Movie Review Intelligence, 59.5; Rotten Tomatoes, 45. Average: 53.5.

? "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close": Metacritic, 40; Movie Review Intelligence, 66.3; Rotten Tomatoes, 53. Average: 53.1.

___

Online:

http://www.metacritic.com/

http://moviereviewintelligence.com/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_en_re/us_movie_scores

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Thursday's local men's college basketball roundup: VCU goes to 9-3 with win over UNC Greensboro

Bradford Burgess scored 24 points and Rob Brandenberg 17 Thursday night as VCU beat host UNC Greensboro 80-68.

The Rams improved to 9-3. The Spartans, guided by interim coach Wes Miller, fell to 2-11. Miller, 28, a former James Madison and North Carolina guard, is the youngest coach in Division I men's basketball.

JMU 62, George Washington 57

A.J. Davis and Humpty Hitchens scored 17 points apiece in the first half as James Madison built a 20-point halftime lead, and the Dukes held on in Washington.

The Dukes (6-3) led 55-33 after Andrey Semenov's layup with 13:46 left to play, but only made one more field goal the rest of the way.

Reserve David Pellom (eight points) and Tony Taylor (five points) sparked a 15-0 Colonials run. After Julius Wells' 3-pointer put the Dukes up 58-48, the Colonials scored six straight and trailed by four with 2:59 left.

GW (4-7) failed to score on its next five possessions, however, and the Dukes hit four free throws in the final 1:11 to secure the win.

ECU 69, Gardner-Webb 55

Darrius Morrow and Maurice Kemp each recorded double-doubles as East Carolina defeated Gardner-Webb in Greenville, N.C.

Morrow had 19 points and 10 rebounds while Kemp scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Shamarr Bowden added 13 points and Miguel Paul had 10 for the Pirates (7-4), who have won three straight games.

Max Landis and Tashan Newsome each scored 12 points for the Bulldogs (6-8), who lost their second straight game.

Howard 88, Delaware 83, OT

Glenn Andrews had a career-high 28 points, and he combined with Calvin Thompson to score 13 points in overtime to lift Howard in Washington.

The win ended a four-game losing streak for the Bison (4-9), who are guided by former Hampton University coach Kevin Nickelberry. The Blue Hens had their two-game win streak snapped.

Andrews nailed a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 70, sending it into the extra frame.

After Josh Brinkley converted 1 of 2 free throws to give the Blue Hens (5-5) a 71-70 advantage, Thompson and Andrews took over. Howard reeled off a 9-2 run to take a 79-73 lead at the 2:35 mark.

Georgia State 72, Georgia Southern 52

James Fields scored 18 points and Devonta White added 17 to help Georgia State (9-3) win in Atlanta for a school-record ninth straight win.

Eric Buckner finished with 13 points while Tony Kimbro Jr. had 13 and Jihad Ali chipped in with 12 for the Panthers.

Drexel 68, Binghamton 44

Samme Givens scored 15 points and Drexel shot 55.3 percent (26 of 47) from the field to defeat host Binghamton, keeping the Bearcats winless through 10 games.

Nine of Givens' points came in the first half. The Dragons (6-4) led 22-18 with 5:32 remaining before closing the half with a 14-4 run, which featured five layups to go in front 36-22.

Source: http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-spt-men-college-basketball-20111222,0,5044027.story?track=rss

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Ron Paul Raised Money by Forecasting 'Race War' (Little green footballs)

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Manhattan Website Development and Internet Marketing Firm Announces $100 Facebook Giveaway Contest

?

(EMAILWIRE.COM, December 23, 2011 ) New York, NY --According to Peter Crisafi, Vice President of dzine it, Inc., a leading Manhattan website design and development firm with clients throughout the United States and around the world, the firm has just unveiled its '2012 $100 Facebook Like Contest' which will be running throughout the entire upcoming year.

?Each month in 2012, a random person will be chosen from those who ?like? the company?s Facebook page,? says Crisafi.

Crisafi says that the company has created a system that will randomize and pick a winner from the pool of individuals who visit and ?like? the page (www.facebook.com/dzineit). A winner will be chosen at random during the first week of each month for the entire year.

The contest, he says, is open to everyone, but employees from the company will be excluded and winners are limited to one prize throughout the year. Each winner will receive a $100 American Express or Visa gift card, compliments of dzine it, Inc.

?At dzine it, we recognize the importance of social media marketing and the use of social networking websites to boost a brand,? says Crisafi. ?What better way to boost our own brand name and show our clients the power of social media marketing, than through this awesome contest.?

Winners will be announced online, both on the company?s Facebook page, as well as at the dzine it news blog (www.dzineit.net/news-blog).

Established in 2003, dzine it, inc. is a leader in Custom web development, programming and design solutions for small and large business, agencies. The company offers a wide range of business-centered visual communication solutions, including web-based content management, web design, graphic design, custom web software applications, ethical white hat search engine optimization (Organic SEO), Video Encoding, and print media solutions. For more information, call 718.336.2660 or visit www.dzineit.net.

Press Release Courtesy of Online PR Media: http://bit.ly/rR4ddA

Source: http://www.emailwire.com/release/77691-Manhattan-Website-Development-and-Internet-Marketing-Firm-Announces-100-Facebook-Giveaway-Contest.html

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McConnell offers tax cut compromise (CNN)

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China urges others to help keep North Korea stable (Reuters)

SEOUL (Reuters) ? China, which may have received advanced notice of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, has moved swiftly to call on the United States and other countries to help maintain stability in the reclusive state, officials and news reports said.

North Korea is in mourning since it announced Kim's demise on Monday, two days after the 69-year-old iron ruler died of a heart attack, plunging the region into uncertainty over its stability and who had control over its nuclear weapons program.

The official KCNA news agency said at least five million people -- one-fifth of the population of the impoverished state -- had paid condolences at statues and portraits of the leader and his father, North Korea's founder Kim Il-Sung.

"These places turned into a veritable sea of mourners who bitterly wept, looking up to portraits of smiling Kim Jong-il," it said.

His son Kim Jong-un, thought to be in his 20s, has been anointed the successor but it is likely power rests with a coterie of senior officials, including his aunt and uncle.

The younger Kim, along with top army and government officials, paid respects on Tuesday to his father, whose body was placed in a glass topped bier surrounded by the red "Kimjongilia" flowers named after him, television footage showed.

A leading South Korean newspaper reported on Wednesday that China, isolated North Korea's only major ally, learned of Kim's death soon after it occurred on Saturday.

JoongAng Ilbo quoted an unidentified source in Beijing as saying the Chinese ambassador to North Korea had obtained intelligence of Kim's death and reported it to the capital on December 17, the day Kim died of an apparent heart attack while on a train.

"North Korea informed China of Kim's death through diplomatic channels on the following day," the source was quoted as saying.

Top South Korean intelligence and military officials have come under criticism for failing to learn of Kim's death before the official announcement by Pyongyang.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak left on a state visit for Japan some hours after Kim's death, indicating that neither Seoul nor Tokyo -- nor Washington -- had any inkling of his death.

China has given no official comment or even hints suggesting it was told of Kim's death before the public announcement. But in the past, Beijing has had advance notice from North Korea of major events, diplomats say. In 2006, North Korea told China 20 minutes or more beforehand that it would test its first nuclear device, they said.

EXHORTS ALLIES

Beijing has moved swiftly to exhort the United States, Japan and South Korea to help keep North Korea stable.

"Preserving the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula is in the common interests of all sides," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told Japan's Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba late on Tuesday, according to a report from China's Xinhua news agency.

"China is willing to work with Japan to continue making efforts to together protect the peace and stability of the peninsula and the region," said Yang.

The Chinese foreign minister has already made similar pleas in phone calls to South Korea's Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

It underscores China's desire to avoid ructions over North Korea after the death of Kim, whose successor-son is untested and largely unknown.

With its own leadership transition approaching, Beijing would be loath to allow any form of instability on its borders and the prospect of hundreds of thousands of refugees flooding across the Yalu River.

"China's foremost priority will therefore be to ensure that North Korea's new leader, whoever that may be, will be able to rally and unify the country together," said Sarah McDowall, an analyst at IHS Jane's.

In the Chinese city of Dandong, on the bank of the Yalu River border between the two nations, mourners who appeared to be North Koreans filed through a makeshift mourning centre.

Women in their 20s and 30s wept, wailed and prostrated themselves in front of wreaths of white and yellow chrysanthemums. Some men clasped their hands in front of them and bowed deeply.

In Washington, officials said the United States has signaled to North Korea's new leaders it hopes for progress on resuming talks on curbing Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions and has pushed ahead with discussions on resuming food aid despite the death of Kim.

"Given the mourning period, frankly we don't think we'll be able to have much more clarity and resolve these issues before the new year. But obviously we stand ready to keep working on this," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

Nuland said the contact occurred on Monday through what is known as "the New York channel" -- North Korea's mission to the United Nations -- but she was unable to say whether it involved any political discussion of the ramifications of Kim's death.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in WASHINGTON,Seoul and Beijing bureaus; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111221/wl_nm/us_korea_north

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Cancer Drug Developer NewLink Genetics Gets Push From Analysts

Can the next big thing in cancer treatment come from Ames, Iowa?

Newly public biotech company NewLink Genetics (NLNK) is developing treatments that help the immune system fight cancer. Its lead product candidate is an injected drug for pancreatic cancer, a very deadly disease with poor choices for treatment. The drug is being tested in the last of three phases of study usually needed for US approval but significant stock-moving events may be at least a year away.

After the company?s initial public offering last month, analysts from four firms Wednesday initiated coverage with buy recommendations. It should be noted all four firms (Canaccord Genuity, Cantor Fitzgerald, Robert W. Baird and Stifel Nicolaus) were involved in the company?s IPO.

In a little more than a month of trading, NewLink?s stock dropped about 1%, trading at $7 a share early afternoon Wednesday. The 12-month analyst target prices range from $10 to $16 a share.

?Given the high risk, high reward nature of this story, we would not necessarily advise a focused exposure here, but do think it makes a good addition to any aggressive growth-oriented portfolio,? Baird analyst Christopher Raymond says. He has a $10 target for the stock.

So-called immunotherapies are generating a lot of interest in the medical and financial communities and are at the center of two of the more interesting plot lines this year for biotech investors. Dendreon?s (DNDN) Provenge vaccine for prostate cancer was hailed as a revolutionary treatment but sales proved to be disappointing. (See Dendreon?s Stock Plunges on Low Provenge Sales.) On the other hand, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) benefited from a strong sales launch of the melanoma treatment Yervoy.

NewLink?s therapy uses genetically modified human cells to help trigger the body?s immune system and fight cancer. In early studies, high doses of the treatment extended patients? lives by a year. But results of the larger study being conducted now (about 700 patients) will give investors a better sense of whether NewLink has a viable product.

Expect some study data in late 2012 or early 2013, says Chief Financial Officer Gordon Link.

?Their technology and approach is sound, but only time will tell,? says biotech industry analyst Michael Becker.

As for the company?s location amid the cornfields of Iowa, Link admits ?it?s not a hotbed for biotech.? And Raymond notes that some investors may be put off by the company?s location since it?s not based in either of the biotechnogly hubs of California or Massachusetts.

But, in the end, the data will determine the company?s fortunes.

Twitter: @brettchase

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No positions in stocks mentioned.

The information on this website solely reflects the analysis of or opinion about the performance of securities and financial markets by the writers whose articles appear on the site. The views expressed by the writers are not necessarily the views of Minyanville Media, Inc. or members of its management. Nothing contained on the website is intended to constitute a recommendation or advice addressed to an individual investor or category of investors to purchase, sell or hold any security, or to take any action with respect to the prospective movement of the securities markets or to solicit the purchase or sale of any security. Any investment decisions must be made by the reader either individually or in consultation with his or her investment professional. Minyanville writers and staff may trade or hold positions in securities that are discussed in articles appearing on the website. Writers of articles are required to disclose whether they have a position in any stock or fund discussed in an article, but are not permitted to disclose the size or direction of the position. Nothing on this website is intended to solicit business of any kind for a writer's business or fund. Minyanville management and staff as well as contributing writers will not respond to emails or other communications requesting investment advice.

Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/newlink-genetics-pancreatic-cancer-dendreon-provenge/12/21/2011/id/38515

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Asian stocks lower after US, Europe fall (AP)

BEIJING ? Asian stock markets fell Thursday, ending a two-day rally after investors were rattled by the European Central Bank's huge loan to bolster the continent's banks.

Tokyo's main index was off 0.6 percent at 8,407.1 and China's benchmark declined 0.4 percent to 2,181.5. Taipei, Hong Kong and Sydney also were down.

The declines came after Asian stocks plunged early this week on anxiety over the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, then rallied on positive U.S. construction data and a strong Spanish government debt auction.

"We're seeing the markets fall on their own weight here in Asia, with no one looking to step in and buy," said Chris Weston, an institutional dealer for Australia's IG Markets.

On Wednesday, investors were spooked by the huge size of the ECB's euro489 billion ($639 billion) loan to 523 banks ? its biggest credit infusion to date as authorities try to steady a financial system under pressure from Europe's debt crisis.

The loan will help to ensure banks have enough money to lend next year but cannot address the underlying problem of government debts.

"The ECB tender was obviously a good situation. It alleviates some of the symptoms. But it's not going to change the situation long-term," said Weston.

European markets fell Wednesday and on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.5 percent. The broader S&P 500 index fell 0.6 percent, led by an 11 percent decline for Oracle Corp., which said it was struggling to close deals, reinforcing worries business and the government may cut technology spending.

European officials says banks need to raise euro115 billion ($150 billion) in new capital but investors are leery of putting more money into them. It would be politically unpopular for governments to do it and their finances are stressed as well.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 0.5 percent at 18,318.3 points while Seoul's Kospi was down 0.1 percent at 1,845.85.

Taipei's Taiex lost 0.1 percent to 6,857.44. Singapore declined 0.4 percent to 2,663.65 while Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.2 percent to 4,090.8.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 16 cents at $98.83 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The euro was little changed at $1.3044 while the dollar was off slightly at 78.04 yen.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

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Business travelers hate Houston and the middle seat, survey says ...

Imagine a business trip that starts with a delayed flight to Houston. On the flight you must sit in the middle seat next to a sick passenger or perhaps a crying baby.?When you check into your hotel, your bed is a mess of bedbugs and dirty linen.

These horrific business trip scenarios emerge from an online survey of 3,756 business travelers who were asked to choose their least favorite city to visit and cite the top reasons?they hate to travel.

But the source of the survey data might be biased on the subject. ON24, a San Francisco provider of virtual meetings and webcasting technology, conducted the survey to promote online meetings over face-to-face business trips.

When it comes to picking least favorite cities to visit for a convention or trade show, Houston got the most votes, with 49% of the survey respondents, and Los Angeles came in second with nearly 42%.

Asked to list their top travel gripe, 53% chose sitting in an airplane middle seat, 51% said having their flight delayed and 43% chose getting stuck next to a sick passenger or a baby.

When it comes to lodging, nearly 53% said they were concerned about sleeping in a room with bedbugs and 45% worry about dirty linen.

When asked what they dislike about trade shows and conventions, more than 60% cited boring presentations. Nearly 20% said they disliked a common trade show sight ? attractive women who staff show exhibits, often known as ?booth babes.?

RELATED:

Christmas and New Year's travel numbers expected to grow slightly

Demand and fares continue to rise for the nation's airlines

American Airlines' parent company owns $30-million town house

-- Hugo Martin

Photo: Business-class passengers on a United flight to Hawaii. Credit: Richard Derk / For The Times

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/12/business-travelers-hate-houston-and-the-middle-seat-survey-says.html

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Film details Jerry Lewis' 'Method to the Madness' (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Gregg Barson is a documentarian, not a comedian. But when Jerry Lewis let him know that more than a dozen people were waiting in line to tell his story, Barson offered a persuasive punch line.

"Yeah, but they're not me," was Barson's comeback, followed by a momentary quiver of fear that he'd gone too far with the veteran star.

"He said, `I like that. You know why? Because you remind me of me,'" Barson recalled. That chutzpah-fueled exchange led to "Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis," debuting 8 p.m. EST Saturday on Starz.

The film focuses on what makes the 85-year-old ? and still working ? Lewis tick as a performer and filmmaker. Those looking for dish on his family life or breakup with stage and screen partner Dean Martin or abrupt departure from the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon he'd nurtured for six decades won't find it here.

Barson, who describes himself as "in heaven" when he caught a Lewis film on TV as a youngster, said his intent was to focus on Lewis' career from vaudeville on and his contributions to comedy and movies.

Younger people without exposure to Lewis' work likely consider him as "that telethon guy. Hopefully, the film will open their eyes as opposed to thinking he did one thing one day a year," Barson said.

During more than three years of filming, Barson had near-complete access as he followed Lewis from his yacht in San Diego to his home in Las Vegas to concert dates and to the Cannes Film Festival in France, the country that idolizes Lewis as a cinematic genius.

He was good company, Barson said. "He's always up, funny and playful. ... The sparkle, he didn't put in on for the camera. He's being real."

"Method to the Madness," which opens with Jerry Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy and other comedians anointing Lewis as comedy royalty, is an unabashed valentine. It is also a reminder that Lewis inspired rock-star levels of fan devotion, and of how impressively "The Bellboy" (1960) and many other films starring and written and directed by Lewis ruled the box office.

Barson, who made the well-received Phyllis Diller documentary "Goodnight, We Love You," sees parallels between Diller and Lewis, including their work ethic.

"She was 84 when she retired, and he's 85 and still working. They never rest on their laurels," Barson said. "They still care. They're not phoning it in."

And that, he said, is part of Lewis' method: Every aspect of his performance is planned.

"As Eddie Murphy says (in the film), slapstick looks simple but the reason it's been around so long is how well thought out it is," Barson said.

Lewis is pleased with the film. And his health is good, according to the filmmaker, who spills one appropriately quirky personal secret on his subject: "He drinks a lot of orange soda. Maybe that's the fountain of youth."

___

Online:

http://www.starz.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_en_tv/us_tv_jerry_lewis

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Son of Unification Church founder visits NKorea (AP)

SEOUL, South Korea ? The youngest son of Unification Church founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon has met with North Korea's ceremonial head of state.

Footage Thursday from Associated Press Television News in Pyongyang showed Moon Hyung-jin speaking with North Korea's parliamentary head Kim Yong Nam.

Moon's 91-year-old father maintains links with Pyongyang and the church owns Pyeonghwa Motors in the North.

The 32-year-old son is an ordained minister who is expected to take over the multibillion-dollar religious and business empire. His father calls himself a messiah sent to complete Jesus Christ's works.

Moon's trip coincides with the 20th anniversary of a visit by his father to North Korea and a meeting with founder Kim Il Sung.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/nkorea/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_unification_church

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President Obama on Iran: Nothing's off the table (Washington Bureau)

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Nicki Minaj 'Thrilled' By #2 Artist And Song Of 2011 Nods

'U guys always know a good thing! Ha!!!!' Young Money MC tells MTV News.
By Christina Garibaldi

Nicki Minaj
Photo: Getty Images

Nicki Minaj's year was nothing short of amazing. The reigning queen of hip-hop spent 2011 climbing the charts, hitting the road and racking up a slew of awards. All of that helped her secure the #2 spot for her smash single "Super Bass" on MTV's Best Songs of 2011 rankings and landed her at #2 on our list of the Best Artists of the year.

"Thanks MTV!!!!" Minaj said told MTV News in a statement. "U guys always know a good thing! Ha!!!! The barbz and I are thrilled. :)"

The Young Money MC released her debut, Pink Friday, at the end of 2010 and rode the success of that album well into 2011 with several hit singles, including "Moment 4 Life" (featuring Drake) and the infectious "Super Bass."

Minaj also further expanded her fanbase into the pop world by joining Britney Spears on her Femme FataleTour. "I wanted my set to be more than an opening act, 'cause, you know, I did that already," Minaj told MTV News back in August. "I always like to raise the bar for myself, and that's what I did. I think it's important to give people what they paid for. I don't really expect them to know all the records, but I guess it just kind of transcends all genres of music at this point."

And transcending genres is exactly what Nicki is doing. She just shot the video for Madonna's "Gimme All Your Luvin", which will also feature M.I.A. The four-time Grammy nominee also released "Roman in Moscow," the first track off her upcoming sophomore album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. It's all setting the stage for a big 2012.

"It's been overwhelming, it's been crazy," she recently told us about her tremendous year. "But it's been fun. ... It's been a crazy year."

Stick with MTV as we count down the Best of 2011, including the top Artists, Songs, Live Performances and EDM Artists of the year.

Related Videos

• Best Artists Of 2011 Debate
• Best Songs Of 2011 Debate

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• Best Artists Of 2011

Related Artists

• Nicki Minaj

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676072/best-artists-of-2011-nicki-minaj.jhtml

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