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Saturday, December 17, 2011

'The Artist' speaks up with 6 noms to lead Globes (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. ? Silent film is taking over Hollywood's awards scene. The silent-era tale "The Artist" heads the Golden Globes with six nominations, among them best comedy or musical, and acting honors for its French stars, Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo.

Tied for second-place with five nominations Thursday are the 1960s racial tale "The Help" and George Clooney's Hawaiian family story "The Descendants." Both films are up for best drama, while Clooney was nominated for best dramatic actor and "The Help" earned acting slots for Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain.

Also competing for best drama: Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure "Hugo"; Clooney's political thriller "The Ides of March"; Brad Pitt's baseball chronicle "Moneyball"; and Steven Spielberg's World War I epic "War Horse."

Joining "The Artist" in the best musical or comedy category are: the cancer story "50/50"; Kristen Wiig's wedding romp "Bridesmaids"; Woody Allen's romantic fantasy "Midnight in Paris"; and Michelle Williams' Marilyn Monroe tale "My Week With Marilyn."

Dujardin, who won the best-actor prize for "The Artist" in its premiere at last May's Cannes Film Festival, was nominated for best actor in a musical or comedy. He plays a silent-film star whose career nosedives as talking pictures take over in the late 1920s in "The Artist," which has virtually no spoken dialogue and is shot in the boxy, black-and-white format of the silent era.

The actor called his nomination an "incredible gift."

"To be recognized alongside such brilliant actors is an honor," Dujardin said. "The Golden Globe nomination for `The Artist' has left me speechless!"

"The Artist" also picked up a supporting actress honor for Bejo as a rising star of the sound era. Filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius earned directing and screenplay nominations for the film, which also is up for best musical score.

Clooney has three nominations. Besides best dramatic actor as a neglectful dad tending his daughters in "The Descendants," he's up for directing and screenplay for "The Ides of March." For the acting prize, Clooney will compete against his "Ides" co-star Ryan Gosling, who plays a presidential candidate's aide. Gosling had a second nomination for best musical or comedy actor as a ladies man in the romance "Crazy, Stupid, Love."

Glenn Close is also a dual contender, as best dramatic actress as a woman masquerading as a male butler in the Irish drama "Albert Nobbs" and for best song for writing the lyrics to "Lay Your Head Down," the film's theme tune.

Also nominated for dramatic actress: Davis as a black maid going public with stories about her white employer in "The Help"; Rooney Mara as a traumatized victim-turned-avenger in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"; Meryl Streep as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady"; and Tilda Swinton as a grieving woman coping with her son's terrible deeds in "We Need to Talk About Kevin."

Clooney has another pal in the dramatic actor race, his "Ocean's Eleven" franchise co-star Pitt, who's nominated for his "Moneyball" role as Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane. And Clooney also is competing for best director against his boss in "The Descendants," filmmaker Alexander Payne.

Gosling, Clooney and Pitt are up against Leonardo DiCaprio as FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover in "J. Edgar" and Michael Fassbender as a sex addict in "Shame."

Pitt's romantic partner, Angelina Jolie, picked up a nomination for foreign-language film for her directing debut, the Bosnian war drama "In the Land of Blood and Honey."

Scorsese for "Hugo" and Allen for "Midnight in Paris" join Clooney, Hazanavicius and Payne in the directing category.

"Making `Hugo' was an extraordinary experience for me," said Scorsese, whose tale is a loving nod to early film and French director Georges Melies. "It gave me a chance to work in 3-D, which I've wanted to do since I was young; it allowed me to make a child's adventure, the type of picture that I loved when I was young; and it provided an occasion to pay tribute to one of the cinema's greatest pioneers, Georges Melies."

Though "War Horse" made it in for best drama, Spielberg missed out on a directing nomination.

Spielberg has a consolation prize with a nomination for his first animated film, "The Adventures of Tintin." Other animation nominees are: James McAvoy's "Arthur Christmas," Owen Wilson's "Cars 2," Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek's "Puss in Boots" and Johnny Depp's "Rango."

Along with Gosling and Dujardin, Wilson was nominated for musical or comedy actor as a writer nostalgic for the 1920s France of Hemingway and Fitzgerald in "Midnight in Paris." Also nominated are Brendan Gleeson as a bawdy, rule-breaking Irish cop on a drug investigation in "The Guard" and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a cancer patient aided by an assortment of oddballs in "50/50."

Roman Polanski's domestic showdown "Carnage" earned musical or comedy actress slots for both Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet as mothers squabbling over their sons' schoolyard fight. The other nominees are: Charlize Theron as a delusional woman plotting to win back her high school boyfriend from his wife in "Young Adult"; Wiig as a maid of honor whose life is unraveling in "Bridesmaids"; and Williams as Marilyn Monroe during a chaotic film shoot in "My Week With Marilyn."

Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier, Monroe's exasperated co-star and director on "The Prince and the Showgirl," was nominated for supporting actor. Also in the race: Albert Brooks as a gregarious but ruthless gangster in "Drive"; Jonah Hill as a statistics prodigy in "Moneyball"; Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud in "A Dangerous Method"; and Christopher Plummer as an ailing, elderly father who comes out as gay in "Beginners."

Besides Bejo, supporting-actress nominees include Spencer as a sassy maid in "The Help" and Chastain as her lonely new boss. The other nominees are Janet McTeer as a cross-dressing laborer in "Albert Nobbs" and Shailene Woodley as a troublesome teen in "The Descendants."

Winslet had a second nomination, as best actress in a TV miniseries or movie for "Mildred Pierce." "Downton Abbey" and "Mildred Pierce" tied for the most television nominations with four, with both shows competing for best miniseries or movie.

Several newcomers were among the nominees, including "Boss, "New Girl," "American Horror Story" and "Homeland."

Along with the Screen Actors Guild Award nominations a day earlier, the Globes field helps narrow down prospects for the Academy Awards, whose nominations come out Jan. 24.

With drinks and dinner, the Globes are a laid-back affair for Hollywood's elite compared to the Oscars. The show turned a bit touchy last year as host Ricky Gervais repeatedly made sharp wisecracks about stars and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 85 entertainment reporters for overseas outlets that presents the Globes.

But Gervais helped give the show a TV ratings boost, and he's been invited back as host for a third-straight year.

Before the nominations announcement, the press group's president, Aida Takla-O'Reilly, joked that Gervais is a "naughty, naughty schoolboy."

Five-time Academy Award and Globe nominee Morgan Freeman ? who won the supporting-actor Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby" and a best-actor Globe for "Driving Miss Daisy" ? will receive the group's Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the Jan. 15 ceremony.

___

Online:

http://www.goldenglobes.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_en_mo/us_golden_globe_nominations

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Broken leg for Barcelona's Villa

updated 12:38 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2011

YOKOHAMA, Japan - David Villa broke his left leg, marring Barcelona's 4-0 victory over Qatar's Al-Sadd on Thursday night that advanced the European champions to the Club World Cup final against Brazil's Santos.

Villa was vying with two defenders in the 37th minute when he landed awkwardly. He fell to the ground, called for help and was carried off on a stretcher. The team said he had a broken shin bone, will return to Spain for surgery and will be sidelined for four to five months.

"Missing him in the team is going to be a blow," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. "I understand it is going to be a long time. We all love David. His personality is great. We all worry about him."

Villa is Spain's career scorer leader, and it's not clear whether he will return in time for the European Championship. Trying to repeat as champion, Spain opens against Italy on June 10.

"There are six months to go. Let's see if he can get well," Spain coach Vicente del Bosque was quoted as saying by Spanish news agency Europa Press. "There are some players that get healthy sooner than others."

The 30-year-old forward has nine goals for Barcelona this season, his playing time diminishing following the acquisition of Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez.

Barcelona, the 2009 world champion, advanced to Sunday's final against Brazil's Santos. Making six changes from the starting lineup that won 3-1 at Real Madrid on Saturday, Barcelona had some unlikely scorers: Adriano had two goals in the first half, and Seydou Keita and Maxwell had one each in the second.

Adriano put Barcelona in the lead in the 25th minute after goalkeeper Mohamed Saqr failed to hold a tap back from Nadir Belhadj following a cross by Pedro Rodriguez. Adriano then made it 2-0 in the 43rd with a left-footed shot from just inside the penalty area.

Lionel Messi set up Barcelona's third goal in the 64th with a perfect pass to Keita, who finished with a flick, and Maxwell scored in the 81st with an angled left-footed shot that deflected in off Saqr's leg.

Coming in, Adriano had scored just twice since joining Barcelona in July 2010: on Feb. 2 at Almeria in 3-0 Copa del Rey win and on Oct. 2 in 1-0 league win at Sporting Gijon.

Maxwell scored his first goal since Dec. 14, 2008, for Inter Milan against Chievo Verona, while Keita hadn't scored since May 11 against Levante.

More news

Man U eyes top spot

LONDON (AP) -Manchester United could briefly forget about injury problems, Champions League elimination and its resurgent neighbor on Sunday.

Mike Stobe / Getty Images

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45681248/ns/sports-soccer/

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The individual mandate: Health-care's inherent controversy (The Week)

New York ? President Obama's health-care bill requires that every American have health insurance. Is that constitutional?

Who first proposed making health insurance compulsory?
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. In the late 1980s, when Democrats were pushing to require employers to provide health insurance, the foundation started thinking about ways to achieve universal coverage without placing a heavy burden on business. Its experts soon encountered the "free rider" problem: In a system where insurers are barred from refusing applicants with pre-existing conditions, many people ? especially the young and healthy ? would only buy a policy when illness struck. But if only sick people bought coverage, insurers would pay out more in doctors' bills than they received in premiums, and quickly go bust. To overcome this death spiral, the Heritage Foundation suggested that every American be required to buy health insurance, a requirement known as the individual mandate.

Which politicians took up that idea?
Many Republicans did in the early 1990s, after President Clinton introduced a plan that would have forced companies to cover employees. "I am for people, individuals ? exactly like automobile insurance ? having health insurance and being required to have health insurance," said Newt Gingrich, then House minority whip, in 1993. When the Clinton plan collapsed in 1994, talk of the individual mandate died with it. But a decade later, Mitt Romney, then the governor of Massachusetts, resurrected the concept for his state health-care plan, which requires residents to buy health insurance or pay up to $1,212 in annual penalties. "It's a Republican way of reforming the market," Romney said when the law debuted, in 2006. "[To have] people show up [at a hospital] when they get sick, and expect someone else to pay, that's a Democratic approach."

SEE MORE: A conservative judge's 'compelling' defense of 'ObamaCare'

So why did Obama adopt a Republican proposal?
At first, he didn't want to. During his 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination, Obama ran a TV ad criticizing rival candidate Hillary Clinton's support for a mandate, saying she would force everyone "to buy insurance, even if you can't afford it." But after President Obama and the Democratic Congress began to construct his health-care plan, advisers warned that free riders would undermine the objectives of extending insurance coverage to anyone who wanted it. For health reform to work, young, healthy people had to be pushed into the pool, to spread cost and risk. So the president allowed his 2010 Affordable Care Act to incorporate a provision that, by 2014, all Americans must have health coverage or face a tax penalty. Conservatives decried that directive as a gross infringement of individual liberty, and their anger helped fuel the rise of the Tea Party. Twenty-six states and the National Federation of Independent Business are now challenging the mandate's constitutionality at the Supreme Court, which will make a final judgment by June.

How has Obama responded?
His administration argues that the mandate is authorized by the Constitution's commerce clause, which allows the federal government to regulate interstate economic activity. Several conservative judges agree. In a November appeals court decision that upheld the mandate, Judge Laurence Silberman, a Reagan appointee, declared that Congress must "be free to forge national solutions to national problems." And this summer, Judge Jeffrey Sutton ? a George W. Bush appointee to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ? concluded that the individual mandate is a legally sound way to prevent taxpayers and hospitals from having to pick up the cost of treating the uninsured. "Not every intrusive law is an unconstitutionally intrusive law," he wrote.

SEE MORE: The Supreme Court and 'ObamaCare': A concise guide

Haven't other judges disagreed?
Yes. In August, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declared that it could find no precedent for ordering Americans to buy health insurance. "Even in the face of a Great Depression, a World War, a Cold War, recessions, oil shocks, inflation, and unemployment," the majority wrote, "Congress never sought to require the purchase of wheat or war bonds, force a higher savings rate or greater consumption of American goods." Other federal judges and critics of "Obamacare" warn that the mandate sets a dangerous precedent that the government could use to make citizens purchase whatever it deems good for them ? or for the economy. "Congress could require every American to buy a new Chevy Impala every year," said a 2009 Heritage Foundation report.

What happens if the individual mandate is voided?
It depends. If the Supreme Court decides that the Affordable Care Act can't function without the individual mandate, it could strike down the entire law. But it might declare the mandate "severable," and remove that particular part of the law, while letting the rest of it limp along, with far fewer uninsured people covered and less ability to rein in costs. Some experts have proposed that instead of the uninsured being required to buy insurance, they could be "nudged" into the health-care system by giving them a window of time during which they could buy insurance relatively inexpensively; once that window closed, the cost would rise sharply. The problem with any alternative to the individual mandate, said Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, is that it would have to be approved by the bitterly divided Congress. "You can't expect that in these times," he said. "People don't work on these compromises too readily anymore."

SEE MORE: The 'ObamaCare' case: Should Elena Kagan and Clarence Thomas sit out?

How the Supreme Court could punt
Next year's Supreme Court hearing has been billed as judgment day for Obama's Affordable Care Act. But it might end with no judgment at all. Before the justices rule on the individual mandate's constitutionality, they will first have to decide whether the 1867 Anti-Injunction Act bars the claimants' challenge. That law prevents citizens from challenging the legality of a tax before it goes into effect. If the court finds that the penalty for defying the Affordable Care Act's mandate is a tax, they could push a legal challenge back to 2015, when the first fines will be levied. And that, said Simon Lazarus, an expert at the National Senior Citizens Law Center, might "be a good solution for a court that doesn't really care to be Public Issue No. 1 in an election year."

View this article on TheWeek.com
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Friday, December 16, 2011

Beach Boys announce 50th anniversary reunion tour

FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2011 file photo, Mike Love of the Beach Boys sings for a crowd of thousands during the Colorado Remembers 911 event at Civic Center Park in Denver. The founding members of the classic rock group; Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine, announced Friday, Dec. 16, they were getting back together to celebrate their 50th anniversary. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez, file)

NEW YORK (AP) ? It's almost winter, but get ready for some surf and sun: The Beach Boys are reuniting.

The founding members of the classic rock group ? Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine ? announced Friday they are getting back together to celebrate their 50th anniversary. They're working on a new album and also plan a 50-date tour that will take them around the world.

"This anniversary is special to me because I miss the boys, and it will be a thrill for me to make a new record and be on stage with them again," Wilson said in a statement.

The group also includes Bruce Johnston and David Marks, both of whom have been with the band for decades.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers gave birth to the California rock sound. Back then, the band members were Love, Jardine, Wilson and his two brothers ? Carl and Dennis Wilson, who have since died. With songs like "Good Vibrations," ''I Get Around" and "California Girls," the quintet embodied the fantasy of West Coast beach life. Their albums, particularly "Pet Sounds," influenced rockers of their generation and beyond.

But Wilson suffered mental problems that caused him to withdraw from the band, and there were years of animosity between Love and Wilson, who are cousins, as well as lawsuits among members of the band. Still, they have gotten back together over the years, including for their 40th anniversary in the last decade.

Love remarked in the statement Friday on how he and Wilson were getting along well, sharing compliments together in the studio.

"Music has been the unifying and harmonizing fact of life in our family since childhood," he said.?"It has been a huge blessing that we have been able to share with the world." Referring to a Beach Boy hit, he added: "Wouldn't It Be Nice to Do It Again??Absolutely!"

The group was supposed to announce their reunion as a surprise during the Recording Academy's live nominations special for the Grammys last month, but those plans fell through.

However, Jardine said the group planned to appear at the Feb. 12 Grammy telecast in Los Angeles.

"There will be a surprise at the Grammys," he told Rolling Stone. "We will do something really exciting. There's a lot of interest in it, which is nice. It's going to be a very big operation."

The Beach Boys first concert is scheduled for April 27 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

___

Online:

http://www.thebeachboys.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-12-16-Beach%20Boys-Reunion/id-aa597ce5833a4c1a8bc1a6c51bb8d547

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Two Army helicopters crash in Washington state, 4 dead (Reuters)

SEATTLE (Reuters) ? Two U.S. Army helicopters crashed on Monday during training exercises at a Washington state military base, killing four aviators on board, the base said in a statement.

Brendalyn Carpenter, a spokeswoman for Joint Base Lewis-McChord, confirmed that "there was an accident" in the evening and that military police and emergency personnel were en route to the accident scene at the base near Tacoma.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and loved ones of the soldiers involved in this tragic accident," said Major General Lloyd Miles, acting senior Army commander at the base.

"We will conduct a thorough investigation into this incident, and we will do everything in our power to support the families of the brave soldiers who died this evening," he added.

The base identified the aircraft involved in the crash as a pair of OH-58 Kiowa observation helicopters. Local television station KIRO 7 reported that the helicopters had crashed in Thurston County in a wooded training area, and that there were no survivors.

Temperatures at the base were around the mid-20 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday evening, and local media reported a likelihood of fog in the woods where the crash was said to have occurred.

(Reporting by Laura L. Myers, Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111213/us_nm/us_crash_military_washingtonstate

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

How Personal Finance Is Similar To Home Building - The Consumerist

When you're developing a financial plan, it helps to put a structure in place that will help it stand up over time. One metaphor that can help you is to parallel putting together your financial house with building an actual house.

Personal Finance Advice explains how it is that finances share much in common with construction:

The footing and foundation. Putting together some savings provides a base on which to build upon, and will be there even if everything else collapses. Aim to build a reserve fund strong enough to last you several months if you lose your income.

The frame. Financial responsibilities and bills, as well as your means to handle them, are what determines the shape of your finances. If you're overwhelmed and dealing with too much "house," that means it's time to look into downsizing in order to keep from overextending.

The roof. Just as the roof shelters you from the sun and rain, insurance and estate plans cover you when life rains and shines. Keeping yourself secure from exposure to catastrophes helps you sleep easier.

Money Lessons Learned From Home Construction [Personal Finance Advice]

Source: http://consumerist.com/2011/12/how-personal-finance-is-similar-to-home-building.html

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