`Beasts of the Southern Wild' wins at Sundance (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? A mythical film starring an 8-year-old girl and a documentary about the war on drugs took top honors at the Sundance Film Festival.

"Beasts of the Southern Wild" won the grand jury prize in the U.S. dramatic competition, and "The House I Live In" won the same honor in the U.S. documentary category Saturday at the independent film festival's awards ceremony.

Directed and co-written by 29-year-old first-time filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" follows a girl named Hushpuppy who lives with her father in the southern Delta. The film also won the cinematography prize.

Zeitlin said he was grateful to the Sundance Institute and labs, where he worked on the film for more than three years.

"This project was such a runt, this sort of messy-hair, dirty, wild child, and we just have been taken care of and just eased along until we were ready to stand up on our own," he said in an interview after the ceremony. "It's just great that it happened here. This is the right place for the world to meet the film."

Zeitlin described his spunky young star, Quvenzhane Wallis, as "the biggest person I know." She said she is ready to be a movie star, but first will be going back to third grade.

Fox Searchlight acquired the film earlier this week.

Eugene Jarecki's documentary "The House I Live In" examines the social, human and financial costs of the war on drugs. The filmmaker won the same award in 2005 for his documentary "Why We Fight."

As he accepted his award, Jarecki called the war on drugs "tragically immoral, heartbreakingly wrong and misguided."

"If we're going to reform things in this country, putting people in jail for nonviolent crime, in many cases for life without parole, for possession of a drug, for sentences longer than is now given for murder in this country, must end," he said.

Kirby Dick's documentary about rape in the military, "The Invisible War," won the audience award, as did Ben Lewin's heartfelt drama "The Surrogate," which stars John Hawkes as a paralyzed 38-year-old man who hires a sex surrogate, played by Helen Hunt, to help him lose his virginity. Fox Searchlight acquired that film, too.

"I don't think most people have ever seen this sort of story before," Lewin said after the ceremony. "I think it was very new and unexpected... From the experiences I've had seeing it with an audience, it seems to be a real emotional ride."

"The Surrogate" also won a special jury prize for its ensemble cast.

World cinema jury prizes went to the documentary "The Law in These Parts," about Israel's legal system in occupied Palestinian territories, and the drama "Violeta Went to Heaven," about Chilean musician Violeta Parra.

The audience favorites in world cinema were the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man," which also won a special jury award, and the drama "Valley of the Saints," which also claimed the Alfred P. Sloan film prize. A second winner of the Sloan Award, which recognizes films with science as a theme or a scientist as a major character, was "Robot and Frank." The film, which premiered at Sundance, stars Frank Langella as a retired jewel thief who befriends the caretaker robot his children have given him, eventually bringing the robot along on his illegal outings.

Other winners:

? U.S. drama directing award: Ava DuVernay, "Middle of Nowhere."

? U.S. documentary directing award: Lauren Greenfield, "The Queen of Versailles."

? World cinema drama directing award: Mads Matthiesen, "Teddy Bear."

? World cinema documentary directing award: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi, "5 Broken Cameras."

? U.S. drama screenwriting award: Derek Connolly, "Safety Not Guaranteed."

? World cinema screenwriting award: Marialy Rivas, Camila Gutierrez, Pedro Peirano, Sebastian Sepulveda, "Young & Wild."

? U.S. documentary editing award: Enat Sidi, "Detropia."

? World cinema editing award: Lisanne Pajot, James Swirsky, "Indie Game: The Movie."

? U.S. documentary cinematography award: Jeff Orlowski, "Chasing Ice."

? World cinema drama cinematography award: David Raedeker, "My Brother the Devil."

? World cinema documentary cinematography award: Lars Skree, "Putin's Kiss."

? U.S. drama special jury prize for producing: Andrea Sperling and Jonathan Schwartz, "Smashed" and "Nobody Walks."

? U.S. documentary special jury prizes: "Love Free or Die," "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry."

? World cinema drama special jury prize: "Can."

? Short film audience award: "The Debutante Hunters."

? Best of NEXT audience award: "Sleepwalk With Me."

___

Follow Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen at www.twitter.com/APSandy.

___

Online:

http://www.sundance.org/festival/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_en_ot/us_film_sundance_awards

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Celebrity pot busts put tiny Texas county on map

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2011 file photo, actor Armie Hammer poses for photographers after the Young Hollywood Panel during AFI FEST 2011 in Los Angeles. The town of Sierra Blanca, Texas, which is losing more and more residents every year, is attracting nationwide attention as a magnet for pot-toting celebrities who have been arrested for possession at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside town. Hammer was arrested Nov. 20, 2011, at a border patrol checkpoint in West Texas after a drug sniffing dog discovered marijuana in his car. The 25-year-old, who starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in "J. Edgar," spent about a day in jail before paying a $1,000 bond. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2011 file photo, actor Armie Hammer poses for photographers after the Young Hollywood Panel during AFI FEST 2011 in Los Angeles. The town of Sierra Blanca, Texas, which is losing more and more residents every year, is attracting nationwide attention as a magnet for pot-toting celebrities who have been arrested for possession at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside town. Hammer was arrested Nov. 20, 2011, at a border patrol checkpoint in West Texas after a drug sniffing dog discovered marijuana in his car. The 25-year-old, who starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in "J. Edgar," spent about a day in jail before paying a $1,000 bond. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

SIERRA BLANCA, Texas (AP) ? Nestled among the few remaining businesses that dot a rundown highway in this dusty West Texas town stands what's become a surprise destination for marijuana-toting celebrities: the Hudspeth County Jail.

Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg and actor Armie Hammer have been among the thousands of people busted for possession at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside town in recent years, bringing a bit of notoriety to one of Texas' most sparsely populated counties.

"Once I was in Arizona, and when I said where I was from, they said, 'That's where Willie Nelson was busted,'" said Louise Barantley, manager at the Coyote Sunset souvenir shop in Sierra Blanca.

Hudspeth County cameos aren't only for outlaws: Action movie star Steven Seagal, who's already deputized in Louisiana and Arizona for his reality show "Steven Seagal Lawman" on A&E, has signed on to become a county officer.

Locals already have found ways to rub shoulders with their celebrity guests.

Deputies posed for pictures with Snoop Dogg after authorities said they found several joints on his bus earlier this month. When Nelson was busted here in 2010, the county's lead prosecutor suggested the singer settle his marijuana charges by performing "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" for the court. Nelson paid a fine instead, but not before county commissioner Wayne West played one of his own songs for the country music legend.

West acknowledged he's a big fan of Nelson and wanted to capitalize on a golden chance to perform for such a noted "captive audience."

"Willie loved the song, he is a real outgoing individual" he added.

The once-thriving town of Sierra Blanca began to shrink to its current 1,000-person population after the construction of nearby Interstate 10 ? a main artery linking cities from California to Florida ? offered an easy way to bypass the community.

Now the highway is sending thousands of drug bust cases Sierra Blanca's way, courtesy of a Border Patrol checkpoint just outside of town where drug-sniffing dogs inspect more than 17,000 trucks, travelers ? and tour buses ? daily for whiffs of contraband that may have made its way inland from the border.

Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West, younger brother of the musically inclined commissioner, said his office handled about 2,000 cases last year, most of them having to do with drugs seized at the checkpoint.

Border Patrol agents say people busted with small amounts of pot often say they have medical marijuana licenses from California, Arizona or New Mexico ? three states along I-10 that, unlike Texas, allow for medicinal pot prescriptions ? and claim to believe the licenses were valid nationwide.

Nelson's publicists declined to comment about the specifics of the singer's case. Representatives for Snoop Dogg, who will pay a fine and court costs after being cited for possession of marijuana paraphernalia, did not return several messages seeking comment.

County authorities have not yet decided whether to prosecute or issue a citation for Hammer, who starred in the 2010 film "The Social Network" and more recently played FBI's number two man in "J. Edgar" He was arrested in November on his way to his wife's bakery in San Antonio after authorities said they found marijuana-laced brownies and cookies. His attorney Kent Schaffer has called the case a "total non-issue."

Local officials say they're not on a celebrity witch hunt, but some residents are enjoying the publicity from the high-profile arrests. They say the once forgotten town of Sierra Blanca should take pride in not pandering to famous people caught breaking the law.

"We get attention because something is being done right," resident Adolfo Gonzalez said while shopping at a local convenience store. "It'd be worse if we'd let them go because they are celebrities."

That's not expected to change when Seagal comes to town. Sheriff West insists the "Under Siege" star hasn't indicated any plans to film his show here ? but the sheriff isn't ruling it out.

"If he wants to, we can do it but that's not what he said this was about," West said.

West's spokesman, Rusty Flemming, said Seagal will patrol the area and train colleagues in martial arts and weapons techniques. The actor is expected to arrive in Hudspeth County within months, once he's done filming a new movie in Canada.

Seagal's management agency did not return calls and emails seeking comment about his plans in Texas.

Commissioner West, meanwhile, is keeping his musical skills sharp ? just in case another performer pays a surprise visit to the county jail. The lead guitarist and vocalist of a local band, West said he regrets not having a chance to sing for Snoop Dogg, but wasn't sure if the rapper would have enjoyed the performance anyway.

"Our stuff is laid back," he said. "Mas o menos (more or less) country."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-28-Celebrity%20Checkpoint/id-71649437f03c435fbc612ea314f9866b

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One Direction To Appear On 'iCarly'

MTV News exclusive: the British boy band will play themselves on an episode of Miranda Cosgrove's hit Nick show.
By Jocelyn Vena

Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik of One Direction
Photo: Redferns

"iCarly" is about to feel the effects of a British Invasion. The show has just booked British boy band One Direction to appear on the fifth season of the Miranda Cosgrove-starring show.

The guys will be on set Monday to tape their appearance on the episode, during which they will be play themselves and perform "What Makes You Beautiful."

According to a synopsis on the episode, "Carly returns home sick after a trip and discovers that One Direction has accepted an invitation to perform on their web show. Not long after arriving, bandmate Harry becomes sick and we see Carly doting over him. Realizing Harry is playing sick for the attention, they hatch a plan to get him back in the group by telling him Gibby has become their newest bandmember. Meanwhile, Spencer becomes a personal trainer and gives a bratty girl a makeover."

The guys of One Direction, who got their start after appearing on "The X Factor" in 2010, are already superstars in their native U.K., and now it seems they are poised to break Stateside. Their debut album, Up All Night, is set for U.S. release on March 20, and they will be touring with Big Time Rush starting next month.

Cosgrove stopped by the MTV News offices recently and teased that there were some big plans in store for season five. "We're just getting started to start the next season, so I'm not really sure what's going to come, because it's sort of a surprise for all of us even," she said. "But I've heard Carly's getting a boyfriend, so that's exciting, and we're gonna have some more musical guests, some big, different musical artists," she said, noting that she'd love to get Katy Perry on the show."There are a lot of different musical acts that I love, so it's fun whenever we get to have music in an episode."

Michelle Obama made an "iCarly" appearance earlier this month on a special episode that honored military families.

Are you excited for the fifth season of "iCarly"? Leave your comments below!

Related Artists

• One Direction
• Miranda Cosgrove

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678042/one-direction-icarly.jhtml

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FACT CHECK: Debate over 'ghetto language' ad (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Mitt Romney accuses Newt Gingrich of calling Spanish a "ghetto language." Close, but not quite.

Gingrich denies doing so and said he merely promoted the use of English, "period." That's even more of a stretch.

The last Republican presidential debate before the GOP Florida primary Thursday brought viewers a blitz of charges and countercharges over immigration, the financial lives of the candidates and more. Here are how some of the claims compare with the facts:

GINGRICH: "It's taken totally out of context.... I did not say it about Spanish. I said in general about all languages. We are better for children to learn English in general, period."

THE FACTS: At issue is Romney's Spanish-language radio ad running in Florida that says Gingrich branded Spanish a ghetto language in a 2007 speech. In the contentious remarks in question, much more came after Gingrich's "period."

In his speech to the National Federation of Republican Women, Gingrich advocated making English the official language, a position he still holds, and added: "We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto."

He did not explicitly call Spanish a ghetto language. But at the time, the remark was widely taken to mean Spanish, overwhelmingly the main foreign language spoken in the United States and the primary language of many immigrants.

Gingrich recognized as much when, in response to a Hispanic backlash against his remark, he made an online video days after the speech in which he more or less apologized for his choice of words and for producing "a bad feeling within the Latino community."

___

ROMNEY on the same topic: "I doubt that's my ad, but we'll take a look and find out."

THE FACTS: It's his ad.

___

RICK SANTORUM: "You had a president of the United States that held (up) a Colombian free trade agreement. Colombia, who's out there on the front lines working with us against the narco-terrorists, standing up to Chavez in South America ? and what did we do? ... The president of the United States sided with organized labor and the environmental groups and held Colombia hanging out to dry for three years."

THE FACTS: When President Barack Obama took office, he actually tried to revive a free-trade deal with Colombia that had been negotiated by his Republican predecessor but left to languish without congressional approval, just as he tried to make similar progress with South Korean and Panamanian free-trade pacts. He bucked considerable opposition from organized labor and fellow Democrats in doing so.

Obama did hold off on submitting the three deals to Congress as his administration tried to negotiate more palatable terms to Democrats. He finally submitted them in 2011 and Congress approved them in the fall ? with substantial GOP support and a fair amount of Democratic opposition.

___

ROMNEY: Fannie and Freddie are "offering mortgages again to people who can't possibly repay them. We're creating another housing bubble, which will hurt the American people."

THE FACTS: If there is another housing bubble forming, most homebuilders, mortgage lenders and real estate agents would like to find it. Instead, the housing market remains depressed, with sales low and home prices falling.

Fannie and Freddie don't sell or offer any mortgages. Their function has always been to support the housing market by purchasing mortgages from banks, packaging them into bonds and guaranteeing the bonds against default. This proved costly when the housing bubble burst: The two entities were formally taken over by the government in 2008 and have since cost taxpayers $150 billion.

The two mortgage giants are still functioning under government receivership, and now own or guarantee nearly all new mortgages, because banks are reluctant to make loans without the agencies' support. But banks have significantly toughened their credit standards since the housing bubble and are requiring higher credit scores and bigger down payments. That is causing an increasing number of home sales contracts to fall through as would-be buyers are unable to get mortgage loans.

___

SANTORUM: Criticized the Obama administration for its "abysmal treatment" of allies in Latin America, and said Obama has a "consistent policy of siding with the leftists, siding with the Marxists, siding with those who don't support democracy."

THE FACTS: Obama has not sided with the leading leftists, such as those ruling Cuba and Venezuela, and instead has roundly criticized them.

It's true that Latin America has been on the back burner for much of Obama's tenure, as he concentrated on other parts of the world, including the Middle East. But Obama visited three countries in Latin America last year, and the Panamanian and Colombian trade agreements were part of the biggest round of trade liberalization since the North American Free Trade Agreement and other pacts of that era.

___

ROMNEY: "My investments are not made by me. My investments for the last 10 years have been in a blind trust, managed by a trustee."

THE FACTS: Not all of his investments have been in a blind trust. Romney's personal financial disclosure forms show he owned between $250,001 and $500,000 in the Federated Government Obligation Fund, which contained mutual-fund notes of politically sensitive Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. An addendum to Romney' disclosure forms says that certain assets ? including the federated fund ? were outside the scope of his blind trust.

The investment was not on Romney's 2007 financial form, making it a relatively new one ? just as the housing and financial crises were hitting Americans full force.

___

RON PAUL: Obama "promises to end the wars, but the wars expand."

THE FACTS: By the most obvious measures, the wars are shrinking. Last month, the U.S. pulled its last troops out of Iraq, fulfilling a pledge by Obama to end the war there.

Obama did escalate America's fight in Afghanistan, announcing in December 2009 that he was sending an additional 33,000 troops.

The U.S. and its NATO partners in late 2010 agreed to end the combat mission in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. As part of that plan, Obama fulfilled his promise to bring 10,000 troops home from Afghanistan by the end of last year, and is moving ahead with plans to pull an additional 23,000 out by this fall. There are now about 90,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

___

Associated Press writers Tom Raum, Lolita C. Baldor, Jim Drinkard, Christopher S. Rugaber and Jack Gillum contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_el_pr/us_republicans_debate_fact_check

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Mortgage task force may anger big banks

By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer

In the Wild West of the ongoing mortgage mess, there?s a new sheriff in town. And he?s not handing "Get Out of Jail Free" cards in return for a $25 billion check.

The appointment of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to head?a special task force that will?investigate mortgage fraud marks a turning point in a year-long effort to resolve a wave of legal challenges to abusive and illegal foreclosure practices.

After a year of talks aimed at a settlement with five big banks ? Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and Ally Financial (formerly GMAC) ? attorneys general in all 50 states this week have been poring over the 100-page draft of a proposed $25 billion deal requiring bankers to commit to modify problem loans that they have been slow to do. Under the proposed terms, the banks would also agree to follow strict foreclosure guidelines and procedures and contribute as much as $5 billion to foreclosure relief programs.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama tapped Schneiderman to co-chair a joint federal-state task force to pursue criminal charges related to abusive mortgages and the bundling?of those loans into investments. Some observers suggested the appointment was intended to blunt Schneiderman?s opposition to the multistate settlement.? Schneiderman has said he's not?about to let bankers off the hook.

"My concern ... has always been to make sure that we're not releasing claims that obviously now are even more important to me because I'm investigating them," he told reporters Wednesday.

From the beginning of the settlement talks, the five big banks have been holding out for a blanket waiver of legal liability to protect them from future lawsuits or prosecution. The creation of?Schneiderman?s task force makes that blanket waiver extremely unlikely. It?may?even collapse the deal, JP Morgan Chase Chief Executive Officer?Jamie Dimon, told CNBC.

?My own read is (the creation of the new task force) has a pretty good chance of derailing it,? said Dimon.

The proposed settlement was also dealt a major blow Wednesday when California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said its terms would limit her ability to bring civil charges against mortgage lenders that wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners.

"We've reviewed the details of the latest settlement proposal from the banks, and we believe it is inadequate for California," said Shum Preston, a spokesman for Harris

As ground zero for the mortgage meltdown, California is?critical to the approval of any settlement.?Roughly one in four of all foreclosures are happening in the state and?ten of the top 20 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates in 2011 are there according to RealtyTrac.

From the early stages of the talks, Schneiderman and a handful of other state AGs have resisted any deal that would let banks off the hook for a variety of claims by homeowners and investors who bought bonds backed by home mortgages. In August, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading the state group, booted Schneiderman from the executive committee of federal and state officials because he steadfastly opposed any deals that would end investigations into mortgage fraud.

Schneiderman holds several powerful legal cards that the other 49 AGs don?t. New York?s anti-fraud Martin Act gives him broad subpoena powers other state prosecutors lack. Some New York state securities laws apply to Wall Street firms based in the state. Many of the pools of mortgages that were chopped up into bonds are held in trusts registered in New York.

Delaware, another AG holdout, has securities laws that apply to the corporate registrations of many of entities involved the mortgage mess. Massachusetts has successfully sued other smaller players in the mortgage mess. In September, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley broke with the talks to file her own lawsuit against the five banks.

From the beginning,?critics have argued that the White House has been too eager to see a settlement?and too willing to help the five big banks get the immunity they?re seeking.

?The Obama administration has been?more concerned with settling quickly than with settling in a way that moves the ball forward for homeowners,? said Diane Thomsen, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center.

It remains to be seen whether the new mortgage fraud task force will?produce results. The Obama administration already created a Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in November of?2009 that?tapped 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys offices and state and local partners. Though the group has won a number of cases against smaller players, it has yet to win any high-profile convictions.

In June, Sen. Charles Greassley (D- Iowa) described the task force as ?a press release collection agency utilized by the Justice Department to?collect examples of investigations of prosecutions that would otherwise have been brought.?

Neil Barofsky, a former federal prosecutor who served as the special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and worked with the 2009 task force, shared those doubts.

?I'm a little puzzled by it," he told Reuters. "Here we are three years later, launching what seems like a very similar effort, except now co-headed by a state attorney general."

"Does it mean they haven't really been working on investigating the causes of the financial crisis for the last three years?" he said. "Or is it a statement that the last three years of investigating done by the Department of Justice has been ineffectual and needs to be reworked?"

Related:

Proposed mortgage settlement offers little relief for homeowners??
Obama: New push to aid homeowners

James Dimon, chairman, president & CEO, JPMorgan Chase, discusses the world economy, muddling through in Europe, and the President's prerogative when it comes to naming a successor for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Bernanke, he says, has been an...

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/26/10244290-banks-square-in-mortgage-fraud-crosshairs-again

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House Panel Considers PIP Insurance Overhaul ? CBS Tampa

[unable to retrieve full-text content]TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) ? A House panel will consider overhauling Florida's personal-injury insurance that is now overcome with fraud.

Source: http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2012/01/25/house-panel-considers-pip-insurance-overhaul/

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Discovery identifies potential target for anti-craving medications

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have identified a potential target for the development of anti-craving medications for people with addictions to stimulants such as methamphetamine.

The discovery centres on a brain receptor related to the chemical dopamine, which has a complex role in addictive behaviours.

Using brain scans and a novel chemical probe developed in CAMH's Research Imaging Centre, CAMH scientists found that the probe had high levels of binding to the dopamine D3 receptor in some people with methamphetamine addiction, compared with those who had no addiction. Higher levels of D3 were also linked to participants' reported motivation to take drugs.

"This is the first time, to our knowledge, that anyone has shown that D3 receptor levels are high in people with an active addiction to methamphetamine," says Dr. Isabelle Boileau, a scientist in the Research Imaging Centre, part of the new Campbell Family Research Institute at CAMH. Boileau led the study that appears in the January 25, 2012 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Using positron emission tomography (PET), Boileau's team looked at D3 levels in 16 people who were dependent on methamphetamine. Participants abstained from methamphetamine use for 14 days prior to brain scans. Their results were compared with scans from 16 participants with no addiction. On a separate day after scanning, participants were given a low dose of amphetamine, and they had to report how much they wanted to use drugs.

D3 receptors appear to have a role in craving, but it is not fully established how they are related to drug-related behaviours. The new chemical probe developed at CAMH, called 11C-(+)-PHNO, binds to dopamine D3 receptors. This probe allows researchers to study D3 in people for the first time, using PET scans, in order to answer questions about its role in stimulant addiction.

Understanding the role of brain receptors in addiction has enabled researchers to develop treatment medications, such as nicotine replacement therapy for smoking. So far, therapeutic strategies for stimulant addiction have focused on increasing activity with D2 receptors, where binding levels have been low.

"We can now suggest that any therapeutic approach aimed at increasing activity with D2 receptors should consider being selective at targeting D2, and not increasing D3 levels," says Boileau. "Our finding also supports the idea that D3 should be considered another target for anti-craving medications."

Boileau is also looking at the role of D3 in different types of addictions, including cocaine and gambling.

Building on CAMH?s record of innovation and discovery, the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute will be accelerating discoveries in the areas of mood disorders, addictions, schizophrenia and cognitive impairment.

CAMH?s Research Imaging Centre is the first of its kind in Canada where positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and imaging-genetics are dedicated to the study of mental illness and addictions.

This new discovery is an example of the innovative brain science at CAMH's new Research Imaging Centre, the first of its kind in Canada where positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and genetic imaging are dedicated to the study of mental illness and addictions.

###

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health: http://www.camh.net

Thanks to Centre for Addiction and Mental Health for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117047/Discovery_identifies_potential_target_for_anti_craving_medications_

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Philadelphia will host 2012 MLS All-Star Game

updated 2:30 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2012

PHILADELPHIA - The 2012 MLS All-Star game was awarded Tuesday to the Philadelphia Union, who will host the annual event July 25 at PPL Park.

The opponent has yet to be determined, though MLS Commissioner Don Garber said that an answer should come in the next two months.

"We have nothing specific yet," Garber said after a news conference at Philadelphia City Hall. "We're hoping to have something soon, within 60 days. That's the plan."

Garber appeared at the news conference with Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter and Chester, Pa., mayor John Linder.

Last year's game was held at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., and featured top MLS players taking on Manchester United.

PPL Park is located in nearby Chester, along the Delaware River.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Producteev Drops Slew Of New Apps; Now Lets You Crowdsource Your Tasks On TaskRabbit

Today, Producteev is unveiling a slew of new apps, including a significantly upgraded web app, iPhone and Android mobile apps, and new Windows 7 and Mac desktop apps. The startup is reaching for the (asymptotic?) goal of universal, or at least cross-platform, task management, as professionals and businesses want (and need) to create and store tasks across platforms, devices, and services -- from email and IMs to voicemails and notes. And they're on their way.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/7SNr_nTbpk8/

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When Perry Comes Home (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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Rising wealth of Asians straining world fish stock (AP)

MANILA, Philippines ? Rising wealth in Asia and fishing subsidies are among factors driving overexploitation of the world's fish resources, while fish habitat is being destroyed by pollution and climate change, U.N. marine experts said Tuesday.

Up to 32 percent of the world's fish stocks are overexploited, depleted or recovering, they warned. Up to half of the world's mangrove forests and a fifth of coral reefs that are fish spawning grounds have been destroyed.

The U.N. Environment Programme says less-destructive ways of fishing that use more labor and less energy are needed to help restore the health of the world's oceans and coasts.

The agency is leading a five-day conference in Manila of experts and officials from 70 governments.

Jacqueline Alder, head of UNEP's marine, coastal and freshwater office, said the increasing ranks of rich Asians are driving demand for better quality fish that are often not abundant, adding pressure to their supply.

"People don't want to eat the little anchovies anymore when they can eat a nice snapper or grouper ? much nicer fish, shows much more of your wealth," she told reporters.

Alder said booming population, more awareness of health benefits from eating fish, fuel and boat-building subsidies in industrial fisheries, weak management and limited understanding of ecosystems' values are also driving fish overexploitation.

She said subidies should be reduced or eliminated, fishing gears should be less destructive, and the number of boats and fishers reduced. Habitat management should also be strengthened and marine protected areas established.

Fish is the main source of protein for up to 20 percent of the of world's population and some 180 million people are directly or indirectly employed by the fishing industry, she added.

Vincent Sweeney, UNEP's coordinator for the Global Program of Action to prevent marine environment degradation from land-based pollutants, said up to 90 percent of sewage in developing countries is discharged untreated into rivers, lakes and oceans, posing one of the most serious threats to water resources.

Other pollutants from land including nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizers and detergents result in hypoxia or "dead zones" where too many nutrients cause an undesirable growth of plants that compete with coral reef and other marine life for oxygen.

Jerker Tamelander, head of UNEP's coral reef unit, said healthy coral reefs can produce up to 35 tons of fish per square kilometer each year while there is a catch reduction of 67 tons for every square kilometer of clear-cut mangrove forest.

The global market value of marine and coastal resources and industries is estimated at $3 trillion per year or about 5 percent of the global economy, he said. Non-market value such as climate, water, nutrients and carbon regulation is estimated at $22 trillion a year.

"We've lost a fifth of the world's coral reefs and 60 percent are under direct and immediate threat and climate change plays an additional role in driving reef loss," he said.

Tamelander said the decline in coastal ecosystems' health and productivity can be reversed by shifting to greener and more sustainable strategies, addressing threats and better management that involves all stakeholders.

"The sooner we act, the easier it will be and the longer we wait the harder it will be," he warned.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_as/as_philippines_un_protecting_seas

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Can Actors Be Sold On The VOD Business Model? Sundance ...

The longer the 2012 Sundance Film Festival deal-making stalemate continues, the more VOD-centric deals will take center stage as they did in Toronto. A lot of the movies that came in with visions of theatrical releases are considering overtures from bidders who intend to emulate the Margin Call model where video-on-demand is equal to or more important than theatrical.

If VOD is to become a viable business that leads films on the margins to being widely seen, some obstacles have to be worked out of the system. The biggest: convincing actors accustomed to seeing their work play on 2,000 movie screens that the VOD model doesn?t mean their careers are on the downswing and that they?ve been relegated to pay-per-view. The only real equivalent actors have had for this was when they made a stinker that went straight to video obscurity. Will those actors spark to the potential of VOD riches and embrace the idea of promoting films to cable delivery systems instead of the ego-boosting traditional selling system of commercials and print ads? This is a psychological hurdle for stars. When Margin Call sold at Sundance last year with the Lionsgate/Roadside Attraction distribution VOD deal, veteran actors like Kevin Spacey had to be convinced this wasn?t necessarily a step down from a traditional theatrical release.

Another consideration is Oscar eligibility. The Academy rule has been that a film that premiered on television prior to theatrical was ineligible for an Oscar. Several major talent agents I spoke to said they weren?t exactly clear how this works. For example, the distributors behind Margin Call and Melancholia protected their movies and talent by booking ?stealth? qualifying runs in a theater, just in case. On the Oscar front, the Academy tells me that as long as a film opens in an LA County theater for seven consecutive days either before or at the same time it is released VOD, Oscar eligibility is preserved. If the film makes its commercial debut on VOD, it cannot be considered for an Oscar. So a VOD revolution will likely lead to a lot of unadvertised runs in LA theaters.

?As long as there is a clear line on how to retain Oscar eligibility, actors are going to have to get used to this, because this is the way that adult dramas are going to be seen,? said one senior agent. ?The practical reality isn?t as bad as the perception. The people who watch these kinds of films usually have great sound systems and large-screen TVs, and most Oscar voters already watch eligible films on video in their homes. We?re all just going to have to get used to this. We?re already having those conversations. Isn?t a movie that?s seen by millions across the country on VOD better than a few people watching in ratty arthouse theaters, which are uncomfortable and screens that aren?t that much bigger than large TV screens? Enough actors have made projects they thought would get on the screen, only to see them get dumped. You hear about movies with stars that never came out theatrically and grossed $5 million VOD. This is a process that will evolve, but it will enable these movies to get made.?

Another talent agent said that convincing actors will get easier when more test cases like Margin Call overachieve on VOD. ?It?s all about the economics and distribution modes and how a film reaches an audience,? said the rep. ?These conversations happen after a movie has been shot and is trying to find a life. It will take a few wins and maybe a breakout success to make it easier, but it?s coming.??Also coming are the Sundance sales. Films like Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Arbitrage, The Surrogate, Lay The Favorite, Celeste and Jesse Forever are rumored to have offers, and buyers are turning out in force tonight for Bachelorette. The expectation coming in has been that after seeing the bulk of the big titles by tonight, that the deals will begin flowing.

Get the latest Industry news sent straight to your Wall.

Source: http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/sundance-vod-video-on-demand/

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Bryce Dallas Howard Welcomes Baby Girl!

Bryce Dallas Howard Welcomes Baby Girl!

Actress Bryce Dallas Howard, who is also known as Ron Howard’s daughter, has given birth to a baby girl. “The Help” actress and her husband [...]

Bryce Dallas Howard Welcomes Baby Girl! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stupidcelebrities/~3/KmqR3qA9sYM/

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Mike Posner Opens Up In 'No Room For Rockstars' Clip

Mike Posner is a busy man. That's what you're left with after this clip from the upcoming rock-doc, "No Room for Rockstars."
The documentary, which is premiering at the independent film festival Slamdance, brings viewers an in-depth look behind the scenes of the Vans Warped Tour and the many musicians playing on it.

The crew on [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/20/no-room-for-rockstars-clip/

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Custom-mutated bacteria converts seaweed to fuel

Bacteria have been genetically engineered to break down a previously inaccessible sugar in seaweed, called alginate.

A promising new system can convert brown seaweed into biofuel, opening up a new possible source of energy that could help replace fossil fuels, like gasoline, scientists reported today (Jan. 19). ??

Skip to next paragraph

The secret: bacteria genetically engineered to break down a previously inaccessible sugar in seaweed, called alginate.

The researchers who developed this new system used it to generate ethanol, a biofuel that is added to gasoline; however, it has the potential to produce not just ethanol but other biofuels, they and others say.

The new system is like a Lego platform, said Yasuo Yoshikuni, a study researcher and chief science officer and co-founder at Bio Architecture Lab in California. With changes to the components in the process, the same microbe-based system could be used to produce a variety of products, Yoshikuni said.

For instance, the system could be used to turn seaweed into a source (also called a feedstock) for other biofuels, which could?include butanol?? an alcohol, like ethanol, that is blended into gas ? or chemicals used in biodiesel, which has properties similar to conventional, petroleum-based diesel. [10 Ways to Power the Future]??

"It opens up a vast new potential for biofuel feedstocks," said Tom Richard, director of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment at Pennsylvania State University.

Two questions remain, according to Richard, who was not involved in the study, which is published in tomorrow's (Jan. 20) issue of the journal Science: Is it economically feasible to use seaweed to produce biofuel? And is it environmentally attractive?

"We don't know the answer to either question, what this article demonstrates is that it is technically possible, which is a great first step," Richard said. "And I think in both cases there is reason to think there is a good shot." ?

Why seaweed?

Seaweed now joins the cadre of plants ? from corn to?single-celled algae?? that offer tantalizingly renewable and domestically produced alternatives to fossil fuels. In the United States, ethanol made from corn is added to gasoline; in Brazil, cars are powered largely, sometimes completely, by ethanol made from sugar cane.

But converting corn and sugar cane into fuel can be problematic, since both are also food crops. Even other potential biofuel sources, like switchgrass, can compete for land in a world whose population is growing and seeking a more resource-intensive diet. [7 (Billion) Population Milestones]

"This is one of the great debates about biofuel: Is there sufficient agricultural land to produce the food we require in society and also produce significant amounts of biofuels," Richard said.

Seaweed is different; it doesn't compete with farming.

"There is a lot of biomass in the ocean, and so far people haven't really found ways to substantially exploit it," said Chris Somerville, director of the Energy Biosciences Institute, who wasn't involved in the study.

Seaweed ??a relatively unexploited source of nutrition, particularly in North America ? is high in sugars, which are precursors for most biofuels. Seaweed also lacks lignin, a compound that makes cell walls rigid in land plants and that must be removed before such plants can be turned into fuel.

Even so, until now, seaweed appeared to have limited potential as a feedstock for biofuel, since one of its primary sugars, alginate, couldn't be broken down efficiently enough to produce biofuel on an industrial scale. ?

The bug

Marine microbes already have the ability to break down alginate, transport the products and metabolize them, so Yoshikuni's team first figured out the details of how this happens. Then, they?engineered another, more industry-friendly microbe,?E. coli,?to do something similar, spitting out ethanol at the end of a multi-step process. The last of the steps could be replaced to produce other biofuels, or even chemicals such as plastics and polymer building blocks.?

This system also takes advantage of other sugars in the seaweed, mannitol and glucan, since the?E. coli?already possessed the ability to break down mannitol, and commericially available enzymes can easily break glucan down into a more accessible form, glucose.?

This system could be used in any brown seaweed (seaweeds also come in green and red). Yoshikuni's team used kombu, kelp used in East Asian cuisine.??

Cultivating seaweed along three percent of the world's coastlines, where kelp already grows, could produce 60 billion gallons of ethanol, according to Dan Trunfio, BAL's chief executive officer.?

Both Richard and Somerville said the production of ethanol from seaweed using their microbial system would likely require more work to become cost-effective on an industrial scale.

BAL, which is testing cultivation methods at four pilot seaweed farms off the coast of Chile, is working on commercializing the process to produce ethanol and renewable chemicals, according to Trunfio. Seaweed's advantages, its high sugar content and lack of lignin, make it a viable source for biofuel from a cost perspective, he said.

Looking ahead

There is also the environmental question.

One challenge will likely be seaweed's demand for nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which are not naturally abundant in the oceans, Somerville said. "And generally it is undesirable to fertilize the ocean," he said.

Runoff filled with nutrients creates?dead zones, with low oxygen content, as happens in the Gulf of Mexico where the Mississippi River delivers its payload of agricultural fertilizer.?

Trunfio argues, however, that seaweed's need for nutrients creates an opportunity, noting BAL's seaweed farms are located near salmon farms, so the seaweed can use salmon waste as fertilizer.

Overall, Somerville was cautious about the implications of the new microbial system.

"Does this change everything? No," Somerville said. "It's the beginning of opening up a new area; it needs quite a lot of additional investigation broadly speaking to see what the real opportunity is."

You can follow?LiveScience?senior?writer Wynne Parry on Twitter?@Wynne_Parry.?Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter?@livescience?and on?Facebook.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/S-FZKrs_suo/Custom-mutated-bacteria-converts-seaweed-to-fuel

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Should couples share passwords?

Live Poll

Should couples share passwords?

• 173871

  ABSOLUTELY. Those that have nothing to hide, hide nothing.

  51%

• 173872

  NO. We're still individuals entitled to privacy and we trust each other.

  49%

VoteTotal Votes: 736

By Athima Chansanchai

Just how much do you trust your spouse or partner? Enough to share passwords? For some, passwords are the final frontier of privacy not only in financial matters, but in social media and email correspondence. But for others, there are no secrets when you're in a relationship?? even risking the potential payback should a break-up sever the happy union.

The New York Times tells us about an "intimate custom" writer Matt Ritchel says is happening between teens in love: "sharing their passwords to email,?Facebook?and other accounts." The desire to be one even extends, the article claims, to couples creating identical passwords and letting each other read private emails and texts.?

For some, it takes a court order to share so much.

But for others, it's imperative to know each other's passwords as part of an open, healthy and fully functioning relationship. Sometimes this comes after a loss of trust, as when one partner has cheated on the other. On the Surviving Infidelity website, where more than 34,000 members have exchanged stories of betrayal and support one another in the forums, there is a saying that becomes a mantra for many of them: "Those who have nothing to hide, hide nothing." To that end, nothing is private anymore in order to facilitate healing for the offended party.?

In this philosophy, those who have been unfaithful should share (or make open and available) not only passwords to their email accounts and Facebook, but also the contents of their text messages, phone logs, work and travel itineraries "without qualms."

Many in those forums mention how finding secret Facebook and email correspondences led to the big reveal of infidelity in their marriages and relationships, and we've seen surveys that attribute at least some fault in Facebook, though an informal poll we took at the end of year showed that nearly half of the 876 votes attributed the demise of their marriages with other factors. But 34 percent did blame Facebook.

Some of the teens in the New York Times article who opened themselves up were dealt a nasty lesson in human nature when their not-so-better halves decided to use the passwords in retaliation for perceived wrongs. The Times listed some examples:

The stories of fallout include a spurned boyfriend in junior high who tries to humiliate his ex-girlfriend by spreading her e-mail secrets; tensions between significant others over scouring each other?s private messages for clues of disloyalty or infidelity; or grabbing a cellphone from a former best friend, unlocking it with a password and sending threatening texts to someone else.

Take our poll and let us know if couples should share passwords.

More stories:

Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10199414-should-couples-share-passwords

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Canada optimistic Texas pipeline will be approved (AP)

TORONTO ? President Barack Obama's decision to temporarily block a pipeline from Alberta to Texas went over badly in Canada, but Canadian officials are hopeful it eventually will be approved. Meanwhile, Canada will push harder for a pipeline to the Pacific Coast, where oil could be shipped to China.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford, the leader of the Canadian province that has the world's third-largest reserves of oil, said Thursday that while Canada is disappointed at Obama's decision, the government believes Obama has made it clear the U.S. would consider a new Keystone XL pipeline application with a new routing.

Obama called Prime Minister Stephen Harper to explain that the decision on Wednesday was not on the merits of the pipeline but rather on the "arbitrary nature" of a Feb. 21 deadline set by Republican legislators as part of a tax measure he signed, Harper's office said.

"The fact that the president has said that the decision was not based on the merits we take as a signal that there is an opportunity to make a decision that is in the national interest that allows the project to go ahead," Redford told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

TransCanada Corp., the pipeline company based in Calgary, Alberta, which proposed the Keystone XL pipeline, quickly said it would reapply and said it expects the presidential permit to be processed in an expedited manner that would allow the pipeline to go online in late 2014.

In Washington, the proposed $7 billion pipeline has become a political hot potato.

Republicans ? who earlier put the president in the awkward position of having to make a decision on it before Feb. 21 ? now hope to force Obama to deal with it yet again before next November's presidential election. He wants to put it off beyond that.

Republican Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he will call Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who recommended Obama's rejection, to testify at a hearing as early as next Wednesday.

"This is not the end of the fight. Republicans in Congress will continue to push this because it's good for our country and it's good for our economy and it's good for the American people," especially those who are out of work, said Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

Republicans are looking to drive a wedge between Obama and two key Democratic constituencies. Some labor unions support the pipeline as a job creator, while environmentalists fear it could lead to an oil spill disaster.

While TransCanada is prepared to reapply, it has no guarantee a new applicaiton will get quick approval.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kerri-Ann Jones said she could not guarantee the review would be sped up, saying TransCanada would have to start anew.

But Redford is hopeful it can be fast-tracked.

"To start from the beginning would be something that would certainly take some time, and of course have a greater economic impact, so I hope there is a spirit to try to at least move this to a place where the discussions are real, and we can move through it and hopefully get the approval," Redford said.

The 1,700-mile (2,740-kilometer) pipeline proposed by TransCanada would carry 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta across six U.S. states to the Texas Gulf Coast, which has numerous refineries.

Obama previously expressed opposition to the plan, saying an alternate route was needed to avoid environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska. But in an unrelated tax deal he cut with congressional Republicans, Obama had been boxed into making a decision by Feb. 21.

The prime minister's office said Harper expressed to Obama his "profound disappointment with the news" but that he hoped the pipeline would eventually be approved.

Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said it's clear the process is not yet over and said Canada is hopeful the pipeline will be accepted on its merits.

Redford said Obama's decision adds urgency to Enbridge's proposed pipeline to the Pacific Coast of British Columbia that would allow Canadian oil to be shipped to Asia for the first time.

The project is undergoing a regulatory review in Canada.

"Asian markets are a very viable alternative. I say alternative, I probably shouldn't. It's not an either or situation. There's an opportunity here for us to grow our markets in both directions and we'd like to be able to do that," Redford said.

Canadian officials see the pipeline to the Pacific coast as critical as Canada seeks to diversify its energy customer base beyond the United States, which Canada relies on for 97 percent of its energy exports.

Former U.S. ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, a Republican appointee, called Obama's decision "a real shame" and said the president had turned his back on 20,000 potential jobs amid high unemployment in the U.S.

Wilkins said he feared it could harm U.S.-Canada relations. He added that he didn't blame Canada for looking to export oil to Asia, saying: "If one market closes then you go to another one."

Alberta has more than 170 billion barrels of oil reserves. Daily production of 1.5 million barrels from the oil sands is expected to increase to 3.7 million in 2025. Only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have more reserves.

Sinopec, a Chinese state-controlled oil company, has a stake in Enbridge's proposed $5.5 billion Northern Gateway Pipeline. Chinese state-owned companies also have invested more than $16 billion in the oil sands in the last two years.

Tens of billions more are expected to be invested in Canada's oil sands if the Pacific pipeline is built.

There is fierce environmental and aboriginal opposition to the Pacific pipeline, but Harper's government has called it a nation-building project that is crucial to the country's goal of becoming an energy super power.

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this story from Washington, D.C.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_bi_ge/us_oil_pipeline

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Apple to hold iPad 3 and iOS 5.1 event in early February - rumour

January 18, 2012, 9:12 AM ? Apple could take the wraps off the third-generation iPad as well as iOS 5.1 in a few short weeks, according to a rumour.

Japanese website Macotakara reports that two separate sources, one in the US and one in Asia, have claimed that Apple is planning an event in early February where it will reveal the iPad 3 and the next version of iOS.

Apple showed off the iPad 2 on 2 March 2011, launching it in the US on 11 March and in the UK two weeks later on 25 March.

The rumour-mongers suggest that Apple is planning for a March launch again, so it could be that with a longer lead time that an early February announcement would leave that the company is planning to launch in several international markets straightaway, rather than in the US first.

There have been several confident claims in recent weeks and months that the iPad 3 will have a higher-resolution display than its predecessor and that the device will be slightly thicker than previous models.

It is also thought that there will be a quad-core processor as well as LTE compatibility. Foxconn and Pegatron are the two companies Apple has engaged to assemble the device, with display panels manufactured by Samsung, Sharp and LG, with production having started earlier this week.

Source: http://www.itworld.com/242363/apple-hold-ipad-3-and-ios-51-event-early-february-rumour

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A Minute With: Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper (Reuters)

PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) ? The Sundance Film Festival kicks off on Thursday, starting ten days of movie screenings and providing the launching pad for some of the world's top low-budget features and documentaries at the largest U.S. gathering for independent filmmakers.

The 117 movies to be screened at the festival held in the ski resort of Park City, Utah were selected from 4,042 features submitted, including 24 in competition.

Festival director John Cooper, Sundance's chief programmer, spoke to Reuters about the tone of the films selected and how first time filmmakers can be hopeful with new technology making films easier to turn around and offering a variety of platforms for films to reach audiences.

Q. What are you seeing that's different in the overall tone of the films selected this year?

A. "What I am seeing in general is that the independent film movement or community is maturing a little bit. The bar gets set higher each year. It doesn't seem to be leveling off. Each year the films are coming in with more depth of quality and over arching completeness and vision. This bar is set and other filmmakers coming up through the ranks know that is there."

Q. Some thought that with technology improving cameras and editing and sometimes making it cheaper to make indie films it might go the other way -- that quality might diminish with a more crowded field, why do you think quality is improving?

A. "There are a lot of factors. There is more of a community base now as to how they work. I am noticing much more a sharing of cinematographers, of actors and ideas.

"Also what is a happening is that independent filmmakers are looking at a different artistic life for themselves. They are not quite as fast or may never really want to jump to the big Hollywood film or situation for themselves. What a lot of people have learned and what is coming back in the younger filmmakers especially is they want to work in a way that makes them excited and fulfilled."

Q. What about documentaries that premiered last year such as "Senna" which went on to be popular with critics and audiences? What about this year's batch, what themes are you seeing?

A. "They came in a little different this year. They came in a little more overarching and more comprehensive of the issues that are facing the world. Last year they seemed very character-driven with more of a personal perspective. And this year we shift back and forth a little bit, but there are more about issues like hunger, the war on drugs, about global warming and the healthcare crisis. They are very topical issues on a much bigger more comprehensive scale."

Q. Is Sundance still the place for first-time and second-time directors? How has that changed?

A. "It has ramped up I think. It is not just an event for the filmmakers, it is talent too. There are actors that are going to pop out of this festival. For example, the woman from 'Filly Brown,' - it is multi-level discovery."

Q. Investors began to flee the market beginning around five years ago, but last year Sundance saw a more optimistic mood and numerous business deals. Any predictions for this year?

A. "We had a very successful year last year so people are coming to the festival with expectations, which is scary to me sometimes, because it doesn't really mean that much to me. There seems to have been a bit of a market correction both on the filmmakers side with the cost to make a film and what they sell for. It is a little more realistic. But it's very hard to tell.

"What I do know is when I watch the audiences respond in the theater, there is a market for them. Not even a market - there is an audience for them. Now how we connect the right audience to the films -- and I know that these films aren't for everyone but they are for a lot of people - that is where we are still in a big flux."

Q. Are older distribution methods -- theatrical and DVD -- still the key to making money? What stage are we at with web streaming?

A. "I still think theatrical is very real. But it's trickier. Now the talk is not so much about delivery systems but marketing systems. That is the first big shift. And then it's going to be about how you get the films themselves."

Q. Sundance recently announced a new deal for films selected

to be streamed online on sites including iTunes and YouTube should the filmmaker wish. How should filmmakers feel about this going into the festival?

A. "I hope they will step into the festival and breathe easier knowing that there is this great opportunity for them."

Q. Is the divide between Hollywood and indie film growing or getting less?

A. "I think the divide is growing. As Hollywood has its problems with financial things and needs to make films of a certain size, you are splitting, where maybe 10 years ago there was a blending a little bit."

(Reporting By Christine Kearney; editing by Patricia Reaney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/film_nm/us_sundance_preview

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Reddit?s Alexis Ohanian On SOPA: ?The Fight Isn?t Over?

Supporters of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) may be on the run in the face of growing online protests, but SOPA and its Senate counterpart, PIPA, is not dead yet. "The fight isn't over," Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian tells me in the TCTV video interview above.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/EGblC2eWgao/

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Protest exposes Silicon Valley-Hollywood rivalry

This screen shot shows the blacked-out Wikipedia website, announcing a 24-hour protest against proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress, intended to protect intellectual property that critics say could facilitate censorship, referred to as the "Stop Online Piracy Act," or "SOPA," and the "Protect IP Act," or "PIPA." (AP Photo/Wikipedia)

This screen shot shows the blacked-out Wikipedia website, announcing a 24-hour protest against proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress, intended to protect intellectual property that critics say could facilitate censorship, referred to as the "Stop Online Piracy Act," or "SOPA," and the "Protect IP Act," or "PIPA." (AP Photo/Wikipedia)

This screen shot shows the home page Google.com. A campaign whose backers include tech heavyweights like Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. has successfully portrayed the bills _ the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act _ as an attack on a free and open Internet rather than a way to protect the jobs of Americans in the movie and music industries, in a protest Wenesday, Jan. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Google.com)

Demonstrators protest in front of the building housing the New York offices of U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kristen Gilliband, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. January 18 is a date that will live in ignorance, as Wikipedia started a 24-hour blackout of its English-language articles, joining other sites in a protest of pending U.S. legislation aimed at shutting down sites that share pirated movies and other content. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian addresses a protest in front of the building housing the New York offices of U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kristen Gilliband, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. January 18 is a date that will live in ignorance, as Wikipedia started a 24-hour blackout of its English-language articles, joining other sites in a protest of pending U.S. legislation aimed at shutting down sites that share pirated movies and other content. Reddit.com shut down its social news service for 12 hours. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Demonstrators protest in front of the building housing the New York offices of U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kristen Gilliband, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. January 18 is a date that will live in ignorance, as Wikipedia started a 24-hour blackout of its English-language articles, joining other sites in a protest of pending U.S. legislation aimed at shutting down sites that share pirated movies and other content. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? In a move that heightens the growing tension between Silicon Valley and Hollywood, Wikipedia and other websites went dark Wednesday in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart the online piracy of copyrighted movies and TV programs.

The web-based encyclopedia is part of a loose coalition of dot-coms and large technology companies that fear Congress is prepared to side with Hollywood and enact extreme measures ? possibly including the blocking of entire websites? to stop the online sharing and unauthorized use of Hollywood productions.

The fight will test which California-based industry has the most sway in Washington.

For now, Silicon Valley appears to have the upper hand. Supporters of the legislation ? called the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect Intellectual Property Act in the Senate ? say the bills are aimed at protecting jobs in the movie and music industries. But a campaign including tech heavyweights such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. has successfully portrayed the bills as an attack on a free and open Internet.

"It has nothing to do with stolen songs or movies," said Justin Ruben, executive director of MoveOn.org, which is participating in the blackout. Ruben says tougher legislation ? even directed overseas ? could make domestic cultural commentators more prone to legal attack.

Rather than showing encyclopedia articles, Wikipedia displayed a blacked-out page describing the protest and offering more information on the bills. Many articles were still viewable on cached pages.

Reddit.com shut down its social news service for 12 hours. Other sites made their views clear without cutting off services. Google blacked out the logo on its home page, directing people to a page where they could add their names to a petition.

The one-day outage was timed to coincide with key House and Senate committee hearings as they prepare to send the bills to the full floor for debate.

However, sponsor Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, sought last week to remove a controversial provision from the House bill that could force Internet service providers to interfere with the way Web addresses work for foreign sites deemed dedicated to piracy. He postponed work on the measure until February.

Critics believe such tinkering with core Internet technology treads into dangerous territory that could lead to online censorship. It might also give hackers a new way to wreak havoc.

The White House raised concerns that the bills could stifle innovation. Over the weekend, the Obama administration reacted to two online petitions, saying it "will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet."

At the same time, the administration called on all sides to "pass sound legislation this year that provides prosecutors and rights holders new legal tools to combat online piracy originating beyond U.S. borders."

That nuanced stance is President Barack Obama's attempt at "threading the needle" between two important constituencies as he seeks re-election in November, said Jeffrey Silva, a technology policy analyst at Medley Global Advisors in Washington.

On the one hand, his administration has defended a free, open Internet as it watched repressive regimes fall in the Middle East with help from social media such as Twitter. It has also been a proponent of the concept of "net neutrality," which prevents Internet service providers from slowing online traffic that comes from file-sharing sites known to trade in pirated content.

On the other hand, Obama and other Democrats have gone to Hollywood dozens of times to raise campaign funds over the years.

"The administration is trying to fight to protect the Internet space," Silva said. "But at the same time, it doesn't want to disenfranchise Hollywood and the business community."

Indeed, behind the protests and public posturing, both Hollywood and Silicon Valley spend generously to lobby causes in Washington. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the movie, television and music industries spent a combined $91.7 million on lobbying efforts in 2011, compared with the computer and Internet industry's $93 million.

In the 2012 election cycle, the movie, television and music industry offered up $7.7 million in direct campaign contributions to congressional candidates. The computer and Internet industry contributed $6.6 million.

Despite the uproar on websites and blogs, PIPA remains firmly in play. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said Tuesday that he intends to push the bill toward a floor vote on Jan. 24. He said much of the criticism of the bill is "flatly wrong."

It remains to be seen whether the two industries can come to the table and negotiate a compromise.

"There are good companies, and then there are companies simply out to preserve the Wild West, free-to-steal business model," said Recording Industry Association of America CEO Cary Sherman. He expects to know "within the next few weeks" whether the legislation can survive.

Lawmakers may have a personal incentive to keep online piracy on the nation's political radar, said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a non-partisan government-accountability watchdog. If the issue stays alive through the current election cycle, it may help bring in campaign contributions from high-tech donors and Hollywood later this year.

The issue "becomes an opportunity for raising more money from these groups," Wertheimer said. "If you're into an important issue and money is flowing in on both sides, then both sides can up the ante."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-01-18-US-Wikipedia-Silicon-Valley-Versus-Hollywood/id-60186b2958594e6e8f67e0e0c6bc6cae

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