Rare, deadly October storm hangs on in Northeast (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? One of the darkest Halloweens ever loomed for about 3 million households left without power on Sunday by a rare October snowstorm in the Northeast that bedeviled transportation and killed at least eight people.

Jack-o'-lanterns peeked through record-breaking snow, the heaviest of which was 31.4 inches measured in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, according to the National Weather Service.

Just 45 minutes northwest of New York City, in West Milford, New Jersey, 19 inches of snow fell.

"It's too scary -- the windows are rattling too loud," a terrified Sophia Band, 6, said, her father recalled, as she jumped into her parents' bed in Conway, Massachusetts overnight during the crushing storm.

The snowy, windy weather that began on Saturday was expected to exit Maine later on Sunday, but not before dumping up to a foot of snow on northern New England, particularly southern Vermont, the National Weather Service said.

Howling winds and heavy, wet snow snapped enormous trees like twigs, downing power lines from West Virginia to Maine.

By Sunday evening, there were about 3 million households without electricity across the Mid-Atlantic and New England.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said the state experienced the largest number of power outages in its history. Maine, Massachusetts and New Jersey all said they did not expect service to return to normal for several days, while in Connecticut and New Hampshire it could be more than a week.

In Hartford, Mayor Pedro Segarra said almost 70 percent of the city was in the dark. Most Connecticut cities opened warming centers late Sunday for chilled residents.

Throughout Connecticut and New Jersey, scores of public schools closings were announced for Monday.

Despite the darkness and cold, trick or treaters stuck with plans to make their annual candy rounds, with last-minute adjustments like tucking thermal underwear beneath a bridal gown or donning a turtleneck under a galactic warrior tunic.

STRANDED FOR 13 HOURS ON TRAIN

Transit nightmares were reported on planes and trains throughout the storm-struck region.

Some 48 passengers on an Amtrak train bound for Boston were stranded for 13 hours overnight when a rockslide blocked the tracks near central Massachusetts, company spokeswoman Vernae Graham said. They were bussed to their final destinations before noon on Sunday.

Other Amtrak service was suspended between Providence and Boston; New Haven, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts; and Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

New Jersey Transit and Metro-North Railroad suspended service on several lines into New York City on Sunday.

Airports slowly returned to normal service on Sunday, although there were some residual delays due to wind at Newark International Airport.

JetBlue Airways was investigating reports 126 passengers were stuck for more than seven hours Saturday on the tarmac at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Connecticut, without food, water or working lavatories, said spokeswoman Victoria Lucia. They were aboard Flight 504 from Florida, diverted to Bradley from Newark due to the storm.

The company apologized directly to the customers and offered a refund and vouchers for a round trip flight, Lucia said.

AT LEAST EIGHT STORM-RELATED DEATHS

Icy roads throughout the Northeast proved deadly. Early Sunday, Oscar Ramos, 40, was killed in Wayne, New Jersey, when his car smashed into a utility truck parked along Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne Police said.

In White Plains, New York, a 65-year-old driver and two passengers, a 70-year-old woman and a 51-year-old man, were killed when the driver tried to go around a snow barricade erected by police and slammed head-on into another vehicle.

Slippery conditions caused the crash and death of a man driving in Colchester, Connecticut on Saturday, and in Stroud Township, Pennsylvania, a 57-year-old female passenger was killed when her husband lost control of their car on icy Route 611.

In Temple, Pennsylvania, an 84-year-old man was killed as he napped in his recliner when a snow-laden tree fell through his home, and in Springfield, Massachusetts, a 20-year-old man was electrocuted when he stepped out of his vehicle and touched an electrified guard rail.

Weather emergencies because of the storm were declared in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

A breakdown of power outages Sunday evening showed more than 800,000 households out in Connecticut; over 640,000 in Massachusetts; more than 600,000 in New Jersey; more than 400,000 in Pennsylvania; over 240,000 in New Hampshire; about 75,000 in Maine; around 160,000 in New York; and some 9,500 in Rhode Island.

(Additional reporting by Lauren Keiper in Boston; Tim Sohn in eastern Pennsylvania, Zach Howard in Western Massachusetts; Mary Ellen Godin in Connecticut; Editing by Jerry Norton)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111030/us_nm/us_weather_northeast

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Video: It?s a Kardashian Halloween!

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45094045#45094045

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Sports fans play the Washington game

If you're among the many Americans who believe lobbyists are part of what's wrong with this country, you should know this: If you've ever gone to a football, baseball, basketball or hockey game ? or even watched one on TV ? you have your own special interest groups pushing your agenda in Washington.

Even Ralph Nader is working for you.

"Ralph saw that there were more and more issues where the fans and participants were having little voice," which is why he recently revived his 1970s-era League of Fans, said Ken Reed, the organization's sports policy director.

"At the time, the NBA and NFL lockouts were on the horizon, and it was clear that there was going to be a power play and the fans were going to be left on the sidelines," Reed said.

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The League of Fans is one of a handful of lobbying and special interest groups that seek to "address the abuses of voiceless fans and participants," as Reed put it.

Another is the Sports Fans Coalition, which is "trying to shine a light on what the true costs of being a fan are," said Brian Frederick, the organization's executive director.

"We serve as a political voice here in the halls of power in D.C. on behalf of fans," Frederick said. "We try to raise awareness of the sorts of deals that are made and what happens as a result of them and what doesn't happen."

There's even a fully registered political action committee, Playoff PAC, which researches what it sees as the abuses of the college bowl system. It has brought to light numerous questionable financial practices by the committee that organizes the Fiesta Bowl; most recently, it has filed complaints with the IRS seeking to strip the bowls of their tax-exempt status, alleging financial improprieties that siphon off money that should go to participating schools.

"In general, we've provided a lot of publicity about how bad of a situation the bowls put a lot of schools in," said Bryson Morgan, a co-founder of the group. "College football as an organization can be unresponsive only so long."

Bringing political clout to the playing field
Nader is the most famous of the activists pushing a sports-fans agenda, but other groups have their own heavy hitters.

Sports Fans Coalition was founded in 2009 by David Goodfriend, deputy staff secretary in the administration of President Bill Clinton, and Bradley A. Blakeman, former president of the influential conservative group Freedom's Watch and a senior member of President George W. Bush's staff. Its board includes Dave Zirin, whose popular Edge of Sports column analyzes American sports from a liberal perspective, and Gigi Sohn, president of the digital rights advocacy group Public Knowledge.

Playoff PAC's volunteers, meanwhile, include more than a dozen former government officials and prominent Washington lawyers, notably Marcus Owens, former director of the IRS' Exempt Organizations Division (who submitted the group's tax complaints to his former agency), and Scott Thomas, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission.

Leaders of the groups push a number of different agendas ? fighting soaring ticket prices, league lockouts and television-rights deals that black out some fans, among others ? but they come together on one issue: what they see as the National Collegiate Athletic Association's exploitation of athletes and fans for profit.

Many believe the answer is to scrap the Bowl Championship Series, which purports to pit the two best college football teams in the country for the national championship, even though its postseason matchups are determined by pollsters and computers, not by on-the-field competition.

The NCAA didn't respond to a request for comment. In May, it told the U.S. Justice Department ? which was looking into whether the BCS violates antitrust law by favoring bigger universities from wealthier sports conferences ? that it "has no role to play in the BCS or the BCS system."

NCAA tells DOJ football playoff out of its hands

Morgan, the Playoff PAC co-founder, argued that playoffs "would generate a lot of revenue" ? not only from television networks, but also from recovery of money lost to what the group alleges is widespread corruption in the bowl system.

1. Playoff PAC

   Statement of purpose from Playoff PAC:

   Playoff PAC is a federal political committee dedicated to establishing a competitive post-season championship for college football.? The Bowl Championship Series is inherently flawed.? It crowns champions arbitrarily and stifles inter-conference competition.? Fans, players, schools, and corporate sponsors will be better served when the BCS is replaced with an accessible playoff system that recognizes and rewards on-the-field accomplishment.? To that end, Playoff PAC helps elect pro-reform political candidates, mobilizes public support, and provides a centralized source of pro-reform news, thought, and scholarship.

Playoff PAC was founded in 2009 as a standard political action committee, raising money with the idea of donating it to congressional candidates who agreed to push for playoffs if elected. But it found little traction there, raising less than $20,000 and making just one donation. So the group shifted direction to use its members' expertise in the ways of Washington to investigate the BCS.

Along the way, it began filing complaints with Arizona officials and the IRS after a 2009 Arizona Republic investigation indicated that the Fiesta Bowl, which is held in Glendale, Ariz., was laundering illegal campaign contributions. The bowl committee ended up firing its chief executive, citing information uncovered by the Playoff PAC 11 times in its public report (.pdf).

Anti-BCS group files complaint against Fiesta Bowl

More recently, Playoff PAC has filed complaints alleging that the Fiesta Bowl requires colleges playing in its game to buy a minimum number of hotel rooms through the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. The PAC alleges that the convention bureau will "kick back" more than $8 million to the bowl committee over the 20-year life of the contract.

In a separate case, the PAC has asked the IRS to investigate whether the Fiesta Bowl and two other games in the BCS ? the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and the Orange Bowl in Miami ? should be stripped of their tax-exempt status. Four members of Congress ? including Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, who has introduced legislation to require a football playoff ? signed a letter to the IRS endorsing the inquiry.

Sugar Bowl made improper campaign donations

"The BCS leaves so much money on the table for these universities," said Morgan, citing an independent report that tabulated that the University of Connecticut lost as much as $1.8 million on its trip to the Fiesta Bowl in January.

Money and its impact on colleges
The Sports Fans Coalition makes a similar argument.

1. Sports Fans Coalition

   Agenda declaration of the Sports Fans Coalition:

   The Sports Fans Coalition fights to make sure that fans have access to games both on television and in the stadium. Because fans have spent billions and billions of dollars financing sports stadiums, they deserve to see their local teams play. So we fight against all media blackouts and for affordable seating in public stadiums. In addition, we fight for a college playoff because of the corruption that exists in the BCS bowl system and the unfair way that revenues are distributed to our schools. Finally, we fight against work stoppages, such as the NBA lockout. Fans have spent billions on stadiums ? the least owners and players can do is play ball.

"The NCAA cannot control its own biggest sport ? college football ? and so the decisions that are being made right now ... are in pursuit of television revenue, and that's having a drastic effect on the entire higher education system," Frederick, the group's executive director, said in an interview.

The coalition's agenda extends well beyond college football's postseason, however. It frequently takes on the National Football League, accusing it of bullying taxpayers into financing palatial new stadiums and then charging them exorbitant ticket prices.

It sided with the NFL players union in a contract showdown this year that nearly led to a league lockout, going to court unsuccessfully to try to be in the room, representing fans, during negotiations over the collective bargaining agreement.

A spokesman for the NFL told msnbc.com simply that "we respect the views of all fans and appreciate their interest." But in June, the NFL told the Federal Communications Commission, which was considering a coalition challenge to the league's television policies, that the group was widely considered to be " a house organ for Dish Network." (.pdf)

The Sports Fans Coalition has been accused of being a front for cable and satellite TV interests ever since it set up shop.

Critics note that Goodfriend, a co-founder, is the former vice president for legal affairs for DISH Network, whose NFL package is one of its leading selling points, and they say it's no coincidence that the group has been especially aggressive in contesting the system under which the NFL and other leagues negotiate television rights.

(That system can lead to TV "blackouts" in some markets when a league and a network, or a network and the satellite and cable providers that carry it, can't agree on terms. That's what happened a year ago when subscribers of New York Cablevision couldn't watch the first two games of baseball's World Series.)

Frederick dismissed charges that the coalition lobbies for cable and satellite TV interests instead of fans, pointing to its activism on ticket prices, stadium deals and labor issues. But the doubts have continued to linger.

1. Msnbc.com and the NFL

   Msnbc.com has a significant interest in discussions of television rights to NFL games. It's a joint venture of Microsoft Corp. and NBC Universal, whose NBC Sports division pays the NFL $603 million a year to broadcast its Sunday night games. Those games are live-streamed from the msnbc.com home page.

   NBC Universal, meanwhile, is 51 percent owned by the cable giant Comcast Corp., which has had its own disputes with the NFL over rights to carry the NFL Network.

While the Sports Fans Coalition isn't, strictly speaking, a lobbying group itself, federal records show that it has paid more than $120,000 in the last two years to Emmer Consulting, a Bethesda, Md.-based lobbying group where Goodfriend went to work after he left DISH Network. DISH Network, as it happens, is one of Emmer's biggest clients.

And the coalition has accepted large contributions from Verizon, which operates the FiOS cable system, and from Time Warner.

Frederick said the coalition needed corporate donations to get up and running, saying, "Lord knows I would love every contribution we could get to keep this going." But despite his solicitations, no other cable or satellite companies have kicked in, he said ? not even DISH.

Filings with the Federal Election Commission confirm that.

"The folks that are skeptical are the ones that aren't in Washington and don't have experience in how Washington works," Frederick said. "I wouldn't be working for an organization that strictly existed to put forward a corporate interest."

Frederick's background would suggest that's true. An adjunct professor in sports management at Georgetown University in Washington, he was previously a research director for the liberal advocacy group Media Matters for America.

Most other members of the board of directors ? like Zirin, Sohn and Habiba Alcindor, communications director for The Nation ? are also associated with left-leaning institutions not usually considered friendly to corporations.

Going hard-core
Then there's Ralph Nader's group, which operates very much like a Ralph Nader group, with its own, occasionally idiosyncratic agenda.

Football playoffs are a part of the League of Fans' agenda. But in many respects, what it considers the best interest of the fan isn't necessarily what fans themselves might favor.

1. The League of Fans

   In its "Sports Manifesto," Ralph Nader's League of Fans lays out four main goals:

   1) To build momentum toward a vision in which all sports stakeholders are treated justly, fairly, and ethically.

   2) To ensure that all those who have a stake in sports ? including the millions of fans, sports consumers, sports participants, and taxpayers across the nation ? have a voice in how sports are operated in this country.

   3) To encourage sports stakeholders to become sports activists and reformers; and to take action to improve the world of sports, wherever they're at, in whatever way they can, in a collective effort to help sport serve the public interest.

   4) To increase the number of sports participants, at all ages in the United States, because of sport's numerous physical, mental and social benefits.

For one thing, the League of Fans wants to dismantle college sports as we know it, eliminating athletic scholarships because they turn students into "professional athletes," a proposal the NCAA has called "off-base on so many fronts it is hard to know where to start."

Ralph Nader calls for ending athletic scholarships

It also argues there should be no public funding for sports teams ? a position voters in numerous cities have chosen to disregard in approving public financing for stadiums.

The League does hold other positions that fans would likely applaud. It advocates for lower ticket prices, better safety standards for athletes and elimination of all doping. But its statement of core principles places much of its emphasis on de-corporatization campaigns long associated with Nader.

"In a way, 'League of Fans' is kind of a misnomer," acknowledged Reed, its sports policy director. "We're actively working on the whole sports reform thing."

Reed, who holds a Ph.D. in sports administration and has taught at the U.S. Sports Academy in Daphne, Ala., stressed that, like Nader, he is a devoted sports fan. For them, it's not a political agenda ? it's about "what's best for the games, the fans, the participants," he said.

"People ask, 'Why do you guys hate sports?'" Reed said. "It makes me mad and laugh at the same time. Probably no one person loves sports as much as I do.

"My father was a coach. I played two sports in college. I used to be on the sports marketing side and the sports professor side. ... I love sports. My response is, 'Why aren't you angry?'"

? 2011 msnbc.com Reprints

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44949131/ns/us_news-life/

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NASA Commercial Space Program Runs into Skepticism (ContributorNetwork)

The House Science Committee held a hearing about the commercial crew initiative in which NASA proposes to finance the development of private space taxis to take astronauts to and from low Earth orbit.

The program encountered a great deal of skepticism from most members of the committee, with the exception, as always, of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.

Why do the congressmen have a problem with the Commercial Crew program?

As suggested by Chairman Ralph Hall's opening statement, most of the members of the committee are deeply skeptical that the participants in the commercial crew program are going to develop private markets for their vehicles in the near future. This would mean that the federal government would be in the position of financing a "commercial space sector" whose sole purpose would be to service government contracts. Lack of private markets may lead to a government bailout of commercial space companies.

But what about reliance on the Russia Soyuz?

The members of the committee are not very happy with that, for political and other reasons. However when one calculates that $6 billion price tag it will take to develop the commercial space ships, it might actually be cheaper to stick with the Russians, despite the confiscatory prices they are charging.

How did the witnesses from the commercial space companies respond to the criticisms?

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, offered his personal guarantee that the government would not have to bail out his company. Musk also claimed that he can charge per seat about a third of what Russia is now charging. In his statement, Musk also claimed significant improvements in flight safety for his Dragon space ship compared to the Russian Soyuz. Representatives of other companies such as Boeing, Sierra Nevada Space Systems, ATK Space Launch Systems and United Launch Alliance claimed that their businesses would be successful even if NASA were the sole customer.

But there is some thought to developing private markets, right?

Satellite servicing, cargo hauling, and taking paying customers on rides to low Earth orbit were mentioned. These potential markets did not seem to be firm, but rather in the form of "forward looking statements."

When would the commercial space ships be available?

All of the commercial witnesses claimed that their spacecraft would be ready to fly in advance of the official NASA date of 2017. Musk, for example, said that the Dragon could be ready to take astronauts in 2014, given adequate funding.

Will there be adequate funding?

That, as always, is the $6 billion question. Commercial space is competing with the space exploration program and the James Webb Space Telescope for funding. Musk is saying that he has invested $500 million of his own money in his space venture. If Congress falls short of projected funding, could the private players take up the slack to keep the commercial space ship projects on schedule? Past experience, as with the 1990s era Delta Clipper project, suggests not. But time will only tell.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times and The Weekly Standard.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111027/us_ac/10302715_nasa_commercial_space_program_runs_into_skepticism

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Nokia proclaims new dawn with Windows phones (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Nokia unveiled two sleek new Microsoft Windows phones on Wednesday in time for Christmas, a first step in the ailing cellphone maker's fightback against Apple and Google.

Chief Executive Stephen Elop presented the two new smartphones, the first fruits of his big bet on Microsoft software, to a 3,000-strong audience in London, saying they represented the beginning of a new era for the Finnish giant.

"It's a new dawn for Nokia," Elop said as he unveiled the high-end Lumia 800 and mid-range Lumia 710, which will go on sale in key European markets next month.

In an interview with Reuters, Elop said the world's biggest cellphone maker had transformed itself during his 13-month tenure, which has seen a shake-up of senior management and thousands of lay-offs.

"It is a different company operating on a different clock speed," he said. "The amount of effort and passion and work that's been accomplished that we were able to show off today is the best evidence of that."

Nokia shares, which have halved in value since Elop announced his high-risk partnership with Microsoft and ditched its old software platform in February, were up 3.1 percent at 1323 GMT, outperforming the wider market.

Elop said the new phones' minimalist design and superior navigation features would make them stand out among rival Windows phones, some of which have been faster to market with Microsoft's new Mango mobile platform.

Christian Lindholm, a partner at design agency Fjord who formerly managed Nokia's classic S60 and S40 user interfaces, said the new phones showed a renewed confidence in Nokia's traditional strengths.

"They're getting back to their roots -- simplicity," he said. "They've stripped out the noise and focused on what people need to communicate, navigate and socialize."

Analysts were positive about the new phones, though they said the first results of the Nokia-Microsoft pairing remained well short of an iPhone killer.

"These devices are a good start, but the reality is that they are pretty much plain vanilla Windows Phone products," said Ben Wood, director of research at UK-based telecoms analysis firm CCS Insight.

"The real fruits of Nokia's and Microsoft's labors will come next year ... but it remains a Herculean task to recapture this lucrative market from Apple and (Google platform) Android."

The Lumia 800, with vivid colors and a curved, black display, features Windows Phone's live icons on the home screen, which automatically update news, weather and Facebook feeds.

It also boasts free navigation and Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 9 browser, and will sell for about 420 euros ($584) excluding taxes and subsidies, putting it in the same bracket as Apple's iPhone and Samsung's top Galaxy phones.

The Lumia 710 will sell for about 270 euros.

"The Lumia phones do have some strong selling points in their own right ... and they offer a look and feel that's radically different from anything seen previously on a Nokia device," said John Delaney, research director at technology research firm IDC.

HERCULEAN TASK

Nokia has suffered most in recent years in the United States, where operators have spurned its offerings in favor of the iPhone and popular Android models such as the Motorola Droid.

Elop said the company planned a portfolio of new products for the U.S. market early next year, and said Nokia did have U.S. carrier support.

In Europe, Nokia has launched the new phones with the support of 31 operators and retailers, which will help push the phones into the hands of consumers and secure subsidies.

Microsoft's mobile platform has a market share of just 2-3 percent, compared with Android's near 50 percent and Apple's 15 percent of the smartphone market.

Analysts and developers said Microsoft's platform was emerging as the third player at a fortuitous time, when Google's planned $12.5 billion offer for Motorola Mobility was creating uncertainty among other Android phone makers.

"They got really lucky. There is a lot of confusion in the Android marketplace now," said Carolina Milanesi, analyst with technology research firm Gartner.

Elop said it was an open question as to how much disruption the Google-Motorola deal would have, but said any indication of problems should help.

"I think that any confusion or questions in the other ecosystems can be something that can be an advantage to the Windows Phone," Elop told Reuters.

The phones will go on sale in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Britain in November, and in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan before the end of the year.

Nokia also unveiled four new basic phones for emerging markets, where it still holds a leading position.

Nokia's third-quarter results beat low expectations, sparking hopes that the company can survive a painful revamp, but smartphone sales still dropped 38 percent from a year ago.

The annual Nokia World media and industry event in London, where the launch took place on Wednesday, includes speakers from the world's largest carriers, China Mobile, Vodafone, Orange and MTN.

($1 = 0.719 Euros)

(Additional reporting by Terhi Kinnunen in Helsinki; Editing by Erica Billingham, Andrew Callus and Will Waterman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111026/wr_nm/us_nokia

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Faraway Eris is Pluto's twin

ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2011) ? Astronomers have accurately measured the diameter of the faraway dwarf planet Eris for the first time by catching it as it passed in front of a faint star. This event was seen at the end of 2010 by telescopes in Chile, including the Belgian TRAPPIST telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory. The observations show that Eris is an almost perfect twin of Pluto in size. Eris appears to have a very reflective surface, suggesting that it is uniformly covered in a thin layer of ice, probably a frozen atmosphere. The results will be published in the 27 October 2011 issue of the journal Nature.

In November 2010, the distant dwarf planet Eris passed in front of a faint background star, an event called an occultation. These occurrences are very rare and difficult to observe as the dwarf planet is very distant and small. The next such event involving Eris will not happen until 2013. Occultations provide the most accurate, and often the only, way to measure the shape and size of a distant Solar System body.

The candidate star for the occultation was identified by studying pictures from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory. The observations were carefully planned and carried out by a team of astronomers from a number of (mainly French, Belgian, Spanish and Brazilian) universities using -- among others -- the TRAPPIST [1] (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope, eso1023) telescope, also at La Silla.

"Observing occultations by the tiny bodies beyond Neptune in the Solar System requires great precision and very careful planning. This is the best way to measure Eris's size, short of actually going there," explains Bruno Sicardy, the lead author.

Observations of the occultation were attempted from 26 locations around the globe on the predicted path of the dwarf planet's shadow -- including several telescopes at amateur observatories, but only two sites were able to observe the event directly, both of them located in Chile. One was at ESO's La Silla Observatory using the TRAPPIST telescope, and the other was located in San Pedro de Atacama and used two telescopes [2]. All three telescopes recorded a sudden drop in brightness as Eris blocked the light of the distant star.

The combined observations from the two Chilean sites indicate that Eris is close to spherical. These measurements should accurately measure its shape and size as long as they are not distorted by the presence of large mountains. Such features are, however, unlikely on such a large icy body.

Eris was identified as a large object in the outer Solar System in 2005. Its discovery was one of the factors that led to the creation of a new class of objects called dwarf planets and the reclassification of Pluto from planet to dwarf planet in 2006. Eris is currently three times further from the Sun than Pluto.

While earlier observations using other methods suggested that Eris was probably about 25% larger than Pluto with an estimated diameter of 3000 kilometres, the new study proves that the two objects are essentially the same size. Eris's newly determined diameter stands at 2326 kilometres, with an accuracy of 12 kilometres. This makes its size better known than that of its closer counterpart Pluto, which has a diameter estimated to be between 2300 and 2400 kilometres. Pluto's diameter is harder to measure because the presence of an atmosphere makes its edge impossible to detect directly by occultations. The motion of Eris's satellite Dysnomia [3] was used to estimate the mass of Eris. It was found to be 27% heavier than Pluto [4]. Combined with its diameter, this provided Eris's density, estimated at 2.52 grams per cm³ [5].

"This density means that Eris is probably a large rocky body covered in a relatively thin mantle of ice," comments Emmanuel Jehin, who contributed to the study [6].

The surface of Eris was found to be extremely reflective, reflecting 96% of the light that falls on it (a visible albedo of 0.96 [7]). This is even brighter than fresh snow on Earth, making Eris one of the most reflective objects in the Solar System, along with Saturn's icy moon Enceladus. The bright surface of Eris is most likely composed of a nitrogen-rich ice mixed with frozen methane -- as indicated by the object's spectrum -- coating the dwarf planet's surface in a thin and very reflective icy layer less than one millimetre thick.

"This layer of ice could result from the dwarf planet's nitrogen or methane atmosphere condensing as frost onto its surface as it moves away from the Sun in its elongated orbit and into an increasingly cold environment," Jehin adds. The ice could then turn back to gas as Eris approaches its closest point to the Sun, at a distance of about 5.7 billion kilometres.

The new results also allow the team to make a new measurement for the surface temperature of the dwarf planet. The estimates suggest a temperature for the surface facing the Sun of -238 Celsius at most, and an even lower value for the night side of Eris.

"It is extraordinary how much we can find out about a small and distant object such as Eris by watching it pass in front of a faint star, using relatively small telescopes. Five years after the creation of the new class of dwarf planets, we are finally really getting to know one of its founding members," concludes Bruno Sicardy.

Notes:

[1] TRAPPIST is one of the latest robotic telescopes installed at the La Silla Observatory. With a main mirror just 0.6 metres across, it was inaugurated in June 2010 and is mainly dedicated to the study of exoplanets and comets. The telescope is a project funded by the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS), with the participation of the Swiss National Science Foundation, and is controlled from Li?ge.

[2] The Caisey Harlingten and ASH2 telescopes.

[3] Eris is the Greek goddess of chaos and strife. Dysnomia is Eris' daughter and the goddess of lawlessness.

[4] Eris's mass is 1.66 x 10²² kg, corresponding to 22% of the mass of the Moon.

[5] For comparison, the Moon's density is 3.3 grams per cm³, and water's is 1.00 gram per cm³.

[6] The value of the density suggests that Eris is mainly composed of rock (85%), with a small ice content (15%). The latter is likely to be a layer, about 100 kilometre thick, that surrounds the large rocky core. This very thick layer of mostly water ice is not to be confused with the very thin layer of frozen atmosphere on Eris's surface that makes it so reflective.

[7] The albedo of an object represents the fraction of the light that falls on it that is scattered back into space rather than absorbed. An albedo of 1 corresponds to perfect reflecting white, while 0 is totally absorbing black. For comparison, the Moon's albedo is only 0.136, similar to that of coal.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Southern Observatory (ESO).

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Journal Reference:

1. B. Sicardy, J. L. Ortiz, M. Assafin, E. Jehin, A. Maury, E. Lellouch, R. Gil Hutton, F. Braga-Ribas, F. Colas, D. Hestroffer, J. Lecacheux, F. Roques, P. Santos-Sanz, T. Widemann, N. Morales, R. Duffard, A. Thirouin, A. J. Castro-Tirado, M. Jel?nek, P. Kub?nek, A. Sota, R. S?nchez-Ram?rez, A. H. Andrei, J. I. B. Camargo, D. N. da Silva Neto, A. Ramos Gomes, R. Vieira Martins, M. Gillon, J. Manfroid, G. P. Tozzi, C. Harlingten, S. Saravia, R. Behrend, S. Mottola, E. Garc?a Melendo, V. Peris, J. Fabregat, J. M. Madiedo, L. Cuesta, M. T. Eibe, A. Ull?n, F. Organero, S. Pastor, J. A. de los Reyes, S. Pedraz, A. Castro, I. de la Cueva, G. Muler, I. A. Steele, M. Cebri?n, P. Monta??s-Rodr?guez, A. Oscoz, D. Weaver, C. Jacques, W. J. B. Corradi, F. P. Santos, W. Reis, A. Milone, M. Emilio, L. Guti?rrez, R. V?zquez, H. Hern?ndez-Toledo. A Pluto-like radius and a high albedo for the dwarf planet Eris from an occultation. Nature, 2011; 478 (7370): 493 DOI: 10.1038/nature10550

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/JuCLnND2O0g/111026143805.htm

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Linux Foundation Announces Long Term Support Initiative for CE Manufacturers

The Linux Foundation is rocking out in Prague this week and they've got some interesting news to share. In addition to adding five new European members and the one year anniversary of the Foundation's Yocto Project, they're announcing their "Long Term Support Initiative" to foster a stable kernel release suitable for use in consumer electronic devices. It aims to provide "both an annual release of a Linux kernel suitable for supporting the lifespan of consumer electronics products and regular updates of those releases for two years." The list of companies involved in the LTSI is a list of household CE names: Hitachi, LG Electronics, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, Sony, Toshiba.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NgJ2HguAvlQ/

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AP Source: Big 12 approves WVU to replace Missouri

West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith throws against Syracuse during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Syracuse, N.Y., on Friday, Oct 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith throws against Syracuse during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Syracuse, N.Y., on Friday, Oct 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

The Big 12 has a replacement lined up for Missouri before it even leaves the conference.

The Big East, meanwhile, is in danger of losing another school before replacing the three that already have bailed on the league.

Acting quickly to make sure it maintains a 10-member lineup, the Big 12 approved bringing in West Virginia to replace Missouri when the Tigers complete their move to the Southeastern Conference, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Big 12 had not announced that the conference board of directors on Monday unanimously approved inviting West Virginia when Missouri's spot comes open.

The move is another step toward stabilizing a Big 12 that seemed on the verge of collapse about a month ago when Texas and Oklahoma were pondering a move to the Pac-12.

On the other side, West Virginia's pending departure from the Big East, which has lost two members and one member-to-be in the last six weeks, leaves the embattled conference facing another crisis.

The Big East is trying to reconfigure as a 12-team football league and has been courting Boise State, Navy and Air Force as football-only members and Central Florida, SMU and Houston for all sports. Commissioner John Marinatto met with officials from some of those schools Sunday in Washington.

Because there is no timetable for Missouri to complete its expected departure from the Big 12 ? and the league's board of directors expressed "a strong desire" for Missouri to stay ? there is no timetable for West Virginia to receive a formal invitation, the person said.

But West Virginia will accept an invitation from the Big 12 once it is offered, the person said.

During an interview Tuesday with KFRU-AM in Columbia, Mo., Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton said it would be "days" or "a week or two" before the school announced its decision.

Interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas has said he expects Missouri to compete in the Big 12 in 2012, though Deaton has said that if Missouri does make a move, he'd like the Tigers to be playing in their new conference next fall.

Missouri would become the SEC's 14th member and join Texas A&M, which made its move from the Big 12 official earlier this month.

A report reviewed by Missouri officials and obtained by the AP earlier this month stated a move to the SEC from the Big 12 could net the school as much as an extra $12 million in revenue a year.

West Virginia also likely would make more money by moving from the Big East to the Big 12. The Big 12 distributed $139 million to its members in 2010 and in April signed a 13-year TV deal with Fox worth $1.17 billion that kicks in next year. The conference also recently agreed to start sharing TV revenue equally.

The Big East distributed $113 million to its 16 all-sports members last year and has yet to ink a new TV deal. Its separate deals for football and basketball expire in 2013.

It's also a step up in competition for the Mountaineers ? at least in football. No. 25 West Virginia is one of two Big East teams ranked in the AP Top 25, along with No. 24 Cincinnati.

The Big 12 has five teams ranked in this week's poll, including No. 3 Oklahoma State, and not including perennial power Texas.

Geographically, West Virginia will be by far the easternmost school in the Big 12, 870 miles away from the closest Big 12 school, Iowa State.

West Virginia has been the Big East's most successful football program since the league lost Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004 and '05. The Mountaineers have been to a bowl game every season since and won two BCS games.

Without West Virginia, only one of the original eight schools that made up the Big East's football conference when it began in 1991 will remain: Rutgers.

Last month, Pittsburgh and Syracuse announced they were leaving the Big East for the ACC and earlier this month TCU reneged on its plans to join the Big East in 2012 to instead go to the Big 12.

Marinatto has said he plans to make Pitt and Syracuse abide by the league's bylaws and stay in the Big East for the next two years. The Big East's 27-month notification will likely be a hurdle for West Virginia to clear on its way to the Big 12.

TCU only must pay the league's $5 million exit fee.

The Big East presidents voted last week to double that fee to $10 million if the league added either Navy or Air Force, but the conference has not formally invited any new members yet.

It's unclear how the loss of West Virginia will affect the Big East's expansion plans. The Big East made protecting its status as a BCS automatic qualifying conference its expansion priority, and adding Boise State's high successful football program to the conference with West Virginia had league officials optimistic.

Boise State President Bob Kustra has said that getting the Broncos into a conference with an automatic bid to the BCS was one of his top priorities, but the stability of the Big East was a concern. Boise State is in its first season in the Mountain West Conference. Air Force also plays in the MWC. Navy is an independent in football.

To replace West Virginia, the Big East could turn to Temple, which was also being considered before the conference decided to try to add the two Texas schools from Conference USA.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-10-25-West%20Virginia-Big%2012/id-9d942c5f86c64a95a7c036289201beec

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Nurse to recount Jackson's pleas for anesthetic (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Jurors hearing the case against the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death are getting another look at the singer's life as defense attorneys try to portray him as desperate for sleep and eager to obtain the powerful anesthetic that authorities say killed him.

The panel will hear Tuesday from Cherilyn Lee, a nurse practitioner who has said Jackson repeatedly asked her for propofol to help him sleep, but she refused. Lee began her testimony Monday, the sixth witness that Dr. Conrad Murray's attorneys called to try to shift the blame for Jackson's death to the singer himself.

Murray's team plans Tuesday to call other witnesses who they think may support that theory, including Randy Phillips, the president and CEO of concert promoter AEG Live, and Jackson's makeup artist and hairstylist, Karen Faye. They will also call several expert witnesses who will try to rebut the testimony of prosecution experts who said Murray was reckless and at fault in Jackson's unexpected death on June 25, 2009.

Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

The defense's case now appears to hinge on their claim that Jackson gave himself a fatal dose of propofol. In a court filing Monday, Murray's attorneys argued that they should be allowed to show jurors the agreement between Jackson and AEG Live to show that Jackson had much to lose if he couldn't perform 50 comeback concerts planned for London's O2 arena.

AEG would have been allowed to recoup its investment in the shows and advances paid to Jackson if he couldn't perform, the filing states.

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor will consider whether to allow the agreement and testimony about it by Phillips, although he has previously excluded any evidence of Jackson's financial hardships.

"This evidence directly supports the defense theory of the case ? that Mr. Jackson self-administered propofol due to the enormous pressure and stress placed on him pursuant to the agreement," the defense filing states. "Mr. Jackson's mental state on June 25, 2009 is highly relevant to the defense in this case."

Murray's attorneys expect Faye will testify that Jackson was distraught about completing the comeback shows.

One of the initial defense witnesses, Dr. Allan Metzger, supported prosecutors' contentions that Murray acted recklessly by giving Jackson propofol as a sleep aid and that the singer was looking forward to the show.

"He was excited," Metzger said of Jackson's demeanor during conversations and a house call in the months before the singer's death. "He was talking to me about some creative things that he was thinking about. He spoke to me about his excitement and his fear about the tour."

Metzger said Jackson felt the shows were a big obligation and he wanted to deliver stellar performances.

The doctor, who knew and treated Jackson for more than 15 years, testified the pop superstar asked him about IV medications during his house call.

On cross-examination, Metzger said he told Jackson that using any IV drugs or anesthetics to sleep was unsafe.

"You explained to him that it that was dangerous, life-threatening and should not be done outside of a hospital, correct," prosecutor David Walgren asked the doctor.

"That's correct," he replied.

"Was there any amount of money that would have convinced you to give him intravenous propfol in his house?" Walgren asked.

"Absolutely not," Metger said.

Lee was similarly against Jackson taking propofol to help him sleep. She told The Associated Press in 2009 that the singer repeatedly asked for the drug while she was treating him for nutrition and sleep issues.

"I said, `Michael, the only problem with you taking this medication' ? and I had a chill in my body and tears in my eyes three months ago ? `the only problem is you're going to take it and you're not going to wake up,'" she recalled telling Jackson.

Lee kept detailed notes of her treatments on Jackson, which she flipped through repeatedly while testifying Monday.

According to prosecutors, Murray kept no notes on his treatments on Jackson after signing on as his personal physician for the London shows.

Defense attorneys expect to conclude their case Thursday, but even if they do, jurors won't begin deliberations until next week. A judge told attorneys that he would give them the weekend to craft their closing arguments and finalize jury instructions.

___

AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.

___

McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111025/ap_on_en_mu/us_michael_jackson_doctor

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Kevin Cotter: 10 Best Uses For My Ex Wife's Wedding Dress

When my wife of almost 12 years moved out of our Tucson home in 2009 I was in bad shape. We had been together since high school. I was shocked when she left that she refused to take her wedding dress. After all, what was I going to do with it? And for some time I did nothing with it and didn't tell anyone about it. I just left it on its perch in my closet as a reminder that my life was changing drastically.

I was at my parents' house for dinner one night when I first mentioned the dress to anybody. I told my parents and my brother and sister-in-law that I had my ex-wife's wedding dress because I wanted to know what to do with it. I wanted advice. "You should wipe your @$% with it," my brother Colin chimed in immediately. I believe someone else suggested it would make a good doormat. My divorce had taken a toll on all of us; everybody was upset that my ex-wife was leaving me. "I bet you could come up with 101 things to do with it," my sister-in-law Jenny said.

I wasn't in a great mood that night. I was really struggling with my divorce and was extremely stressed about the future for my kids and I. But I couldn't help but smirk at the thought of my ex-wife's wedding dress sitting outside my front door -- what a fancy doormat it would make. I started to imagine other absurd uses for the dress and before I knew it someone had grabbed a pen and some paper and we were writing them down.

For a while all of our ideas made nothing more than a list. We had no real plan to do anything with them. My brother encouraged me to take the dress on a weekend fishing trip we had planned and it was on that trip that the dress came out if its pretty preservation box for the first time. That weekend we used it as a tablecloth, a sleeping bag, and a doormat outside of my buddy Andy's camper. I had mixed feelings seeing the pristine dress get dirty for the first time, but we laughed a lot. We ate hamburgers and hot dogs and wiped our hands on it. We stepped on it entering and exiting the camper.

Colin and I got together occasionally and photographed the dress at work in different ways. We had used the dress in around 50 different ways when I started thinking about how to go about sharing my pictures with other people. Colin and I were very entertained by the dress uses we had come up with, and two of my friends were also going through divorces at the time -- in both cases, the wife wanted out. I thought my pictures could be helpful to guys who found themselves in the same situation. Some friends suggested that I started a blog and with the help of another friend I did just that. In May 2010, I launched www.myexwifesweddingdress.com.

I knew little about blogs prior to starting my own, but I felt that pictures alone wouldn't be enough. I never really intended to tell my divorce story, but as I made my first entry I began sharing my feelings about divorce, and its challenges. It wasn't hard to type and it felt good. And that is how my website began. Every few days I would share a wedding dress application and continue the story of my divorce. I basically wrote what was on my mind, and maybe a particular issue I was challenged with that day. The pictures were funny, but the writing was serious.

My site starting gaining traffic momentum a few days after it launched, and before I knew it, people were interested in helping me turn my project into something more. After about a year and half and many more dress photo shoots later, I completed the book 101 Uses For My Ex-Wife's Wedding Dress, which is being published by NAL/Penguin and is officially available on October 25th.

Between the book and my website, my ex-wife's wedding dress has been used in over 120 different ways. This dress is amazing. It is very dirty at this point but it is still in mostly in one piece (the bow came off early during a jump-roping exercise). I am fond of many of the wedding dress applications but there are a few that stand out about the rest.

These are my favorite wedding dress applications:

Christmas Tree Skirt

My ex-wife's wedding dress makes a beautiful Christmas tree skirt especially with the presents on it that I got for good behavior.

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Christmas Tree Skirt

My ex-wife's wedding dress makes a beautiful Christmas tree skirt especially with the presents on it that I got for good behavior.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-cotter/10-best-uses-for-my-ex-wi_b_1023041.html

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Netflix stock plunges on brutal 3Q, somber outlook (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? Netflix jolted its already shell-shocked shareholders with a third-quarter financial report that portrayed a company in crisis.

Netflix's blooper reel, released Monday, included an even larger customer exodus than the company had foreseen after announcing an unpopular price increase in July. What's worse, the report contained a forecast calling for more defections from the largest U.S. video subscription service.

The backlash will deprive Netflix Inc. of some the revenue that management had been counting on to finance the company's expansion plans while it pays higher fees for Internet video streaming rights. The result: Netflix expects to post losses next year when it starts selling its steaming service in Britain and Ireland. The company didn't offer further specifics.

None of the developments pleased Wall Street as Netflix lost more than a quarter of its value after the bad news came out. If that sharp decline holds in Tuesday's trading, it will mark the first time Netflix's stock price has fallen below $100 in nearly 14 months.

Netflix shares shed $31.19, or more than 26 percent, to $87.35 in Monday's extended trading.

It's the latest setback for a former stock market darling whose shares topped $300 just 4 1/2 months ago. Netflix's market value had already plunged by about 60 percent, or nearly $9 billion, before Monday's late sell-off.

Netflix lost its luster among consumers and investors by raising prices as much as 60 percent in the U.S. and bungling an attempt to spin off its DVD-by-mail rental service.

The company, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., ended September with 23.8 million U.S. subscribers, down about 800,000 from June. Netflix had predicted it would lose about 600,000 U.S. subscribers in a forecast released last month.

Management expects to gain U.S. subscribers in the current quarter, although Netflix didn't set a specific target. But a substantial number of Netflix's customers are expected to choose between renting DVDs through the mail or streaming video over high-speed Internet connections _instead of paying for both services.

The biggest hit is expected on the DVD side, a service that Netflix has been de-emphasizing to save money on mailing costs as its spends more to license movies and TV shows for its Internet video library. The company expects its DVD subscribers to fall from 13.9 million as of Sept. 30 to as low as 10.3 million at the end of December. Streaming subscriptions in the U.S. may rise by as much as 100,000 subscribers in the quarter, according to the company's projections.

The outlook looks even grimmer, considering that Netflix consistently added 1 million to 2 million subscribers per quarter leading up to the price increases.

From a financial perspective, Netflix did better than analysts expected in the July-September period.

The company earned $62.5 million, or $1.16, per share, in the third quarter. That compared to income of $38 million, or 70 cents per share, at the same time last year.

The performance topped the average earnings estimate of 96 cents per share among analysts polled by FactSet.

Netflix's revenue climbed 49 percent from the same time last year to nearly $822 million ? about $9 million above analyst estimates.

Netflix's downfall leaves CEO Reed Hastings in a precarious position.

Once regarded as one of the savviest leaders in technology and entertainment, Hastings has turned into a punching bag for frustrated Netflix customers and shareholders. Many of them are still befuddled by his recent decision making.

After Netflix's higher prices kicked in on Sept. 1, Hastings amplified the outrage by outlining a plan to toss the DVD rental business onto a separate website called Qwikster. The split from the Internet streaming service got panned so badly that Hastings reversed course in less than three weeks.

"We've hurt our hard-earned reputation and stalled our domestic growth," Hastings wrote in a letter accompanying Monday's third-quarter report. "But our long-term streaming opportunity is as compelling as ever and we are moving as quickly as we can to repair our reputation and return to growth."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111024/ap_on_hi_te/us_earns_netflix

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Netflix to expand to UK, Ireland in 'early 2012,' looks to challenge Lovefilm

Well it looks like Netflix's rumored UK launch was a lot more than just a rumor. Today, the company announced that it will indeed expand to the UK and Ireland "in early 2012," promising to offer unlimited streaming on PCs, tablets and mobile devices at a "low monthly subscription price." The company didn't say what that price would be, nor did it offer any details on available content or supported devices, though more details will be announced closer to its launch. We're also expecting to hear more from Netflix during its Q3 earnings conference call later today, when we should find out about the impact of its recent price hike and Qwikster turnaround. Whether or not its foray into the UK can loosen Lovefilm's grip on the domestic market, however, remains to be seen. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Netflix to expand to UK, Ireland in 'early 2012,' looks to challenge Lovefilm

Netflix to expand to UK, Ireland in 'early 2012,' looks to challenge Lovefilm originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 03:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/24/netflix-to-expand-to-uk-ireland-in-early-2012-looks-to-chall/

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Rachel Yamagata Finds 'Chesapeake' enlightening (omg!)

Lang Lang to honor composer Frank Liszt

15 hours ago

AP 1:48 | 1,183 views

Classical pianist Lang Lang talks about his concert, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, which celebrates the 200th birthday of composer Frank Liszt, and reveals his unusual musical inspiration. (Oct. 21)

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'Margin Call' offers timely look at financial woes

If you want to understand why the financial crisis of 2008 happened and the causes behind it, you should watch the 2010 Oscar-winning documentary, "Inside Job."

If you want to understand what the people working at the giant Wall Street monoliths might have felt and been doing as their empires came crashing down -- soon dragging the nation with them -- consider seeing "Margin Call."

This savvy and involving indie by first-time feature director J.C. Chandor follows the fortunes of a handful of employees and executives at a fictional Manhattan investment firm over the course of a single long night.

It makes clear that the guys on the top aren't always the smartest; they're simply the wiliest and the ones most willing to do whatever it takes to survive.

"Margin Call" begins with firings. Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci), a numbers whiz, is being let go in a company-wide downsizing at the firm. As he leaves, he urges an underling, a junior financial researcher named Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto, who also produced the film), to follow up on a half-completed analysis on which the older man had been working.

Story: Exclusive movie clip: 'Margin Call' turns financial crisis into thriller

Peter stays late at work that evening to do so and, after making additional calculations and projections, discovers that the firm could be on the verge of going under (shades of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers).

He notifies his superior (Paul Bettany), and soon the top-level executives are gathering for emergency meetings. Will the firm go under? Will it decide to unload its bad paper before the truth comes out?

1. Quick facts

   Starring: Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci
   Director: J.C. Chandor
   Run time: 1 hour, 47 minutes
   MPAA rating: R for language

There are both heroes and villains here, and disillusionment aplenty. At the top, the cynicism is pervasive. The company's uberboss (Jeremy Irons), a serpent in a Savile Row suit, can barely understand the intricacies of the actual problem but knows he's not going to be the fall guy.

As he and the other major players at the firm (Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore and Simon Baker) play the blame game and desperately jockey to maintain their positions, it's clear that these masters of the universe have long since sold their souls-and know it-in exchange for lucre.

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"Margin Call" purposefully and effectively creates a claustrophobic feel; much of it takes place on the harshly lit trading floor and in conference rooms and offices of the firm. This fiefdom of finance is a world onto itself. Only when its residents emerge from the building into the real world are they able sometimes to think and behave as responsible human beings with motivations and concerns other than money and corporate standing.

There are a lot of sharp performances here, a chief pleasure of the film.

Quinto ably conveys the growing unease of his young would-be master of the universe; Irons is all reptilian guile; Moore deftly shows the strains on a lone female executive expert at corporate maneuvering; and Spacey and Paul Bettany neatly show that much of Wall Street is populated by guys who are nothing more than glorified, over-compensated salesman.

In many ways, "Margin Call" tells a traditional story of innocence lost. Quinto's character, Zachary, is an ambitious young man who, upon getting an up close and intimate look at the real workings of power, comes away disillusioned.

Guess that makes him part of the 99 percent.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44975793/ns/today-entertainment/

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Ohio man who freed wild animals was deep in debt (AP)

ZANESVILLE, Ohio ? The exotic-animal owner who killed himself after turning loose dozens of lions, tigers and other beasts was deep in debt, and a fellow big-cat enthusiast said Thursday that he had taken in so many creatures he was "in over his head."

A day after sheriff's deputies with high-powered rifles killed nearly 50 animals set free by Terry Thompson, the sheriff refused to speculate why he did it. Many neighbors, meanwhile, were puzzled as to why Thompson ? a man who seemed to like animals more than people ? would lash out in a way that would doom his pets.

However, court records show that he and his wife owed at least $68,000 in unpaid taxes to the IRS and the county, and he had two federal tax liens filed against him last year. He had just gotten out of federal prison last month for possessing unregistered weapons.

Kenny Hetrick, who has six tigers and other animals on his property outside Toledo, said he used to see Thompson at exotic-animal auctions a few times a year in Ohio. Many of Thompson's tigers had been donated to him by people who bought baby animals that they no longer wanted once they started to grow, Hetrick said.

"He really had more there than what he could do," Hetrick said. "I don't know what his deal was, but he was in over his head."

On Tuesday, Thompson, 62, threw open the cages at his animal preserve and committed suicide. His body was found near the empty cages with a bite on the head that appeared to have been inflicted by a big cat shortly after Thompson shot himself, Sheriff Matt Lutz said. It appeared his body had been dragged a short distance, Lutz said.

Deputies killed 48 animals ? including 18 rare Bengal tigers, 17 lions and eight bears ? in a hunt across the Ohio countryside that lasted nearly 24 hours. Only a monkey was still missing, and it was probably killed by one of the big cats, Lutz said.

Thompson had run-ins with his neighbors and the law over escaped animals and conditions at his preserve. But whether he acted out of desperation or vengeance in setting the animals loose was unclear.

"I know how much he cared for them, and he would know that they would be killed," said Judy Hatfield, a family friend who visited the farm many times and said it wasn't unusual to have a monkey jump on her lap.

"I don't know what happened. I'm sure some horrible thing happened to him yesterday to make him do this or allow him to lose focus for a moment and do it. But I don't know what it is, and we may never know."

The sheriff said Thompson's intentions were not part of the investigation.

"To take your own life, Mr. Thompson was not in the right state of mind," Lutz said. "And to speculate on why he did this would be a belittlement, I guess, by me, to do that, and I'm not going to do that."

Thompson and his wife spent much of their time and money caring for their menagerie, neighbors said. Most of the big cats and bears were declawed and had been bottle-fed by the couple, Hatfield said. Thompson also kept them fed by picking up roadkill and collecting spoiled meat from grocery stores, said another neighbor, Fred Polk.

The sheriff said that he spoke with Thompson's wife and that she was distraught over the loss of her husband and the animals. "You have to understand these animals were like kids to her," Lutz said. "She probably spent more time with these animals than some parents do spend with their kids."

Thompson's Muskingum County Animal Farm was not open to visitors, but he would occasionally take some of the smaller animals to nearby pet shows or nursing homes. He also provided a big cat for a photo shoot with supermodel Heidi Klum and appeared on the "Rachael Ray Show" in 2008 as an animal handler for a zoologist guest.

As for how he may have covered the costs of taking care of his animals, friends said he had a pilot's license and sometimes picked up extra cash flying people on his private plane. Neighbors also said he and wife gave horse-riding lessons on their farm. The Vietnam veteran once owned a motorcycle shop, friends said.

"When he came back from Vietnam, he was a little bit different. He was kind of a loner after he came back," said Polk, whose property is about 100 yards from Thompson's house. "He liked animals more than he did people. He really did."

Since 2004, Thompson had been charged by local authorities with cruelty to animals, allowing his animals to run free and improperly disposing of dead animals.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also received two complaints about the farm in 2008 and 2009, involving such things as pens that may have been unsafe, animals that were too skinny and dead animals on the property, said Dave Sacks, a USDA spokesman. But the agency decided it had no authority to act.

Federal officials said the government had no jurisdiction over the farm under either the Animal Welfare Act or the Endangered Species Act since the animals were held as private property and were not exhibited or being used for other commercial purposes.

___

Sanner reported from Columbus. Associated Press writer Doug Whiteman in Columbus also contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/pets/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111020/ap_on_re_us/us_exotic_animals_loose

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TUF 14 controversy: Akira says he didn?t tap, but then says he did

Only one guy counts in the discussion and that's referee Herb Dean, but anybody watching last night's episode of "The Ultimate Fighter" saw Akira Corassani tap and Dustin Neace robbed of a victory.

Late in the first round, Neace caught Corassani in heel hook/knee bar and it was pretty clear that he tapped, once, if not three times, with his right hand.

Neace, thinking the fight was finished, let the pressure off and Corassani popped free. Neace was mentally shot from there and got drilled by a left hook in the second that dropped him and eventually sealed the deal for his opponent.

On the tap, that wasn't ruled a tap, Corassani says he didn't tap, but then says he did.

"I've watched it maybe 100 times and I know for myself that I never tapped. Herb Dean has refereed thousands of fights and he didn't see a clear tap. Usually it's a horror scene when somebody taps from a heel hook. People start screaming and crying," wrote Corassani. "I raised my hand and tapped one time on his thigh but it wasn't one of those dramatic taps like a metal drummer. It slipped out and I just went up on him. I would be honest and say I tapped if I did."

Corassani says from there, he slipped out. Is that what happened or did Neace think the fight was over?

"[...] The other was that when he had me in a heel hook it wasn't there. It wasn't in. If you watch the video again you see my knee pop out because he slipped. He lost his grip. I was thinking 'holy shit he's got it!' I changed my mind the moment he slipped."

Corassani said it was survive and advance.

"I was almost gassed just walking into the cage. Whatever, I'm a professional and I got the job done. I had double vision the whole fight. I actually don't remember anything from that fight. I just remember two things. One is the knockdown."

Dana White bit his tongue, but admitted that no one would've complained had the fight been stopped. Dean is highly respected so he's getting a break here. One can only imagine what would've happened had Steve Mazzagatti made the same mistake.

Photo and tip via MMAMania

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/TUF-14-controversy-Akira-says-he-didn-8217-t-t?urn=mma-wp8408

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Herman Cain Defends 9-9-9 Tax Plan (ABC News)

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