Has Lady Gaga been keeping too tight of a hold on her meat-purse strings?
The pop superstar's former assistant claims she's owed nearly $400,000 in overtime pay after attending to Gaga's every need for four weeks in 2009 and then throughout 2010 and into March of this year.
Slideshow: Fashion gone Gaga (on this page)
So, just how much overtime does it take to keep the singer happy, according to Jennifer L. O'Neill's lawsuit?
More Entertainment stories
As year closes, open your eyes to 5 standouts
While some people spent 2011 "winning," GTL-ing and marrying (and quickly divorcing), there were events in pop culture hap...
Russell Brand, Katy Perry are divorcing
It's a 'Dancing With the Stars' reunion!
Rancic on double mastectomy: 'It was hell'
Movies to look forward to in 2012
MORE: Lady Gaga was the top-earning female artist of the year!
The plaintiff claims she worked 7,168 hours of overtime during her period of employment, meaning she was basically on duty almost every hour of every day that she worked for the "Born This Way" artist. Her complaint states that she was paid $1,000 per week for her time in 2009 and then an annual salary of $75,000 for the rest.
View the lawsuit
But that's just base salary, according to the suit, and does not account for the time O'Neill spent attending to Gaga business "not only in her home, but also during her travels to her global concert tours, from city to city throughout the world, at locales including stadiums, private jets, fine hotel suites, yachts, ferries, trains and tour buses."
Story: Adele sells most albums in a year since 2004
O'Neill "was always behind the scenes, and figuratively, if not literally, always at her side," the suit states.
GALLERY: High maintenance? Judge for yourself in Lady Gaga's Fashion Spotlight
"Jennifer O'Neill's lawsuit is completely without merit," a rep for Gaga tells E! News of the suit, filed Dec. 14 in U.S. District Court in New York.
Story: Trump takes credit for discovering Gaga
The plaintiff is demanding she be paid at least $393,014, encompassing the allegedly unpaid overtime and fair compensation for working 10-hour days.
? 2011 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but when he returned from 'cross the seas, did he bring with him a new disease?
New skeletal evidence suggests Columbus and his crew not only introduced the Old World to the New World, but brought back syphilis as well, researchers say.
Syphilis is caused by Treponema pallidum bacteria, and is usually curable nowadays with antibiotics. Untreated, it can damage the heart, brain, eyes and bones; it can also be fatal.
The first known epidemic of syphilis occurred during the Renaissance in 1495. Initially its plague broke out among the army of Charles the VIII after the French king invaded Naples. It then proceeded to devastate Europe, said researcher George Armelagos, a skeletal biologist at Emory University in Atlanta.
"Syphilis has been around for 500 years," said researcher Molly Zuckerman at Mississippi State University. "People started debating where it came from shortly afterward, and they haven't stopped since. It was one of the first global diseases, and understanding where it came from and how it spread may help us combat diseases today."
Stigmatized disease
The fact that syphilis is a stigmatized sexually transmitted disease has added to the controversy over its origins. People often seem to want to blame some other country for it, said researcher Kristin Harper, an evolutionary biologist at Emory. [Top 10 Stigmatized Health Disorders]
Armelagos originally doubted the so-called Columbian theory for syphilis when he first heard about it decades ago. "I laughed at the idea that a small group of sailors brought back this disease that caused this major European epidemic," he recalled. Critics of the Columbian theory have proposed that syphilis had always bedeviled the Old World but simply had not been set apart from other rotting diseases such as leprosy until 1500 or so.
However, upon further investigation, Armelagos and his colleagues got a shock ? all of the available evidence they found supported the Columbian theory, findings they published in 1988. "It was a paradigm shift," Armelagos says. Then in 2008, genetic analysis by Armelagos and his collaborators of syphilis's family of bacteria lent further support to the theory.
Still, there have been reports of 50 skeletons from Europe dating back from before Columbus set sail that apparently showed the lesions of chronic syphilis. These seemed to be evidence that syphilis originated in the Old World and that Columbus was not to blame.
Armelagos and his colleagues took a closer look at all the data from these prior reports. They found most of the skeletal material didn't actually meet at least one of the standard diagnostic criteria for chronic syphilis, such as pitting on the skull, known as caries sicca, and pitting and swelling of the long bones.
"There's no really good evidence of a syphilis case before 1492 in Europe," Armelagos told LiveScience.
In the seafood?
The 16 reports that did meet the criteria for syphilis came from coastal regions where seafood was a large part of the diet. This seafood contains "old carbon" from deep, upwelling ocean waters. As such, they might fall prey to the so-called "marine reservoir effect" that can throw off radiocarbon dating of a skeleton by hundreds or even thousands of years. To adjust for this effect, the researchers figured out the amount of seafood these individuals ate when alive. Since our bodies constantly break down and rebuild our bones, measurements of bone-collagen protein can provide a record of diet.
"Once we adjusted for the marine signature, all of the skeletons that showed definite signs of treponemal disease appeared to be dated to after Columbus returned to Europe," Harper said, findings detailed in the current Yearbook of Physical Anthropology.
"What it really shows to me is that globalization of disease is not a modern condition," Armelagos said. "In 1492, you had the transmission of a number of diseases from Europe that decimated Native Americans, and you also had disease from Native Americans to Europe."
"The lesson we can learn for today from history is that these epidemics are the result of unrest," Armelagos added. "With syphilis, wars were going on in Europe at the time, and all the turmoil set the stage for the disease. Nowadays, a lot of diseases jump the species barrier due to environmental unrest."
"The origin of syphilis is a fascinating, compelling question," Zuckerman said. "The current evidence is pretty definitive, but we shouldn't close the book and say we're done with the subject. The great thing about science is constantly being able to understand things in a new light."
Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience?and on Facebook.
Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
Passer cette ?tape
Connexion
Connexion
Rejoignez Twitter !
WOMEN'S HOOPS: Southeastern Closes Non-Conference Road Schedule at Ole Miss dlvr.it/12ZbxY #NCAAIl y a environ 10 heuresvia dlvr.itRetweeted by 1 person
? 2011 Parkinson?s Action Network ??1025 Vermont Ave. NW, Suite 1120 ??Washington, DC ??20005 ??Phone: 800-850-4726 ??Fax: 202-638-7257 PAN is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and contributions are tax-deductible (tax i.d.: 94-3172675). PAN is able to work on behalf of the Parkinson's community thanks to the annual, year-round financial support of our affiliated organizations.
Forum rules This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.
Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!
This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Valley Reform Academy?. Anything posted here will also show up there.
Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
Leader: Trick Murrdock Next in line to be leader: Andrew Carlson Right hand man/woman: Alex Evans Member: Haylee Saxe
HisDyingBride
Member for 2 years
Return to Out of Character
Post a reply
RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.
If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.
Twitter / Mark Travis: Romo suffering an injury t ...Romo suffering an injury that will keep him out next week is almost as good as the NBA returning tomorrow. Almost.Il y a environ 3 heuresvia web
Santa left a lot of iDevices under trees this year. If you?re one of the lucky recipients, you?ll want to take a look at some of these AppLists and AppGuides. You?ll get plenty of ideas for apps you?ll want to grab to start your app addiction, I mean, collection!
Pity the rubes. Those wayward tourists who dawdle in their cars and tour buses along Beachwood Drive, enraging the locals as they haltingly seek that perfect Hollywood sign photo op ? they know not what they do. Maybe you're not from this neighborhood either, but you have savvier Hollywood plans.
They involve horse trails, hidden hotels, a magic castle, a monastery ? and that's just a start. To close out our yearlong series of Southern California Close-Ups, here is a set of 10 Hollywood micro-itineraries, suitable for visitors from across town or across the planet. To see the previous 11 installments in our multimedia tour of Los Angeles and Orange counties, go to latimes.com/socalcloseups.
1. Get thee to a nunnery
The Hollywood sign (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
More specifically, head for the Monastery of the Angels (1977 Carmen Ave., a mile from the Hollywood sign), where 17 cloistered nuns spend their days praying, eating, sleeping and making desserts. Hand $10 to the gift-shop volunteer for a hefty loaf of pumpkin bread ? a fine souvenir, if it lasts that long. Then head two blocks east to Beachwood Drive, turn north toward the famous sign and keep going even after the road dwindles to dirt. There you'll find Sunset Ranch (3400 Beachwood Drive), where horses can be rented for guided rides (ages 8 and older). For $30 you get an hour. Start about 4 p.m. on a clear winter day and you'll get a different angle of the Hollywood sign, but better still, a Technicolor panorama with setting sun, a distant sliver of the Pacific, city lights at your feet and a whiff of horse manure to keep it real. The ranch is also the starting point for the Hollyridge Trail hike, which takes you near the fenced-off Hollywood sign, or you can explore the half-dozen public staircases threaded among the hillside homes. (Plot your route at http://www.beachwoodcanyon.org/Stairs.htm or buy Charles Fleming's 2010 paperback "Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles." And in the interest of full disclosure: Fleming is an L.A. Times editor.) When you're done, you'll want a thick slice of that pumpkin bread and maybe a nap in your room at the handy Best Western Plus Hollywood Hills Hotel (6141 Franklin Ave.). The hotel is a mid-range, retro-mod affair with signed glossies of Ray Charles and Marty Feldman on the lobby wall; the movie "Swingers" was written in the lobby-adjacent 101 Coffee Shop.
2. The Bowl, the Greek, the difference
The Hollywood Bowl (Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images)
The Hollywood Bowl (2301 N. Highland Ave.) is such a prime city asset that it's a wonder nobody has proposed selling it to reduce municipal debt. It was carved into the hills in the 1920s and programmed by the L.A. Philharmonic, seats about 17,000 people and stages mostly jazz, classical works and show-tune performances, June through September. For newbies, the big surprise is that by long tradition, audiences can bring their own picnics, beer and wine. The city's other prime summer pop-concert option, the Greek Theatre, four miles east at 2700 Vermont Ave., is more intimate, with room for just 5,800 and a season that runs from late April through late October. The Greek will not let you bring in your own food or drink.
3. Hip strip
Oaks Gourmet Market (Elina Shatkin)
You're not in a hurry. So you patiently seek one of the rare parking spots off Franklin Avenue near Tamarind Avenue, then meander past the trendy row of shops and restaurants between Tamarind and Bronson avenues. Browse Counterpoint Records & Books (5911 Franklin Ave.), scan magazines at the Daily Planet (59311/2 Franklin Ave.). The casual Victor's restaurant (1917 N. Bronson Ave.) will seat you beneath old photos of the hills. The Oaks Gourmet Market (1915 N. Bronson Ave.) will sell you fancy wines and beers, make you a lunch to take away or feed you at the shop's one communal table.
4. Musso, Frank, Pantages, Frolic and Redbury
Pantages Theatre (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Wouldn't that be a great name for an L.A. law firm? Sit down to an early dinner at Musso & Frank Grill (6667 Hollywood Blvd.), the oldest restaurant in Hollywood (opened 1919), for old-world service, setting and menu, with juicy steaks and the option of Jell-O for dessert. Then nip out back for a high-end cocktail ($14) at the Writer's Room (6685 Hollywood Blvd.), which feels pre-Elvis but opened next door a couple months ago. Now you're ready for a show at the Pantages Theatre (6233 Hollywood Blvd.), whose 1930 Art Deco lobby is one of the greatest rooms in the city. On your way out after the show, admire the vintage sign announcing the Frolic Room (6245 Hollywood Blvd.). You'll sleep around the corner at the Redbury Hotel (1717 Vine St.), whose 57 rooms are about twice the size of those at the glitzy W Hotel (6250 Hollywood Blvd.) and sometimes more affordable. The Redbury has no pool, but every room has a washer, dryer and turntable. It's where the cool kids might come after having kids of their own. As for the W, it's for those who can't resist a slice o' Vegas ? a party hotel where scene-makers rage into the wee hours at Drai's nightclub next to the rooftop pool.
5. A movie? Or a live show about movies?
Hollywood & Highland complex (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
If you can handle $56 a person and up, there's no better place than Hollywood to see a sort-of play about movies ? Cirque du Soleil's "Iris," which shares the Kodak Theatre (6801 Hollywood Blvd.) with the annual Oscars ceremony. "Iris," which premiered in mid-2011, is a mix of gymnastics, dancing, live music, cinematic effects and trapeze work, held together by a slender plot. It's expected to run for years. Even if your mind starts wandering after intermission, the evening is a great showcase for performers with stupendous skills. Because the theater is enveloped by the Hollywood & Highland mall, you can check the shops and its ridiculous highflying concrete elephants (inspired by D.W. Griffith's movie sets). But wait. If you have kids younger than 8 or so ? or a tighter budget ? skip the Kodak. Cross the street and see a movie in Disney's exuberantly restored El Capitan Theatre (6838 Hollywood Blvd). This venue, built in 1926, premiered "Citizen Kane" in 1941 and kicked off Hollywood's revival with its reopening 50 years later. If you're a screen history geek or in a celebratory mood, you might like the Spanish-style Roosevelt Hotel (7000 Hollywood Blvd.), where the first Academy Awards were held in 1929, where Shirley Temple is said to have danced with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson on the lobby steps, and where there are several busy bars and restaurants, including the well-regarded burger joint Twenty-Five Degrees, which stays open all night. It can get loud on weekends, and recent renovations have unaccountably mixed Asian minimalism with the old Spanish flourishes. The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel (1755 N. Highland Ave.), comparably priced, twice the size, only 10 years old and right next to Hollywood & Highland, will suit some travelers better.
6. Concrete handprints, terrazzo stars and the boulevard
The Hollywood Walk of Fame (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
An inflammation-promoting protein triggers deactivation of a tumor-suppressor that usually blocks cancer formation via the NOTCH signaling pathway, a team of researchers led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports today in Molecular Cell.
Working in liver cancer cell lines, the team discovered a mechanism by which tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF?) stimulates tumor formation, said senior author Mien-Chie Hung, Ph.D., professor and chair of MD Anderson's Department of Molecular and Cellular Oncology. Hung also is MD Anderson's vice president for basic research.
"We've discovered cross-talk between the TNF? inflammation and NOTCH signaling pathways, which had been known to separately promote cancer development and growth," Hung said. Liver cancer is one of several cancers, including pancreatic and breast, associated with inflammation.
Their findings have potential implications for a new class of anti-cancer drugs currently in clinical trials. "Pharmaceutical companies are developing NOTCH inhibitors," Hung said. "TNF? now presents a potential resistance mechanism that activates NOTCH signaling in a non-traditional way."
Pathways also unite in colon, lung, prostate cancers
"In addition, co-activation of these two pathways was also observed in colon, lung and prostate cancers, suggesting that the cross-talk between these two pathways may be more generally relevant," Hung said.
However, TNF? also presents an opportunity to personalize therapy, Hung said. The presence of TNF? or a separate protein that it activates called IKK alpha may serve as useful biomarkers to guide treatment.
"If a patient has only NOTCH activated, then the NOTCH inhibitor alone might work. But if TNF? or IKK? are also activated, then the NOTCH inhibitor alone might not work very well and combination therapy would be warranted," Hung said.
"We'll try this in an animal model and then go to clinical trial if it holds up," Hung said.
A path from inflammation to liver cancer
In a series of experiments, Hung and colleagues connected the following molecular cascade:
TNF?, a proinflammatory cytokine, signals through a cell's membrane, activating IKK?, a protein kinase that regulates other proteins by attaching phosphate groups (one phosphate atom, four oxygen atoms) to them.
IKK? moves into the cell nucleus, where it phosphorylatesFOXA2, a transcription factor that normally fires up the tumor suppressor NUMB.
NUMB usually blocks a protein called NICD, the activated portion of NOTCH1 that slips into the cell nucleus to activate genes that convert the normal cell to a malignant one.
But when FOXA2 is phosphorylated, it does not activate NUMB. With NUMB disabled, NOTCH1 is activated. New understanding, new targets for cancer therapy
In liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) tumors, IKK?, the phosphorylated version of FOXA2 and NOTCH1 are expressed more heavily than in normal liver tissue. Expression of all three is correlated in liver cancer tumors, the team found.
The authors conclude that identifying the link between TNF? and NOTCH1 pathways provides a new starting point for understanding the molecular basis for TNF?-related tumor growth and for identifying new targets for cancer therapy.
Finding ways to inhibit FOXA2 phosphorylation or to activate NUMB would provide new options for treating and perhaps preventing cancer, Hung said.
###
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center: http://www.mdanderson.org
Thanks to University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center 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.
WASHINGTON ? Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich failed to qualify for Virginia's Super Tuesday primary ballot, the latest setback for a candidate whose standing in polls has been slipping. Gingrich's campaign said he would pursue an aggressive write-in campaign, though state law prohibits write-ins on primary ballots.
The state party said early Saturday that Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry had failed to submit the required 10,000 signatures to appear on the March 6 ballot.
Failing to get on the ballot in Virginia, where Gingrich lives, underscores the difficulty first-time national candidates have in preparing for the long haul of a presidential campaign.
And it illustrates the advantage held by Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, who has essentially been running for president for five years. Romney's team, larger than those of most of his opponents, has paid close attention to filing requirements in each state. He will appear on the Virginia ballot along with Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who also has run a national campaign before.
Ironically, Gingrich had a slight lead over Romney in a Quinnipiac poll of Virginia Republicans released earlier in the week.
The former House speaker surged in popularity in early December and tried to use that momentum to make up for a stalled campaign organization. But his standing in polls has slipped in recent days amid a barrage of negative ads in Iowa, where the Jan. 3 caucuses begin the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.
Three other candidates ? Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman ? did not submit signatures before Virginia's deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday.
Gingrich's campaign attacked Virginia's primary system on Saturday, saying that "only a failed system" would disqualify Gingrich and other candidates and vowing to run a write-in campaign.
"Voters deserve the right to vote for any top contender, especially leading candidates," Gingrich campaign director Michael Krull said in a statement. "We will work with the Republican Party of Virginia to pursue an aggressive write-in campaign to make sure that all the voters of Virginia are able to vote for the candidate of their choice."
However, according to state law, "No write-in shall be permitted on ballots in primary elections."
"Virginia code prohibits write-ins in primaries. He can't do it," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at University of Richmond.
Tobias said Gingrich may have had trouble meeting a requirement that he must submit 400 signatures from each of Virginia's 11 congressional districts.
Gingrich's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gingrich had been concerned enough to deliver his signatures personally. Rushing Wednesday from New Hampshire, which holds its primary on Jan. 10, he had supporters sign petitions before entering a rally in Arlington, Va.
Virginia GOP spokesman Garren Shipley said in a statement that volunteers spent Friday validating signatures on petitions that Romney, Paul, Perry and Gingrich had submitted. "After verification, RPV has determined that Newt Gingrich did not submit required 10k signatures and has not qualified for the VA primary," the party announced early Saturday on its Twitter feed. Shipley did not respond to telephone calls Saturday seeking comment.
Forty-six delegates will be at stake in Virginia's Super Tuesday primary. That's a small fraction of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination. But they could prove pivotal in a close race, especially for a candidate like Gingrich, who expects to do well in Southern contests.
Gingrich already missed the deadline to appear on the ballot in Missouri's Feb. 7 primary, though he insists it doesn't matter because the state awards delegates based not on the primary but on a Republican caucus held in March.
Meanwhile, Virginia's Democrats said President Barack Obama's re-election campaign gathered enough signatures to get him on the state's primary ballot though he was the only candidate who qualified.
___
Associated Press writers Will Lester and Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.
Dec. 25: Actress Hanna Schygulla is 68. Singer John Edwards of The Spinners is 67. Actor Gary Sandy ("WKRP in Cincinnati") is 66. Singer Jimmy Buffett is 65. Country singer Barbara Mandrell is 63. Actress Sissy Spacek is 62. Actress CCH Pounder is 59. Singer Annie Lennox is 57. Singer Steve Wariner is 57. Guitarist Robin Campbell of UB40 is 57. Singer Shane McGowan (The Popes, the Pogues) is 54. Guitarist Noel Hogan of The Cranberries is 40. Singer Dido is 40. Singer Mac Powell of Third Day is 39. Country singer Alecia Elliott is 29. Singer Jess and Lisa Origliasso of The Veronicas are 27.
Dec. 26: Actor Donald Moffat ("Clear and Present Danger") is 81. Actor Caroll Spinney (Big Bird on "Sesame Street") is 78. Singer Abdul "Duke" Fakir of The Four Tops is 76. Record producer Phil Spector is 72. "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh is 66. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is 65. Humorist David Sedaris is 55. Drummer James Kottak of Scorpions is 49. Country drummer Brian Westrum of Sons of the Desert is 49. Drummer Lars Ulrich of Metallica is 48. Country singer Audrey Wiggins is 44. Guitarist J (White Zombie) is 44. Guitarist Peter Klett of Candlebox is 42. Singer James Mercer of The Shins is 41. Actor Jared Leto is 40. Singer Chris Daughtry is 32.
Dec. 27: Guitarist Scotty Moore (Elvis Presley's band) is 80. Actor John Amos ("Men in Trees," ''The West Wing") is 72. Actress Charmian Carr (Liesl in "The Sound of Music") is 69. Guitarist Mick Jones of Foreigner is 67. Singer Tracy Nelson is 67. Actor Gerard Depardieu is 63. Singer Karla Bonoff is 60. Actress Tovah Feldshuh is 59. Guitarist David Knopfler of Dire Straits is 59. Drummer Jeff Bryant (Ricochet) is 49. Actor Ian Gomez ("Felicity," ''The Drew Carey Show") is 47. Actress Eva LaRue is 45. Guitarist Matt Slocum of Sixpence None the Richer is 39. Actor Wilson Cruz ("My So-Called Life") is 38. Actor Masi Oka ("Hawaii Five-O," ''Heroes") is 37. Actress Emilie de Ravin ("Lost") is 30. Singer Hayley Williams of Paramore is 23.
Dec. 28: Comic book creator Stan Lee ("Spider-Man," ''The Incredible Hulk") is 89. Actor Martin Milner ("Adam 12," ''Route 66") is 80. Actress Nichelle Nichols ("Star Trek") is 79. Actress Maggie Smith ("Harry Potter") is 77. Saxophonist Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers is 73. Singer-keyboardist Edgar Winter is 65. Actor Denzel Washington is 57. Country singer Joe Diffie is 53. Drummer Mike McGuire of Shenandoah is 53. Country singer-guitarist Marty Roe of Diamond Rio is 51. Comedian Seth Meyers ("Saturday Night Live") is 38. Actor Brendan Hines ("Lie to Me") is 35. Singer John Legend is 33. Actress Sienna Miller is 30. Actress Mackenzie Rosman ("7th Heaven") is 22. "American Idol" runner-up David Archuleta is 21.
Dec. 29: Actress Inga Swenson ("Benson") is 79. Actress Mary Tyler Moore is 75. Actor Jon Voight is 73. Country singer Ed Bruce is 72. Flutist Ray Thomas (Moody Blues) is 70. Singer Marianne Faithfull is 65. Actor Ted Danson is 64. Singer-actress Yvonne Elliman is 60. Actress Patricia Clarkson is 52. Comedian Paula Poundstone is 52. Guitarist-singer Jim Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain is 50. Singer Dexter Holland of The Offspring is 46. Actor Jason Gould is 45. Singer-guitarist Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket) is 41. Actor Kevin Weisman ("Alias") is 41. Actor Jude Law is 39. Actor Mekhi Phifer ("ER") is 37. Actor Shawn Hatosy ("The Cooler," ''The Faculty") is 36. Country singer Jessica Andrews is 28.
Dec. 30: Actor Joseph Bologna is 77. Actor Russ Tamblyn is 77. Singer Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary is 74. Director James Burrows ("Cheers," ''Taxi") is 71. Actor Fred Ward ("The Right Stuff") is 69. Singer Mike Nesmith of The Monkees is 69. Singer Davy Jones of The Monkees is 66. Singer Patti Smith is 65. Musician Jeff Lynne is 64. TV host Meredith Vieira is 58. Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph ("Moesha") is 56. Country singer Suzy Bogguss is 55. Actress Patricia Kalember ("Sisters") is 55. "Today" show anchor Matt Lauer is 54. Actress-comedian Tracey Ullman is 52. TV host Sean Hannity ("Hannity and Colmes") is 50. Singer Jay Kay of Jamiroquai is 42. Drummer Byron McMackin of Pennywise is 42. Actress Meredith Monroe ("Dawson's Creek") is 42. Actor Jason Behr ("The Grudge," ''Roswell") is 38. Singer-actor Tyrese is 33. Actress Eliza Dushku ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," ''Tru Calling") is 31. Guitarist Tim Lopez of Plain White T's is 31. Actress Kristin Kreuk ("Smallville") is 29. Drummer Jamie Follese of Hot Chelle Rae is 20.
Dec. 31: Actor Anthony Hopkins is 74. Actor Tim Considine ("My Three Sons") is 71. Actress Sarah Miles is 70. Guitarist Andy Summers of The Police is 69. Actor Ben Kingsley is 68. Actor Tim Matheson is 64. Singer Burton Cummings of The Guess Who is 64. Singer Donna Summer is 63. Bassist Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith is 60. Actor James Remar ("Dexter") is 58. Actress Bebe Neuwirth ("Cheers") is 53. Singer Paul Westerberg is 52. Actor Val Kilmer is 52. Guitarist Ric Ivanisevich of Oleander is 49. Guitarist Scott Ian of Anthrax is 48. Singer-actor Joe McIntyre of New Kids on the Block is 39. Cellist Mikko Siren of Apocalyptica is 36.
TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI (Reuters) ? The mood was almost merry outside Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib's Tripoli office.
Under a weak winter sun, teenagers in flip-flops scaled palm trees above a crowd that sang and danced to the beat of a drum.
But their message was serious.
"If you don't have dinars, give us dollars!" they sang this week. "Where's our share?!" cried a voice from the throng.
The protesters were mainly from the Libyan capital, some of them students who said they had swapped their books for guns and joined the fight against Muammar Gaddafi.
More than two months after his capture and killing, they want their reward.
"We're not asking for money, we're asking for a chance to work," said Anis Bashir, who described himself as a unit commander from the Libyan capital.
"The ministers say one thing, their deputies another, and the NTC (National Transitional Council) something else entirely. Just give us an answer!"
The common cause that united fighters during the bruising war that ended Gaddafi's 42-year dictatorship in August is giving way to factionalism and bitterness.
Weak and disorganized, the self-appointed but internationally-recognized interim leadership, known as the NTC, is under attack from all sides, but can satisfy only some.
The winners include fighting units from the western mountain town of Zintan, lounging in armchairs on the second floor of Keib's building where Zintan military commander Osama Al-Juwali now occupies the wood-paneled office of the interim defence minister.
After months of rocket bombardment by pro-Gaddafi forces, the Zintanis broke the siege and swept down into the plains backed by NATO bombing to join the push on Tripoli in August.
TRIBAL RIVALRY
They seized the international airport, and still hold it today by force of arms. In November, they captured Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam and spirited him by plane to Zintan, where he remains.
These are powerful bargaining chips, and days after Saif's capture, Al-Juwali got his job in a divvying-up of portfolios that reflected Libya's deep tribal divisions and modern-day power struggles.
His wartime comrades will reap the benefits. This North African desert state is sparsely populated, rich in oil and potentially affluent.
The militias hold the turf they took when Tripoli fell, refusing to disarm or disperse until they get what they are owed. The weak, meanwhile, scrawl their demands on sheets of paper and scale the railings outside Keib's office.
They include public sector workers who say they have not been paid for months.
The leadership would do well to heed the lessons of Tunisia and Egypt, where dictatorships were also swept aside by the Arab Spring but a dearth of trust in the unelected people who replaced them pending elections led to violence in the streets.
Unlike Tunisia and Egypt, Libya's rebellion turned to war, and has bred a sense of entitlement among those who say they spilled the most blood.
"Workers from this company also joined the fight," said 32-year-old engineer Sami Al-Bakoush. "They live in Tripoli and now they want to go back to their work, but how can they when they don't have a salary?"
He and the other 500-600 employees at the state-run Engineering Technology Company walked off the job in March, saying they suspected the factory would be used to feed Gaddafi's war apparatus, and have not been paid since June.
In the eastern city of Benghazi, seat of the rebellion that began in February, some 20,000-30,000 people filled the central Shajara square earlier this month to protest against the NTC. Hundreds daily have been demonstrating since.
They complain the NTC lacks transparency and legitimacy, and are calling for the state to be purged of alleged collaborators with the old regime.
MISTRUST
"There's a lack of trust between the politicians and the streets," said Alhabib Alamin, a 44-year-old writer and political activist in Benghazi.
"Libyans feel there's a power struggle between political factions, and interference from foreign parties. Fear is rising on the Libyan streets in general, not just in Benghazi."
On Tuesday, an envoy of NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil met the protesters and local council leaders and they agreed to suspend Benghazi's NTC representatives and elect replacements, an activist close to the negotiations told Reuters.
A small number of protesters took up the call in the trading hub of Misrata, scene of some of the bloodiest fighting of the war, and political activists said NTC representatives in Zawiyah -- site of Libya's second largest oil refinery -- might also be replaced.
Employees at Libya's state broadcaster have also demonstrated, accusing the NTC of reneging on a promise to set up an independent governing board, and doctors in Tripoli have called for the resignation of interim Health Minister Fatima Al-Hamroush after she hired her sister as chief of staff.
The interim government might win some respite with the release of an estimated $150 billion in overseas assets after the United Nations last week lifted sanctions on Libya's central bank and a subsidiary.
The cash will go a long way towards rebuilding the country and paying the public sector.
They also talk of a plan to integrate the fighters into an army and police force that are still being formed.
But there won't be space for everyone.
Prime Minister Keib emerged from his office to address the protesters this week, telling them to submit their names and the serial numbers of their weapons and they would be paid.
But inside the foyer, the Zintan pilot who picked up Saif al-Islam after his desert capture was fingering his pistol.
Abdullah al-Mehdi had swapped his green flight fatigues for a sharp dark suit and shiny leather shoes, and he was dismissive of the crowd.
"They didn't fight," he said.
(Additional reporting by Hamuda Hassan, Taha Zargoun and Ali Shuaib; Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
It's the week of Prometheus! While Fox appears to have successfully pulled the bootlegged trailer offline, Empire Magazine has landed an exclusive new photo that depicts Michael Fassbender as what they call "a paranoid android".
"Ridley Scott, director of 'Alien' and 'Blade Runner,' returns to the genre he helped define. With 'Prometheus', he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race."
In theaters June 8 (shot in 3-D nonetheless!), Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, Guy Pearce, Kate Dickie, Rafe Spall, Logan Marshall-Green, Benedict Wong, Emun Elliott, Ben Foster, Patrick Wilson all star.
Penn scientists pioneer new method for watching proteins foldPublic release date: 22-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Evan Lerner elerner@upenn.edu 215-573-6604 University of Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA A protein's function depends on both the chains of molecules it is made of and the way those chains are folded. And while figuring out the former is relatively easy, the latter represents a huge challenge with serious implications because many diseases are the result of misfolded proteins. Now, a team of chemists at the University of Pennsylvania has devised a way to watch proteins fold in "real-time," which could lead to a better understanding of protein folding and misfolding in general.
The research was conducted by Feng Gai, professor in the Department of Chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences, along with graduate students Arnaldo Serrano, also of Chemistry, and Robert Culik of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine. They collaborated with Michelle R. Bunagan of the College of New Jersey's Department of Chemistry.
Their research was published in the international edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie, where it was featured on the cover and bestowed VIP (very important paper) status.
"One of the reasons that figuring out what happens when proteins fold is difficult is that we don't have the equivalent of a high-speed camera that can capture the process, " Gai said. "If the process were slow, we could take multiple 'pictures' over time and see the mechanism at work. Unfortunately, no one has this capability; the folding occurs faster than the blink of an eye."
Gai's team uses infrared spectroscopy a technique that measures how much light different parts of a molecule absorbs to analyze proteins' structure and how this changes. In this case, the researchers looked at a model protein known as Trp-cage with an infrared laser setup.
In this experiment, Gai's team used two lasers to study structural changes as a function of time. The first laser acts as the starting gun; by heating the molecule, it causes its structure to change. The second laser acts as the camera, following the motions of the protein's constituent amino acids.
"The protein is made of different groups of atoms, and the different groups can be thought of as springs," Gai said. "Each spring has a different frequency with which it moves back and forth, which is based on the mass of the atom on either end. If the mass is bigger, the spring oscillates slower. Our 'camera' can detect the speed of that motion and we can relate it to the atoms it is made of and how that segment of the protein chain moves."
Even in a simple protein like Trp-cage, however, there are many identical bonds, and the researchers need to be able to distinguish one from another in order to see which of them are moving while the protein folds. One strategy they used to get around this problem was to employ the molecular equivalent of a tracking device.
"We use an amino acid with a carbon isotope marker," Culik said. "If it's incorporated into the protein correctly, we'll know where it is."
With a single carbon atom of the Trp-cage slightly heavier than the others, the research team can use its signature to infer the position of the other atoms as they fold. The researchers could then "tune" the frequency of their laser to match different parts of the protein, allowing them to isolate them in their analyses.
Similar isotopes could be inserted in more complicated molecules, allowing their folds to also be viewed with infrared spectroscopy.
"This technique enhances our structural resolution. It allows us to see which part is moving," Gai said. "That would allow us to see exactly how a protein is misfolding in a disease, for example."
###
The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Penn scientists pioneer new method for watching proteins foldPublic release date: 22-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Evan Lerner elerner@upenn.edu 215-573-6604 University of Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA A protein's function depends on both the chains of molecules it is made of and the way those chains are folded. And while figuring out the former is relatively easy, the latter represents a huge challenge with serious implications because many diseases are the result of misfolded proteins. Now, a team of chemists at the University of Pennsylvania has devised a way to watch proteins fold in "real-time," which could lead to a better understanding of protein folding and misfolding in general.
The research was conducted by Feng Gai, professor in the Department of Chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences, along with graduate students Arnaldo Serrano, also of Chemistry, and Robert Culik of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine. They collaborated with Michelle R. Bunagan of the College of New Jersey's Department of Chemistry.
Their research was published in the international edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie, where it was featured on the cover and bestowed VIP (very important paper) status.
"One of the reasons that figuring out what happens when proteins fold is difficult is that we don't have the equivalent of a high-speed camera that can capture the process, " Gai said. "If the process were slow, we could take multiple 'pictures' over time and see the mechanism at work. Unfortunately, no one has this capability; the folding occurs faster than the blink of an eye."
Gai's team uses infrared spectroscopy a technique that measures how much light different parts of a molecule absorbs to analyze proteins' structure and how this changes. In this case, the researchers looked at a model protein known as Trp-cage with an infrared laser setup.
In this experiment, Gai's team used two lasers to study structural changes as a function of time. The first laser acts as the starting gun; by heating the molecule, it causes its structure to change. The second laser acts as the camera, following the motions of the protein's constituent amino acids.
"The protein is made of different groups of atoms, and the different groups can be thought of as springs," Gai said. "Each spring has a different frequency with which it moves back and forth, which is based on the mass of the atom on either end. If the mass is bigger, the spring oscillates slower. Our 'camera' can detect the speed of that motion and we can relate it to the atoms it is made of and how that segment of the protein chain moves."
Even in a simple protein like Trp-cage, however, there are many identical bonds, and the researchers need to be able to distinguish one from another in order to see which of them are moving while the protein folds. One strategy they used to get around this problem was to employ the molecular equivalent of a tracking device.
"We use an amino acid with a carbon isotope marker," Culik said. "If it's incorporated into the protein correctly, we'll know where it is."
With a single carbon atom of the Trp-cage slightly heavier than the others, the research team can use its signature to infer the position of the other atoms as they fold. The researchers could then "tune" the frequency of their laser to match different parts of the protein, allowing them to isolate them in their analyses.
Similar isotopes could be inserted in more complicated molecules, allowing their folds to also be viewed with infrared spectroscopy.
"This technique enhances our structural resolution. It allows us to see which part is moving," Gai said. "That would allow us to see exactly how a protein is misfolding in a disease, for example."
###
The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Shutting down social media during times of civil unrest would be "actively unhelpful" and should not happen, a committee of MPs has said.
The Home Affairs Committee said that evidence from the riots in English cities in August showed that law enforcement had used social media to tackle the problem and that rioters had used traditional media in addition to social media to arrange their activities.
Prime Minister David Cameron said around the time of the riots that the Government would consider stopping people from using social networks in times of public disorder, but the Government later said that it is not looking to introduce new powers to do so. The Committee heard evidence from social media providers, the police and MPs before determining that a shutdown would not be merited.
"Although there is some evidence that BlackBerry Messenger and to a more limited extent Facebook were used to incite criminal behaviour, none of our witnesses recommended shutting down social media during times of widespread and serious disorder," the Committee said in its 'Policing Large Scale Disorder: Lessons from the disturbances of August 2011' report (49-page / 322KB PDF).
"They all agreed that there were positive and negative aspects to the use of such media and that, in the words of Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin, it would have been a 'net negative to turn it off.' Even David Lammy, who called for the suspension of BlackBerry Messenger while the disorder was taking place, said: 'I called for suspension in the heat of the problems. Clearly, the police were able to get order without suspension, so that is not my view now'. It would be actively unhelpful to switch off social media during times of widespread and serious disorder and we strongly recommend that this does not happen," the Committee said.
During the time of the riots debate centred on whether the Government would introduce new powers in order to shut down social media. Although the Government subsequently said it was not seeking new banning powers there are existing powers that enable it to shutdown communications in certain circumstances.
Under the Communications Act the Culture Secretary can force Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, to order communication providers to suspend their service if he has "reasonable grounds for believing that it is necessary to do so" if it is in "the interests of national security" or "to protect the public from any threat to public safety or public health". Ofcom is obliged to carry out the Culture Secretary's order by giving specific directions to service providers on what "networks, services and facilities" the order relates to and can force the provider to keep the suspension measures in place "indefinitely". Ofcom "may impose such conditions on the relevant provider" that appear to it "to be appropriate for the purpose of protecting that provider's customers", the Act states.
Consequences of a suspension order
The regulator must, "as soon as practicable" after giving a suspension order, give the service provider "an opportunity of making representations about the effect of the direction; and proposing steps for remedying the situation". Ofcom can also impose conditions that will enable service providers' customers to be compensated for loss or damage as a result of the suspension of a service, or "in respect of annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety to which they have been put in consequence of [Ofcom's] direction".
Technology law expert Danvers Baillieu of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, previously said that though the legal powers exist to ban the use of communications networks, in practice they would be hard to use.
?The Communications Act contains several sections, in particular section 132, which give ?emergency powers? to the government in times of national emergency,? Baillieu said. ?Given that this Act was passed in the wake of 9/11 the context is clear and suggests that these powers should only be used sparingly."
?It is not clear what jurisdiction Ofcom would have if it ordered Facebook to close its site, whether in the UK or globally. Equally, it is not clear that the Act gives Ofcom power to order the network providers, such as BT, to suspend their networks selectively, in order to block access to certain websites."
?We know from the attempts in the Middle East to block certain sites during the unrest in Iran and the Arab Spring, that organised protestors can easily by-pass local restrictions on sites using proxy servers and other technological techniques ? or just by moving over to alternative networks - rendering blocking totally ineffective."
?Even if companies such as Facebook and Twitter decided to co-operate voluntarily with UK authorities and suspend their services, it would be very difficult for them to know which accounts should be affected, unless they took down their entire service, which does not seem like something they would do voluntarily," he said.
Copyright ? 2011, OUT-LAW.com
OUT-LAW.COM is part of international law firm Pinsent Masons.
Mitt Romney appeared on the Late Show With David Letterman last night and read a Top 10 list of things he'd like to say to America. Some of them were pretty funny.
Making fun of his game-show-host good looks, his hair, his demeanor and his own name, the M-I-Double-Tizzle held his own, and got in a shot at rival Newt Gingrich.
Watch the former Governor of Massachusetts and White House hopeful present the "Top 10 Things Mitt Romney Would Like to Say to the American People" below ...
The presidential candidate also delivered the Top 10 List on the program in February, revealing 10 lesser-known facts about himself. Check those out here:
New York ? The Republican presidential candidates made their closing arguments in the final forum before Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses. Did anyone gain a last-minute edge?
Frontrunner Newt Gingrich was on the defensive ? again ? as the Republican candidates made their closing appeals to voters in the last debate before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses officially launch primary season (and inevitably weed out a candidate or two). Gingrich fended off competitors' claims that he's an unreliable conservative, calling them "laughable," and defended his consulting work for Fannie Mae. His chief rival, Mitt Romney, tried to stay above the fray and focus his attacks on President Obama. Who came out best in Sioux City's "make-or-break" debate? Here, a consensus list of the winners and losers:
WINNERS Mitt Romney Among the three candidates with any chance of winning Iowa, says Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway, "the one that seemed to mostly dodge the fire this time around was Mitt Romney." He took the usual hits on the Massachusetts health care law and his history at Bain Capital, but he wasn't attacked nearly as aggressively as his chief rival Gingrich. "This may end up benefiting Romney in the long run since it seemed, once again, like he was the cool, calm guy standing above the fray while all the other candidates fought amongst themselves."
SEE MORE: Is the 'frustrating' primary campaign hurting the GOP?
?
Michele Bachmann The Tea Party favorite has tumbled since winning the Iowa straw poll in August, says Shawna Shepherd at CNN, but Bachmann held her own this time. She "had the sharpest attack lines" against Gingrich, saying he has made money through "influence-peddling," even if he's not technically a lobbyist. And she drew applause by calling Ron Paul's anti-war Iran policy the most "dangerous answer for American security" she's ever heard. Bachmann came off as a "true-blue conservative," says William Kristol in The Weekly Standard. This performance might be what she needed to start climbing back into the first-tier.
Newt Gingrich The man to beat "did face criticism," says Kathie Obradovich at the Des Moines Register, "but it wasn't the open season on Gingrich that the Dec. 10 debate featured." The former House speaker "parried attacks for most of the first hour," and "gained back ground he may have lost in the second half." And the debate closed with the moderators handing Gingrich "a sugarplum," by making everyone "defend negative attacks on each other and giving Gingrich a chance to proclaim his positive campaign." Not a bad final impression with which to leave voters before a crucial vote.
SEE MORE: The GOP's Israel forum: Winners and losers
?
LOSERS Newt Gingrich The "new Newt" ? the cool, unflappable frontrunner ? was on display much of the night, says Frank James at NPR. "But there were times when old Newt, the consummate Washington insider or proposer of crazy ideas, made an appearance." In those moments Gingrich did nothing to soothe the conservatives he needs to win the primaries, or the independents he would need in the general election.?
Ron Paul Gingrich's most formidable rival in Iowa, according to polls, is Rep. Ron Paul, says Charles Babington at the Associated Press, but the libertarian-leaning Texan did himself no favors in Sioux City. He "expressed his anti-war, anti-interventionist views so vehemently that he may have turned off mainstream Republicans who otherwise might have helped him to a surprising first-place finish."
SEE MORE: Should GOP candidates skip Donald Trump's debate?
?
Fence-sitters This was the last chance for GOP primary voters to examine the candidates together, says Dan Balz and Philip Rucker at The Washington Post, but "there was no clear winner Thursday night and no obvious loser." Nobody committed a campaign-sinking gaffe, "and some of the strongest performances were turned in by candidates in the lower tier of the competition." Even Romney, who needs to gain lost ground from Gingrich, refrained from "direct encounters" and aimed his sharpest criticism at Obama. If voters were hoping for a game-changer, they were disappointed.
View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week
Other stories from this topic:
Like on Facebook?-?Follow on Twitter?-?Sign-up for Daily Newsletter
sluathletics 
iPhone_Italia 
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 22-Dec-2011
Share ] 
Copyright ? 2011, OUT-LAW.com
