Y’all Talk Funny: Regional Accents May Be Getting Stronger, Expert Says
September 13, 2011 No Comment
Forget about ditching that Southern accent. William Labov, a professor of linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, says regional accents may actually be getting stronger and more pronounced. There’s been no better time to be proud of your twang. It’s not entirely clear why accents are growing stronger, but Labov says that the sound differences
Continue reading …GOP Tea Party Debate: Audience Cheers Letting Uninsured Man Die (Video)
September 13, 2011 No Comment
At Monday night’s CNN GOP Tea Party/Republican Party presidential debate, the audience cheered when Wolf Blitzer asked if letting an uninsured man die was OK. Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The New Civil Rights Movement Discovery Date : 13/09/2011 04:33 Number of articles : 5
Continue reading …This will be online . Any chance we can get it broadcast into the congressional offices? Probably not. Starting on Wednesday, Gore will expound on climate change for 24 hours straight, with a one-hour presentation to be broadcast each hour in a different time zone. Gore’s organization will also commandeer the social media accounts of willing participants throughout the event, called “24 Hours of Reality. “The presentations will feature “200 new slides arguing the connection between more extreme weather and climate change,” an official from one of Gore’s partner organizations told Reuters . “There will be a full-on assault on climate skeptics, exploring where they get their funding from. “You might think that if slide shows and lectures from Al Gore could sway climate change deniers, they would have done so already. But there is evidence that some might need a refresher. Concern over climate change in the U.S. has dropped from 62 percent in 2007 to 48 percent today, according to opinion polls. More information about Gore’s campaign is online at the website of the Climate Reality Project .
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They are pretty boys, shills for bankers, plastic men. Such are the descriptions of Mitt Romney and Rick Perry that a group supporting the GOP nomination of Texas Rep. Ron Paul has laced through a new video ad it released today. Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Washington Wire Discovery Date : 12/09/2011 18:30 Number of articles : 4
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• Bash F5 or use our auto-refresher for the latest • Send your thoughts to barney.ronay@guardian.co.uk • Catch up on Chelsea v Bayer Leverkusen here • And get all tonight’s latest scores right here 13 mins Cleared off the line by Sagna. that was lovely play by Gotze, who found Lewandowski in lots of space near goal by the simple tactic of passing it to where Koscielny should have been standing, if Koscileny was a better defender. Lewandovski rounded Szczesny but his shot was hacked away by Sagna. Dortmund are all over Arsenal here, as you might expect in the early minutes. 11 mins Blimey. A simple long pass over the top finds Kagawa in a vast pocket of space that seems to stretch from horizon to horizon. Unfortunately he fails to control it properly and then shoots wildly over the bar. Koscielny: I’m also looking at you. I’m scratching my head and frowning while I’m looking at you. Now I’m shaking my head. Terrible marking there from the disappointing Frenchman. 8 mins Dortmund look quite fluid between midfield and attack, lots of scampering movement. It is very open, albeit this is partly because Arsenal don’t really know how to defend properly. Arteta has been neither anchoring nor passing so far. He has instead been doing nothing at all. 5 mins Gotze has a nice little attacking jink but it comes to nothing. He looks very clam and aware of what’s around him. And, oh my, Gervinho has a great chance to score, put through in front of the keeper with the ball bouncing a little high, but he makes a right pig’s ear of it and allows Weidenfeller to paw away his weak side foot shank. Although there was a fine challenge from Hummels in there. Gervinho: sorry. You’re probably a nice guy. But somehow you and I both know this just isn’t going to work out, don’t we? 3 mins Walcott is playing quite high up the pitch, presumably to use his acceleration on the break. Gary Naylor writes: “I wish Mikel Arteta well after years of fine service at Goodison. He might need those good wishes too, if he’s holding in midfield – has Arsene seen him play?” Not sure it’s really an “anchor” role. More a deep playmaker and a ball carrier. Song will do the fouling. 1 min Arsenal kick off and they’re on the attack straight away. Walcott finds a bit of space on the right and wins a corner which Big Per rumbles up for, but it’s cleared in frustratingly easy fashion. Already looks like there’s a lot of space out there. I scent goals. 7.44pm: Philippa Booth notes: “also in Group F OM are in an Arsenal-esque bit of trouble in Ligue 1 at the minute, if not worse (3 pts from 5, lying in 17th) and selection issues for DiDi mean that Djimi Traore (yes, him) is at left back while Jeremy Morel (a left back) is promoted to the wing. Could be interesting…” indeed it could. Sort of. About to kick off here. 7.43pm: The players are out. They’re standing there listening to the anthem like it’s a proper anthem. 7.37pm: Paul Merson on the Sky coverage seems strangely jumpy. How excited is it possible to get about these early group stages, even when you’re a drooling fan or Paul Merson? This at least should be a decent game. I’m genuinely curious about Arteta playing for Arsenal. I’m also Dortmund-curious and expecting big things from Gotze. I have it on good authority Germany is currently churning out an alarming excess of really good young players. Compulsory academies: it’s the key. And not the kind of academies where you still get shouted at and told to hoof it but in slightly more expensive surroundings and with isotonic drinks. 7.36pm: Paul Broadwater… Now this is the right kind of email. “Though this will sound like the most unattractive bout of arse kissing ever, Barney, thank you very much despite producing just the preamble so far tonight – some common sense and perspective from a journalist…” and so it goes on for a bit. More of that kind of thing. Note: it’s never unattractive. 7.33pm: Liam Mosley fancies crisis-club Arsenal tonight. “I know Arsenal have hardly set the world alight but the price for them to win 16/5 does seem a bit generous. Dortmund have not met the high standards of last season and are relative novices at this level. Worth the price of a pint surely? Or if you are me two pints.” It’s a loud, angry, swinging kind of ground. Never an easy place to go, the BVB Stadion. And Arsenal have a very open-looking team tonight. They’re not here for a draw. Hello and welcome to live coverage of Arsenal ‘s trip to Borussia Dortmund . It’s a tricky group F opener for crisis club Arsenal (who are not in crisis), their under-pressure manager Arsene Wenger (who is not under pressure) and his end-of-window panic signings (NB all experienced international players) as their season lurches (note: season not lurching) into another calamitous and potentially fatal non-fatal, fairly low-key… well, you get the point. This feels a bit like a game on two levels. On a sensible level it is a very interesting match-up with the youthful German champions, who are coming on a bit like an Arsenal 2.0, all thrusting, prancing ball-playing home made product and a charismatic and innovative coach. On an insensible level this has suddenly become a vital match, for reasons of perception above all. Wenger has become a story. A kind of ersatz pressure is being summoned up out of not that much. And Arsenal desperately need to get to the knockout stages, not for reasons of finance, or to break new ground, or because they’ve got any hope of winning the thing, but to arrest a perception of genuine decline. Of course, there is a bit of decline. A front line of Gervinho, Benayoun, Walcott and Van Persie is so-so, but it’s not what it once was. I like the Arteta signing though: he is a wonderful player, plus it’s a fascinating notion, that he can make the step up to a higher level at 29. Don’t see why not. There are even some things he does better than Fabregas. Also, Mertesacker is a good signing: I believe he will be a triumph. He’s slow apparently, but then so are John Terry, Jamie Carragher, Gary Cahill, Chris Samba and Carlos Puyol. So was Bobby Moore. The idea with a centre half is not to do that much running around in the first place. Anyway, enough ranting. Here are the teams: Borussia Dortmund Weidenfeller, Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer, Bender, Kehl, Gotze, Kagawa, Grosskreutz, Lewandowski. Subs Langerak, Da Silva, Zidan, Blaszczykowski, Gundogan, Felipe Santana, Perisic. Arsenal Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Song, Arteta, Walcott, Benayoun, Gervinho, van Persie. Subs Fabianski, Park, Andre Santos, Djourou, Arshavin, Frimpong, Chamakh. Champions League Champions League 2011-12 Arsenal Borussia Dortmund Barney Ronay guardian.co.uk
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Speculation that David and Judith Tebbutt from Hertfordshire were attacked by gang from al-Qaida-linked group A team of Metropolitan police officers has been dispatched to Kenya to aid the investigation into the murder of a British holidaymaker and the kidnap of his wife at the remote Kiwayu Safari Village resort, close to the Somalian border. The team arrived amid speculation that David and Judith Tebbutt from Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, were attacked by a gang from Somalia and from the al-Qaida linked insurgent group, al-Shabab. Scotland Yard said the Kenyan authorities “remain the lead investigators”. The gang raided the Tebbutts’ beach house in the early hours of Sunday morning. The couple were the hotel’s only guests, having just arrived following a week in the Masai Mara game reserve. Attackers are said to have shot the 58-year-old, a finance director at the publisher Faber & Faber, and sped from the isolated resort near Lamu island by boat having abducted his wife, 56. As the hunt for her continued, police in Kenya were reported to have arrested a man suspected of being involved. A search and rescue operation is under way but the Ministry of Defence refused to confirm reports British special forces had been drafted in. Kiwayu Safari Village said everyone at the resort was “devastated” and sent their “deepest condolences” to the Tebbutts’ son, Oliver, 25, family and friends. “Our thoughts are with them as we pray for Judith’s safe return.” The Foreign Office said a team had been deployed from the high commission in Nairobi, and called for those involved in the kidnapping to “show compassion”. The FCO warns against “all but essential travel to within 30km of Kenya’s border with Somalia”. Ben Lopez, a kidnap-for-ransom consultant and author of the book The Negotiator, said it was now a “waiting game” to see what the gang want. Lopez, who works for Compass Risk Management which specialises in the prevention and mitigation of incidents of kidnap, maritime piracy and extortion, said: “We don’t know if it’s al-Shabab or a regular kidnap-for-ransom”. He said it was likely the abduction was planned, rather than opportunistic, and it could be some days before the kidnappers got in touch. Tributes have been paid to David Tebbutt, who was a member of the Book Trade Charity, which offers support and grants to those in the book trade. “He was a lovely chap, he was on the grants committee. He was a very caring person and very concerned about the people that we were supporting financially,” said the charity’s chief executive, David Hicks. The couple had visited Africa many times, said Iain Stevenson, professor of publishing at University College London, who described his friend’s death as an “an enormous loss to the publishing world”. “He loved travel, he was always going on holidays, he got teased about his exotic holidays,” he said. “He was just basically a very kind, modest, unassuming man, very funny, with a wicked sense of humour, but he was very dedicated to his family. “The whole reason he moved to Bishop’s Stortford was so his son could go to Bishop’s Stortford College. It must be awful for them [the family], particularly their son.” Kenya Africa Somalia Caroline Davies guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Bennett Miller, ‘Moneyball’ Director, On His Non-Baseball Baseball Movie
September 13, 2011 No Comment
Bennett Miller was not much of a baseball fan; outside of a brief flash of interest at the Yankees’ revival in the mid-90s, the 44-year old New York native insists that hadn’t paid attention to the sport since he was 14-years old. As it turns out, it was that disinterest in the game that helped him rescue a languishing blockbuster film about one of the sport’s greatest visionaries. When Miller, a 2005 Oscar-nominee for 2005′s “Capote,” got wind that the “Moneyball” director’s chair was open, he wasn’t very much aware that the seat had already been well-warmed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh. But unlike Soderbergh’s aborted plan, which was to make a semi-documentary about Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s revolutionary, statistics-based approach to the sport, Miller envisioned a full-blown narrative feature. Yes, the vessel would be the major shift in baseball player evaluation that Beane helped shepherd into the mainstream, but the true story would be about his drive to succeed in a way that exorcised the demons that still haunted him from his disappointing run as a player. That Beane is a real person, and not just a character to infuse with convenient backstory and motivation, required that the filmmaker strike a careful balance of fact and fiction. “I was interested in telling the story that’s going to make a good movie, that respected the essential truth of his character, of who he is, and essentially what happened,” Miller explained, allowing that he was willing to bend certain details to create a better narrative. “He’s not the kind of guy who likes to bare his soul to somebody that’s doing something that could possibly be construed as an exposé, but we did spend a bunch of time with him and get to know him, and of course, Michael Lewis’ book illuminates the things that are portrayed in the movie, about his past, the failure to live up to expectations.” A first round draft pick of the Mets in 1979, Beane was considered a can’t miss prospect, talented in all facets of the game. His performance fell far short of his potential, though, and after a hitting just .219 in 148 games over six seasons, he moved over to management. In the film’s timeline, Beane was greatly troubled by his failure, and when his cash-poor team was poached of its big stars and he had to “adapt or die” and find a new way to make a winner, he got the chance to rewrite his past and author a new chapter in baseball. In this telling, then, portraying Beane demanded more than a business suit and a command of complicated mathematical and baseball jargon. The film’s Beane is, on the outside, a fast-talking and cocksure character, with his angst serving as a subtext that, aside from a number of brief flashback scenes, is authored in glances and facial expressions the rest of the way. Having pushed the project from the start, Pitt stretched himself to capture the duality for which the role called. “I think it’s a different kind of role for him,” Miller offered. “And I think that Brad possesses these two dimensions that we’re talking about: the charismatic public persona, and also the private, guarded, driven and perhaps more hidden traits of an ambitious character. And so, it’s not an easy thing to do, especially because the latter thing happens obliquely, it’s never explicitly stated. He never comes out in the scene and says, ‘Oh, I really want this because I failed.’ It had to come across in different frequencies, and he did the job.” Intentions of inner-turmoil and character established, where does that non-baseball baseball film get told, then? It’s a question Miller asked of himself and screenwriters Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian as they decided how best to bring to life drama that had elements of sport, business and personal reckoning running throughout. “You want to remember the story that you’re telling, and where does the movie end?” Miller asked rhetorically, explaining how they worked to break down how much to show of each disparate setting. “What do you get to? What’s the last moment of the film meant to feel like, what’s it meant to deliver? Then you can reverse-engineer from that and approach it from a perspective of, is this serving to build to this?” Their decision shouldn’t be surprising. “To the degree that baseball served the story and could be an expression of the drama, it’s in there,” Miller said, “but hopefully not a frame more.” Indeed, it would have been hard to include any fewer on-field scenes in the film. The last remnant’s of Soderbergh’s documentary show up in snippets of footage archived from the real team’s magical late-season run in 2002, and a few scenes featuring the on-screen versions of the handful of unlikely A’s players that Beane championed and whose journeys the film highlights. For the most part, the scenes come in brief anecdotal glimpses, a pitch here, a swing there, a few jubilant pile-ons to quickly establish that this miracle turnaround is underway. Still, the real Billy Beane’s day job — which, as he told the Huffington Post in Toronto, he “enjoys very much” — is baseball; the sport is the entire focus. His goal, beyond reorganizing the values of the sport’s talent evaluation system, is to win a championship. It would seem that a perfect Hollywood ending, like in so many sports movies to come before it, would see his team reach that ultimate glory. But in the hard reality of hardball, it’s something that, for all his success, has yet to happen. Which is why Miller made the film in the first place. “I think had they gone to the World Series and won the World Series, there would be no movie there for me. I think it’s, you know, a perfect world as it happened,” he said, continuing, “I was not interested in the convention or the trope of the big victory, of the bright and fast burn of the ultimate triumph of them winning the game, and the excitement and just that ephemeral catharsis. This is not a movie that concedes to those conventions or tropes.” Instead, it’s that lack of victory parade that allows Miller’s Beane to finally move forward. “It’s a drama about a guy who thinks he is trying to win baseball games, who imagines that’s the most important thing, has come to believe that in order to be okay with who he is, this thing has to happen,” the director explained. “And it ends up being a classic wisdom story, a King Arthur type of thing. You know, get the grail and all will be restored to order. And of course, it’s an impossible task but it’s the actual journey of the thing that teaches the lesson that needs to be learned. And so you never quite get your hand right around it, but you realize, it’s not about the grail.” WATCH:
Continue reading …On Sunday, America remembered the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001, but last night, Jon Stewart reminded us that there’s another important date to commemorate: September 13, 2001. After all, that was the day Jerry Falwell said that “the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and…
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Check out this video of Madonna making fun of her her now infamous hydrangea incident! At the Venice Film Festival earlier in the month, a fan approached the Material Girl, 53, with a gift of hydrangeas, which she accepted and later quietly said how much she loathed the particular flowers. PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Just Jared Discovery Date : 12/09/2011 18:50 Number of articles : 11
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Party to debate media laws at conference after demands for new newspaper code in wake of phone-hacking scandal Heavy fines large enough to change media executives’ behaviour should be imposed on errant newspapers by a new independent press regulator, the Liberal Democrats are to propose. An emergency motion, due to be published on Wednesday and discussed at party conference next week, calls for the fines to be large enough to act as a real deterrent, and change the culture of newspapers in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at News International. The fines would be imposed on newspapers that breached the terms of a new newspaper code. They would also be required be put corrections in more prominent positions than at present. In line with proposals from the information commissioner, the Lib Dems are also proposing that reporters found guilty of breaching the Data Protection Act on unlawfully obtaining material should be subject to custodial sentences. A previous attempt to make journalists liable to prison sentences was blocked following strong private lobbying by newspaper groups. Nick Clegg’s party is also proposing that competition authorites should be able to intervene on issues of media plurality not just at the point of a takeover, but also when a newspaper group is gradually increasing its shareholding in a company or its market share. The Lib Dems regard the phone-hacking scandal as one of the issues on which they can claim to be apart from the other two main parties, since they have always had strained relations with News International titles. The motion – which is certain to be passed – will give the party probably the most developed policy of the main three on future media ownership laws. The party is keeping an open mind on whether the new regulator superceding the Press Complaints Commission should be statutory, but recognises that a regulator with powers to impose large fines will probably need some form of legislitive backing. One model being examined by the Liberal Democrats is to follow the example of solicitors, where the Legal Services Board has legal powers to oversee the work of the Solicitors; Regulatory Authority, which is appointed by the Law Society and capable of fining solicitors or striking off firms. The conference motion deplores the “illegal and intrusive behaviour of those journalists and private investigators who have been complicit in phone hacking, especially where the bereaved or victims of crime have been targeted”. It also condemns “the gradual erosion of safeguards on media plurality and independence over the last 30 years, and the failure of previous governments, the police and the Press Complaints Commission to take effective action to address this”. The new regulatory body would be required to “impose appropriate sanctions against proprietors, editors and journalists guilty of breaching the code; such as financial penalties that are large enough to act as a deterrent, and the power to ensure that apologies and retractions are given due prominence”. It also calls for a strengthening of the rules on fit and proper ownership, to ensure corporations as a whole are held to account and not just senior individuals within them. Don Foster the Liberal Democrat culture spokesman said: “We can’t continue having periodic crises of confidence in the media. “This motion outlines a broad vision of what media regulation should look like. It seeks to establish Lib Dem priorities without prejudicing the Leveson inquiry’s eventual findings. “We have heard enough empty condemnations from politicians who used to be in bed with press barons. Now is the time to talk about fundamental reform.” Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrat conference 2011 Phone hacking News International Newspapers & magazines Media law Press Complaints Commission Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
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