Best and Worst Renditions of the National Anthem (omg!)

Don't blame Francis Scott Key

'The Star-Spangled Banner' may be America's national anthem, but the tune has been a perilous fight for many a singer taking on its octave-and-a-half (give or a take a fifth) range. Who could forget Michael Bolton, who was caught with the lyrics scribbled on his hand in a desperate attempt to remember the words? The past year has seen more than its fair share of anthem assaults; the latest mixed reviews came in for Steven Tyler, who gave the song a glam-rock gloss at the Patriots-Ravens NFL playoff game.

As a sophomore "American Idol" judge, Tyler has been on the offensive end of doling out singing advice. (It might be worth noting that two "Idol" prot?g?s -- winner Scott McCreery and runner-up Lauren Alaina -- have mangled the anthem.) Tyler's shredded rasp had Yahoo! Sports' Puck Daddy blog comparing his voice to that of an "alley cat with strep throat after a Novocain injection." Then again, YouTube "likes" have been running ahead at a roughly 2:1 ratio. "This was a Steven Tyler WIN!!!" extolled one comment.

Why is the anthem so hard to sing?

Screwing up the anthem has been as old a tradition as the anthem itself. The New York Times suggested tinkering with the tune -- actually an old English tavern ditty called "The Anacreontic Song" -- in the early 1900s. "The American people...stand mute, or they collapse in the middle of the first stanza."

One remedy, by a female musical correspondent who "modestly" wanted to remain anonymous, suggested "compressing the air at both ends, to prevent it from descending to the tonic and from ascending to the higher fifth, thereby keeping it within the compass of an octave plus a semi-tone. A characteristic trait of the original melody is based on the intervals of the common chord or triad."

Get it? Or, as the New York Times explained 35 years later, you jump 10 notes from a low B flat "with no preparation whatsoever" at that crucial "rockets' red glare" line, and then crawl up another two notes. No wonder a committee in 1942 had to come up with "The Code for the National Anthem of the United States of America."

The patriotic duty may be to sing along, but this is the stuff that can sideline political careers. A candidate always has to worry about an errant microphone. In Hillary Clinton's case back in 2008, some off-tune warbling earned her a few seconds of infamy.

Forgotten lyrics

OK, this one we might be able to blame on Francis Scott Key. If it's not the tune that brings them down, the lyrics trip them up. Christina Aguilera has been honing her "Star-Spangled" rendition since she was 7 years old, singing often for the Pittsburgh Penguins. But when her Super Bowl XLV moment came, she choked up and had to apologize for crooning about the twilight's last gleaming instead of those broad stripes and bright stars so gallantly streaming.

Aguilera later explained, "I got so caught up in the moment of the song, that I lost my place." Don't worry, Christina, there's proof you knew the words once. Here's a young Aguilera, beginning at the 0:53 mark.

Aguilera started off a 2011 anthem downslide that continued with Cyndi Lauper, whose reverent take at the U.S. Open tennis tournament hit the "O'er the ramparts we watched," then went off a cliff into what sounds like "the frag was still streaming."

Cheaters never win

Time magazine, in a merciless hit list of "Top 10 Worst National-Anthem Renditions" flayed Michael Bolton for writing the lyrics on his hands for his 2003 Fenway Park performance. Tell us, how was he supposed to carry on, when all those lyrics are so long?

Second chances

Comedian Roseanne Barr usually tops my-ears-are-bleeding-revoke-her-citizenship lists. As offensive as her 1990 San Diego Padres performance was (not to mention the crotch-grab), did anybody really expect Barr to sing?

Then again, it took some cajones for Barr to claim her shot at redemption, 20 years later, on her Lifetime show, "Roseanne's Nuts." "Singing 'The Star-Spangled Banner' the first time ruined everything. I really wanted to just turn the car around and not to do it," Barr says on the show. "But when I saw my grandkids, I did want them to know no matter if you made a bad mistake, nobody can stop you from trying to correct it."

How it's done

For every booed version, there's a crowd pleaser. The favorite from the 2011 World Series was Zooey Deschanel's rendition.

The kiddie round-up

Maybe the secret is to find someone who doesn't know about all the baggage that comes with the anthem -- and how your missteps live forever online. This was certainly the case for two young ladies: 8-year-old Elizabeth Hughes, who inspired a crowd sing-along, and 10-year-old Lily Anderson, diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. Stand up and salute.?

On February 4, Yahoo! will be streaming the Bud Light Hotel concert featuring Pitbull, 50 Cent and Lil Jon. Show time is at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET, and there will be more Super Bowl party coverage throughout the week.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_best_and_worst_renditions_of_the_national_anthem/44360851/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/best-and-worst-renditions-of-the-national-anthem.html

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Jury finds Afghan family guilty in honor killings

Mohammad Shafia, centre, Tooba Yahya, right, and Hamed Shafia, left, arrive at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A jury took 15 hours to find Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case so shocking it has riveted Canadians from coast to coast. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Mohammad Shafia, centre, Tooba Yahya, right, and Hamed Shafia, left, arrive at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A jury took 15 hours to find Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case so shocking it has riveted Canadians from coast to coast. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Mohammad Shafia, center, Tooba Yahya, right, and Hamed Shafia, left, arrive at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A jury took 15 hours to find each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case so shocking it has riveted Canadians from coast to coast. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Tooba Yahya is led away from the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, after being found guilty of first degree murder. A jury took 15 hours to find Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case so shocking it has riveted Canadians from coast to coast. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Mohammad Shafia, front,Tooba Yahya, center and Hamed Shafia arrive at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ont., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A jury took 15 hours to find Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder of Mohammad Shafia's three daughters and childless first wife. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Mohammad Shafia reacts as he his led away from the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ont., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, after being found guilty of first degree murder of his three daughters and childless first wife. A jury took 15 hours to find Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case so shocking it has riveted Canadians from coast to coast. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

KINGSTON, Ontario (AP) ? A jury on Sunday found three members of an Afghan family guilty of killing three teenage sisters and another woman in what the judge described as "cold-blooded, shameful murders" resulting from a "twisted concept of honor," ending a case that shocked and riveted Canadians.

Prosecutors said the defendants allegedly killed the three teenage sisters because they dishonored the family by defying its disciplinarian rules on dress, dating, socializing and using the Internet.

The jury took 15 hours to find Mohammad Shafia, 58; his wife Tooba Yahya, 42; and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

After the verdict was read, the three defendants again declared their innocence in the killings of sisters Zainab, 19, Sahar 17, and Geeti, 13, as well as Rona Amir Mohammad, 52, Shafia's childless first wife in a polygamous marriage.

Their bodies were found June 30, 2009, in a car submerged in a canal in Kingston, Ontario, where the family had stopped for the night on their way home to Montreal from Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The prosecution alleged it was a case of premeditated murder, staged to look like an accident after it was carried out. Prosecutors said the defendants drowned their victims elsewhere on the site, placed their bodies in the car and pushed it into the canal.

Ontario Superior Court Judge Robert Maranger said the evidence clearly supported the conviction.

"It is difficult to conceive of a more heinous, more despicable, more honorless crime," Maranger said. "The apparent reason behind these cold-blooded, shameful murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your completely twisted concept of honor ... that has absolutely no place in any civilized society."

In a statement following the verdict, Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson called honor killings a practice that is "barbaric and unacceptable in Canada."

Defense lawyers said the deaths were accidental. They said the Nissan car accidentally plunged into the canal after the eldest daughter, Zainab, took it for a joy ride with her sisters and her father's first wife. Hamed said he watched the accident, although he didn't call police from the scene.

After the jury returned the verdicts, Mohammad Shafia, speaking through a translator, said, "We are not criminal, we are not murderer, we didn't commit the murder and this is unjust."

His weeping wife, Tooba, also declared the verdict unjust, saying, "I am not a murderer, and I am a mother, a mother."

Their son, Hamed, speaking in English said, "I did not drown my sisters anywhere."

Hamed's lawyer, Patrick McCann, said he was disappointed with the verdict, but said his client will appeal and he believes the other two defendants will as well.

But prosecutor Gerard Laarhuis welcomed the verdict.

"This jury found that four strong, vivacious and freedom-loving women were murdered by their own family in the most troubling of circumstances," Laarhuis said outside court.

"This verdict sends a very clear message about our Canadian values and the core principles in a free and democratic society that all Canadians enjoy and even visitors to Canada enjoy," he said to cheers of approval from onlookers.

The family had left Afghanistan in 1992 and lived in Pakistan, Australia and Dubai before settling in Canada in 2007. Shafia, a wealthy businessman, married Yahya because his first wife could not have children.

Shafia's first wife was living with him and his second wife. The polygamous relationship, if revealed, could have resulted in their deportation.

The prosecution painted a picture of a household controlled by a domineering Shafia, with Hamed keeping his sisters in line and doling out discipline when his father was away on frequent business trips to Dubai.

The months leading up to the deaths were not happy ones in the Shafia household, according to evidence presented at trial. Zainab, the oldest daughter, was forbidden to attend school for a year because she had a young Pakistani-Canadian boyfriend, and she fled to a shelter, terrified of her father, the court was told.

The prosecution said her parents found condoms in Sahar's room as well as photos of her wearing short skirts and hugging her Christian boyfriend, a relationship she had kept secret. Geeti was becoming almost impossible to control: skipping school, failing classes, being sent home for wearing revealing clothes and stealing, while declaring to authority figures that she wanted to be placed in foster care, according to the prosecution.

Shafia's first wife wrote in a diary that her husband beat her and "made life a torture," while his second wife called her a servant.

The prosecution presented wire taps and mobile phone records from the Shafia family in court to support their honor killing allegation. The wiretaps, which capture Shafia spewing vitriol about his dead daughters, calling them treacherous and whores and invoking the devil to defecate on their graves, were a focal point of the trial.

"There can be no betrayal, no treachery, no violation more than this," Shafia said on one recording. "Even if they hoist me up onto the gallows ... nothing is more dear to me than my honor."

Defense lawyers argued that at no point in the intercepts do the accused say they drowned the victims.

Shafia's lawyer, Peter Kemp, said after the verdicts that he believes the comments his client made on the wiretaps may have weighed more heavily on the jury's minds than the physical evidence in the case.

"He wasn't convicted for what he did," Kemp said. "He was convicted for what he said."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-CN-Canada-Honor-Killing/id-68aad2c2f7dc45ea84364cfc8cbba084

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After a Globe and a SAG, Is Oscar Next for Octavia Spencer?

This week we're loving The Help star's sweep through awards season. Is an Oscar on the way for our Woman of the week?

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/octavia-spencer-ivillage-woman-week/1-h-423347?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aoctavia-spencer-ivillage-woman-week-423347

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Syrian troops storm areas near capital of Damascus (AP)

BEIRUT ? In dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, Syrian troops stormed rebellious areas near the capital Sunday, shelling neighborhoods that have fallen under the control of army dissidents and clashing with fighters. At least 62 people were killed in violence nationwide, activists and residents said.

The widescale offensive near the capital suggested the regime is worried that military defectors could close in on Damascus, which has remained relatively quiet while most other Syrian cities descended into chaos after the uprising began in March.

The rising bloodshed added urgency to Arab and Western diplomatic efforts to end the 10-month conflict.

The violence has gradually approached the capital. In the past two weeks, army dissidents have become more visible, seizing several suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus and setting up checkpoints where masked men wearing military attire and wielding assault rifles stop motorists and protect anti-regime protests.

Their presence so close to the capital is astonishing in tightly controlled Syria and suggests the Assad regime may either be losing control or setting up a trap for the fighters before going on the offensive.

Residents of Damascus reported hearing clashes in the nearby suburbs, particularly at night, shattering the city's calm.

"The current battles taking place in and around Damascus may not yet lead to the unraveling of the regime, but the illusion of normalcy that the Assads have sought hard to maintain in the capital since the beginning of the revolution has surely unraveled," said Ammar Abdulhamid, a U.S.-based Syrian dissident.

"Once illusions unravel, reality soon follows," he wrote in his blog Sunday.

Soldiers riding some 50 tanks and dozens of armored vehicles stormed a belt of suburbs and villages on the eastern outskirts of Damascus known as al-Ghouta Sunday, a predominantly Sunni Muslim agricultural area where large anti-regime protests have been held.

Some of the fighting on Sunday was less than three miles (four kilometers) from Damascus, in Ein Tarma, making it the closest yet to the capital.

"There are heavy clashes going on in all of the Damascus suburbs," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who relies on a network of activists on the ground. "Troops were able to enter some areas but are still facing stiff resistance in others."

The fighting using mortars and machine guns sent entire families fleeing, some of them on foot carrying bags of belongings, to the capital.

"The shelling and bullets have not stopped since yesterday," said a man who left his home in Ein Tarma with his family Sunday. "It's terrifying, there's no electricity or water, it's a real war," he said by telephone on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisals.

The uprising against Assad, which began with largely peaceful demonstrations, has grown increasingly militarized recently as more frustrated protesters and army defectors have taken up arms.

In a bid to stamp out resistance in the capital's outskirts, the military has responded with a withering assault on a string of suburbs, leading to a spike in violence that has killed at least 150 people since Thursday.

The United Nations says at least 5,400 people have been killed in the 10 months of violence.

The U.N. is holding talks on a new resolution on Syria and next week will discuss an Arab League peace plan aimed at ending the crisis. But the initiatives face two major obstacles: Damascus' rejection of an Arab plan that it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia's willingness to use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told reporters Sunday in Egypt that contacts were under way with China and Russia.

"I hope that their stand will be adjusted in line with the final drafting of the draft resolution," he told reporters before leaving for New York with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim.

The two will seek U.N. support for the latest Arab plan to end Syria's crisis. The plan calls for a two-month transition to a unity government, with Assad giving his vice president full powers to work with the proposed government.

Because of the escalating violence, the Arab League on Saturday halted the work of its observer mission in Syria at least until the League's council can meet. Arab foreign ministers were to meet Sunday in Cairo to discuss the Syrian crisis in light of the suspension of the observers' work and Damascus' refusal to agree to the transition timetable, the League said.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "concerned" about the League's decision to suspend its monitoring mission and called on Assad to "immediately stop the bloodshed." He spoke Sunday at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

While the international community scrambles to find a resolution to the crisis, the violence on the ground in Syria has continued unabated.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 civilians were killed Sunday in Syria, most of them in fighting in the Damascus suburbs and in the central city of Homs, a hotbed of anti-regime protests. Twenty-six soldiers and nine defectors were also killed, it said. The soldiers were killed in ambushes that targeted military vehicles near the capital and in the northern province of Idlib.

The Local Coordination Committees' activist network said 50 people were killed Sunday, including 13 who were killed in the suburbs of the capital and two defectors. That count excluded soldiers killed Sunday.

The differing counts could not be reconciled, and the reports could not be independently confirmed. Syrian authorities keep tight control on the media and have banned many foreign journalists from entering the country.

Syria's state-run news agency said "terrorists" detonated a roadside bomb by remote control near a bus carrying soldiers in the Damascus suburb of Sahnaya, killing six soldiers and wounding six others. Among those killed in the attack some 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the capital were two first lieutenants, SANA said.

In Irbil, a Kurdish city in northern Iraq, about 200 members of Syria's Kurdish parties were holding two days of meetings to explore ways of supporting efforts to topple Assad.

Abdul-Baqi Youssef, a member of the Syrian Kurdish Union Party, said representatives of 11 Kurdish parties formed the Syrian Kurdish National Council that will coordinate anti-government activities with Syria's opposition.

Kurds make up 15 percent of Syria's 23 million people and have long complained of discrimination.

___

Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo; Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq; and Luc van Kemenade in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Britain sticks to 2014 Afghan troop pullout goal (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? British Prime Minister David Cameron said Saturday he was sticking to an end-2014 deadline for withdrawing British combat troops from Afghanistan despite French proposals to speed up NATO's handover of security to Afghan forces.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday French troops would leave Afghanistan at the end of 2013 and Paris would propose to NATO that all foreign combat operations in Afghanistan should be handed over next year, a year earlier than the alliance plans.

Cameron cautioned other NATO members that the rate of withdrawal of foreign troops must depend on Afghan security forces being ready to take charge of security.

"We ... want to have a long-term relationship with Afghanistan, long after our combat troops come home, and that will happen at the end of 2014," Cameron said during talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the prime minister's country residence Chequers outside London.

Paris has 3,600 troops in Afghanistan as part of the 130,000-strong NATO-led force, while Britain has some 9,500.

"Obviously, between now and 2014 there will be opportunities for different countries to reduce their troop numbers. Britain has reduced our troop numbers over the last year," Cameron said.

He said he did not want to see troops numbers falling off a "cliff edge" in 2014 with all remaining troops leaving at once.

"But clearly, between now and 2014, the rate at which we can reduce our troops will depend on the transition to Afghan control in the different parts of Afghanistan and that should be the same for all of the members of NATO who are all contributing and helping to a strong, stable and peaceful Afghanistan, which is in all our interests," Cameron said.

His words appeared to reflect concern expressed by some commentators that there could be a "rush for the exits" by Western forces from Afghanistan as their voters grow disillusioned at the cost in lives and money of the decade-long Afghan campaign.

Karzai and Cameron signed a partnership agreement setting out how their countries will work together after British combat troops leave Afghanistan.

Karzai had been due to visit Britain last month, immediately after the Bonn conference on the future of Afghanistan, but cancelled the trip to return home after scores of people were killed in a wave of sectarian bomb attacks.

On the eve of Karzai's visit, Britain's Ministry of Defense announced that a British soldier had been shot dead while on foot patrol in Helmand province Friday, bringing to 397 the number of Britons killed in Afghanistan since October 2001.

Cameron, who visited British troops in Afghanistan last month, plans to leave some British troops behind to train their Afghan counterparts after they end combat operations.

Cameron has committed Britain to pulling out 500 soldiers this year but has not yet set out a timetable for further withdrawals.

(Additional reporting by Tim Castle; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_britain

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Jon Rubinstein Leaves HP After ?Fulfilling Commitment?

HP's had quite a 2011 and Jon Rubinstein, former Palm CEO and a top-level executive at HP after the giant acquired Palm in 2010, was along for the ride. But according to a report out of AllThingsD, Rubinstein has officially left the company.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/XHufph2YIU4/

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Jan Brewer vs. Obama: Can you respect the presidency but insult the president?

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer wagged her finger at President Obama. NHL player Tim Thomas boycotted a White House ceremony. Is the country 'losing basic courtesy and grace'?

It was the finger wag seen ?round the world. Or at least arcing across the blogosphere.

Skip to next paragraph

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer seeming to lecture President Obama on the tarmac. Mr. Obama pivoting away from Ms. Brewer, apparently before she?d had her full say on immigration.

?It looks like she?s giving him the business,? said Doug Luzader?of Fox News.

Immediately the question became: Was Brewer showing disrespect for the presidency, or merely engaging in brief spirited debate with a fellow politician over one of the hottest issues in an election year?

IN PICTURES: Race in America

?With all due respect? has been a clich? forever, usually uttered just before the rhetorical knife gets inserted.

Like the other night when Herman Cain (remember him?) was giving the ?tea party response? to Obama?s State of the Union speech.

?With all due respect, Mr. President, some of us aren?t stupid,? Mr. Cain said, finishing the sentence with a phrase that could be considered insulting.

?Politics ain?t beanbag,? humorist Finley Peter Dunne?s fictional Mr. Dooley said back during the early 20th?century, and from ridicule to assassination, presidents always have been the brunt of attack.

Abe Lincoln was portrayed in cartoons of the day as ape-like ? long before Barack Obama got the same treatment at some early tea party rallies. George W. Bush?s image frequently mirrored the all-ears ?What, me worry?? kid on the cover of Mad magazine.

But Obama ? the nation?s first African American president ? seems to have endured more of that.

Three years after his election, he?s still battered by ?birthers? challenging the legitimacy of his presidency ? most recently in Georgia, where Republican state lawmakers this week are trying to have him removed from the state?s March 6 primary election ballot based on the charge that he is not a natural born US citizen.

There may have been raucous responses to presidential addresses to Congress in the past, but it was Obama who had to hear Rep. Joe Wilson (R) of South Carolina shout ?You lie!? in 2009 as the president spoke about health care. (Wilson later apologized, sort of.)

This week, Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas refused to attend a White House event honoring the Stanley Cup champions, a nonpolitical event if ever there was one. Tea partyer Thomas cited a government that is ?threatening the rights, liberties, and property of the people.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/bpTXz52ZR_M/Jan-Brewer-vs.-Obama-Can-you-respect-the-presidency-but-insult-the-president

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GOP hopefuls say they will release health records (AP)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? The Republicans running for their party's presidential nomination say they will release their medical records if they are picked.

Ron Paul is the 76-year-old congressman from Texas. He was asked Monday if he would release his health records given he would be the nation's oldest president if he wins. Paul says he will and then challenged his younger rivals to a 25-mile bike ride.

Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum all say they also will release their records. Gingrich joked that he has watched Paul campaign and says Paul is "in great shape."

Paul chided moderator Wolf Blitzer for the question. He says there are laws against age discrimination.

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

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Kim Kardashian tweets Cher death hoax

Katy Winn / AP

Kim Kardashian tweeted the Cher death hoax to her 12 million fans.

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

If you've been on the Internet for all of one second, you're aware that some of the information on it is false. Fake. Made up. Fiction. Wrongamundo. And yet people still fall for bad information daily -- it's why snopes.com, the great debunker of urban legends,?exists.

But if you have 12 million followers, as Kim Kardashian has, perhaps you should think and verify before retweeting information that even to you seems to be false.

On Thursday, Kardashian tweeted "Did I just hear that Cher has passed away? Is this real? OMG."

She may have heard it, but it wasn't, of course, true. (The Huffington Post has tracked the rumor to the Twitter?accounts which may have kicked off the hoax.)

Kardashian didn't just tweet once, she tweeted twice about the death-that-didn't-happen, later tweeting: "I hope this is a twitter joke and not true. I don't see it on the news anywhere. I'm praying its not true." Twitter user the boss?was one of many to set her straight, tweeting "Of course not, Cher will outlive you."

She's not the first celeb to grab information that has not been researched and run with it. Back in November, Ashton Kutcher came under fire?when he expressed anger that Penn State had fired coach Joe Paterno. He had his facts right -- Paterno was fired -- but Kutcher later claimed he didn't know anything about the much-publicized child sexual abuse cases?involving former coach Jerry Sandusky,?and thought Paterno was fired for a bad football season. For Kutcher, the fallout was so bad that he moved to a less-open Twitter account, saying his tweets would now go through a management team rather than just fly out as he thought them up.

Sure, there's a lot to be said for the spontaneity of a fun tweet, but it's different when only a few dozen of your friends are seeing it. Who knows how many people -- maybe even family and friends of Cher herself -- thought the singer really was dead because Kardashian sent it out there to 12 million followers?

Kardashian was apparently corrected on her error within an hour. She then tweeted: "Can't believe people would make up a sick joke like Cher died. These people need to get a life! Thanks Twitter for clearing that up."

Other Twitter followers were quick to reprimand Kardashian. A.J. Nelson?tweeted at?the reality star: "Can't believe u would immediately start tweeting about it before finding out facts."

In summary: Cher -- not dead. Kim Kardashian -- not that careful about facts. The Internet -- still trying to trick people. The beat goes on.

?

Ever been fooled by an Internet hoax? Tell us on Facebook.?

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Source: http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10251135-kim-kardashian-tweets-cher-death-hoax

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Marine Corps Captain Exterminates Lego World Record with Extreme Prejudice [Lego]

Captain Kyle Ugone isn't just a Navy bruiser—he's a man of finesse, and a lover of small plastic bricks. So much so that he's erected a staggering 1,091 Lego sets, earning him the title of world champion. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/XcgcVIjQNc0/marine-corps-captain-exterminates-lego-world-record-with-extreme-prejudice

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Dutasteride Is Seen to Curtail Cancer Left in Prostate

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A study suggests that dutasteride may slow or stop tumor growth in men who decide against surgery.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=e773e1c77b1439b06913f6fd446d80e6

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Rihanna?s Tattoo Tribute To Tupac Shakur

Rihanna’s Tattoo Tribute To Tupac Shakur

Rihanna treated her Twitter followers to a photo of her latest ink. The singer, 23, released photos on the social networking site that showed her [...]

Rihanna’s Tattoo Tribute To Tupac Shakur Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stupidcelebrities/~3/KxsbfE3xYMg/

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Decline and fall (Balloon Juice)

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Modern Slavery? (Powerlineblog)

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Religious Groups Get Delay in Birth Control Insurance Requirement ...

The Obama administration said it would give religious organizations one additional year to comply with a new policy requiring employers to provide free contraception services in insurance plans.

Roman Catholic bishops and other church leaders had protested the new rules, which were announced in August by Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, following a recommendation of the National Sciences? Institute of Medicine.

It was designed to drive down the rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion by making birth control available under the preventive health care services that all insurers must cover without a deductible or co-payment.

Churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship were already exempt, but some religious leaders wanted the exemption broadly expanded. Instead, the administration said after considering the request that nonprofit institutions like hospitals and universities affiliated with churches could take a year longer to comply.

That means they will not have to start providing the full insurance coverage to their employees until after the election. Even so, the question is likely to linger as a campaign issue.

The delay could also put off any court test of the rule. Last week, the Supreme Court, in an unrelated case, substantially broadened an exemption under the First Amendment that protects religious institutions from employment-discrimination suits brought by employees with ministerial duties.

The administration, which had hinted that it might be open to an expansion of the insurance waiver for churches, characterized its one-year compromise as a balanced solution.

?This additional year will allow these organizations more time and flexibility to adapt to this new rule,? Ms. Sebelius said. ?We intend to require employers that do not offer coverage of contraceptive services to provide notice to employees, which will also state that contraceptive services are available at sites such as community health centers, public clinics, and hospitals with income-based support.?

?I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services,? she said.

Catholic bishops had called the rule ?an unprecedented attack on religious liberty.?

But Jon O?Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, welcomed the decision as ? a victory for common sense and scientific advice in the interests of the common good.?

Congressional Democrats had lobbied the White House against expanding the religious exemption also cheered the move.

?This is a critical step forward for women?s health that will prevent abortions and ensure that millions of American families have access to affordable birth control,? said Senator Barbara Boxer of California in a statement.

Source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/religious-groups-receive-additional-year-to-comply-with-health-law/

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Peter Berg Is Still Talking About Hancock 2

Just when some moviegoers were beginning to tire of the seemingly unrelenting wave of superhero action movies, director Peter Berg and mega-star Will Smith turned the genre on its head and released Hancock. The final film, about a burned-out and cantankerous superhero, may not have quite lived-up to its especially clever marketing pitch but the project did well enough to warrant a sequel.?However, after nearly four years, the fledgling movie franchise seemed to be slipping closer and closer to one-and-done territory.

That is until Berg started chatting with reporters in the media build-up to his big budget Battleship movie (check out our interview with Berg for more) ? due out May 2012. According to the director, Hancock 2 is definitely still in the works and it?s just a matter of getting everyone in a room?to hash-out the details.

Berg spoke with Comic Book Movie about the potential sequel:

?We?ve been talking about the sequel between us, Will Smith, [producers] Michael Mann and Akiva goldman and myself. We?re all interested, but we literally just have trouble getting into the same room at the same time. We did have a series of meetings last year and started to hash out an idea for sequel ? and Will Smith actually had the idea ? so I think it will happen, it?s just a question of timing.?

It?s understandable that most of the people involved would be interested in working on Hancock 2 ? especially given that that film ultimately grossed over $624 million worldwide. Not to mention sequels, even sequels to movies that weren?t blockbuster megahits (see Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance?and?Punisher: War Zone) are still a great platform for big business at the box office ? as is Will Smith ? who doesn?t always pass on opportunities to reprise roles (even less-iconic ones).

While superhero sequels can be somewhat of a mixed bag, Hancock (likely to its detriment) put out a metric ton of background story by the end of the first movie ? star-crossed lovers, romance triangles, and a convoluted ?origin? explanation. As a result, where the filmmakers decide to take the story, as opposed to whether or not they?ll actually do it, is the more interesting question. Especially given that the down-on-his-luck superhero angle from the original is likely to be much more interesting (and entertaining) than catching-up with Hancock as an actual crime fighter.

Berg had previously indicated that there might also be another super-powered person like Hancock out there ? which, if the filmmakers went that route, would at least give Will Smith a real threat to fight in the next installment. That said, given the origin ?twist? in the Hancock mythos ? it could also make for an especially exhausting history lesson.

Hancock 2 is little more than a gleam in?Berg?s eye at this point ? but we?ll keep you updated as we hear more.

-

Follow me on Twitter?@benkendrick?for further updates.

Source: Comic Book Movie [via The Playlist]

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924345/news/1924345/

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China stops unapproved stem cell treatments (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China has ordered a halt to all unapproved stem cell treatments and clinical trials, state media reported on Tuesday, as Beijing seeks to rein in the largely untested stem cell therapies now on offer across the country.

The Ministry of Health has also stopped accepting new applications for stem cell programs, a ban that will last until July and comes as China begins a one-year program to regulate the sector better, Xinhua cited a ministry spokesman as saying.

A growing number of hospitals and specialist clinics in large cities in China have been offering stem cell therapies in recent years for treatment of diseases ranging from cancer and Alzheimer's to spinal cord injuries, treatments that are backed by little or no scientific evidence and which are considered at best experimental.

Some of these involve large general hospitals where patients pay thousands -- or even tens of thousands -- of dollars for treatments that are advertised online.

The ministry spokesman said health providers could no longer charge money for experimental stem cell applications.

According to patients, doctors and relatives of patients who spoke to Reuters earlier, patients have come away with little or no improvement and a number have died. Receipts seen by Reuters indicate that one of these hospitals is run by the Chinese army.

Such treatment involving stem cell therapies is not confined to China.

Experts have raised the alarm about patients turning up at clinics and hospitals in Mexico, India, Turkey, Russia and elsewhere for stem cell therapies that have not undergone clinical trials and which are not recognized as standard treatment.

Last week, the United States' Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about unproven stem cell claims.

China's Ministry of Health was not immediately reachable for comment after the Xinhua report.

(Reporting by Sally Huang and Don Durfee; Editing by Ken Wills and Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120110/hl_nm/us_china_health_stem_cell

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Hawking too ill to make 70th birthday celebration

In this December 2011 photo made available by the Science Museum, Professor Stephen Hawking sits in his office at University of Cambridge, in Cambridge, England. The University of Cambridge says renowned physicist Hawking isn't well enough to attend a conference held to celebrate his 70th birthday. Hawking's remarkable career is being honored Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, as part of a daylong conference on cosmology being hosted at the university. (AP Photo/Science Museum, Sarah Lee)

In this December 2011 photo made available by the Science Museum, Professor Stephen Hawking sits in his office at University of Cambridge, in Cambridge, England. The University of Cambridge says renowned physicist Hawking isn't well enough to attend a conference held to celebrate his 70th birthday. Hawking's remarkable career is being honored Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, as part of a daylong conference on cosmology being hosted at the university. (AP Photo/Science Museum, Sarah Lee)

CAMBRIDGE, England (AP) ? Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking was too ill to attend a conference in honor of his 70th birthday Sunday, but in a recorded message played to attendees he repeated his call for humans to colonize other worlds.

University of Cambridge Vice Chancellor Leszek Borysiewicz told the conference that Hawking, who is almost completely paralyzed because of Lou Gehrig's disease, had only recently been discharged from the hospital for an unspecified ailment.

"Unfortunately his recovery has not been fast enough for him to be able to be here," Borysiewicz said.

In his recorded speech, Hawking pleaded for interplanetary travel, arguing that humans faced a grim future unless they spread out from their terrestrial home. "I don't think we will survive another thousand years without escaping beyond our fragile planet," he said.

Hawking's speech ? delivered in his distinctive, robotic monotone ? charmed the audience of scientists, students and journalists gathered at Cambridge's Lady Mitchell Hall.

Colleagues including Nobel Prize winner Saul Perlmutter and renowned astronomer Martin Rees hailed Hawking as one of the most important physicists since Albert Einstein.

Borysiewicz said Hawking had "transformed our understanding of space and time, black holes, and the origins of the universe," adding that he hoped that the scientist was watching the proceedings online.

"If you're listening Stephen, happy birthday from all of us here today," Borysiewicz said to a round of applause.

A black hole expert, Hawking is one of the leading lights in theoretical astrophysics. His achievements are all the more remarkable because of his Lou Gehrig's disease, an incurable degenerative disorder with which he was diagnosed as a 21-year-old. Most people die within a few years of the diagnosis, but Hawking has defied the odds and spent half a century carrying out pioneering research.

He owes much of his fame to his best-selling series of works popularizing the latest developments in theoretical astrophysics. "A Brief History of Time," published in 1988, has alone has sold millions of copies. A host of other books, including "A Briefer History of Time," have followed.

Nevertheless the condition ? known as motor neurone disease in the U.K ? has made life difficult. Since catching pneumonia in 1985, he has needed around-the-clock care.

Hawking relies on a computerized wheelchair to move around and a voice synthesizer to speak. His fragile health has forced him to cancel appearances in the past.

Borysiewicz didn't say when Hawking was hospitalized or specify the nature of his condition, but he did say that Hawking would be well enough to meet some of the attendees over the next week.

Despite his absence Sunday, Hawking's celebrity status was evident at Lady Mitchell Hall, where hundreds crowded into the auditorium to hear prominent researchers outline the latest developments in cosmology.

Outside the venue, three teenagers ? self-described "groupies" ? waited in hope of catching a glimpse of the eminent scientist.

Eighteen-year-old engineering student Marianna Sykopetritou said that seeing Hawking would be "a once-in-a-lifetime" experience. She said that the event had a page-and-a-half-long waiting list.

In his recorded message, Hawking said explaining the universe to the wider public was a duty, and that the issue had far more than just theoretical interest.

"If you understand how the universe operates," he said, "you control it in a way."

___

Online:

http://www.ctc.cam.ac.uk/hawking70/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-08-EU-Britain-Stephen-Hawking's-Birthday/id-1c8d9e0eabe1400890ce3f9c0efa6b63

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Slideshow: Images from the floor of the Detroit auto show

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C.K.: November 22, 1999 ? January 7, 2012 (OliverWillisLikeKryptoniteToStupid)

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Philly PD seek Flyers fans in postgame fight

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? Police in Philadelphia are seeking the public's help identifying three men involved in a fight between Flyers and Rangers fans outside a cheesesteak shop following Monday's Winter Classic hockey game.

Philadelphia police on Wednesday released an edited version of a YouTube video of the altercation, which ends with a Rangers fan lying stunned on the street.

Investigators say a man in a Flyers jersey is the main aggressor, throwing the first punch after a verbal dispute. Two other men join in the fight, which also involves a second Rangers fan.

The Flyers, through a team spokesman, had no comment.

Authorities say one victim needed stitches for his injuries. Family members tell WNBC-TV one victim is a Woodbridge Township, N.J. police officer and former Marine who served in Iraq.

___

Online:

Police video of fight: http://bit.ly/zIRzLm

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-05-Winter%20Classic-Postgame%20Fight/id-cdd350d93b8145a4babcf66719386bc2

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