WEST POINT, N.Y. ? A veterans group has asked the Army chief of staff to rescind the invitation of a retired U.S. general who made comments denigrating Islam to a prayer breakfast at West Point.
VoteVets.org told Gen. Raymond Odierno in a letter released Monday that allowing retired Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin to speak at the U.S. Military Academy next week would be incompatible with Army values and disrespectful to Muslim cadets.
Boykin served as an intelligence official during President George W. Bush's administration. In 2003, he made statements portraying the fight against terrorism as a Christian fight against Satan and suggesting that Muslims worship idols.
Boykin retired in 2007.
West Point didn't immediately comment Monday. Officials there had previously said cadets are purposefully exposed to different perspectives and cultures.
NEW YORK ? Beware the Liam in Winter. Liam Neeson's "The Grey" topped the weekend box office with $20 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, continuing the actor's success as an action star in the winter months.
The Alaskan survivalist thriller opened above expectations with a performance on par with previous Neeson thrillers "Taken" and "Unknown." Those films, both January-February releases, opened with $24.7 million and $21.9 million, respectively.
But the R-rated "The Grey," which has received good reviews, drove home the strong appeal of Neeson, action star. It's an unlikely turn for the 59-year-old Neeson, previously better known for his dramatic performances, like those in "Schindler's List" and "Kinsey."
"Liam is a true movie star, period," said Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films. It's the second release for the newly formed distributor, created by theater chains AMC and Regal.
"My guess is that Liam Neeson in action thrillers would work just about any time of year."
January is often a dumping ground for less-stellar releases, a tradition held up by two badly reviewed new wide releases: "Man on a Ledge," with Sam Worthington, and "One for the Money" with Katherine Heigl.
"One for the Money" fared better, earning $11.8 million, while "Man on a Ledge" opened with $8.3 million.
Those were reasonably solid returns, and, in an unusual twist, were both ultimately for Lions Gate Entertainment. Its film studio, Lionsgate, released the romantic comedy "One for the Money." The action thriller "Man on a Ledge" was released by Summit Entertainment, which Lions Gate bought for $412.5 million earlier this month.
"One for the Money" was helped by a promotion with Groupon, the Internet discount site, with which Lionsgate previously partnered for "The Lincoln Lawyer." David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate, said the large number of older, female subscribers of Groupon matched well with the audience of "One for the Money."
Groupon email blasts, he said, had a significant promotional effect.
Last week's box-office leader, "Underworld: Awakenings," Sony's Screen Gem's latest installment in its vampire series, came in second with $12.5 million, bringing its cumulative total to $45.1 million.
The unexpectedly large haul for "The Grey," strong holdovers (such as the George Lucas-produced World War II action film "Red Tails," which earned $10.4 million in its second week) and the bump for Oscar contending films following Tuesday's nominations added up to a good weekend for Hollywood. The box office was up about 15 percent on the corresponding weekend last year.
So far, every weekend this year has been an "up" weekend, after a somewhat dismal fourth quarter in 2011.
"`Mission: Impossible,' I think, really helped reinvigorate the marketplace, and that's carried over into the first part of the year," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "That's good news for Hollywood after the down-trending box office of 2011."
Oscar favorites "The Descendants," "Hugo" and "The Artist" sought to capitalize on their recent Academy Awards nominations. Each expanded to more theaters and saw an uptick in business.
Fox Searchlight's "The Descendants," which is nominated for five Oscars including best picture, added 1,441 screens in its 11th week of release. It added $6.6 million and has now made $58.8 million, making it one of Fox Searchlight's most successful releases.
Sheila DeLoach, senior vice president of distribution for Fox Searchlight, said the film's nominations and its recent Golden Globes wins (for best drama and best actor, George Clooney) "played a big role" in its weekend box office.
Paramount's "Hugo," which led Oscar nominations with 11 including best picture, saw a 143 percent jump in business over its last weekend. In its tenth week of release, it earned $2.3 million, bringing its total to $58.7 million.
The Weinstein Co.'s "The Artist," with 10 Oscar nominations including best picture, expanded a modest 235 screens to bring it to a total of 897 screens in its 10th week of release. It earned $3.3 million, with a total of $16.7 million.
The Weinstein Co. is being careful with the black-and-white, largely silent film. Thus far, it has appealed particularly to older audiences.
"It's not the same type of picture as any other picture in the marketplace," said Erik Loomis, head of distribution for the Weinstein Co. "Now that the nominations are out, we're going to look to capitalize on it as best we can. ... We're being very, very meticulous with it. We're not throwing it out there and grabbing every theater we can. At some point, we'll open the floodgates on the movie, maybe closer to the awards."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
HIALEAH, Fla. ? If Mitt Romney wins Tuesday's primary, a sliver of the GOP electorate in Florida may be one of the big reasons.
Cuban-Americans are deeply committed voters who can have an impact in competitive races, and Romney has strong support among the influential Cuban-American establishment. Older exiles also tend to vote heavily through absentee ballots, where the former Massachusetts governor all but certainly has an edge. And the candidate's emphasis on fixing the economy is resonating with backers like Jesus Ovidez, who cares more about jobs than he does U.S. policy toward Cuba.
"When we are in a better position here, then we can worry about over there. But first you have to put your own house in order," said Ovidez, who spent months in a forced labor camp before fleeing the island in the late 1960s.
Ovidez has been a co-owner of Chico Restaurant in the heavily Cuban-American community of Hialeah north of Miami for more than 30 years. He gestured around to the mostly empty chairs during one recent lunch hour and talked about how Romney's emphasis on the economy was one of the main reasons he already has cast his vote for the former businessman.
"There's no money. People don't go out to eat any more," said Ovidez. Maybe, he said, Romney can help change that. Plus, Ovidez argued, Romney is the only Republican who can beat President Barack Obama, saying: "He's an individual who is a millionaire, and with money you win elections."
During the past week, a series of polls have shown Romney pulling ahead of chief challenger Newt Gingrich in the run up to Tuesday's primary.
Overall, roughly 11.1 percent of registered Republicans in Florida are Hispanic. And of all Hispanic voters in the state, 32.1 percent are Cuban, 28.4 percent are Puerto Rican and 25 percent come mostly from Central and South America., according to the Pew Hispanic Center, which cites the Florida Division of Elections.
Ana Carbonell, a longtime political operative now working for Romney, estimates that 14 percent of the GOP primary vote comes from Miami-Dade County and, of that, 75 percent is Cuban-American.
Generally, Cuban-American voters have the highest turnout rates. In 2008, they helped John McCain win the primary over Romney, who lost heavily in Miami-Dade County, where this voting group is most concentrated.
Cuban-American voters are particularly reliable in the primary in part because so many of the older exiles vote early through absentee ballots, and Romney's campaign ? with the significant help from local Cuban-American political leaders ? has led all other campaigns in encouraging Floridians to vote before Tuesday. He or his allies have been on the TV airwaves since December targeting early voters. And in recent days, they have flooded Spanish-radio and TV with ads attacking Gingrich.
Romney's strength among the old-guard Cuban-Americans was evident last week when he received a standing ovation before he even spoke to more than 400 exile political and civic leaders. They packed the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami, where thousands fleeing Fidel Castro's revolution first received health care and were processed by immigration officers in the 1960s. Romney was flanked by prominent Cuban-American politicians, including former Sen. Mel Martinez and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the first Hispanic elected to Congress.
While Romney highlighted his business background and spoke on the economy, he also tapped into the pride many Cuban-Americans still feel toward the island nation and their angst over its leaders.
"If I'm fortunate enough to become the next president, it is my expectation that Fidel Castro will finally be taken off this planet," Romney told the crowd to wild applause. Castro, 85, has been ill since 2006, when he handed over power to his brother, Raul. "We have to be prepared, in the next president's first or second term, it is time to strike for freedom in Cuba."
Arguably the state's most popular Cuban-American politician, Sen. Marco Rubio, has withheld an endorsement during the primary but came to Romney's defense in the past week, criticizing Gingrich over an ad that labeled Romney anti-immigrant.
Gingrich, for his part, has called for a U.S.-supported "Cuban spring" uprising against the long-standing communist regime.
If elected, he told a crowd of Hispanic business and civic leaders Friday, he would bring to bear "the moral force of an American president who is serious about intending to free the people of Cuba, and willingness to intimidate those who are the oppressors and say to them, `You will be held accountable.'"
Gingrich has talked of covert action to overthrow the government of Raul Castro, though he insisted such efforts would not include violence.
And he signed a pledge to roll back the ability of Cubans to visit and send money to relatives on the island to the strict limits Bush imposed in 2004. Such promises play well in the older exile community, many of whose homes were confiscated during the Cuban revolution and are far less likely than newer Cuban immigrants have close family there.
Gingrich also aired a Spanish-language radio ad in South Florida, reminding voters of Romney's 2007 presidential campaign gaffe, in which he proudly declared in Little Havana, "Patria or muerte, venceremos!" (Fatherland or death, we shall overcome) ? not realizing the line was a slogan of Fidel Castro.
All that has helped sway retired insurance agent and Cuban exile Bernardo Diaz.
Last week, he declared his vote for Romney.
"I don't want Obama, and he's the only one who can win," Diaz said, as he puffed on a cigarette outside the famed Versailles Restaurant in Miami's Little Havana.
Days later, he had changed his mind, saying: "I'm leaning toward Gingrich. Gingrich seems more energetic, stronger on Cuba."
TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran's state media say the Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence against a web developer convicted of spreading corruption.
The semiofficial Fars news agency says blogger Saeed Malekpour was found guilty of promoting pornographic sites. It says the Supreme Court approved the death sentence handed down by a Revolutionary Court that deals with security crimes.
Malekpour was reported imprisoned in October, 2008 and confessed on Iranian TV that he developed and promoted pornographic websites.
The website gerdab.ir, affiliated with the elite Revolutionary Guard, called Malekpour the head of the biggest Persian-language network of pornographic websites.
OAKLAND, Calif. ? About 300 people were arrested Saturday during a chaotic day of Occupy protests that saw demonstrators break into City Hall and burn an American flag, as police earlier fired tear gas and bean bags to disperse hundreds of people after some threw rocks and bottles and tore down fencing outside a nearby convention center.
Dozens of police officers remained on guard outside City Hall around midnight following the most turbulent day of protests since November, when Oakland police forcefully dismantled an Occupy encampment. An exasperated Mayor Jean Quan, who faced heavy criticism for the police action last fall, called on the Occupy movement to "stop using Oakland as its playground."
"People in the community and people in the Occupy movement have to stop making excuses for this behavior," Quan said.
Protesters clashed with police throughout the day, at times throwing rocks, bottles and other objects at officers. And police responded by deploying smoke, tear gas and bean bag rounds, City Administrator Deanna Santanta said.
"These demonstrators stated their intention was to provoke officers and engage in illegal activity and that's exactly what has occurred today," Santana said.
Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said about 300 arrests were made.
The group assembled outside City Hall late Saturday morning and marched through the streets, disrupting traffic as they threatened to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center.
The protesters walked to the vacant convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., police said.
Police said they issued a dispersal order and used smoke and tear gas after some protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects.
The number of demonstrators swelled as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.
A majority of the arrests came after police took scores of protesters into custody as they marched through the city's downtown, with some entering a YMCA building, said Sgt. Jeff Thomason, a police spokesman.
Around the same time police were taking people into custody near the YMCA, about dozens of officers surrounded City Hall, while others swept the inside of the building looking for protesters who had broken into the building, then ran out of the building with American flags before officers arrived.
The protest group issued an email criticizing police, saying "Occupy Oakland's building occupation, an act of constitutionally protected civil disobedience was disrupted by a brutal police response today."
Michael Davis, 32, who is originally from Ohio and was in the Occupy movement in Cincinnati, said Saturday was a very hectic day that originally started off calm but escalated when police began using "flash bangs, tear gas, smoke grenades and bean bags."
"It was very emotional. I thought it was a very good day for the movement because it brought us back together," Davis said. "We all were here in spirit and everybody actually helped everyone today.
"What could've been handled differently is the way the Oakland police came at us," Davis said. "We were peaceful."
Quan blamed the destruction on a small "very radical, violent" splinter group within Occupy Oakland.
"This is not a situation where we had a 1,000 peaceful people and a few violent people. If you look at what's happening today in terms of destructing property, throwing at and charging the police, it's almost like they are begging for attention and hoping that the police will make an error."
Quan said that at one point, many forced their way into City Hall, where they burned flags, broke an electrical box and damaged several art structures, including a recycled art exhibit created by children.
"City Hall is closed for the weekend. There is no excuse for behavior we've witnessed this evening," City Council President Larry Reid said during a news briefing Saturday. "It's just unacceptable and makes absolutely no sense for the type of behavior we've seen on the streets in the city of Oakland today."
Oakland Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, echoed Reid's sentiments and said that what was going on amounts to "domestic terrorism."
"This is domestic terrorism and we cannot allow this to continue because something even more worse could really happen," De La Fuente said.
The demonstration comes after Occupy protesters said earlier this week that they planned to move into a vacant building and turn it into a social center and political hub. They also threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.
Oakland officials said Friday that since the Occupy Oakland encampment was first established in late October, police have arrested about 300 people.
The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately.
Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.
In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she wasn't briefed on the department's plans.
On Saturday, Quan seemed to have changed her tune on how police have been handling the demonstrations and protests.
"Our officers have been very measured," Quan said. "Were there some mistakes made? There may be. I would say the Oakland police and our allies, so far a small percentage of mistakes. "But quite frankly, a majority of protesters who were charging the police were clearly not being peaceful.
Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests.
Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said late Saturday that he was in "close contact" with the federal monitor during the protests.
Quan added, "If the demonstrators think that because we are working more closely with the monitor now that we won't do what we have to do to uphold the law and try keep people safe in this city, they're wrong."
In this photo taken Jan. 27, 2012, women shop for bikinis at a store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this photo taken Jan. 27, 2012, women shop for bikinis at a store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this photo taken Jan. 25, 2012, Elisangela Inez Soares rinses off at a shower in Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. According to Soares " not everyone is built like a model." (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this photo taken on Jan. 25, 2012, Elisangela Inez Soares rinses off at a shower in Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. According to Soares " not everyone is built like a model." (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this photo taken Jan. 27, 2012, people shop for bikinis at a store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this photo taken Jan. 24, 2012, people rinse off at the showers at Piscinao de Ramos, an artificial lake in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ? Tall and tan and young and ... chunky?
The Girl From Ipanema has put on a few pounds, and for many sunbathers on Brazil's beaches the country's iconic itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny bikini just doesn't suffice anymore.
A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines.
That's nothing short of a revolution in this most body-conscious of nations, where overweight ladies long had little choice but to hit the beach in comely ensembles of oversized T-shirts and biker shorts.
"It used to be bikinis were only in tiny sizes that only skinny girls could fit into. But not everyone is built like a model," said Elisangela Inez Soares as she sunbathed on Copacabana beach, her oiled-up curves packed into a black size 12 bikini.
"Finally, it seems like people are beginning to realize that we're not all Gisele," said the 38-year-old mother of four, referring to willowy Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen.
Clothing designer Clarice Rebelatto said her own swimwear-hunting travails prompted her to found Lehona, an exclusively plus-size beachwear line.
"Honestly, the problem went way beyond just bikinis. In Brazil, it used to be that if you were even a little chunky, finding any kind of clothes in the right size was a real problem," said Rebelatto, herself a size 10. "And I thought, 'I'm actually not even that big compared to a lot of women out there, so if I have problems, what are they doing?'"
Since its launch in 2010, the line has become a hit.
In brash leopard spots and flower prints not meant for wallflowers, the label's 14 bikini styles aren't what you'd normally associate with plus-size swimsuits. The necklines plunge dramatically. Straps are mere strings. And while the bottoms provide too much coverage to qualify for the famed "fio dental" or "dental floss" category of Brazilian string bikinis, they're significantly more audacious than the standard U.S. cut.
"We're working from the principle that bigger women are just like everyone else: They don't want to look like old ladies, wearing these very modest, very covering swimsuits in just black," said Luiz Rebelatto, Clarice's son and director of Lehona.
He said that recent publicity of the brand and several other new swimwear lines catering to plus sizes has triggered an overwhelming number of calls and e-mails from would-be customers.
"They're all excited and they say, 'I've been looking everywhere for a bikini like that. Where can I get one?'" said Rebelatto.
Lehona is currently sold exclusively at big and tall specialty stores throughout Brazil. Its bikinis retail for about 130 reais or $75 ? a relatively high price-point here, but Rebelatto said sales have grown at a galloping pace, though he did not provide any figures.
It's the same story at Acqua Rosa, a conventional swimwear label that added a plus-size line in 2008. Now, plus-size purchases account for more than 70 percent of the brand's total sales, said director Joao Macedo.
It makes sense.
For centuries, large swaths of Brazil were beset by malnutrition, and in 1970, nearly 10 percent of the population in the country's poor, rural northeast region was considered underweight, according to Brazil's national statistics institute.
But the phenomenal economic boom that has lifted tens of millions out of poverty and into the burgeoning middle class over the past decade has also changed the nation's once-svelte physique: A 2010 study by the statistics institute showed that 48 percent of adult women and 50 percent of men are now overweight. In 1985 those figures were 29 percent for women and 18 percent for men.
(Still, there's been no rash of plus-size male swimwear lines, as men here wear Speedo-style suits that don't impinge on big guts.)
Analysts attribute Brazil's rapidly widening girth to changes in nutrition, with chips, processed meats and sugary soft drinks replacing staples like rice, beans and vegetables.
And while the country's elite are widely known to be fitness freaks ? and also among the world's top consumers of cosmetic surgery ? those recently lifted out of poverty and manual labor are becoming increasingly sedentary. A 2008 study showed that barely 10 percent of Brazilian teens and adults exercise regularly.
Still, despite their growing numbers, not everyone is eager to embrace "gordinhas" ? or "little fatties," as chunky women are affectionately known here.
Many high-end bikini-makers have turned a seemingly deliberately blind eye to the burgeoning plus-size market. Rio-based upmarket brand Salinas, for example, offers five sizes, from extra-small through extra-large. But their sizing runs notoriously small and it's hard to imagine anyone over a size 6 actually managing to fit into any of the brand's minuscule two-pieces.
Luis Rebelatto of Lehona chalked it partially up to snobbery.
"Some brands, they don't want their image to be associated with chunky women," he said. "Only the thin, the rich and the chic."
While Brazilians' increasing heft is a public policy preoccupation for the government, growth in the ranks of the overweight population has given them increased visibility in Brazilian society. Extra-wide bucket seats for the obese have been installed in Sao Paulo's metro system, and on Sunday the city will host Brazil's first ever Miss Plus Size beauty contest.
"It used to be that people would stare at me," said Soares, the voluptuous sun-worshiper on Copacabana beach. "Now when I come to the beach I see women who are much bigger than me ? and lots of them are wearing bikinis ? so I'm not self conscious any more.
"God makes some people thin but he made me like this," she said, rubbing down the well-oiled bulge of her stomach and thighs. "So who am I to think that he was wrong?"
FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2011 file photo, director Martin Scorsese arrives for the Royal Film Performance of "Hugo," in London. Scorsese was nominated Monday, Jan. 9, 2012 for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for "Hugo." (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, file)
FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2011 file photo, director Martin Scorsese arrives for the Royal Film Performance of "Hugo," in London. Scorsese was nominated Monday, Jan. 9, 2012 for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for "Hugo." (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, file)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Directors Guild of America Awards regular Martin Scorsese and first-timer Michel Hazanavicius are the favorites as Hollywood's top filmmaker group prepares to hand out prizes.
Past winner Scorsese is nominated again for the guild's feature-film honor for his Paris adventure "Hugo," while Hazanavicius scored his first nomination for his silent-movie "The Artist."
Also in the running are Woody Allen for his romantic fantasy "Midnight in Paris"; David Fincher for his thriller "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"; and Alexander Payne for his family drama "The Descendants."
The Directors Guild Awards are one of Hollywood's most accurate forecasts for who will win at the industry's top honors, the Academy Awards, which will be handed out Feb. 26. Only six times in the 63-year history of the guild awards has the winner failed to take home the Oscar for best director, and more often than not, the film winning the best director Oscar is voted best picture.
Fincher had been the favorite going into the Directors Guild ceremony last year for "The Social Network," but Tom Hooper came away the winner for "The King's Speech." Hooper went on to win the Oscar, too, and his film also earned best picture.
This time, Fincher's the odd man out at the Directors Guild show. The other four guild nominees made the best-director cut at Tuesday's Oscar nominations, but Fincher missed out. The fifth Oscar slot went to Terrence Malick for the family chronicle "The Tree of Life."
French filmmaker Hazanavicius, whose credits include the spy spoofs "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" and "OSS 117: Lost in Rio," had been a virtual unknown in Hollywood until "The Artist," his black-and-white throwback to early cinema that has been a favorite at earlier film honors.
"The Artist" won the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy and is considered a best-picture front-runner for the Oscars.
But Scorsese won the Globes' singular directing prize over Hazanavicius.
Unlike Hazanavicius, the other nominees all have competed for Directors Guild honors before. Scorsese earned his ninth and 10th guild nominations this season; besides feature-film, he's nominated for documentary directing for "George Harrison: Living in the Material World."
Scorsese is a past feature-film winner for 2006's "The Departed," as well as a TV drama winner a year ago for an episode of "Boardwalk Empire." The family film "Hugo" was a departure for Scorsese, known for dark crime tales, and the movie also was his first shot in 3-D.
Allen has been nominated five times and won for 1977's "Annie Hall." He had not been nominated since his 1989 "Crimes and Misdemeanors" but has been on a critical and commercial resurgence for "Midnight in Paris," his biggest hit in decades.
This was the third nomination for Fincher. Payne was nominated one time previously, for 2004's "Sideways."
Kelsey Grammer is the host for the guild ceremony, which is not televised. Awards presenters include Oscar nominees George Clooney ("The Descendants"), Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn"), Gary Oldman ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"), Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo ("The Artist"), and Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain ("The Help").
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. ? Dick Kniss, a bassist who performed for five decades with the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary and co-wrote the John Denver hit "Sunshine on My Shoulders," has died. He was 74.
Kniss died Wednesday of pulmonary disease at a hospital near his home in the Hudson Valley town of Saugerties, his wife, Diane Kniss said.
Kniss was born in Portland, Ore., and was an original member of Denver's 1970s band. He also played with jazz greats including Herbie Hancock and Woody Herman.
Active in the 1960s civil rights movement, Kniss performed at benefits for a range of causes and played during the first celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday.
Peter, Paul and Mary's Peter Yarrow said in a statement that Kniss was "our intrepid bass player for almost as long as we performed together.
"He was a dear and beloved part of our closest family circle and his bass playing was always a great fourth voice in our music as well as, conceptually, an original and delightfully surprising new statement added to our vocal arrangements," Yarrow said.
In this photo taken Jan. 27, 2012, women shop for bikinis at a store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this photo taken Jan. 27, 2012, women shop for bikinis at a store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this photo taken Jan. 25, 2012, Elisangela Inez Soares rinses off at a shower in Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. According to Soares " not everyone is built like a model." (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this photo taken on Jan. 25, 2012, Elisangela Inez Soares rinses off at a shower in Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. According to Soares " not everyone is built like a model." (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this photo taken Jan. 27, 2012, people shop for bikinis at a store in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
In this photo taken Jan. 24, 2012, people rinse off at the showers at Piscinao de Ramos, an artificial lake in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ? Tall and tan and young and ... chunky?
The Girl From Ipanema has put on a few pounds, and for many sunbathers on Brazil's beaches the country's iconic itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny bikini just doesn't suffice anymore.
A growing number of bikini manufacturers have woken up to Brazil's thickening waistline and are reaching out to the ever-expanding ranks of heavy women with new plus-size lines.
That's nothing short of a revolution in this most body-conscious of nations, where overweight ladies long had little choice but to hit the beach in comely ensembles of oversized T-shirts and biker shorts.
"It used to be bikinis were only in tiny sizes that only skinny girls could fit into. But not everyone is built like a model," said Elisangela Inez Soares as she sunbathed on Copacabana beach, her oiled-up curves packed into a black size 12 bikini.
"Finally, it seems like people are beginning to realize that we're not all Gisele," said the 38-year-old mother of four, referring to willowy Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen.
Clothing designer Clarice Rebelatto said her own swimwear-hunting travails prompted her to found Lehona, an exclusively plus-size beachwear line.
"Honestly, the problem went way beyond just bikinis. In Brazil, it used to be that if you were even a little chunky, finding any kind of clothes in the right size was a real problem," said Rebelatto, herself a size 10. "And I thought, 'I'm actually not even that big compared to a lot of women out there, so if I have problems, what are they doing?'"
Since its launch in 2010, the line has become a hit.
In brash leopard spots and flower prints not meant for wallflowers, the label's 14 bikini styles aren't what you'd normally associate with plus-size swimsuits. The necklines plunge dramatically. Straps are mere strings. And while the bottoms provide too much coverage to qualify for the famed "fio dental" or "dental floss" category of Brazilian string bikinis, they're significantly more audacious than the standard U.S. cut.
"We're working from the principle that bigger women are just like everyone else: They don't want to look like old ladies, wearing these very modest, very covering swimsuits in just black," said Luiz Rebelatto, Clarice's son and director of Lehona.
He said that recent publicity of the brand and several other new swimwear lines catering to plus sizes has triggered an overwhelming number of calls and e-mails from would-be customers.
"They're all excited and they say, 'I've been looking everywhere for a bikini like that. Where can I get one?'" said Rebelatto.
Lehona is currently sold exclusively at big and tall specialty stores throughout Brazil. Its bikinis retail for about 130 reais or $75 ? a relatively high price-point here, but Rebelatto said sales have grown at a galloping pace, though he did not provide any figures.
It's the same story at Acqua Rosa, a conventional swimwear label that added a plus-size line in 2008. Now, plus-size purchases account for more than 70 percent of the brand's total sales, said director Joao Macedo.
It makes sense.
For centuries, large swaths of Brazil were beset by malnutrition, and in 1970, nearly 10 percent of the population in the country's poor, rural northeast region was considered underweight, according to Brazil's national statistics institute.
But the phenomenal economic boom that has lifted tens of millions out of poverty and into the burgeoning middle class over the past decade has also changed the nation's once-svelte physique: A 2010 study by the statistics institute showed that 48 percent of adult women and 50 percent of men are now overweight. In 1985 those figures were 29 percent for women and 18 percent for men.
(Still, there's been no rash of plus-size male swimwear lines, as men here wear Speedo-style suits that don't impinge on big guts.)
Analysts attribute Brazil's rapidly widening girth to changes in nutrition, with chips, processed meats and sugary soft drinks replacing staples like rice, beans and vegetables.
And while the country's elite are widely known to be fitness freaks ? and also among the world's top consumers of cosmetic surgery ? those recently lifted out of poverty and manual labor are becoming increasingly sedentary. A 2008 study showed that barely 10 percent of Brazilian teens and adults exercise regularly.
Still, despite their growing numbers, not everyone is eager to embrace "gordinhas" ? or "little fatties," as chunky women are affectionately known here.
Many high-end bikini-makers have turned a seemingly deliberately blind eye to the burgeoning plus-size market. Rio-based upmarket brand Salinas, for example, offers five sizes, from extra-small through extra-large. But their sizing runs notoriously small and it's hard to imagine anyone over a size 6 actually managing to fit into any of the brand's minuscule two-pieces.
Luis Rebelatto of Lehona chalked it partially up to snobbery.
"Some brands, they don't want their image to be associated with chunky women," he said. "Only the thin, the rich and the chic."
While Brazilians' increasing heft is a public policy preoccupation for the government, growth in the ranks of the overweight population has given them increased visibility in Brazilian society. Extra-wide bucket seats for the obese have been installed in Sao Paulo's metro system, and on Sunday the city will host Brazil's first ever Miss Plus Size beauty contest.
"It used to be that people would stare at me," said Soares, the voluptuous sun-worshiper on Copacabana beach. "Now when I come to the beach I see women who are much bigger than me ? and lots of them are wearing bikinis ? so I'm not self conscious any more.
"God makes some people thin but he made me like this," she said, rubbing down the well-oiled bulge of her stomach and thighs. "So who am I to think that he was wrong?"
Forgive me if you've seen this on Boing Boing yesterday already, but I'm always looking for interesting startups in the digital music space, and I think The Sound Supply's idea is, well, sound. Basically, The Sound Supply bundles 10 DRM-free digital music albums and lets you buy the lot online for a mere $15. According to the website, all participating bands and artists - including the wonderful Sophie Madeleine and Colour Revolt - agreed to collectively share their music this way.
Alex Da Silva, former choreographer of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," was handed a 10-year prison sentence Friday for raping a female student and assaulting another and was ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
MORE from E!: So You Think You Can Dance Choreographer Alex Da Silva: Guilty of Rape, Assault
Last September, a Los Angeles jury convicted Da Silva, 43, of the forcible rape of a 22-year-old woman in August 2002 and assaulting a 25-year-old protg with the intent to rape in March 2009 -- part of a series of shocking charges alleging the salsa expert sexually assaulted four different women during private lessons over a six-year period between 2003 and 2009.
However, the panel deadlocked on four other counts, including an additional charge from the March 2009 attack and the alleged rapes of two other women in 2004 and 2005.
Had he been found guilty of those other charges, the Latin dance instructor could've been jailed for life.
RELATED E! story: Shocker! SYTYCD Choreographer Shane Sparks Busted for Child Molestation
While meting out his punishment, L.A. Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy formally dismissed those counts today. She also chastized Da Silva in court, saying he "does not respect women" and "believes he is entitled to do whatever he wants when he wants."
The Brazilian native was originally arrested in August 2009, following a police probe into criminal complaints that alleged he lured four female victims to private one-on-one lessons he conducted in his North Hollywood home and then raped them.
Sharper imaging in glaucoma focus of $1.85 million NIH grantPublic release date: 26-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lisa Merkl lkmerkl@uh.edu 713-743-8192 University of Houston
UH vision scientist hopes techniques lead to earlier diagnoses in glaucoma
HOUSTON -- A University of Houston (UH) vision scientist has received a $1.85 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate whether his techniques are more effective than others in understanding the earliest changes of glaucoma, which could lead to developing a way to earlier diagnose this potentially blinding disease.
Jason Porter, an assistant professor of vision science and biomedical engineering, uses a state-of-the-art instrument that takes sharper, higher-resolution images of the eye than current clinical instruments. The adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope, or AOSLO, device Porter uses corrects for the eye's optical imperfections and captures high-resolution movies on a cellular-level in the living eye. Since 2009, his team has been using the AOSLO to image normal and diseased eyes, and the instrument has become a key component of their work in glaucoma, with the goal of using it to better understand retinal diseases.
"Even when wearing glasses or contact lenses, our eyes still have subtle optical imperfections, and these imperfections limit the ability of current clinical instruments to obtain high-resolution images in the eye on a cellular-level," Porter said. "The AOSLO uses a technology called adaptive optics to correct for these subtle imperfections, thereby improving the eye's optical quality and allowing our instrument to capture sharp images of single cells in living eyes. This could potentially lead to more sensitive imaging techniques that may better clarify the causes of glaucoma."
The knowledge resulting from this research, Porter explains, will enhance clinicians' understanding of the development and progression of glaucoma and may provide earlier recognition of structural damage from the disease. The study's results also may result in more sensitive, improved imaging diagnostics used by optometrists and ophthalmologists to prevent vision loss by earlier detecting structural damage to the retina and optic nerve head, as well as help eye doctors to better evaluate and track the effectiveness of glaucoma treatments.
Porter's work concentrates on examining the lamina cribrosa, which is the sponge-like, porous part of the eye in the optic nerve head that provides structural and functional support to the retinal axons as they exit the eye and move to the brain. Signals detected by the retina are transmitted through retinal axons that exit the eye through the optic nerve head and tend to travel in bundles, weaving their way through the pores in the lamina cribrosa and exiting the eye to go to the brain.
Porter says a growing body of research shows that the lamina cribrosa changes in glaucoma, a disease in which pressure may increase in the eye, leading to a bowing and stretching backward of this structure in early stages of the disease. This bowing, he says, could cause changes in the relative geometry of the lamina's pores, potentially damaging the axons coursing through them and, thus, the axons' ability to transport signals to the brain. This damage to the axons results in the loss of ganglion cells in the retina and losses in vision. Porter and his colleagues are interested to see if changes in the lamina cribrosa pores occur before changes in axon loss and vision loss in glaucoma.
"While my lab has expertise in high-resolution imaging of the eye and the lamina, we provide only one piece of the puzzle in glaucoma," Porter said. "It is very important that we relate the changes we see in our images of the lamina cribrosa with other changes that occur in the retina and in a patient's vision. Therefore, our work is really a collaborative effort between several scientists and clinicians in the College of Optometry."
Porter's group works closely with Ronald Harwerth, John and Rebecca Moores Professor and chair of the department of basic sciences, who is a leading expert in how structural changes in the optic nerve head and retina are related to vision loss in glaucoma. They also work in partnership with Laura Frishman, John and Rebecca Moores Professor and associate dean for graduate research, who is a leading expert in the functional changes in vision that occur in the retina and visual pathways in glaucoma, as well as other optic neuropathies. As the study progresses, Porter's team also will collaborate with Danica Marrelli, a clinical professor and optometric glaucoma specialist, who will help recruit normal and glaucomatous patients, as well as interpret the clinical data acquired in these eyes.
Working directly with Porter on lamina cribrosa imaging are two of his graduate students. Kevin Ivers is a Ph.D. candidate in the College of Optometry's vision science and physiological optics graduate program and has developed a great deal of the methodology for imaging the lamina cribrosa using the AOSLO. Nripun Sredar, a Ph.D. computer science student and jointly advised by Porter and professor George Zouridakis in the College of Technology, is developing methods to model the lamina cribrosa in 3-D to improve their understanding of how the lamina pores may change with disease progression.
###
Editorial Note: High-resolution photos of Jason Porter in his lab are available to media by contacting Lisa Merkl.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 38,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.
About the UH College of Optometry
Since 1952, the University of Houston College of Optometry (UHCO) has educated and trained optometrists to provide the highest quality vision care. One of only 20 optometry schools in the country, UHCO offers a variety of degree programs, including Doctor of Optometry (O.D.), a combined Doctor of Optometry/Doctor of Philosophy (O.D./Ph.D.), Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). UHCO serves an average of 36,000 patients a year through The University Eye Institute and its satellite clinics.
For more information about UH, visit the university's Newsroom at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/.
To receive UH science news via e-mail, sign up for UH-SciNews at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/mailing-lists/sciencelistserv/index.php.
For additional news alerts about UH, follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UHNewsEvents and Twitter at http://twitter.com/UH_News.
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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.
Sharper imaging in glaucoma focus of $1.85 million NIH grantPublic release date: 26-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lisa Merkl lkmerkl@uh.edu 713-743-8192 University of Houston
UH vision scientist hopes techniques lead to earlier diagnoses in glaucoma
HOUSTON -- A University of Houston (UH) vision scientist has received a $1.85 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate whether his techniques are more effective than others in understanding the earliest changes of glaucoma, which could lead to developing a way to earlier diagnose this potentially blinding disease.
Jason Porter, an assistant professor of vision science and biomedical engineering, uses a state-of-the-art instrument that takes sharper, higher-resolution images of the eye than current clinical instruments. The adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope, or AOSLO, device Porter uses corrects for the eye's optical imperfections and captures high-resolution movies on a cellular-level in the living eye. Since 2009, his team has been using the AOSLO to image normal and diseased eyes, and the instrument has become a key component of their work in glaucoma, with the goal of using it to better understand retinal diseases.
"Even when wearing glasses or contact lenses, our eyes still have subtle optical imperfections, and these imperfections limit the ability of current clinical instruments to obtain high-resolution images in the eye on a cellular-level," Porter said. "The AOSLO uses a technology called adaptive optics to correct for these subtle imperfections, thereby improving the eye's optical quality and allowing our instrument to capture sharp images of single cells in living eyes. This could potentially lead to more sensitive imaging techniques that may better clarify the causes of glaucoma."
The knowledge resulting from this research, Porter explains, will enhance clinicians' understanding of the development and progression of glaucoma and may provide earlier recognition of structural damage from the disease. The study's results also may result in more sensitive, improved imaging diagnostics used by optometrists and ophthalmologists to prevent vision loss by earlier detecting structural damage to the retina and optic nerve head, as well as help eye doctors to better evaluate and track the effectiveness of glaucoma treatments.
Porter's work concentrates on examining the lamina cribrosa, which is the sponge-like, porous part of the eye in the optic nerve head that provides structural and functional support to the retinal axons as they exit the eye and move to the brain. Signals detected by the retina are transmitted through retinal axons that exit the eye through the optic nerve head and tend to travel in bundles, weaving their way through the pores in the lamina cribrosa and exiting the eye to go to the brain.
Porter says a growing body of research shows that the lamina cribrosa changes in glaucoma, a disease in which pressure may increase in the eye, leading to a bowing and stretching backward of this structure in early stages of the disease. This bowing, he says, could cause changes in the relative geometry of the lamina's pores, potentially damaging the axons coursing through them and, thus, the axons' ability to transport signals to the brain. This damage to the axons results in the loss of ganglion cells in the retina and losses in vision. Porter and his colleagues are interested to see if changes in the lamina cribrosa pores occur before changes in axon loss and vision loss in glaucoma.
"While my lab has expertise in high-resolution imaging of the eye and the lamina, we provide only one piece of the puzzle in glaucoma," Porter said. "It is very important that we relate the changes we see in our images of the lamina cribrosa with other changes that occur in the retina and in a patient's vision. Therefore, our work is really a collaborative effort between several scientists and clinicians in the College of Optometry."
Porter's group works closely with Ronald Harwerth, John and Rebecca Moores Professor and chair of the department of basic sciences, who is a leading expert in how structural changes in the optic nerve head and retina are related to vision loss in glaucoma. They also work in partnership with Laura Frishman, John and Rebecca Moores Professor and associate dean for graduate research, who is a leading expert in the functional changes in vision that occur in the retina and visual pathways in glaucoma, as well as other optic neuropathies. As the study progresses, Porter's team also will collaborate with Danica Marrelli, a clinical professor and optometric glaucoma specialist, who will help recruit normal and glaucomatous patients, as well as interpret the clinical data acquired in these eyes.
Working directly with Porter on lamina cribrosa imaging are two of his graduate students. Kevin Ivers is a Ph.D. candidate in the College of Optometry's vision science and physiological optics graduate program and has developed a great deal of the methodology for imaging the lamina cribrosa using the AOSLO. Nripun Sredar, a Ph.D. computer science student and jointly advised by Porter and professor George Zouridakis in the College of Technology, is developing methods to model the lamina cribrosa in 3-D to improve their understanding of how the lamina pores may change with disease progression.
###
Editorial Note: High-resolution photos of Jason Porter in his lab are available to media by contacting Lisa Merkl.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 38,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.
About the UH College of Optometry
Since 1952, the University of Houston College of Optometry (UHCO) has educated and trained optometrists to provide the highest quality vision care. One of only 20 optometry schools in the country, UHCO offers a variety of degree programs, including Doctor of Optometry (O.D.), a combined Doctor of Optometry/Doctor of Philosophy (O.D./Ph.D.), Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). UHCO serves an average of 36,000 patients a year through The University Eye Institute and its satellite clinics.
For more information about UH, visit the university's Newsroom at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/.
To receive UH science news via e-mail, sign up for UH-SciNews at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/mailing-lists/sciencelistserv/index.php.
For additional news alerts about UH, follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UHNewsEvents and Twitter at http://twitter.com/UH_News.
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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.
RIO DE JANEIRO ? A multistory building collapsed in Rio's center Wednesday evening, leaving rubble strewn over a wide area but confusion about the number of possible victims and the cause.
Thick layers of debris covered cars and motorcycles. A neighboring building sustained serious damage, and television showed at least two people on its roof apparently awaiting help from firefighters.
There were differing reports about possible deaths.
A spokeswoman from the city's Civil Defense department said two people were confirmed dead, but officials from City Hall and the municipal health department later disputed that, saying no deaths had been confirmed by early Thursday. It was not clear how many people were injured.
Searchers were still picking through the rubble hours after the collapse.
There was a strong smell of natural gas in the area, but Rio's mayor said there were doubts that a gas leak caused the accident.
"There apparently was not an explosion. The collapse occurred because of structural damages," he said. "I don't think there was a gas leak."
Witnesses had reported hearing a loud explosion-like sound just before the building fell, and a strong odor of gas hung over the scene.
It was not immediately clear how big the damaged buildings were. The one nearly destroyed was at least five stories high. It sat near Rio's historic Teatro Municipal and the Fine Arts Museum, both of which appeared undamaged.
The Civil Defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she believed the collapsed building was for commercial use and not residential. The explosion happened after 8 p.m. and there were hopes that would minimize the number of people who might have been in the area.
Police cordoned off the area and electricity to the street was cut off for safety reasons.
Ready to make heads turn with its monochromatic stylings, LG and Prada's latest baby is presumably putting on a night-mask, ready to be unleashed on well-heeled types in the UK on Friday. Alongside the aforementioned custom Android skin (atop a Gingerbread OS), the Prada Phone by LG 3.0 packs a respectable dual-core processor, 8 megapixel camera and LG's NOVA display -- stretching up to 4.3 inches on this fashionista phone. It's set to launch on both Vodafone and O2, free on a £31 two-year contracts, while it'll also be making an appearance on T-Mobile next month. We're planning on getting these unmanicured paws on one for review very soon, but Prada fans will be able to queue up get their assistants to queue up for the handset at Phones 4u stores tomorrow.
A mysteriously packaged Samsung device departed the FCC's secure zone with a few question marks over its character. We know it's got GSM/EDGE 850 - 1900 radios and can access WCDMA Bands II and V, plus the usual WiFi and Bluetooth gear, but that's about it. The folks at Wireless Goodness are staking the GT-i9070 as a China-bound variation of the Galaxy SII (assessed for roaming safety), which would seem logical, since we've clearly got enough models over here.
The tax returns of prominent officeholders are scrutinized not just for details about the individuals' financial lives, but for clues about their character. Mitt Romney's returns, released Tuesday after weeks of pressure from his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, have been eyeballed more closely than an eighth-grade boy's first pornographic magazine. The returns reveal, as expected, an extremely wealthy individual who benefits enormously from the lower tax rate on investment income.
One can certainly draw conclusions about Romney's character from his statements about that tax rate, which indicate he thinks he is paying his fair share. But the returns also suggest piety: Romney and his wife, Ann, donated more than $4 million in 2010 and 2011 to the Mormon church -- a 10 percent tithe on their more than $40 million in adjusted gross income for those years.
A Huffington Post review of the past tax filings of presidents and vice presidents turned up other details that may help provide a better understanding of the people behind the numbers.
Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, have cleaned house, it seems. In their 2010 tax return, the Bidens say they donated $3,800 in "clothing and household goods" with a fair market value of $950 to a Goodwill site in Wilmington, Del.
Ted Sikorski, a Goodwill spokesman, said that Wilmington area stores receive 400,000 donations a year and that the organization doesn't keep track of who donates what, so there is no telling whether those donations included Jill Biden's vintage dresses or Joe Biden's old gym socks. But if you bought a pair of pants from a Delaware Goodwill store recently and found an Amtrak ticket stub in the pocket -- well, who knows.
That the Bidens bothered to claim such a small tax write-off says something about their finances. They reported adjusted gross income of $379,178 in 2010 -- a nice payday for most Americans, but considerably less than many members of Congress, and also less than Joe Biden's boss and his wife, who earned $1,728,096 in 2010. That was, in turn, considerably less than the $5.5 million that Barack and Michelle Obama reported in 2009, mostly from book sales.
In 1969, Richard Nixon claimed a $576,000 deduction for donating his own papers to the government -- a tax trick that likely wouldn't fly today, at least not politically. According to the inventory included with the return, those papers included "15,000 items from the visit to the United States of Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev."
Other tidbits: In 1983, Ronald and Nancy Reagan reported $3,300 in rent collected from a radio station that operated on vacant land he owned near his beloved Santa Barbara, Calif., ranch. Bill and Hillary Clinton claimed a deduction on $38,683 in moving expenses in 1993, the year they moved from Arkansas to the White House. Barbara Bush earned a $1,000 "signer's fee" from Reader's Digest in 1990, according to the tax return jointly filed with George H.W. Bush.
The most revealing return, reflecting both a different age of presidential prerogative and still-current themes of a tax system that befuddles most filers, came from Franklin Roosevelt. In 1937, he reported $82,392 in net income, but couldn't figure out how much to pay. His solution: he sent a $15,000 check and a letter to the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.
"I am wholly unable to figure out the amount of the tax for the following reasons," Roosevelt wrote before launching into an explanation of how tax rates had changed the prior year. "As this is a problem in higher mathematics, may I ask that the Bureau let me know the amount of the balance due?" he concluded.
Romney's 2010 tax return, longer than any past president's at 203 pages, shows he isn't willing to trust the government to tell him what he owes.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop was all to eager to show off the Lumia 900 at this year's CES, but he unforunately kept to himself when it came to its price or release date. Now, thanks to a timely leak, it looks as though Nokia's flagship Windows Phone could hit AT&T's shelves on March 18. That's apparently the plan, anyway. The date, given to BGR by their anonymous sources, seemingly confirms earlierrumors about the device's launch window, though they're quick to note that the date isn't set in stone since the 900 hasn't yet completed the technical acceptance process.
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Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
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Nokia CEO Stephen Elop was all to eager to show off the