Testimony about Colorado massacre resumes in James Holmes hearing

More emotional testimony was expected at a hearing on the Aurora movie theater massacre, as prosecutors continued to lay out their case against the defendant, James Holmes.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Vivid testimony about the movie theater massacre that shocked a nation extended into a second day as a preliminary hearing for James E. Holmes resumed Tuesday.

Prosecutors continued to lay out their case against Holmes, 25, accused of killing 12 people and injuring about 70 during a shooting rampage on July 20 in a suburban cinema. At issue in the proceeding, expected to last a week, is whether there is a sufficient case to go to trial.

In the first day of testimony Monday, law enforcement officials described the bloody shooting scene and heartbreaking rescue attempts to bring the gravely wounded to treatment.

PHOTOS: Colorado movie theater shooting

The prosecution has been trying to show that Holmes acted deliberately while the defense in cross-examination has focused on how the former neuroscience graduate student appeared emotionally detached, bolstering their expected insanity presentation.

Throughout, Holmes has sat impassive, while some of the victims' relatives have wept during the more graphic testimony.

On Tuesday, the atmosphere at the Arapahoe County Court House contained less of the frenzy that marked the first day. Yet the proceedings come as the debate over gun control has heated up in the wake of the attack last month in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 children and six adults were killed by a lone gunman who invaded the Sandy Hook Elementary School. The gunman first killed his mother in their home and ended his shooting spree by killing himself.

WHO THEY WERE: Aurora theater shooting

Tuesday’s testimony also comes as the nation commemorates the second anniversary of the Tucson shooting where six died and 13 were injured when gunman Jared Lee Loughner opened fire in a supermarket parking lot where former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was holding a meet-and-greet with her constituents. Tucson, which has had events for several days, will mark the exact time of the shooting with the ringing of bells across the city at the moment of the morning attack.

Giffords, who went through a painful recovery and rehabilitation for gun wounds to the head, has become a spokeswoman for greater gun control. She and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, announced they would raise money to support gun control efforts. The pair visited Newtown last week.

On Monday, Aurora police testified about the horrors they found in the theater, including blood-soaked aisles and walls, crumpled bodies, and scores of spent shell casings.

TIMELINE: U.S. mass shootings

The prosecution also showed surveillance video of Holmes entering the theater complex just past midnight. He had purchased his ticket 12 days earlier. The chilling, soundless video shows Holmes redeeming his ticket at a kiosk, giving it to a ticket taker, then lingering near the concession stand for a few minutes before turning toward Theater 9, where the Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises” was playing.

Prosecutors have yet to announce whether they will seek the death penalty.

ALSO:

Supreme Court rejects challenge to Obama stem cell policy

Chicago man fatally poisoned a month after hitting lotto jackpot

Alabama police: High school white supremacist planned bomb attack

Deam reported from Centennial, Colo.; Muskal reported from Los Angeles. 

Read More..

25-Story Mechas Tower Over City in New CES <em>Pacific Rim</em> Trailer

Man, the folks at CES really are getting to have all the fun this week. Not only are they checking out drool-worthy gadgets in Sin City Las Vegas, now they’re getting to see new Pacific Rim footage too.

Luckily, the internet is here to help. Above you’ll find the latest trailer, debuted as part of Qualcomm’s presentation Monday night, for director Guillermo del Toro’s monsters-versus-robots “operatic” epic – complete with new shots of the Earth-shaking fights to save humanity from kaiju attack. A bunch of this footage was already in the first trailer, but this recut really gets to the heart of how massive del Toro’s creatures — both those from the depths and the Jaeger robots created to kill them — truly are. Just look at that giant freaking robot peeking over a city skyline (and a Qualcomm Snapdragon ad)!

Another treat making an appearance here: Ellen McLain (GLaDOS from Portal) as the Jaeger launch controller’s voice. Even though it has the ability to produce serious nerd chills, enjoy it while you can – del Toro recently told the Toronto Sun the voice in the final movie won’t be as similar to our beloved GLaDOS.

“The filter we’re using is slightly less GLaDOS. Slightly,” the director told the paper. “The one in the trailer I wanted to be full-on GlaDOS.”

Sad trombone. Pacific Rim, starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba and slightly less GLaDOS, hits theaters July 12.

Read More..

Spielberg earns 11th Directors Guild nomination

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Steven Spielberg has extended his domination at the Directors Guild of America Awards, earning a nomination Tuesday for his Civil War epic “Lincoln” to pad the record he already held to 11 film nominations from the guild.

Also nominated were past winners Kathryn Bigelow for her Osama bin Laden thriller “Zero Dark Thirty”; Tom Hooper for his musical “Les Miserables”; and Ang Lee for his lost-at-sea story “Life of Pi.”

Rounding out the Directors Guild lineup is first-time nominee Ben Affleck for his Iran hostage-crisis tale “Argo.”

The Directors Guild field is one of Hollywood’s most-accurate forecasts for who will be in the running at the Academy Awards, whose nominations come out Thursday. The winner at the Directors Guild almost always goes on to win the directing prize at the Oscars, too. Only six times in the 64-year history of the guild awards has the winner there failed to follow up with an Oscar.

Besides the record number of feature-film nominations, Spielberg also has won the Directors Guild prize a record three times, for “The Color Purple,” ”Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan,” along with directing Oscars for the latter two. He received the guild’s lifetime-achievement award in 2000.

Bigelow became the first woman ever to win the guild honor and the directing Oscar three years ago for “The Hurt Locker.” Hooper won the same prizes a year later for “The King’s Speech,” while Lee is a two-time guild winner for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Brokeback Mountain,” the latter also earning him the directing Oscar.

Affleck, who also stars in “Argo,” follows such actors-turned-filmmakers as Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson to earn a Directors Guild nomination.

Overlooked by the guild were past nominees Quentin Tarantino for his slave-revenge tale “Django Unchained” and David O. Russell for his oddball romance “Silver Linings Playbook.”

The film that receives the Directing Guild prize typically also goes on to win the best-picture Oscar, a prize Spielberg has earned only once, for “Schindler’s List.” No clear front-runner has emerged yet for the Feb. 24 Oscars, with “Lincoln,” ”Zero Dark Thirty” and “Les Miserables” all considered strong prospects to take home Hollywood’s highest honor.

Sunday’s Golden Globes will help sort out the Oscar picture, as will the various guild prizes that will be handed out in late January and February on the run-up to the Academy Awards.

Winners for the 65th annual Directors Guild awards will be announced at a Hollywood dinner Feb. 2, with Kelsey Grammer as host for the second year in a row.

Milos Forman, director of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Amadeus,” will receive the guild’s lifetime-achievement award.

___

Online:

http://www.dga.org

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Spielberg earns 11th Directors Guild nomination
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/spielberg-earns-11th-directors-guild-nomination/
Link To Post : Spielberg earns 11th Directors Guild nomination
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Global Update: China Moves to Prevent Spread of Yellow Fever From Africa

In a move that underlines how many Chinese citizens now work in Africa, China’s quarantine officials recently urged greater efforts to make sure that a yellow fever epidemic now raging in Sudan does not come back to China.

Local health authorities were asked to scan all travelers arriving from Sudan for fevers. Chinese citizens planning travel to Sudan were advised to get yellow fever shots. Customs officers were told that containers arriving from Sudan might have stray infected mosquitoes inside.

Sudan’s epidemic is considered the world’s worst in 20 years. Sweden, Britain and other donors have paid for vaccinations. The United States Navy’s laboratory in Egypt has helped with diagnoses.

Estimates of the number of Chinese working in Africa, many in the oil and mining industries or on major construction projects, range from 500,000 to 1 million. Experts on AIDS have previously warned that the workers could become a new means of bringing that disease to China, which has a low H.I.V.-infection rate.

ProMED-mail, a Web site that follows emerging diseases, has tracked reports about the Sudan outbreak, with its moderators adding valuable context. China’s mosquito-killing winters make a large yellow fever outbreak there unlikely, moderators said. But Sudan’s containment efforts are troubled. For example, vaccinated people cannot get cards proving they have had shots, but the cards are reported to be for sale at police checkpoints.

Australia’s now-endemic dengue fever, according to ProMED moderators, may have come from mosquitoes arriving in containers from East Timor.

Read More..

Boeing 787 at Boston Airport Returns to Gate After Fuel Leak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A fuel leak forced a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner operated by Japan Airlines to cancel its takeoff and return to the gate at Boston's Logan International Airport Tuesday, a fire official said, the second incident in two days with the new jet.

The leak occurred on a different plane than the 787 that experienced an electrical fire Monday at Logan, said Richard Walsh, a Massport spokesman. That plane also was operated by Japan Airlines.

The fuel-leaking plane had left the gate in preparation for takeoff on a flight to Tokyo when the fuel spill of about 40 gallons was discovered, Walsh said. No fire or injuries occurred, he said.

The plane was towed back to the gate, where passengers disembarked and were waiting for a decision on whether the flight would leave, he said.

"The airline will make that determination," Walsh said.

A spokeswoman for Japan Airlines, Carol Anderson, said the plane had returned to the gate because of a mechanical issue, but said exact details were not yet confirmed.

Boeing said it was aware of the issue and was working with its customer.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the fire that occurred on Monday, said this issue wouldn't warrant an investigation because there was no accident.

In December, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections of 787s after fuel leaks were found on two aircraft operated by foreign airlines. The leaks stemmed from incorrectly assembled fuel line couplings, which could result in loss of power or engine fire, the FAA said.

Boeing shares were down 3.2 percent at $73.63 in afternoon trading. The stock fell 2 percent on Monday.

Walsh, the Massport spokesman, said the leak was noticed at 12:25 pm ET Tuesday, as the flight, JAL 007, was taxiing toward the runway for takeoff. Crews used an absorbent to soak up the spilled fuel, Walsh said.

Some analysts had raised concerns about Boeing's jet after the JAL 787 suffered an electrical fire on Monday. Today's fuel leak caused further alarm about the impact on public perceptions of Boeing and the plane.

"We're getting to a tipping point where they go from needing to rectify problems to doing major damage control to the image of the company and the plane," said Richard Aboulafia, a defense and aerospace analyst with Teal Group, a consulting firm based in Fairfax, Virginia.

"While they delivered a large and unexpected number of 787s last year, it's possible that they should have instead focused on identifying glitches and flaws, rather than pushing ahead with volume production," he said.

Aboulafia said there is still no indication that the plane itself is flawed.

"It's just a question of how quickly they can get all the onboard technologies right, and whether or not the 787 and Boeing brands will be badly damaged," he said.

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Cynthia Osterman and Andrew Hay)

Read More..

Ten banks to pay $8.5 billion to settle foreclosure abuse review

WASHINGTON -- Ten of the nation's largest mortgage servicers have agreed to an $8.5-billion settlement with federal regulators to end a review of foreclosure abuses.

The settlement, announced Monday, involved some of the biggest names in the financial industry, including Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc..

They agreed to pay a total of $3.3 billion to more than 3.8 million borrowers whose homes were in foreclosure in 2009 and 2010, according to the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Borrowers could receive as much as $125,000, depending on the type of problems with their foreclosures.

In addition, the banks agreed to provide $5.2 billion in other assistance to those borrowers, including modifications to their mortgages or having judgments against them forgiven.

The other servicers participating in the settlement are Aurora Loan Services, MetLife Bank, PNC Financial Services, Sovereign Bank, SunTrust Banks and U.S. Bancorp. Four smaller servicers whose foreclosure practices have been under review did not sign on to Monday's settlement.

Under the original plan devised by the comptroller and the Federal Reserve in April 2011, 4.4 million Americans whose homes were in foreclosure proceedings in 2009 and 2010 could request a free review. Only about half a million have done so.

Regulators decided to stop the reviews in exchange for the cash payments and assistance.

Borrowers who requested reviews would get bigger cash payments. Those that did not would get a few hundred dollars. Those who requested reviews would get bigger payments.

"When we began the Independent Foreclosure Review, the OCC pledged to fix what was broken, identify who was harmed and compensate them for that injury," said Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry. 

"While today's announcement represents a significant change in direction," he continued, "it meets those original objectives by ensuring that consumers are the ones who will benefit and that they will benefit more quickly and in a more direct manner."

Curry said that although regulators have "have learned a great deal from the reviews ... it has become clear that carrying the process through to its conclusion would divert money away from the impacted homeowners" and delay compensation to the borrowers.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), criticized the decision by regulators to reach a settlement with the mortgage servicers. 

"I am deeply disappointed that the OCC and the Federal Reserve finalized this settlement and effectively terminated the Independent Foreclosure Review process before providing Congress answers to serious questions about how this settlement amount was determined, who these funds will go to, and what will happen to other families who were abused by these mortgage servicing companies, but have not yet had their cases reviewed," Cummings said.

He said he didn't know "know what the rush was to make this settlement without answering these key questions" and that he had "serious concerns that this settlement may allow banks to skirt what they owe and sweep past abuses under the rug without determining the full harm borrowers have suffered."

 ALSO:

Investors bet BofA can begin to focus on expansion

$10-billion settlement of foreclosure abuse cases said to be near

Bank of America to pay Fannie Mae $10 billion in loan settlement

Follow Jim Puzzanghera on Twitter and Google+.

Read More..

New Service Turns Children's Drawings Into 3-D Printed Sculptures

If sticking drawings to a fridge won’t do, parents of pint-sized Picassos can put their child’s art on a pedestal by having it 3-D printed through a new service called CrayonCreatures.

The service is the invention of Bernat Cuni, a Spanish designer working in Barcelona with a focus on emerging 3-D printing applications. “The idea came one morning when my daughter asked me to make one of her drawings as a toy with my DIY 3-D printer, and I did it,” says Cuni. “She was totally satisfied with a monochrome plastic version of her drawing, but I wasn’t. I felt that something was lost in the translation from drawing to thing. That was the color, the scratches of crayon that make a child’s drawing so unique and expressiveness were lost.”

Cuni revised the process to add full-color printouts, and in turn, launched CrayonCreatures to help others do the same. The system is simple: The drawings of a diminutive Degas are scanned, interpreted by an artist at CrayonCreatures, and a full-color print is produced on a ZCorp 3-D printer, then shipped to the designer. It’s similar to Child’s Own, the drawing-to-plushie service, but uses the actual drawn details from the original artwork in the prints.

CrayonCreatures’ process for transforming 2-D sketches into 3-D prints starts with outlining the drawings, then using CAD tools they “inflate it like a balloon,” apply pressure physics to round out the shapes, and export the file for 3-D printing. ”I feel CrayonCreatures is a 3-D printing application where the value is not on the fabrication process itself but in the service that it provides,” says Cuni. “Often some 3-D printed objects and projects rely on the technological ‘wow’ factor of 3-D printing, and I try to avoid that.”

There are some limitations to what kinds of drawings can be printed, but Cuni promises that workarounds can be found, even if a parent is raising a budding abstract expressionist. “Some things like thin walls and spiky shapes are not welcome because the object might collapse once it comes out from the printer,” he says. “I make the 3-D models as accurate to the original drawing as possible, and in some cases, if the character has super thin legs or hair, I have to make a blob around it in order to make it printable.”

The printouts aren’t as expensive as most commissioned statues, but still cost more than most figurines; each four-inch figurine is $150 — $130 for printing and $20 more for shipping to the US.

Beyond CrayonCreatures, Cuni is also exploring the intersection of toys and cutting edge fab technology through his “Jana” series, applying various images onto a plastic 3-D printout of a small teddy bear, based on scans of a five year old girl’s doll. “The idea behind the Jana series is the ‘editing’ capability of the digital environment,” Says Cuni. “We have became very familiar editing our digital things — from formatting a text in a word processing software to applying filters to our photos. So, when thinking that stuff will become digital as well, I thought about how  plugins/effects/filters for the real objects might look.”

Cuni has used a simple teddy bear form as way to experiment with digital patterns, textures, and data from the real world. He’s superimposed a Google Map of Hong Kong on one, made another look like a sea urchin, and explored a variety of other sculptural techniques which are available at Shapeways.

While many still dismiss 3-D printers as toys, Cuni is using his Jana series to explore a bigger vision. His goal is to capture an object in the real world through digital means, apply filters to the CAD model, and return it to the world in a process he dubs “The Instagram of Things.”

All Photos: Bernat Cuni

Read More..

Letterman says he sees psychiatrist weekly

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — David Letterman says he sees a psychiatrist once a week, part of his attempt to be the person he once believed he was.

The late-night talk show host gave an extraordinary interview to Oprah Winfrey in which he talked about his feuds with her and Jay Leno, and his own effort to make amends for the affairs that became public three years ago when a man tried to extort him.

The interview aired Sunday night on Winfrey’s OWN network after it was done in November.

The CBS host says his wife has forgiven him for his transgressions and his life is more joyful than ever, but he hasn’t necessarily forgiven himself.

Letterman also called his late-night rival Leno the funniest guy he’s ever known.

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Letterman says he sees psychiatrist weekly
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/letterman-says-he-sees-psychiatrist-weekly/
Link To Post : Letterman says he sees psychiatrist weekly
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Drug-Testing Company Tied to N.C.A.A. Draws Criticism

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A wall in one of the conference rooms at the National Center for Drug Free Sport displays magazine covers, each capturing a moment in the inglorious history of doping scandals in sports.

Steve Hebert for The New York Times

The National Center for Drug Free Sport, in Kansas City, Mo., tries to deter doping with programs for high school, college and professional leagues.

Monica Almeida/The New York Times

Don Catlin, formerly of U.C.L.A.’s Olympic Analytical Lab, has raised questions about drug testing at colleges.

The images show Ben Johnson, the sprinter who lost his 1988 Olympic gold medal after testing positive; and Barry Bonds, the tarnished home run king; and Lyle Alzado, one of the first pro football players to admit to steroid use.

“People always assume that it’s the athletes at the top of their sport or the top of their game that are using,” said Frank Uryasz, Drug Free Sport’s founder and president. “But I can assure you that’s not the case. There’s always that desire to be the best, to win. That permeates all level of sport — abuse where you just wouldn’t expect it.”

Over the past quarter-century, athletes like Johnson, Bonds and Alzado stirred widespread concern about doping in sports.

Professional leagues without drug-testing programs have put them in; leagues with drug-testing programs have strengthened them. Congress and medical experts have called on sports officials at all levels to treat doping like a scourge.

It was in this budding American culture of doping awareness that Uryasz found a niche business model. He has spent the past decade selling his company’s services to the country’s sports officials.

The company advises leagues and teams on what their testing protocols should look like — everything from what drugs to test for to how often athletes will be tested to what happens to the specimens after testing. It also handles the collection and testing of urine samples, often with the help of subcontractors.

Drug Free Sport provides drug-testing programs for high school, college and professional leagues.

A privately held company with fewer than 30 full-time employees, it counts among its clients Major League Baseball, the N.F.L., the N.B.A., the N.C.A.A. and about 300 individual college programs.

Many, if not all, of the players on the field Monday night for the Bowl Championship Series title game between Alabama and Notre Dame have participated in a drug-testing program engineered by Drug Free Sport.

Uryasz says his company’s programs provide substantial deterrents for athletes who might consider doping.

Critics, however, question how rigorous the company’s programs are. They say Drug Free Sport often fails to adhere to tenets of serious drug testing, like random, unannounced tests; collection of samples by trained, independent officials; and testing for a comprehensive list of recreational and performance-enhancing drugs.

The critics, pointing to a low rate of positive tests, question Drug Free Sport’s effectiveness at catching athletes who cheat. Since the company began running the N.C.A.A.’s drug-testing program in 1999, for example, the rate of positive tests has been no higher than 1 percent in any year — despite an N.C.A.A. survey of student-athletes that indicated at least 1 in 5 used marijuana, a banned substance. (The N.C.A.A. tests for marijuana at championship competitions but not in its year-round program.)

Uryasz said the rate of positive tests was not meaningful. “I don’t spend a lot of time on the percent positive as being an indicator of very much,” he said.

Independent doping experts contend that having a contract with Drug Free Sport allows sports officials to say they take testing seriously without enacting a truly stringent program.

Don Catlin, the former head of U.C.L.A.’s Olympic Analytical Lab, best known for breaking the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative doping ring, oversaw the testing of many of Drug Free Sport’s urine samples when he was at U.C.L.A. He said the work by Drug Free Sport and similar companies could be used to mislead fans.

“The problem with these schools is they all want to say they’re doing drug testing, but they’re not really doing anything I would call drug testing,” he said.

A Company’s Origins

Uryasz said he became interested in working with student-athletes while tutoring them as an undergraduate at Nebraska. After he graduated, he earned an M.B.A. from Nebraska and worked in health care administration in Omaha. He said he heard about an opening at the N.C.A.A. through a friend.

Driven in part by scandals in professional sports, the N.C.A.A. voted at its 1986 annual convention to start a drug-testing program.

Read More..

DealBook: S.E.C. Names New Top Lawyer

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Monday that it had named Geoffrey F. Aronow to be general counsel, the agency’s top legal post.

The appointment fills an important gap in the S.E.C.’s roster. There have been a number of prominent departures in recent weeks, following the resignation of Mary L. Schapiro as chairwoman in November.

For Mr. Aronow, a partner in the Washington office of Bingham McCutchen, the move represents a return to the regulatory world. He was the head of enforcement for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the late 1990s.

At Bingham McCutchen, Mr. Aronow represented people and firms facing investigations from the S.E.C. and other regulators. The federal investigation into MF Global, the brokerage firm that went bankrupt in 2011 after raiding customer accounts, was one of his most prominent cases in recent memory. Mr. Aronow represented Christine Serwinski, MF Global’s North American chief financial officer.

“I’m truly honored to re-enter public service as the general counsel at an agency with such a storied history and critical mission of investor protection and effective market oversight,” Mr. Aronow said in a statement on Monday.

Mr. Aronow, 57, will join the S.E.C. later this month. He replaces Mark Cahn, who departed as part of a broader exodus from the agency. Robert W. Cook, the director of trading and markets, and Meredith Cross, the head of corporation finance, also announced their departures in the wake of Ms. Schapiro’s resignation.

Mr. Aronow is the first recent replacement official that the S.E.C plucked from outside the agency. And unlike other new directors, he won the job outright, saving him the burden and uncertainty of an interim status.

“Geoff brings the ideal combination of practical knowledge, expertise, and common sense that is so critical to addressing the often nuanced and difficult issues that come before the commission,” Elisse Walter, who replaced Ms. Schapiro as chairwoman, said in a statement.

Mr. Aronow joined Bingham McCutchen in 2008. He previously did two stints as a partner at Arnold & Porter.

In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Aronow is adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School. He also served on the board of the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Read More..