Wednesday 26 October 2011

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Police fired tear gas at least five times Tuesday night into a crowd of several hundred protesters backing the Occupy movement who unsuccessfully tried to retake an encampment outside Oakland City Hall that officers had cleared away more than 12 hours earlier.

Police gave repeated warnings to protesters to disperse from the entrance to Frank Ogawa Plaza at 14th Street and Broadway before firing several tear gas canisters into the crowd at about 7:45 p.m. Police had announced over a loudspeaker that those who refused to leave could be targeted by "chemical agents."

Protesters scattered in both directions on Broadway as the tear gas canisters and several flash-bang grenades went off. Regrouping, protesters tried to help one another and offered each other eye drops.
One wounded woman, who others said had been hit by one of the canisters, was carried away by two protesters.

One protester, 35-year-old Jerry Smith, said a tear gas canister had rolled to his feet and sprayed him in the face.

"I got the feeling they meant business, but people were not going to be intimidated," Smith said. "We can do this peacefully, but still not back down."

Police forcibly dispersed the crowd with tear gas again about 9:30 p.m., when protesters began throwing objects at them. As protesters scattered, police closed off Broadway between 13th and 16th streets.

Minutes later, protesters regrouped at the 15th Street entrance to the plaza. Protesters began throwing objects again. Police responded by firing more tear gas canisters.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/25/BAUB1LLTC9.DTL#ixzz1bsfccOch

Wednesday 19 October 2011

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Carson Palmer went to bed a retired football player resigned to the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals would never grant his wish to be traded.
He woke up to a text message early Tuesday morning telling him to fly to Oakland to complete a trade with the Raiders, who are counting on Palmer to replace the injured Jason Campbell and lead the team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2002.
The Raiders are hoping he can do a lot, having traded a 2012 first-round pick and a conditional second-rounder in 2013 that can become another first if Oakland makes it to the AFC title game in either of the next two years.
Coach Hue Jackson believes Palmer is the ideal fit, having recruited and coached him at Southern California and been an assistant in Cincinnati with Palmer.
Jackson said Palmer has the strong arm and athleticism that late Raiders owner Al Davis always wanted in a quarterback.

Monday 17 October 2011

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Dan Wheldon, Indy 500 Winner, Dead in Wreck at 33

VIDEO: A fiery crash involving 15 cars claims the life of Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon.
Dan Wheldon, who moved to the United States from his native England with hopes of winning the Indianapolis 500 and went on to twice prevail at his sport's most famed race, died Sunday after a massive, fiery wreck at the Las Vegas Indy 300.
One of the most well-liked drivers in the paddock, Wheldon was 33.
He called the Indy 500 "the biggest sporting event in the world," and his second and final win there came in a most unexpected fashion. Trailing rookie JR Hildebrand with only one turn remaining, Wheldon was resigned to finishing second for the third straight year.
Then Hildebrand brushed the wall just seconds away from what seemed like certain victory, giving Wheldon one of the luckiest breaks ever at the Brickyard. He crossed the line in front, making the final lap the only one he led in the entire race.
Wheldon returned to the track the next morning for the traditional photo session with the winner, kissing the bricks as his 2-year-old son Sebastian sat on the asphalt alongside him, and his wife, Susie, held their then-2-month-old son Oliver.
"That's Indianapolis," Wheldon said after this year's Indy win. "That's why it's the greatest spectacle in racing. You never know what's going to happen."
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/indycar-driver-dan-wheldon-dead-33-14749326

Tuesday 11 October 2011

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Christopher Columbus: Hero or villain?



He sailed for the Queen of Spain more than five centuries ago and is credited with discovering the Americas. But on Columbus Day, some say Christopher shouldn't be celebrated.

We've all heard the rhyme: "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue." For centuries the famous mariner was hailed a hero and in 1937 Columbus Day became a federal holiday. For more than seven decades the second Monday in October means a paid holiday for some people and a good shopping day for others. So Channel 3 decided to catch up with some of these bargain hunters bustling on Burlington's Church Street to get their opinion. Christopher Columbus -- hero or villain?

"I don't think he was such a wonderful guy but at the time he was quite an explorer and adventurer," Steve Silberberg

"As a discoverer, someone who went off to sail the world and find what he could, then I guess he's a hero and a brave guy," Susen Shapiro. But Shapiro's not so sure his arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492 should be celebrated. "I don't know if he's more of a villain. Anybody who destroys another people is not good. Let's put it that way."

"Symbolically, he brought disease and death," said Gil McCann, a sociology professor with the University of Vermont. He studies race relations and says over time this holiday has become less popular with many and certainly does not sit well with Native Americans. "From a Native American perspective there was nothing to discover. They were here. It was their land... and so it's a misguided celebration."

"It's important to us that we're teaching Columbus Day as one of the points in history in the evolution of America," said Jeanne Collins, Burlington's Superintendent of Schools.

In Burlington educators say over the past decade the in-class conversations about Christopher Columbus have evolved. Collins says teachers recognize that some students still consider Columbus to be a hero but in one of the most culturally diverse districts in the state, the Queen City has veered away from teaching holiday curriculum. Instead, students learn about Columbus when studying the discovery of the Americas in history class, and it's a more inclusive message than it used to be.

"There's a greater understanding of the diversity of viewpoints and a greater understanding of the number of different cultures who were involved in the evolution of America," Collins said.

In Vermont, Columbus Day is not a state mandated school holiday. As long as each district meets its 175 day requirement, holding classes on Columbus Day is optional. So Burlington, along with the many districts in the state, keep kids in the classroom on this day and keep the conversation going.


Tuesday 4 October 2011

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Amanda Knox thanks supporters, heads for home


Amanda Knox, left, leaves the Perugia court following the verdict overturning her conviction and acquitting her of murdering Meredith Kercher, Oct. 3, 2011. (AP)

Amanda Knox on Tuesday thanked those Italians who supported her throughout her four years of prison, a day after an appeals court cleared the young American of murdering her British room mate and freed her to return home to the United States.

Knox left her prison outside Perugia Monday night, less than two hours after the verdict was read out in a packed court acquitting her and her Italian one-time boyfriend of the brutal murder.
The Italy-US Foundation, which has championed Knox's cause, said the American was at Leonardo da Vinci airport in Rome boarding a flight to London, where she will catch a connecting flight to the United States.
AP photographers and camera crew at Leonardo da Vinci airport in Rome saw Knox family members in a terminal. Knox was not immediately seen, and was believed to have been escorted by police through a non-public entrance to the airport.
The freed American thanked those "who shared my suffering and helped me survive with hope," in a letter to the foundation, which seeks to promote ties between Italy and the United States.
"Those who wrote, those who defended me, those who were close, those who prayed for me," Knox wrote. "I love you, Amanda."
Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted in 2009 of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old British student who shared an apartment with Knox in Perugia. Knox was convicted to 26 years, Sollecito to 25.
In a stunning reversal, the appeals court in Perugia overturned those convictions and set the two free. They had been in prison since Nov. 6, 2007, four days after Kercher's body had been found at the apartment.
The prosecutor in the case announced Tuesday morning that he would appeal the acquittal to Italy's highest court, but that process won't begin until the appeals court issues a complete explanation as to how it arrived at Monday's decision.
The 24-year-old Knox dissolved into tears as the verdict was read in a packed courtroom after 11 hours of deliberations, and needed to be propped up by her lawyers on either side. (Click player at left to see Knox's tearful appeal to court)
Two hours later Knox was in a dark limousine that took her out of the Capanne prison just outside Perugia, where she had spent the past four years, and headed to Rome.
"During the trip from Perugia to Rome Amanda was serene," said Corrado Maria Daclon, the secretary general of the Italy-US Foundation, who was with Knox in the car. "She confirmed to me that in the future she intends to come back to our country."
The prosecution's case was blown apart by a court-ordered DNA review that discredited crucial genetic evidence used to convict the two in 2009.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/04/501364/main20115168.shtml

Monday 3 October 2011

‘Arrested Development’ Movie, and New TV Episodes, Are in the Works


Arrested Development
FoxJason Bateman, seated at center, and the “Arrested Development” cast.
Captain Ahab had Moby-Dick; Linus van Pelt had the Great Pumpkin; and, in the five years since Arrested Development has gone off the air, fans of that underdog Fox comedy series have spent their lives pining for a film adaptation that would further the adventures of its deeply dysfunctional Bluth clan.
Mitchell Hurwitz, the creator of “Arrested Development,” and cast members including Jason BatemanWill Arnett and Michael Cera have also done their part to keep hopes of a movie alive, mentioning the project in numerous interviews, often along with apologies for why it still wasn’t happening yet.
On Sunday afternoon, Mr. Hurwitz tossed a few more crumbs to the “Arrested Development” faithful at a New Yorker Festival event that reunited him with the show’s ensemble cast, telling the audience that a movie was still in the works, along with a new set of television episodes that would serve as a prelude to the film.
Asked by the event’s moderator, Nancy Franklin, for an update on the movie, Mr. Hurwitz said, “We’re 80 percent of the way to an answer,” which was understandably greeted by some laughter.
Mr. Hurwitz went on to say that he and Ron Howard, the director and producer who was the “Arrested Development” narrator, “had been talking about this for ages and trying to get this going.”
Mr. Hurwitz continued: “We don’t completely own the property, there are business people involved and studios and that kind of thing. Just creatively, I have been working on the screenplay for a long time and found that as time went by, there was so much more to the story. In fact, where everyone’s been for five years became a big part of the story. So in working on the screenplay, I found even if I just gave five minutes per character to that back story, we were halfway through the movie before the characters got together.”
So, Mr. Hurwitz said, “We’re trying to do a limited-run series into the movie.” After a wave of excited applause died down, he continued, “We’re basically hoping to do nine or 10 episodes, with almost one character per episode.”
The first episode, he said, could focus on Buster Bluth, the deeply neurotic brother played by Tony Hale. “The latest joke we have,” Mr. Hurwitz said, “is that it’s Cambridge, Mass., and there’s all these scientists in lab coats and they’re waiting for somebody. Buster comes through the door in a white lab coat – ‘Let’s begin’ – and they say, ‘Oh, no, you don’t get to wear the lab coat. We’re experimenting on you.’ ”
Assuming Mr. Hurwitz and his “Arrested Development” confederates are not performing their own experiment on their fan base, he said he was about halfway through a screenplay with his co-writers Jim Vallely and Dean Lorey, but did not specify a studio for either the movie or television components, or a network that might broadcast the new episodes. The project, he said, “requires studios to work together that don’t typically work together, film and TV.”
Mr. Bateman, who played Michael Bluth, the lone, sane member of the family, said: “There’s business left to be done, but creatively we are all on board and have a very specific plan about how it would come out and what we would do and when we would shoot it. I think we’re targeting next summer to shoot it.”
Mr. Hurwitz added, “Perhaps the series is in the fall. This isn’t my decision.”
By way of apology, Mr. Hurwitz also said that while he and the “Arrested Development” team had intimated in the past that the movie wasn’t coming together because Mr. Cera – who has since been propelled into leading roles in films like “Superbad” and “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World” – was standing in the way, this had all been an inside joke gone wrong.
“I kind of was perpetuating a little thing, like, wouldn’t it be funny if Michael Cera was the holdout. Let’s put that out there. And Michael had that Andy Kaufman thing. And then it really turned ugly, quickly. So I really just have to say, for those of you that have been following this saga, Michael’s always been great.”
Just when it seemed everyone had made amends and cleared their schedules, Mr. Cera piped in: “Actually, I do have a thing.”
Later on Sunday, Mr. Bateman posted the following message on his Twitter account:
It’s true. We will do 10 episodes and the movie. Probably shoot them all together next summer for a release in early ‘13. VERY excited!Sun Oct 02 22:42:23 via Twitter for iPhone