LONDON ? A publicist for Piers Morgan says the former tabloid editor-turned-celebrity interviewer will appear before a British inquiry into media ethics.
The inquiry was organized in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal that brought down Britain's News of the World tabloid.
Morgan's publicist Megan McPartland said Thursday her client will appear next week. She gave no other details.
Morgan, who replaced Larry King at CNN, can expect to be quizzed on allegations that he condoned phone hacking while working at the Daily Mirror and that he personally listened in on illegally intercepted messages.
Morgan has denied ever knowingly running a story off of illegally intercepted phone messages.
New York ? Congress reached an 11th-hour deal to keep federal agencies running. But the horse-trading isn't over
Just 27 hours before a deadline that could have shut down the federal government at midnight Friday, Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement on a $1 trillion spending bill that will keep the lights on through the end of the fiscal year in September, 2012. They still have to work out the particulars of another sticking point ? a separate measure extending a temporary payroll tax cut and jobless benefits. So what did both parties gain, and give up, to break the impasse? Here, a brief guide:
So, the parties settled their differences? Not exactly. They still have to work out how to pay for the $120 billion payroll tax cut extension for 160 million workers, to keep it from expiring on Dec. 31. But they got close enough that the White House and Senate Democrats figured it was safe to detach the payroll-tax issue from the spending bill, which they were delaying in an attempt to force the GOP to negotiate. Now Congress can approve the spending bill, and focus on settling lingering differences over the payroll tax.
SEE MORE: Why the GOP caved in the payroll tax fight: 4 theories
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Who caved? Both sides gave up a little on the spending measure. "The final bill strips out a Republican amendment to the Treasury budget to reinstate Bush-era restrictions on travel to Cuba" ? something President Obama opposed, says David Rogers at Politico. But it also includes some GOP provisions that are hard for Democrats to swallow, such as one blocking new, greener standards for light bulbs.
Will extending the payroll tax be easy now? Both sides say a deal is near, although anything can happen. Democrats have reportedly dropped their insistence on offsetting the cost with a surtax on people making more than $1 million a year, which was a dealbreaker for the GOP. But Republicans haven't budged on one provision Democrats have described as a poison pill ? a controversial proposal to expedite the review of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
SEE MORE: Congress' 'wild final month': 5 predictions for December
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What happens if they can't agree? Both sides want to extend the payroll tax holiday. If they let it expire, the portion of Americans' paychecks withheld for Social Security and Medicare will rise 2 percent ? from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent. In such a scenario, someone making $50,000 would have to pay $1,000 more in payroll taxes. To avoid that, Congress is likely to pass a two-month extension if no long-term agreement is in sight. That way members will be able to head home for the holidays, and put off a final showdown until February.
Sources: CNN, NY Times, Politico, Washington Post
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NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) ? The Writers Guild of America-East has written an open letter to the Occupy Wall Street movement and New York Police Department criticizing protesters who dismantled a "Law and Order: SVU" set designed to replicate the occupation, and police who then halted shooting on the show.
Yes, that's the WGAE complaining about OWS and the NYPD over "L&O: SVU." Not since the WPA have so many enjoyed so much alphabet soup.
The eastern branch of the union, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, says it has "strongly and actively supported the Occupy Wall Street movement from its inception," and that it was frustrated that protesters dismantled a set last week, given that the show is written by union writers and that union crews work on it.
"The demonstrators' actions were as misguided and inappropriate as the City of New York's response -- revoking 'Law & Order''s permit for the shoot and directing the dismantling of its set," the union wrote. "Presumably the protesters and police did not set out to achieve a common end but together they prevented the scene from being filmed and the story from being told."
The NBC legal drama -- the last one standing from the once-thriving "Law & Order" franchise -- was scheduled to film on the "Mockupy" Wall Street set early Friday. It was created in downtown Manhattan, near the State Supreme Court building where "L&O" shows have frequently filmed.
Protestors danced, waved flags, poked through the library and kitchen elements of the set and even crawled inside tents, despite objections from people guarding the "L&O" production. One protester carried a sign that said, "We are a movement, not a TV plot."
(Don't most movements end up being both?)
Added the WGAE: "We continue to support Occupy Wall Street's aims and in the tradition of a city with a long history of upholding the right of free, peaceful speech for all, urge both the members of OWS and the police to treat last week's occurrence as an isolated incident, vowing that it not be repeated."
Contact: Carl Blesch cblesch@ur.rutgers.edu 732-932-7084 x616 Rutgers University
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. Three Rutgers professors are among 539 scholars that the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elevated to the rank of fellow. The pre-eminent national scientific organization selects fellows based on their efforts in advancing science or fostering applications considered scientifically or socially distinguished.
Joining 49 previous Rutgers fellows, the new inductees will receive an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin Saturday, Feb. 18, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2012 AAAS Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The new Rutgers AAAS fellows are:
Anthony Broccoli, Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Broccoli's research focuses on climate modeling, with emphasis on the simulation of past climates and climate change, and the use of such simulations to evaluate the reliability of climate models. His work includes simulation of the climate of the past century, climate variations during the last glacial cycle, extratropical forcing of tropical climate change and diagnosis of climate model feedbacks and sensitivity. Broccoli is a fellow of the American Meterological Society and received Rutgers' Cook College Research Excellence Award in 2006.
The association cited Broccoli "for distinguished contributions to the understanding and modeling of past climate change, and to communicating climate science."
Bingru Huang, Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Huang's research focuses on understanding turfgrass tolerance to environmental stresses, especially heat and drought. She holds the Ralph Geiger Endowed Chair in Turfgrass Science and is a member of the university's Center for Turfgrass Science, a nationally recognized research, teaching and service organization. She has established partnerships with institutions in several countries, including Australia, Israel, Norway and her native China, enhancing turfgrass breeding and management for those countries' environments and expanding educational opportunities for their students.
The association cited Huang "for distinguished contributions to crop science, particularly for invaluable discoveries in turfgrass physiology and novel methods for improving turfgrass germplasms and management practices."
Patrick Sinko, Department of Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and Associate Vice President for Research, Rutgers University. Sinko's research focuses on the mechanisms and applications of biopharmaceutics and polymers to drug delivery and targeting. He also oversees research on the design, fabrication and evaluation of molecular-scale drug and diagnostic delivery technologies applied broadly to asthma, AIDS, cancer, and chemical counterterrorism. He holds the Parke-Davis Endowed Chair in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery and is a fellow in the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. He received the Rutgers University Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research in 2010.
The association cited Sinko "for distinguished contributions to biopharmaceutics and innovative approaches for drug delivery and targeting as well as academic leadership at Rutgers University."
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About the AAAS
Founded in 1848, the AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society and works to advance science for human well-being through its projects, programs and publications. The tradition of selecting AAAS fellows began in 1874.
AAAS includes 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The association conducts many programs in the areas of science policy, science education and international scientific cooperation. Its prestigious peer reviewed journal Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated readership of 1 million.
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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.
Contact: Carl Blesch cblesch@ur.rutgers.edu 732-932-7084 x616 Rutgers University
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. Three Rutgers professors are among 539 scholars that the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elevated to the rank of fellow. The pre-eminent national scientific organization selects fellows based on their efforts in advancing science or fostering applications considered scientifically or socially distinguished.
Joining 49 previous Rutgers fellows, the new inductees will receive an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin Saturday, Feb. 18, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2012 AAAS Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The new Rutgers AAAS fellows are:
Anthony Broccoli, Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Broccoli's research focuses on climate modeling, with emphasis on the simulation of past climates and climate change, and the use of such simulations to evaluate the reliability of climate models. His work includes simulation of the climate of the past century, climate variations during the last glacial cycle, extratropical forcing of tropical climate change and diagnosis of climate model feedbacks and sensitivity. Broccoli is a fellow of the American Meterological Society and received Rutgers' Cook College Research Excellence Award in 2006.
The association cited Broccoli "for distinguished contributions to the understanding and modeling of past climate change, and to communicating climate science."
Bingru Huang, Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Huang's research focuses on understanding turfgrass tolerance to environmental stresses, especially heat and drought. She holds the Ralph Geiger Endowed Chair in Turfgrass Science and is a member of the university's Center for Turfgrass Science, a nationally recognized research, teaching and service organization. She has established partnerships with institutions in several countries, including Australia, Israel, Norway and her native China, enhancing turfgrass breeding and management for those countries' environments and expanding educational opportunities for their students.
The association cited Huang "for distinguished contributions to crop science, particularly for invaluable discoveries in turfgrass physiology and novel methods for improving turfgrass germplasms and management practices."
Patrick Sinko, Department of Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and Associate Vice President for Research, Rutgers University. Sinko's research focuses on the mechanisms and applications of biopharmaceutics and polymers to drug delivery and targeting. He also oversees research on the design, fabrication and evaluation of molecular-scale drug and diagnostic delivery technologies applied broadly to asthma, AIDS, cancer, and chemical counterterrorism. He holds the Parke-Davis Endowed Chair in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery and is a fellow in the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. He received the Rutgers University Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research in 2010.
The association cited Sinko "for distinguished contributions to biopharmaceutics and innovative approaches for drug delivery and targeting as well as academic leadership at Rutgers University."
###
About the AAAS
Founded in 1848, the AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society and works to advance science for human well-being through its projects, programs and publications. The tradition of selecting AAAS fellows began in 1874.
AAAS includes 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The association conducts many programs in the areas of science policy, science education and international scientific cooperation. Its prestigious peer reviewed journal Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated readership of 1 million.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
BEIJING ? "Batman" star Christian Bale, in the midst of promoting a film he made in China that some critics have called propaganda, was stopped trying to visit a blind activist living under house arrest ? with a CNN crew in tow.
CNN posted footage of a scuffle between Bale and the activist's guards on its website Friday.
The run-in and publicity is likely to cause discomfort in China's government-backed film industry, which hopes Bale's movie "The Flowers of War" will be a creative success at home and abroad. It also raises questions about whether it was prudent to bring the star to see an activist guarded by thugs who have turned away dozens of reporters and fellow activists trying to see him in the past.
Bale was due to leave China on Friday and his representatives could not immediately be reached for comment. A CNN spokesman did not immediately respond to questions about the story, but said a statement would be forthcoming.
Bale, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for last year's "The Fighter," traveled Thursday with a crew from CNN to the village in eastern China where blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng lives with his family in complete isolation.
They were stopped at the entrance to Dongshigu village in Shandong province by unidentified men.
The footage shows Bale asking to see Chen, with a CNN producer providing interpretation, but being ordered by one of the guards to leave. He then asked why he was unable to pass through. The guards responded by trying to grab or punch a small video camera Bale was carrying.
"What I really wanted to do was to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is," Bale was quoted as saying by CNN.
Journalists and scores of Chinese human rights activists have sought to visit Chen in the past, all unsuccessfully. Chen's case has also been raised publicly by U.S. congressmen and diplomats, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, all to no response from China.
CNN said Bale first learned of Chen from news reports when he was in China filming "The Flowers of War," China's official submission for best foreign language film Oscar. It said he "reached out to CNN and invited us to join him on his journey to visit Chen."
TAMPA, Fla. ? The conservative group that got Lowe's to pull its ads from a reality TV show about American Muslims has been fighting for more than two decades against gay rights, strip clubs and most anything else that offends evangelical Christians.
The leader of the Florida Family Association is David Caton, a 55-year-old family values crusader who left an accounting career to found the group in 1987. He said the association has 35,000 members who were urged to email Lowe's to pressure the home improvement giant into dropping commercials during the TLC cable network show "All-American Muslim."
Lowes has drawn criticism for its decision from leaders in the Muslim community, celebrities and others suggesting a boycott of the store. Despite the growing backlash, the Mooresville, N.C.-based company said Monday it was planning to stick by its decision after the show became a "lightning rod for people to voice complaints from a variety of perspectives ? political, social and otherwise."
Several politicians called the Florida Family Association a fringe hate group, a title Caton shrugged off, saying the group aims to "defend traditional American biblical values."
The show was not an accurate portrayal American Muslims, he said, because it doesn't disclose that "99.9 percent of Muslims agree with the principles of Sharia law," the restrictive religious code that Caton and others warn leads to the spread of Islamic extremism.
"This has all to do with the way this program was constructed to deliberately present Muslims in America as one flavor," he told The Associated Press. "It would be similar to the Learning Channel doing a report on `snakes are good family pets' without reporting that there are four in Florida that are venomous. ....For TLC to choose to profile five people as an aberration of the Islamic faith is propaganda."
TLC used to be called The Learning Channel.
"All-American Muslim," which premiered last month, chronicles the lives of five families who live in and near Dearborn, Mich., a Detroit suburb with a large Muslim and Arab-American population. TLC spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg said the show, which airs Mondays on TLC and ends its first season Jan. 8, has garnered a little over a million viewers per week.
Caton said he targeted the show because a recent poll on the group's website found that the spread of Islam in America was their No. 1 concern, more than homosexuality and pornography. About 1,800 votes were cast.
Florida Family Association claims more than 60 advertisers that it emailed have also stopped advertising on the show. So far, Lowe's is the only major company to confirm they pulled their ads.
Caton's group has also protested "Gay Days" at Walt Disney World.
Last year to no avail, Caton's group flooded the University of South Florida with 2,500 emails protesting a course on "queer theory." Recently the group targeted companies advertising on the teen show Degrassi on a Nickelodeon channel because it "promotes the transgender lifestyle and other inappropriate behavior to children," according to the Florida Family Association website.
The group's website appeared to be hacked Monday and posted a message that read: "No further proof is needed of the potential for vicious action then exactly what these folks are trying to do to this web site! The attack has been extremely mean spirited. ... Because of our real concern for the terrorism that is a way of life for some folks, we ourselves have become victims. Because we urge other to be vigilant we become the targets. Don't let it happen folks, take stand before it is too late."
The group also claims credit for helping get the show "The Playboy Club" canceled by NBC. The network, however, announced the show was being canceled less than 24 hours after the new series drew only 3.5 million people for its third episode.
The Florida Family Association, which is not affiliated with the older and larger American Family Association, reported more than $172,000 in donations last year, with $59,423 going toward salaries.
Video games aren?t regulated by the government, but like the film industry, gaming publishers and developers submit to ratings from an industry group that determines whether racy or violent content is appropriate for children. The Electronic Software Ratings Board, which is responsible for all those ?E,? ?T? and ?MA? ratings seen on video game packages to advise parents of their content, are now looking to add their ratings to mobile games.
According to a story from GigaOM, however, while the ESRB has had several mobile app operators including Microsoft sign on to submit to its ratings ? which are industry standard outside of the mobile sphere ? Google and Apple haven?t agreed to be rated by the ESRB.
That doesn?t bode well for the success of any potential mobile game rating standard, given that the vast majority of apps come from the makers of the Android and iOS operating systems. Google?s Android Market just surpassed Apple?s iTunes App Store in terms of sales during the second quarter in 2011, but Apple still accounts for more apps in its store in total (though probably not for long).
Google and Apple not going in for the ratings doesn?t mean that their apps aren?t rated, however. It?s well known that Apple has a fairly strict procedure when it comes to approving apps in the App Store, and it generally bounces anything it deems too violent or sexual. Google also has a somewhat more lax parental control (mostly because it doesn?t restrict apps in the Android Market), and both stores are also pretty heavily dependent on user reviews to tell other users what they?re getting into when it comes to games and apps.
The benefit of the ESRB, however, is that it?s an independent body made up specifically of parents, and it?s already well-known and trusted in video games. The ESRB is partnering with the CTIA, the international organization that gives oversight to the wireless communication industry, to spread the ratings to the mobile industry. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Microsoft and U.S. Cellular have all signed on to accept them. Once a rating is doled out by the ESRB, it can be carried across multiple platforms for that game, and a developer who isn?t happy with a rating can challenge it. The ESRB has also added mobile-specific characteristics, like online capability, to the content it checks and makes note of in compiling its ratings.
But without the apps on Android and iOS, the ESRB?s impact will likely be pretty minimal. The trouble is that having multiple standards is going to lead to some confusion. Apple might bounce an app that the ESRB hits with a ?T? (teen) rating, while in the Android Market an app might be missing parental controls that would be appropriate for it. Adding a ratings board that such a big segment of the mobile sphere doesn?t support might end up being more confusing to parents, not less.
For the moment, though, Google and Apple?s position makes some sense. With literally hundreds of thousands of apps in the Android Market, and tens of thousands of games, it would be impossible for the ESRB to rate them all. Meanwhile, Google already has a parental control system in place, so why would it mess with that for an imperfect system?
But as time goes on, a little synergy between the big app stores and the ESRB could, overall, be better for mobile gaming as a whole. The ESRB has seen a lot of success with console and PC gaming, and it?s never a bad thing to help parents make better-informed decisions about what their kids are playing.
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Public release date: 14-Dec-2011
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Video games aren?t regulated by the government, but like the film industry, gaming publishers and developers submit to ratings from an industry group that determines whether racy or violent content is appropriate for children. The Electronic Software Ratings Board, which is responsible for all those ?E,? ?T? and ?MA? ratings seen on video game packages to advise parents of their content, are now looking to add their ratings to mobile games.
But without the apps on Android and iOS, the ESRB?s impact will likely be pretty minimal. The trouble is that having multiple standards is going to lead to some confusion. Apple might bounce an app that the ESRB hits with a ?T? (teen) rating, while in the Android Market an app might be missing parental controls that would be appropriate for it. Adding a ratings board that such a big segment of the mobile sphere doesn?t support might end up being more confusing to parents, not less.