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Monday, October 31, 2011
Play The Devil Went Down to Georgia on your Fiddle with the Bluetooth K-Bow
The K-Bow from Keith McMillen is a Bluetooth enabled bow for the violin, viola, cello and bass, which is constructed of Kevlar and graphite. While the K-Bow may look similar to a normal bow, it’s actually a real-time controller that will allow you to manipulate the sounds coming out of the stringed instrument for which [...]
Defense: Jackson complicit in own death
LOS ANGELES?? Jurors hearing the involuntary manslaughter case against Michael Jackson's doctor will hear an alternate version Friday of what may have occurred in the singer's bedroom in the hours before his death.
Dr. Paul White, an expert in the anesthetic propofol, will finally lay out his rationale for the defense theory that Jackson somehow gave himself a fatal dose of the drug when his doctor left the room.
Video: Live video: Watch the trial as it happens (on this page)White's testimony will likely be vigorously challenged by prosecutors, who spent four weeks laying out their case that Dr. Conrad Murray is a greedy, inept and reckless doctor who was giving Jackson propofol as a sleep aid. But cross-examination of White will be delayed until Monday to give prosecutors more time to review a new analysis prepared by the defense based on recently-conducted tests on samples taken during Jackson's autopsy.
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"This is the entire crux of the defense case," Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said in arguing for a delay.
The judge hearing the case, which ends its fifth week on Friday, reluctantly agreed to delay the cross examination and said he is concerned about losing jurors. Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor however noted that the panel of has remained rapt throughout the trial.
"Every single member of that jury and all the alternates are paying extraordinary attention to every witness," Pastor said.
Murray has pleaded not guilty.
White's opinions will challenge those of the prosecution's main expert, Dr. Steven Shafer, who testified that the only scenario he believes explains Jackson's death is that Murray placed Jackson on an IV drip and left the room after he thought the singer was sleeping peacefully.
Slideshow: Michael Jackson's face over the years (on this page)Murray told police he left Jackson's bedside, but claims he only gave the singer a small dose of propofol the morning of Jackson's death. He said he left the room and returned after two minutes to find the pop superstar unresponsive.
Murray's defense attorneys have repeatedly claimed that Jackson somehow gave himself the fatal dose, but it will be up to White to explain how that would be possible.
Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan said that the new models White will show jurors on Friday will offer different simulations about the drugs propofol and sedative lorazepam. They are based on a new computer program and updated test results.
Flanagan did not reveal what conclusions White drew from the new models, or whether they would change his testimony.
Do you think it's possible Michael Jackson gave himself the fatal dose? Tell us on Facebook.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45075095/ns/today-entertainment/
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Sunday, October 30, 2011
Obama says he is confident in European leadership (AP)
WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama said a new European plan to tackle the continent's debt crisis would have an impact on the U.S. economy, but he stopped short of saying whether it would be enough to prevent another global recession.
"If Europe is weak, if Europe is not growing, as our largest trading partner that's going to have an impact on our businesses and our ability to create jobs here in the United States," Obama said Thursday during remarks in the Oval Office.
In a separate opinion piece written for the Financial Times, the president urged European leaders to build a "credible firewall" to contain the crisis.
European leaders agreed Thursday to a deal to have banks take bigger losses on Greece's debts and to boost the region's weapons against market turmoil.
While Obama did not address specifics of the deal in his remarks, he praised European leaders for recognizing that it was in the world's interest to stabilize the continent's economy. When asked whether the deal would prevent another recession, Obama would only say that the agreement was a sign of progress.
"The key now is to make sure that it is implemented fully and decisively, and I have great confidence in the European leadership to make that happen," he said.
Ahead of his meeting with several European leaders next week in France during the G-20 economic summit, the president offered a more detailed reaction to the agreement in his Financial Times opinion piece.
"Given the scope of the challenge and the threat to the global economy," he wrote, "it is important for all of us that this strategy be implemented successfully ? including building a credible firewall that prevents the crisis from spreading, strengthening European banks, charting a sustainable path for Greece and tackling the structural issues at the heart of the current crisis."
He also urged nations to do their part to make sure that global growth is balanced. In a clear reference to Germany, China and Japan, he called on countries with large surpluses to take additional steps to support growth and for export-oriented economies to boost domestic demand.
The president's remarks came at the beginning of a meeting with Prime Minister Petr Necas of the Czech Republic. Necas had arrived in Washington from Brussels, where he had been part of the Eurozone negotiations, Obama said.
World stock markets surged Thursday on the news that the leaders had clinched a deal that everyone hopes will prevent the crisis from pushing Europe and much of the developed world back into recession and keep the currency union from unraveling. But analysts were more cautious, noting that the deal remains vague and its success hangs on the details.
The strategy unveiled after 10 hours of negotiations focused on three key points. These included a significant reduction in Greece's debts, a shoring up of the continent's banks, partially so they could sustain deeper losses on Greek bonds, and a reinforcement of a European bailout fund so it can serve as a $1.39 trillion firewall to prevent larger economies like Italy and Spain from being dragged into the crisis.
In an appearance with Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis in Washington on Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also praised the European plan and Greece's efforts to reform its economy.
"The Greek people are making major changes and big sacrifices to return their country to financial health and economic competitiveness," she said.
___
Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn and Desmond Butler contributed to this report.
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Saturday, October 29, 2011
US man gets another 30 days in Aruba tourist case
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) ? A U.S. businessman who has been jailed in Aruba for nearly three months as a suspect in the death of his traveling companion must remain in custody for at least 30 more days to give investigators more time to gather and evaluate evidence, a judge on the island ruled Friday.
Aruban prosecutors announced the ruling after a closed hearing on the Dutch Caribbean island. Gary Giordano, a 50-year-old employment agency owner from Gaithersburg, Maryland, has been in jail since Aug. 5, three days after he told police companion Robyn Gardner was swept out to sea while snorkeling.
Authorities have said they believe that the 35-year-old woman is dead and that Giordano was involved. Her body has not been found, and any evidence against Giordano has not been disclosed. He has denied any wrongdoing, while his attorneys have appealed for his immediate release.
"Our client is innocent and there has been a lot of investigation already," attorney Chris Lejuez said in an interview outside court. "There is no evidence, and his life is being destroyed."
Lejuez said that during the hearing prosecutors disclosed that a DNA test confirmed that blood found on a towel came from Gardner. But the attorney said that Giordano has maintained that she cut her toe on a rock while they were on a beach and used the towel to stop the bleeding.
The same judge previously issued a 60-day detention order on Aug. 31. The prosecutor's office said in a statement that investigators needed more time to process additional evidence gathered in recent weeks, including the results of a re-enactment of the couple's snorkeling trip off the southeastern tip of the island.
Investigators are still processing some evidence, including DNA analysis and information gathered from Gardner's and Giordano's computers, and are considering a new search for Gardener's remains, said Solicitor General Taco Stein.
At the end of the new 30-day detention period, Stein said prosecutors would be expected to either bring charges against Giordano or release him. Another extension would require a higher threshold of evidence that would be difficult to obtain under Aruban law, Stein said.
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Friday, October 28, 2011
Gunmen attack foreign base in south Afghanistan (Reuters)
KABUL (Reuters) ? Gunmen attacked a foreign military base in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Thursday, coalition forces and the Afghan interior ministry said.
Two attackers fired shots at the base from a nearby building before being killed by security forces, interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said.
Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Soldiers then found a car suspected to contain explosives. They have sealed off the area while inspecting the vehicle for bombs, Sediqi said.
"There are no ISAF fatalities," a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul said.
Also Thursday, a suicide attacker targeted a coalition base in Panjwai district, also in Kandahar province, detonating a vehicle containing an improvised explosive device outside the perimeter of the base.
There were no ISAF casualties and the perimeter was not breached, ISAF said.
Kandahar, 482 km (300 miles) south of the capital Kabul, is the birthplace of the Taliban, and their current stronghold in the country.
Despite the presence of more than 130,000 foreign troops, violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the start of the war 10 years ago, according to the United Nations.
ISAF says there has recently been a fall in attacks initiated by insurgents, but this data excludes attacks that kill only civilians, and attacks on Afghan security forces operating without international troops.
As well as day to day attacks by insurgents, there has been a series of high-profile assassinations over the last year.
In August, Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 22 people in an attack on the Parwan provincial governor's compound, and in September insurgents launched a 20-hour assault on the U.S. embassy in Kabul, killing more than a dozen people.
(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni and Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
NICT, JVC Kenwood team up for wall-sized 3D HD display, lets in your face advertising get literal
NICT, JVC Kenwood team up for wall-sized 3D HD display, lets in your face advertising get literal originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Saturday, October 22, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Sales of previously occupied homes fell in Sept.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The number of Americans who bought previously occupied homes fell in September. Home sales are on pace to match last year's dismal figures ? the worst in 13 years.
The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that home sales dropped 3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.91 million homes. That's below the 6 million that economists say is consistent with a healthy housing market.
The housing market has been hobbled by foreclosures, weak demand and falling home prices. Last year 4.91 million previously occupied homes were sold, the lowest level since 1997.
Homes at risk of foreclosure edged down to 30 percent of sales, from 31 percent in August. Many of the sales went to investors, who are buying homes under $100,000. Their purchases made up 19 percent of all sales last month, down slightly from 22 percent in August.
Activity among first-time buyers accounted for 32 percent of all sales, the same as August. First-time buyers are critical to a housing recovery because their purchases of low and moderately priced homes allow sellers to move up to more expensive homes.
Many people are reluctant to purchase a home more than two years after the recession officially ended. Even the lowest mortgage rates in history haven't been enough to lift sales.
Some can't qualify for loans or meet higher down payment requirements. Many with good credit and stable jobs are holding off because they fear that home prices will keep falling.
Most economists say home prices will keep falling, by at least 5 percent, through the rest of the year. Many forecasts don't anticipate a rebound in prices until at least 2013.
The Obama administration is trying to expand a program that allows homeowners to refinance their mortgages. But economists say that will do little to help the depressed housing market.
Wealthy buyers are still purchasing homes priced at more than $1 million in the affluent Northeast and growing Midwest. And investors are scooping up dirt-cheap homes in the battered South and West for less than $100,000. They are specifically targeting foreclosures in hard-hit areas, such as Phoenix, Las Vegas and Tampa, Fla.
The high rate of foreclosures has made re-sold homes much cheaper than new homes. The median sales price dropped roughly to $165,400 in September from August. A new home is now roughly 30 percent higher than the price for a previously occupied home ? almost twice the normal markup.
A key reason was the rise in foreclosures and short sales ? when a lender accepts less than what is owed on the mortgage. Those homes sell at an average discount of 20 percent.
Even homes that are under contract and near closing are falling apart at the last minute. Contracts cancellations remained high in September, with 18 percent of Realtors saying they had at least one contract scuttled. That's unchanged from August and a record high.
Homes sales fell across most of the country. In the Northeast, sales rose 2.6 percent. But they declined 0.9 percent in the Midwest, 2.6 percent in the South and 8.8 percent in the West.
New maximum loan limits by government-controlled mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac likely contributed to the large sales decline in the West. On Oct. 1, the maximum loan in high-cost areas fell from $729,750 to $625,500 and, in some areas, to $550,000. That means some buyers are unable to get mortgages in high-cost California cities where homes are more expensive, such as San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The glut of unsold homes increased slightly in September to 3.48 million homes. At last month's sales pace, it would take 8.5 months to clear those homes. Analysts say a healthy supply can be cleared in six months.
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Actress sues IMDB for revealing her age (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Here's a fresh young twist on the topic of ageism in Hollywood -- an actress has filed a $1 million lawsuit against show-business database IMDb and its owner, Amazon.com, because IMDb revealed her true age.
With her age made public, she fears she will get fewer roles.
The actress, listed only as Jane Doe in the suit, claims that the site obtained her personal data in 2008, when she subscribed to IMDb's pay service, IMDb Pro, and subsequently listed her age in her bio.
"Shortly after subscribing to IMDbPro, plaintiff noticed that her legal date of birth had been added to her public profile ... revealing to the public that the plaintiff is many years older than she looks," according to the suit.
"In the entertainment industry, youth is king," the suit continues. "If one is perceived to be 'over-the-hill,' i.e. approaching 40, it is nearly impossible for an up-and-coming actress, such as the plaintiff, to get work."
While the suit doesn't list the aging thespian's name, it does list her state of residence as Texas.
This isn't the first age-related tangle that IMDb has encountered. The Writers Guild of America West waged a campaign in an effort to persuade the site not to list ages. Similarly, the Screen Actors Guild has requested that the site not list ages for lesser-known actors still trying to establish themselves despite their advancing ages.
The mere listing of ages isn't the only issue. A producer told TheWrap that IMDb listed an incorrect age for him, and said the site was unresponsive when he attempted to contact them about removing the incorrect age and other information, including a personal email address.
"I could never get anybody on the phone," the producer said. "It doesn't seem fair that some profiles don't have this information. Why do I want people to see where I was born."
(Pamela Chelin contributed to this report)
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Thursday, October 20, 2011
Video: Prosecution?s last witness called in Jackson doc trial
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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44967440#44967440
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Taxi driver mummified like Egypt's pharaohs
Researchers have turned a former British taxi driver into an Egyptian-style mummy, with television cameras tracking every step in the process.
The results will be on view next Monday in "Mummifying Alan: Egypt's Last Secret," a documentary airing on Britain's Channel 4 television.
The show's producers chronicled the months-long procedure of preserving the body of Alan Billis, a 61-year-old retired taxi driver from Torquay in Devon, applying the techniques that the ancient Egyptians used on Tutankhamun.
Billis, who earned the nickname "Tutan-Alan," was terminally ill with cancer when he volunteered to undergo the procedure. He had the backing of his wife Jan, who said: "I'm the only woman in the country who's got a mummy for a husband."
The main scientist behind the experiment is Stephen Buckley, a chemist and research fellow at Britain's York University. For years, Buckley has been studying the preservation techniques that the Egyptians used during the 18th Dynasty. Alongside archaeologist Jo Fletcher, Buckley analyzed tissue samples from mummified bodies and finally put his findings to the test on Billis' body at Sheffield's Medico-Legal Center.
"I've come up with fantastic new insights that tell us a very great deal," Buckley said in a Channel 4 news release. "What I was able to do was to look at things in quite a different way, and in doing so get information that perhaps people had missed. It's turned current understanding, including my own, completely on its head."
The modern-day mummification isn't completely unprecedented: In 1994, Egyptologist Bob Brier and Ronald Wade, director of the Maryland State Anatomy Board, mummified a medical cadaver using ancient Egyptian techniques. But Buckley wanted to study the effects of a particular recipe thought to have been used on the "best of the best" mummies ? and so he put out the call for a donor.
Alan Billis had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer when he read a newspaper article about the experiment. In a video clip recorded before his death, Billis said he was instantly intrigued, and he called up the project's leaders to volunteer.
"If it doesn't work, it's not the end of the world, is it?" he told the documentary team. "Don't make any difference to me, I'm not going to feel it. It's still bloody interesting."
He said his main regret was that he would never know how the experiment turned out: "Shame I'm not gonna be around to see it, isn't it? I'd like to have seen that, because I like documentaries."
During his studies, Buckley used a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer and other instruments to identify the materials that were used by the priests in Tutankhamun's day, including beeswax, oils and resins. He went on to conduct a series of experiments using more than 200 pigs' legs as a substitute for human flesh. Buckley even rigged up a research shed where he could re-create the desert conditions present in ancient Egypt.
When Billis died in January, a medical team removed most of his organs ? including his lungs and intestines ? through a 4-inch incision on the left side of his body. The cavity was then sterilized and padded with linen.
Buckley went against the traditional wisdom that the Egyptians removed the brain of the deceased through the nose. He acknowledged that the procedure was often used, but noted that around half of the 18th Dynasty royal mummies retained their brains. In some cases, the shrunken remnants of the brain can still be seen in skull X-rays.
After the removal of the organs, the body's moisture content was removed using a caustic salt from the region, called natron, which was described by Greek historian Herodotus in 450 B.C. ? 800 years after the 18th Dynasty. The scientists immersed the corpse in a salt bath for more than a month to draw out the water. To protect the skin from the harsh salt, it was covered in a layer of oils.
The body was then wrapped in linen, protecting it from light and insects. His wife made a visit to the scene, leaving favorite photographs and drawings by his grandchildren.
After three months of drying, the process was judged to be complete.
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"The skin itself has this leathery appearance which indicates that he has become mummified all over," said forensic pathologist Peter Vanezis, who was part of the team behind the experiment. "It makes me very confident that his tissues have been mummified correctly and in a very successful manner."
Buckley was pleased with the results of the natron bath, particularly the preservation of the brain. "I think he's on the road to looking very much like the best of the best of the 18th Dynasty in 3,000 years' time," he said.
Jan Billis, the widow of "Tutan-Alan," said she was also pleased by the outcome. "It's strange, because I would never have thought it, but every single day I think about him," she told Channel 4. "I wonder what he's doing now, laying there."
Brier, the Egyptologist at Long Island University's C.W. Post campus who was involved in the 1994 experiment, said the mummy he worked on is still "dead and well," and currently on display at the San Diego Museum of Man. He said that continued research into the mummification process was a "valuable thing," but questioned the propriety of revealing the identity of the mummy's donor.
"You wonder why they personalized it," he told msnbc.com. "It's more like reality TV than research."
Channel 4 said the experiment had a scientific purpose and had not been done for sensationalism. The scientists believe the results may help in developing an alternative to formaldehyde in the preservation of tissue.
The body will be kept at the Sheffield Medico-Legal Center until the end of the year, and the researchers hope it will be used for further study into mummification and decomposition.
This report includes information from msnbc.com and Discovery News.
? 2011 msnbc.com
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44945609/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Biggest surprises, storylines
Passing offenses boosted by amazing TEs, while 49ers, Ravens sport fantastic defenses
Getty ImagesAt this rate, New Orleans' Jimmy Graham will produce one of the best years by a tight end in NFL history.
OPINION
updated 11:59 p.m. ET Oct. 18, 2011
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The first six weeks of the NFL season have set the table for what should be a predictably unpredictable playoff push. Before that starts let?s take a quick look at some of the big storylines to emerge so far:
Insane offensive numbers
400 yards is the new 300 yards, if that makes any sense. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Tony Romo are all on pace to break Dan Marino?s single season passing yardage mark of 5,084. A rookie ? Cam Newton ? is barely off the pace.
Total passing yard numbers are up roughly 10 percent, a huge jump for one season. Expectations for what?s a great passing effort should be reset.
Conventional wisdom said defenses would be ahead of offenses after the lockout. But conventional wisdom is conventionally unwise.
It?s hard to pin down one reason why it?s so much easier to throw the ball now, other than the slow accumulation of passer-friendly rules. The offensive coaches are ahead of the defensive guys. With more specialization and spread passing attacks than ever before, the offensive coaches are ahead of the defenses.
The year of the tight end
No position has evolved more in this pass-happy era than tight end. Defensive coordinators used to welcome having a cornerback or safety on tight ends. The new crop of players can beat any defender, anytime.
Jimmy Graham of the Saints leads the young tight end revolution. He?s a former basketball player who coach Sean Payton can use in a variety of ways to create mismatches. Defenses have no answer for his mix of athleticism and size. It?s early, but Graham on pace for more than 1,000 yards and one of the best seasons of all time. Thirteen tight ends are on pace for more than 700 yards, which is ridiculous.
Bill Belichick?s Patriots offense is built around their young tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. They can be used in a power formation or line up as receivers. Versatility is the key in a gameplan league. The defense never knows what the tight end will do, and where he?ll be.
Regressing young quarterbacks
The quarterback elite is firmly established ? Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Drew Brees are playing like immortals.
But another wave of young quarterbacks has quietly been struggling this year despite the crazy offensive numbers.
The Bucs? Josh Freeman has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. The Jets have put the training wheels back on Mark Sanchez. (To extend the analogy, the Jets are also running alongside Sanchez?s bike telling him to go straight.)The Rams? Sam Bradford looks more like a rookie under coordinator Josh McDaniels than he did last year as a rookie. Kevin Kolb hasn?t lived up to his contract in Arizona. Only Kerry Collins has been more inefficient per-pass this year than Colt McCoy of the Browns.
Matt Ryan may be the biggest head-scratcher. His accuracy and decision-making have faltered without great pass protection.
There has been a lot of great quarterback play this year, but many ?next generation? signal callers have taken a step back.
Searching for the six
Each year, six playoff teams on average don?t make it back to the postseason. So who will it be this time?
The Colts don?t have a prayer. The Seahawks, Chiefs, and Bears all look mediocre and destined to fall short. That?s four.
Will the Eagles, Falcons, or Jets get in? The Jets don?t do anything well on offense and have a tough schedule coming up. Everything about the Falcons this year is ordinary. I?d bet against all three, but the Eagles may have the best chance of this group because 10 wins could be enough in the NFC East.
Perhaps seven teams won?t make it back this year.
Difference-making defenses
In this era of offensive insanity, a quality defense may be worth more than ever. Getting stops is a scarce commodity in 2011, and one defense in each conference stands out.
The Ravens have their best defense in at least five years. They are giving up 14.2 points-per-game, which is two points better than the rest of the league. Credit the talent and scheme.
New defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano brought the blitz-happy approach that Rex Ryan used to run in Baltimore. They can afford to pull that off because the foundation of the defense is so solid.
No team can match the combination of Haloti Ngata and Terrence Cody up front. Those two create havoc and keep Ray Lewis clean; Lewis is enjoying yet another renaissance. A truly healthy Ed Reed has solidified the secondary and the young cornerbacks ? especially Lardarius Webb ? have played better than expected.
In the NFC, no defense has dominated like the 49ers. They are second in points allowed-per-game, largely because of the best linebacker group in football. Rookie Aldon Smith is already a dangerous pass rusher. Navorro Bowman and Patrick Willis are both playing at a Pro Bowl level inside.
The Ravens and 49ers are both 5-1 without racking up big passing numbers. It?s good to be a little different in this copycat league.
The Bay Area revival
Northern California fans haven?t had a lot to cheer about for the last decade. Suddenly they have two legitimate playoff-caliber teams.
Recent Raiders teams had the talent to beat quality competition, but the immaturity to lose to anyone. Under Hue Jackson, Oakland has been among the league's most consistent teams.
You know what you are going to get with Oakland: A smashmouth running game and a defensive line that creates havoc. Trading for Carson Palmer was the ultimate all-in move. I have doubts Palmer will be much better than Jason Campbell, but Palmer doesn?t have to be for the Raiders to make the playoffs. The AFC West race with San Diego should be a lot of fun.
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More newsGetty ImagesBiggest surprises, storylines
Rosenthal: The first six weeks of the NFL season have set the table for what should be a predictably unpredictable playoff push.
Getty ImagesSource: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44954399/ns/sports-nfl/
Health Tip: Feeling the Effects of Air Pollution (HealthDay)
(HealthDay News) -- Pollutants in the air from vehicles, factories and machines can harm your health, especially if you're more sensitive to them.
The American Academy of Family Physicians says air pollution may cause:
- Eye, throat and lung irritation.
- Tightness in the chest, coughing or wheezing.
- Bronchitis or earaches, especially among children.
- Worsening symptoms of existing heart disease or lung disease.
- Worsening of breathing problems during exercise.
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Justin Bieber Marvels At Mariah Carey Christmas Collab
On the upcoming Under the Mistletoe, JB also teams up with Busta Rhymes for a 'genius' take on 'Little Drummer Boy.'
By James Montgomery
Justin Bieber
Photo: MTV News
Justin Bieber's upcoming Under the Mistletoe album -- you know, the one powered by Christmas cookies and promoted by the first single, "Mistletoe" -- also features more than its fair share of eye-opening collaborations.
That's counting Bieber's mentor Usher (who appears on a version of "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"), Boyz II Men, the Band Perry and, rather amazingly, Busta Rhymes, who teams up with JB on an updated take of "Little Drummer Boy."
As Bieber told MTV News during the live stream that followed the premiere of his "Mistletoe" video, the Busta collaboration is one he'll always remember ... mostly because he considers it to be quite brilliant.
"If you really think about it, it's genius, because it's rapping on a Christmas album ... and, like, I'm rapping on it. And then it's singing," he explained. "It's cool. [Busta's] got, like, a percussive voice to him [and] the beat was so crazy. I'm actually playing drums on that song, playing the snare."
And then, of course, there's his collabo with none other than Mariah Carey, on a version of her instant-classic "All I Want for Christmas Is You." If you thought he was blown away by his Busta team-up, well, you haven't heard anything yet. And he owes it all to none other than Randy Jackson.
"Mariah Carey is doing it with me! It's incredible. So excited," he said of "All I Want." "We wanted Mariah from the beginning, but we kind of thought it was really hard, so we didn't really push the idea. But she's on my label, so we reached out to some people, she got in contact with us, and Randy Jackson was actually at the studio with us, and I was like, 'Yo, you think you can help get Mariah on the Christmas album?' And he was like, 'I'm actually going to see her in New York on Monday,' and I was like 'Yo, go do that!' "
Which Bieber Christmas collabo are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!
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Dead German Satellite Will Fall to Earth This Week (SPACE.com)
A defunct German satellite is expected to plunge to Earth this week, but exactly when and where the satellite will fall remains a mystery.
The massive?German Roentgen Satellite, or ROSAT, is expected to plummet to Earth on Saturday or Sunday (Oct. 22 or 23), though German space officials have also offered a wider re-entry window of between Oct. 21 and Oct. 25. This latest falling satellite comes about a month after a dead NASA climate satellite, called the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), plunged into the Pacific Ocean in late September.
The 2.4-ton X-ray space observatory is expected to break up as it travels through Earth's atmosphere, but some large pieces will likely make it through the intense heat of re-entry. According to German aerospace officials, approximately 1.6 tons of satellite debris, consisting primarily of up to 30 large glass and ceramic fragments, could survive the journey through the atmosphere and reach the Earth's surface.
"We don't expect big parts to re-enter, except the mirror and the glass and ceramic parts," Jan Woerner, head of the executive board of the Deutsches Zentrum f?r Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Germany's space agency, told SPACE.com. "Usually during re-entry, you have rather clear burning of all the elements, but glass and ceramics may survive and may come down in bigger pieces." [Photos: Germany's ROSAT Satellite Falling to Earth]
There is a 1-in-2.000 chance a piece of ROSAT could strike someone on Earth, DLR officials have said. That's a slightly higher risk than the 1-in-3,200 chance of a debris hit NASA gave for the UARS satellite fall.?
German aerospace officials are actively tracking ROSAT, but they will not be able to determine precisely when and where the satellite will fall until roughly two hours before it impacts Earth.
ROSAT's orbit extends from the latitudes of 53 degrees north and south, which essentially covers a huge swath of the planet. This means the satellite could fall anywhere stretching from Canada to South America.
Officials at Germany's space agency calculated a 1-in-2,000 chance that someone on Earth will be hit by ROSAT debris, but the risk of serious injury from such an event remains extremely remote.
Originally, the dead satellite was projected to fall to Earth in November, but refined estimates show that the spacecraft will likely make its fiery descent through the atmosphere later this week ? earlier than mission controllers previously thought. [6 Biggest Uncontrolled Spacecraft Falls From Space]
"With satellites like ROSAT, you depend on external circumstances," Woerner said. "For instance, solar wind and changes in the atmosphere may change the time of re-entry. We just have to wait and observe."
ROSAT was launched in June 1990 as a joint venture between Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In 1998, the satellite's star tracker failed, which caused its onboard camera to be directly pointed at the sun. This permanently damaged the spacecraft, and ROSAT was officially decommissioned in February 1999.
Since the satellite does not have a propulsion system, and there is no fuel left onboard, the satellite will make an uncontrolled return to Earth.
"We expect public attention because it's a satellite coming down, but in history, we have had much bigger debris fall," Woerner said.
On Sept. 24, NASA's UARS satellite fell uncontrolled toward Earth and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. The event captured the attention of people around the world, and ROSAT's impending re-entry will mark the second time a large spacecraft makes a publicized fall from space within two months.
Officials at Germany's space agency studied NASA and the U.S. Air Force's response to the falling UARS satellite in order to prepare for ROSAT's final return to Earth.
"For us, it was an advantage that UARS fell before," Woerner said. "We know now a little better how to interpret all the data and use the global network. It was an advantage that the satellite came down before so that now we can look at how to deal with ROSAT and how we deal with this in the future."
You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Avengers Trailer reaches 10 Million Downloads
You really loved 'The Avengers' trailer. In 24 hours following its debut on Tuesday, the promotional clip for the Joss Whedon-directed film was downloaded 10 million times on iTunes. That breaks the previous record for Apple downloads, and likely points to a ridiculous box-office haul for 'The Avengers' next May. That's something Disney and Paramount can get behind!
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Cobie Smulders, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, 'The Avengers' hits theaters on May 4, 2012.
[via Press Release]
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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1923758/news/1923758/
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Romney's rise challenges tea party's clout in GOP (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Mitt Romney's early success in the Republican presidential race is challenging the tea party's clout. Will it continue to pull the GOP sharply right? Will it slowly fade? Or merge with mainstream Republican elements in a nod to pragmatism, something it's hardly known for?
On the surface, Romney's strength seems at odds with the tea party's fiery success in ousting Republicans seen as compromisers, and in making the House GOP caucus more ideological, even when its leaders plead for flexibility.
Romney defends the government's 2008 bank bailouts, plus the mandated health insurance he initiated as Massachusetts governor. He says he can work with "good Democrats." Although he later changed, Romney once supported abortion rights, gun control and gay rights.
These positions run counter to the beliefs and goals of many tea party activists scattered throughout the country. Yet Romney is faring better in polls, fundraising and debates than are contenders with stronger tea party credentials, including Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry.
Several Republican strategists, and even some tea party leaders, say they aren't surprised or alarmed. Their overarching goal is to defeat President Barack Obama next year, they say, and if Romney is best-positioned to do that, they'll endure his shortcomings.
"The perception that tea partyers are ideological purists is wrong," said Sal Russo, a long-time Republican strategist in California and a leader of the Tea Party Express. "We are a broad-based movement," he said, "and we are looking to win in 2012."
Danny Diaz, a Washington-based Republican strategist unaligned with any presidential candidates, agrees.
"The tea party movement is an anti-Washington movement," he said. While Perry and Herman Cain might make a more dynamic claim to that mantle, he said, Romney has never lived in Washington, and tea party activists won't rule him out.
"Many of them are pragmatists," Diaz said. They desperately want to oust Obama, he said, and "they need a candidate that's electable."
A CBS-New York Times poll found that tea partyers are more satisfied with the GOP presidential field than are Republicans in general. Cain was the top choice among tea party activists, with Romney second.
Some campaign veterans see bigger problems ahead for Romney.
Polls of Republicans show Romney holding steady at about 25 percent, while Bachmann, Perry and Cain take turns making surges. "That tells me that 75 percent of the primary voters would really rather have someone else," said GOP lobbyist and consultant Mike McKenna.
Many tea party activists have little or no loyalty to the Republican Party, and McKenna predicts big problems next year if they feel their conservative values were sacrificed for political expediency. "Romney would cause enormous numbers of tea party-type voters to simply not show on game day," he said.
The chief question, he said, "is whether one candidate will be able to aggregate the anti-Romney Republicans before it is too late." Perry seems the likeliest choice, McKenna said, "but the clock is ticking."
Jenny Beth Martin of Atlanta, who is active with Tea Party Patriots, said several groups are having informal talks about whether they should try to coalesce behind an alternative to Romney. Tea partyers cherish their independence, she said, and "over the next eight to 10 weeks, it'll be interesting to see how it all shapes up."
Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh repeatedly criticized Romney on his radio show last week. "Romney is not a conservative," he said. "The Republican base doesn't want Romney."
For now, Romney seems willing to run some risks, hoping to attract independent voters who will be crucial in the 2012 general election.
In last week's debate in New Hampshire, Romney defended President George W. Bush's 2008 decision to spend billions to rescue banks teetering on collapse, partly because of disastrous home loans. The action was meant not just to save banks, Romney said, "but to keep the entire currency of the country worth something and to keep all the banks from closing and to make sure we didn't all lose our jobs."
Many conservatives despise the bailout, known as TARP, for Troubled Asset Relief Program. In one of their first political victories, tea party activists in Utah chanted "TARP, TARP" at then-Sen. Robert Bennett as they bounced him from the GOP ticket at a 2010 party convention. Bennett, a three-term senator with solid conservative credentials, had voted for the program.
Nonetheless, there was little commentary about Romney's TARP comments after Tuesday's debate, which focused largely on Cain's tax overhaul plan.
It may take hard-hitting TV ads to drive a bigger wedge between Romney and tea partyers, something the well-financed Perry might try soon. Such ads could go into detail, with heavy repetition, about Romney's Massachusetts health care plan, which was a partial model for Obama's 2010 federal overhaul.
Virginia-based Republican strategist Chris LaCivita says the tea party's deliberately decentralized nature makes it ill-suited to play a big role in presidential politics.
"The tea party's strength was always a state-driven or congressional district-driven level," he said. It can continue to influence targeted contests that draw comparatively small turnouts, such as the Utah GOP convention that drummed Bennett out of the party.
Moreover, LaCivita said, the tea party might choke on its own success. If it appears more like the Republican mainstream, he said, it's because tea partyers have shifted that mainstream to the right.
Largely because of their clout in the 2010 elections, LaCivita said, these activists have "changed the conversation, not only among Republicans, but everybody in Washington. Who'd have thought the Democrats would be leading with spending cuts" in deficit-reduction talks?
Those ongoing negotiations, however, could renew tensions between tea party-affiliated House Republicans and the party's more established leaders, including Speaker John Boehner. If presidential candidates are pressed for their views, Romney might find it difficult to keep appealing to independents without antagonizing tea partyers.
The Republican Party "still hasn't resolved all of its ideological internal conflicts," said John Feehery, a top aide to then-Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. "But they have agreed that they don't like Obama," he said.
Their level of intensity may determine whether Romney can keep prospering against rivals who boast stronger tea party ties.
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G-20 considers boosting IMF role in eurozone
Participants of the G20 Finance pose during a group photo at the French finance ministry in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world's leading economies are gathering in Paris to discuss how to save Greece from bankruptcy, beat a path out of Europe's wider debt crisis and restart global economic growth.. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Participants of the G20 Finance pose during a group photo at the French finance ministry in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world's leading economies are gathering in Paris to discuss how to save Greece from bankruptcy, beat a path out of Europe's wider debt crisis and restart global economic growth.. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
G20 finance ministers are gathered for a group picture at the French finance ministry in Paris, Saturday Oct. 15, 2011. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world's leading economies are gathering in Paris to discuss how to save Greece from bankruptcy, beat a path out of Europe's wider debt crisis and restart global economic growth. First row from left: China's Xie Xuren, Germany's Wolfgang Schauble, France's Francois Baroin. Second row from left: Brazil's Guido Mantega, Canada's Jim Flaherty, Japan's Jun Azumi. Third row: Mexico's central bank governor Agustin Carstens, Britain's central bank governor Mervyn King, Japan central bank governor Masaaki Shirakawa, Canada central bank governor Mark Carney. Last row: Australia central bank governor Glenn Stevens, Turkey central bank governor Erdem Basci, Indonesia central bank governor Darmin Nasution, and US central bank's Janet Yellen.(AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
Front row left to right, German's Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, France's Finance Minister, Francois Baroin, American Finance Minister, Tomothy Geithner, 2nd row let to right, Brazilian's Finance Minister, Guido Mantega, Canada's Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, Japan's Finance Minister, Jun Azumi, Italian's Finance Minister, Giulio Tremonti, pose during a group photo at French finance ministry in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world's leading economies are gathering in Paris to discuss how to save Greece from bankruptcy, beat a path out of Europe's wider debt crisis and restart global economic growth.. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, left, speaks with French central bank governor Christian Noyer, during the group picture at the French finance ministry in Paris, Saturday Oct. 15, 2011. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world's leading economies are gathering in Paris to discuss how to save Greece from bankruptcy, beat a path out of Europe's wider debt crisis and restart global economic growth(AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
PARIS (AP) ? The finance chiefs of the world's leading economies opened the door Saturday for the International Monetary Fund to play a bigger role in fighting the eurozone's escalating debt troubles.
The Group of 20 rich and developing nations asked the IMF to propose ways that it could help stop countries under severe market pressure from toppling into a full-blown crisis with potential global repercussions.
The move appeared aimed at Italy and Spain, the eurozone's third and fourth largest economies, which have seen their funding costs spike amid growing worries over the currency union's stability. The rest of Europe cannot afford to bail out Spain or Italy should they run out of money.
Until now, the IMF has funded about a third of the bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal, but helping the eurozone to stem contagion beyond those countries would require a broader use of resources that would go far beyond the fund's traditional role of providing rescue loans to cash-strapped governments.
But while acknowledging that the IMF has a role to play in containing the continent's debt problems, G-20 ministers made clear Saturday that Europe must first come up with its own solutions.
"Of course, even though the world has a big stake in Europe doing this effectively, Europe itself has the strongest interest," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told reporters after a two-day meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Paris.
"I think they've come to recognize that, if you underdo it, it's going to be more expensive."
Eurozone ministers sketched out a plan to their counterparts on Saturday and have promised that it will restore confidence in Europe and its banks when they unveil it next weekend.
At their Oct. 23 summit in Brussels, European leaders are expected to sign off on a scheme to maximize the impact of their ?440 billion ($600 billion) bailout fund, a plan to recapitalize banks across the continent to ensure they can withstand worsening market turmoil, and a second bailout for Greece.
Part of an effort to shore up shaky countries on the continent may include a bigger role for the IMF, too.
"What has been asked of us is instruments that are more flexible, more short term, that allow countries in good economic health but in difficulty to resist," the IMF's managing director Christine Lagarde said.
She said G-20 leaders would consider the new tools at their summit in Cannes, France, early next month.
The IMF's investigation of new instruments reflects the extent to which the eurozone's debt crisis has affected the rest of the global economy.
"We heard loud and clear that the emerging markets in particular were very concerned about the risk of contagion from advanced economies to emerging markets and to low-income countries," Lagarde said.
The G-20 also committed to making sure that the IMF has the resources it needs to stabilize the world economy, indicating that an increase in its funding was possible. But there is resistance to such a move.
Geithner, for instance, stressed that the IMF, with $390 billion on hand, didn't need any more funding, although he said the IMF should continue to play its important role in containing the turmoil.
"That is a very, very substantial amount of financial firepower," he said. After Europe unveils its plan, "if there's a case for more use of the IMF's existing resources, we'd be supportive of that."
In discussing the requested list of tools, Lagarde said the IMF's efforts would focus on "short-term liquidity instruments available to what we call the 'non-consenting' victims of the economic crisis."
She gave the example of precautionary credit lines the IMF offered to several countries after the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008, and said the new tools could go in a similar direction.
Precautionary credit lines are linked to fewer conditions than traditional IMF rescue loans that come only in return for radical economic reforms and painful budget cuts. That's why they would be aimed at countries that are fundamentally in decent health, but suffering from increased risk-adversity among investors.
Such flexible short-term loans could help Italy and Spain if they had to come up with billions of euros to recapitalize their banks, also reassuring private investors that they will get their money back.
___
AP Business Writer Greg Keller contributed to this report.
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Monday, October 17, 2011
Occupy Wall Street reaches 1-month birthday
Volunteers organize supplies that fill an unused storage space donated by the United Federation of Teachers to support the camp of Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/David Karp)
Volunteers organize supplies that fill an unused storage space donated by the United Federation of Teachers to support the camp of Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/David Karp)
Volunteers organize supplies that fill an unused storage space donated by the United Federation of Teachers to support the camp of Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/David Karp)
Hip Hop Mogul Russell Simmons, right, listens to a protester at the camp for the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in New York, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/David Karp)
Chicago Police arrest protesters at the Global Day of Occupation-Chicago March to Michigan and Congress, early Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Chicago. Police arrested 175 members of a group protesting corporate greed early Sunday after they refused to take down their tents and leave a city park when it closed. (AP Photo/Chicago Sun-Times, Scott Stewart) CHICAGO LOCALS OUT; MAGS OUT
In this photo taken Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011, protesters take part in a march and rally at Michigan and Congress in Chicago for the Global Day of Occupation. About 2,000 people participated Saturday in an Occupy Chicago demonstration, and about 500 pitched tents in Congress Plaza that evening. Chicago police say the protesters were told to remove their tents and leave the park when it closed at 11 p.m. When they didn't, police began cutting down the tents and making arrests. (AP Photo/Chicago Sun-Times, Scott Stewart) CHICAGO LOCALS OUT; MAGS OUT
NEW YORK (AP) ? The month-old Occupy Wall Street movement continues to grow, with nearly $300,000 in the bank and participants finding satisfaction in the widening impact they hope will counter the influence on society by those who hold the purse strings of the world's economies.
The expanding occupation of land once limited to a small Manhattan park in the shadow of the rising World Trade Center complex continued through the weekend, with hundreds of thousands of people rallying around the world and numerous encampments springing up in cities large and small.
For the most part, the protest action remained loosely organized and there were no specific demands, something Legba Carrefour, a participant in the Occupy D.C. protest, found comforting on Sunday.
"When movements come up with specific demands, they cease to be movements and transform into political campaign rallies," said Carrefour, who works as a coat check attendant despite holding a master's degree in cultural studies. "It's compelling a lot of people to come out for their own reasons rather than the reasons that someone else has given to them."
The demonstrations worldwide have emboldened those camped out at Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of the movement that began a month ago Monday. But there is conflict too. Some protesters eventually want the movement to rally around a goal, while others insist that isn't the point.
"We're moving fast, without a hierarchical structure and lots of gears turning," said Justin Strekal, a college student and political organizer who traveled from Cleveland to New York to help. "... Egos are clashing, but this is participatory democracy in a little park."
Even if the protesters were barred from camping in Zuccotti Park, as the property owner and the city briefly threatened to do last week, the movement would continue, Strekal said.
Wall Street protesters are intent on building on momentum gained from Saturday's worldwide demonstrations, which drew hundreds of thousands of people, mostly in the U.S. and Europe.
Nearly $300,000 in cash has been donated through the movement's website and by visitors to the park, said Bill Dobbs, a press liaison for Occupy Wall Street. The movement has an account at Amalgamated Bank, which bills itself as "the only 100 percent union-owned bank in the United States."
Donated goods ranging from blankets and sleeping bags to cans of food and medical and hygienic supplies are being stored in a cavernous space donated by the United Federation of Teachers, which has offices in the building a block from Wall Street near the private park protesters occupy.
Among the items are 20 pairs of swimming goggles (to shield protesters from pepper-spray attacks). Supporters are shipping about 300 boxes a day, many with notes and letters, Strekal said.
"Some are heartwrenching, beautiful," and come from people who have lost jobs and houses, he said. "So they send what they can, even if it's small."
Strekal said donated goods, stored for a "long-term occupation," have been used to create "Jail Support" kits consisting of a blanket, a granola bar and sanitary wipes for arrested protesters to receive when they are freed.
The movement has become an issue in the Republican presidential primary race and beyond, with politicians from both parties under pressure to weigh in.
President Barack Obama referred to the protests at Sunday's dedication of a monument for Martin Luther King Jr., saying the civil rights leader "would want us to challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing those who work there."
Many of the largest of Saturday's protests were in Europe, where those involved in long-running demonstrations against austerity measures declared common cause with the Occupy Wall Street movement. In Rome, hundreds of rioters infiltrated a march by tens of thousands of demonstrators, causing what the mayor estimated was at least ?1 million ($1.4 million) in damage to city property.
U.S. cities large and small were "occupied" over the weekend: Washington, D.C., Fairbanks, Alaska, Burlington, Vt., Rapid City, S.D., and Cheyenne, Wyo. were just a few. In Cincinnati, protesters were even invited to take pictures with a couple getting married; the bride and groom are Occupied Cincinnati supporters.
More than 70 New York protesters were arrested Saturday, more than 40 of them in Times Square. About 175 people were arrested in Chicago after they refused to leave a park where they were camped late Saturday, and there were about 100 arrests in Arizona ? 53 in Tucson and 46 in Phoenix ? after protesters refused police orders to disperse. About two dozen people were arrested in Denver, and in Sacramento, Calif., anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was among about 20 people arrested after failing to follow police orders to disperse.
Activists around the country said Saturday's protests energized their movement.
"It's an upward trajectory," said John St. Lawrence, a Florida real estate lawyer who took part in Saturday's Occupy Orlando protest, which drew more than 1,500 people. "It's catching people's imagination and also, knock on wood, nothing sort of negative or discrediting has happened."
St. Lawrence is among those unconcerned that the movement has not rallied around any particular proposal.
"I don't think the underlying theme is a mystery," he said. "We saw what the banks and financial institutions did to the economy. We bailed them out. And then they went about evicting people from their homes," he said.
In Richmond, Va., about 75 people gathered Sunday for one of the "general assembly" meetings that are a key part of the movement's consensus-building process. Protester Whitney Whiting, a video editor, said the process has helped "gather voices" about Americans' discontent.
"In regards to a singular issue or a singular focus, I think that will come eventually. But right now we have to set up a space for that to happen," Whiting said.
Some U.S. protesters, like those in Europe, have their own causes. Unions that have joined forces with the movement have demands of their own, and on Sunday members of the newly formed Occupy Pittsburgh group demanded that Bank of New York Mellon Corp. pay back money they allege it overcharged public pension funds around the country.
New York's attorney general and New York City sued BNY Mellon this month, accusing it of defrauding clients in foreign currency exchange transactions that generated nearly $2 billion over 10 years. The company has vowed to fight the lawsuit and had no comment about the protesters' allegation about pensions.
Lisa Deaton, a tea party leader from southern Indiana, said she sees similarities between how the tea party movement and the Wall Street protests began: "We got up and we wanted to vent."
But the critical step, she said, was taking that emotion and focusing it toward changing government.
The first rally she organized drew more than 2,500 people, but afterward, "it was like, 'What do we do?'" she said. "You can't have a concert every weekend."
___
Associated Press writers Suzette Laboy in Miami, Steve Szkotak in Richmond, Va., Kevin Begos in Pittsburgh, Laurie Kellman and Stacy A. Anderson in Washington, Tom LoBianco in Indianapolis, Sophia Tareen and Carla K. Johnson in Chicago contributed to this report.
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