Rosie O’Donnell has been forced to delay her wedding to Michelle Rounds, for a terribly sad reason: Rounds has been diagnosed with aggressive fibromatoses, a rare onset of desmoid tumors that first cropped up on Mother’s Day when she awoke with “pain that [wouldn’t] let up,” according to Rosie’s new blog entry . It took awhile for doctors to determine her loved one’s ailment, O’Donnell added, writing of how the couple felt at the time: “We wander thru the maze of medical mystery confused – scared . . .undiagnosed – again and again, her pain grew worse. It seemed impossible no one knew what was wrong.” Finally, the proper diagnosis was made – there are only 900 new cases of the disease each year in the U.S. – and Rounds underwent surgery in June. Rosie says she’s “getting stronger every day.” The couple, who got engaged in December , will now get married next summer. In lieu of gifts, they ask for donations to be made to the Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation.
Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day Huge Hit With Neo-Nazis And Black Conservatives So much for boycotts… Chick-Fil-A’s across the country were flooded Wednesday with support from chicken lovers who support Dan Cathy’s stance on gay matrimony-dom who came out to dine on the franchise’s “Appreciation Day”: American neo-Nazis and some top black conservatives have found rare common ground — over Chick-fil-A’s stand against gay marriage. The two sides rallied around “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day,” during which patrons — and protesters — swarmed restaurants Wednesday in response to the company’s support for “the Biblical definition of the family unit.” Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy’s recent comments have sparked a new front in the culture war over gay marriage, and led Democratic mayors Rahm Emanuel of Chicago and Tom Menino of Boston to declare that the company is not welcome in their cities. In response, ex-Arkansas Governor and 2008 GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, now a Fox News host, called on viewers to eat at one of the fast-food joints Wednesday to show support. One member of the skinhead Internet forum Crew38 was already there, according to the SITE Monitoring service, which tracks extremists online. “I had Chick-fil-A today for lunch and it was delicious and non-gay … just how I like it,” one member wrote. Members of the Project 21 black leadership network, a branch of the conservative National Center for Public Policy Research, also backed Huckabee’s call to dine at Chick-fil-A. “Being against gay marriage is not being anti-gay,” said Project 21 member Demetrius Minor. “The last time I checked, Chick-fil-A wasn’t expressing a desire for gays not to eat at their restaurants or seek employment with them.” Both groups rapped the progressive left as hypocritical, alleging it espouses tolerance while not tolerating conflicting views. There’s just one Chick-fil-A in New York City — on the campus of New York University. Mayor Bloomberg, while not an opponent of gay marriage, has sided with civil libertarians, who argued that businesses have a First Amendment right to operate where they choose regardless of management’s opinions on social issues. More than 630,000 visitors pledged online to participate in Huckabee’s event, while his Facebook page included photos of lines snaking out of restaurants around the country. The privately held company would not, however, share sales figures for the day, Chick-fil-A spokeswoman Hannah Wagner told the Daily News. The company issued a statement Tuesday asserting its Bible-derived values but adding: “Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.” How long do you think this back and forth will continue? What side do you stand on? Do you agree that the left has been hypocritical in not allowing the other side to express their views freely? Source Photo Credit: Twitter
A year after he put “birther” rumors to rest by releasing his birth certificate , President Obama’s background is back in the news again … with a twist. An old bio of Obama from his former literary agent says he was born in Kenya, renewing debate over the authenticity of his own account(s) of his past. You could essentially call this “reverse birtherism.” In 2011, Obama proved born in the U.S., but did he lie in the past about being Kenyan-born to craft a more exotic, interesting-sounding background? According to a booklet produced by Acton & Dystel, to showcase its roster of writers, Obama was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.” Obama’s former literary agency says they merely misidentified his birthplace as Kenya while trying to promote the then-Harvard Law grad in 1991. Miriam Goderich edited the text of the bio; she is now a partner at the Dystel & Goderich agency, which lists Obama as one of its current clients. “This was nothing more than a fact checking error by me – an agency assistant at the time,” Goderich wrote in an emailed statement to Yahoo News. “There was never any information given to us by Obama suggesting he was born in Kenya and not Hawaii … [it was] a simple mistake and nothing more.” Breitbart.com, the site founded by the late Andrew Breitbart, broke this story as part of ” The Vetting ,” its ongoing series about Obama’s past. Breitbart died in March, shockingly at age 43, but beforehand, he set out to do what he felt mainstream media would not during the 2008 election. Essentially, that being to ask tough questions about Obama’s background, rather than accepting the Presidential candidate’s two memoirs as gospel. Breitbart.com published a lengthy disclaimer with the brochure and this story, saying it does not believe Obama was actually born outside of the U.S.: “Andrew Breitbart was never a ‘Birther,’ and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of ‘Birtherism,'” the site clarified. “In fact, Andrew believed, as we do, that President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961. Yet Andrew also believed that the complicit mainstream media had refused to examine President Obama’s ideological past, or the carefully crafted persona he and his advisers had constructed for him.” “It is for that reason that we launched The Vetting, an ongoing series in which we explore the ideological background of President Obama (and other candidates) – not to re-litigate 2008, but because ideas and actions have consequences.” “It is also in that spirit that we discovered, and now present, the booklet described below – one that includes a marketing pitch for a forthcoming book by a then-young, otherwise unknown former president of the Harvard Law Review.” “It is evidence – not of the President’s foreign origin, but that Barack Obama’s public persona has perhaps been presented differently at different times.” While this publication will no doubt fuel “birthers” who refuse to believe Obama was born in the U.S., but the point is actually entirely separate. Is it really possible that the full bio below would never have been proofread by Obama in the 16 years it was used (it was corrected in 2007)? Make of it what you want, but if that’s an error, as the publisher claims, it’s a pretty bad one, and raises some rather legitimate questions. We cannot know whether the publisher and/or Obama himself were aware of the error, but the idea that one or both allowed the “mistake” to slide to make his biography more compelling is not entirely far-fetched. The broader questions: Has Obama’s biography, which also included a “composite” of past girlfriends (one of which was Genevieve Cook ) shifted to meet his needs over time? If so, what are the implications of that on his ability to be President? Does it make him different from any other politician? Does that matter? Here’s Obama’s full bio from the 1991 brochure: Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii. The son of an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister, he attended Columbia University and worked as a financial journalist and editor for Business International Corporation. He served as project coordinator in Harlem for the New York Public Interest Research Group, and was Executive Director of the Developing Communities Project in Chicago’s South Side. His commitment to social and racial issues will be evident in his first book, Journeys in Black and White . NOTE: This report is NOT connected to the new book about Obama, called The Amateur by Ed Klein. A story about Obama’s near-divorce , excerpted from that new and unauthorized biography, surfaced late last week.
27th April 2012 Dear Take the Flour Back, We have learned that you are planning to attack our research test site on 27th May. Please read the following in the spirit of openness and dialogue – we know we cannot stop you from taking the action you plan, nor would we wish to see force used against you. Therefore we can only appeal to your consciences, and ask you to reconsider before it is too late,… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : RichardDawkins.net Discovery Date : 02/05/2012 01:00 Number of articles : 2
27th April 2012 Dear Take the Flour Back, We have learned that you are planning to attack our research test site on 27th May. Please read the following in the spirit of openness and dialogue – we know we cannot stop you from taking the action you plan, nor would we wish to see force used against you. Therefore we can only appeal to your consciences, and ask you to reconsider before it is too late,… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : RichardDawkins.net Discovery Date : 02/05/2012 01:00 Number of articles : 2
Filmmaker Jim Geduldick got hold of a Phantom Miro M120 super-slo-mo camera and decided to put it to the test. The small-bodied camera can record a staggering 730fps at a full resolution of 1920 x 1200, but can go as 200,000fps if you aren’t too fussed about image quality. After the break we’ve got the video that’ll make you rush excitedly to the Vision Research website, only to find that prices start… Broadcasting platform : Vimeo Source : Engadget Discovery Date : 02/05/2012 12:22 Number of articles : 2
Early chatter indicates a film in the vein of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ with both farcical and ‘full-bodied horror’ elements. By John Mitchell Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer in “Dark Shadows” Photo: Warner Bros. The death of actor Jonathan Frid , the original Barnabas Collins, makes this a sad week in the “Dark Shadows” -verse. The 87-year-old, classically trained actor passed away at a hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, on April 13 after a fall at his home. Frid cameos in Tim Burton’s big-screen adaptation of the ’60s soap opera, which hits theaters on May 11. It will be his final screen appearance. “Jonathan Frid was the reason I used to run home from school to watch ‘Dark Shadows,’ ” the film’s star, Johnny Depp, told the LA Times in an e-mail from the Arizona set of “The Lone Ranger.” “His elegance and grace was an inspiration then and will continue to remain one forever more. When I had the honor to finally meet him … [he] generously passed the torch of Barnabas.” We hope Frid, who maintained a long, loving and appreciative relationship with “Shadows” fans , had a chance to see at least a rough cut of the anticipated flick. Some early reviews trickling out indicate it is quite different from what the trailers, TV commercials and print advertisements would have us think. Two weeks back, after hearing Burton regular Danny Elfman’s menacing score and noting that it in no way lined up with the gonzo comedy the trailer seemed to be selling, we wondered if maybe the clip was cut to appeal to the broadest possible audience without much regard for the tone of the film itself. After all, a Gothic horror-comedy with a deep and dramatic back story is a much harder sell than a broad and cartoonish farce about an 18th Century vamp trying to get used to the electronic contraptions, female doctors and cars of the 1970s. If the early buzz is any indication, we were right. In a series of tweets (which have since been pulled down; lucky for us others cleverly snapped them up ), Entertainment Weekly senior writer Anthony Breznican, who has seen the movie, shared his thoughts and they reveal a more complex and ambitious film that is alternately dark and absurd (in what sounds like a great way). “I’ve seen final cut of ‘Dark Shadows.’ Tone similar to Burton and Depp’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’ — lots of humor, but with menacing, atmospheric edge,” Breznican wrote . “In ‘Dark Shadows,’ there’s an absurdist bent to the monster element. The creatures of the night are adrift in the self-obsessed world of 1970s … In typical Burton fashion, humans are scarier than the fiends. If u want ‘Interview w the Vampire,’ that movie exists. This is a more wry take.” Most telling though, Breznican wrote, “If you dig screenwriter [Seth Grahame-Smith’s] style w Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter then ‘Dark Shadows’ will be to your liking, too.” Grahame-Smith is a master of mixing comedy and drama with thrills and chills, as his books “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” display. It’s a fact seconded by an anonymous source from Hollywood Elsewhere , who’s also seen the film. “While it has ‘Beetlejuice’ elements, this is not a broad comedy. It’s a gothic romance with strong farcical elements, but the trailer makes it seem like ‘Love at First Bite’ and it definitely is not,” Hollywood Elsewhere wrote. “The anachronism-based humor does work quite well. The film is funny, but it also has full-bodied horror elements,” the tipster continued. “In short, there’s more of the Burton ‘Sweeney Todd’ than the trailer implies. This is not Burton’s ‘Addams Family,’ but a successful amalgamation of his comedic and gothic horror styles.” The tipster also adds that three-time Oscar nominee Michelle Pfeiffer is a standout, calling her performances as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard “her strongest work in years.” So there you have it. Fans of the show can breathe a sigh of relief, because it’s sounding more and more like justice has been done to their beloved cult soap opera. Burton maniacs can go back to being excited for his return to the darker, more Gothic terrain where he’s done his best and most interesting work. My “The Fabulous Baker Boys,””Dangerous Liaisons,” “The Age of Innocence,” “One Fine Day,” “White Oleander” and “Stardust” all-day Saturday marathon can proceed as scheduled. And, of course, the talented Jonathan Frid’s final screen appearance will be a fitting and appropriate return to the story he seemed to love so much. Fans of the show, does buzz that the film has a darker side than we’re seeing in the ads make you feel any better? Let us know in the comments below and tweet me at @JohnMitchell83 with your thoughts and suggestions for future columns! comments! Check out everything we’ve got on “Dark Shadows.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
Director Jay Roach tells MTV News the comedy takes win-at-all-costs politics to an ‘absurd degree.’ By Kevin P. Sullivan Zach Galifanakis and Will Ferrell in “The Campaign” Photo: Warner Bros For the past few years, Jay Roach , the director of the “Austin Powers” series, has alternated between making comedies and true-life political films for HBO. His latest effort, “The Campaign,” combines those two very different genres. In “The Campaign,” which hits theaters on August 10 Will Ferrell plays a popular incumbent North Carolina congressman who suffers a scandal and faces a political opponent for the first time in year, played by Zach Galifianakis . We spoke with Roach for our Summer Movie Preview and learned just how ridiculous politics can be and what it’s like to have Ferrell and Galifianakis on set together. MTV : You’ve been switching between political films and comedies recently. What’s it like to combine the two? Jay Roach : That’s been an enjoyable part of this one. I’ve been working on some more serious films at HBO, but Will and Zach and Adam McKay came up with this idea and asked me to get involved about two guys running against each other for a congressional seat and mentioned that it would mostly be about how the win-at-all-costs approach to politics these days could be taken to an absurd degree. It might be funny. I pictured those two guys, Zach and Will. I’ve worked with both of them briefly on other films, and the idea of those two going up against each other in a super, super negative campaigning situation made me laugh. It would be a chance to delve back into some of the political issues but in a very comedic format. MTV : Do you find politics funny? Roach : It’s funny, but it’s painful. It’s painful that it does get absurd. There’s definitely humor, but when you’re doing it about real-life situations, it makes me anxious. It’s uncomfortable. I spent a fair amount of time to put people back into uncomfortable situations that they, in a certain way, wish to avoid because they already happened. I’m trying not to let them forget about them. It’s a painful thing to ask the audience to go through. It’s a little therapeutic in a different way to laugh through it, as opposed to cry through, because I found myself crying through the other stories. This one, I’m laughing. MTV : Did doing those political films before help you make this political comedy? Roach : It did help that I had a little bit of a background and had done a little bit of research. I’m still very na
‘Against all odds we won 11 states,’ Santorum said on Tuesday (April 10). By Gil Kaufman Rick Santorum at his press conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Photo: Jeff Swensen/ Getty Images After an improbable run that boosted him from a barely-considered fringe candidate a year ago to the last man standing to rival Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum announced he was suspending his campaign on Tuesday (April 10). “We made the decision to get into this race at our kitchen table against all the odds and we made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over, for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting,” he said. The 12-minute afternoon press conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania featured Santorum surrounded by his family and backed by a flag as he re-iterated many of the themes of his campaign: the rebirth of American manufacturing, reforming Washington and a return to conservative values. “Against all odds we won 11 states, millions of voters, millions of votes,” he said. “We won more counties than all the other people in this race combined.” With his emphasis on American manufacturing front-and-center to the end, Santorum even joked about his now-infamous sweater vests, noting that he sourced them from an American company, Minnesota’s Bemidji Woolen Mills. The suspension removed the last major obstacle to Romney’s bid to become the uncontested front-runner in the race, paving the way for him to focus full-time on attacking President Obama. Santorum had positioned himself as the only true conservative left in the GOP field, sitting way behind the pack for much of 2011 as a wide field of other candidates, and would-be candidates, rose and fell before him, including Donald Trump, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. In late 2011, he caught fire unexpectedly, though, narrowly winning the Iowa caucus (after the fact), then winning 10 more states along the way, despite being vastly outspent and outmanned by Romney at every stop. The press conference came a day after three-year-old daughter Isabella was released from the hospital following her latest health scare, which took place on Friday and kept the family by her side all of Easter weekend. Bella suffers from the genetic condition Trisomy 18 and her hospitalization resulted in Santorum canceling his campaign events on Monday and Tuesday and speculation that he might be considering a suspension of his efforts. Romney released a statement praising his one-time foe, saying, “Senator Santorum is an able and worthy competitor, and I congratulate him on the campaign he ran. He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation. We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity.” Though the men traded harsh barbs during the campaign, it is expected that Santorum will fall in line and throw his support behind Romney in a bid to deny Obama a second term. With polls showing that he was on track to possibly lose in the April 24 primary in his home state of Pennsylvania — which would have been embarrassing and possibly hurtful to his political future — Santorum’s exit leaves Romney with just two remaining challengers. At press time neither Gingrich nor Congressman Ron Paul appears to present much of a threat, as they are far behind in the delegate count and in fundraising. Gingrich, who has won two primaries, conceded over the weekend that Romney is “far and away the most likely” nominee; libertarian Paul has yet to win a primary. Like Santorum, Romney still faces a serious gap with Obama when it comes to young voters (18-29), 22 million of whom voted in 2008. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), Santorum was trailing among that demographic up until Super Tuesday, when his wins in the Alabama and Mississippi primaries helped vault him beyond youth-magnet Ron Paul. Even with that victory, though, Santorum still trailed Romney in terms of the overall youth vote count. Through Super Tuesday, the cumulative 2008 Democratic youth vote exceeded both the 2008 and 2012 count for the GOP, a figure that could prove important down the road for Romney. Current estimates have Romney with 645 of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination, with Santorum well behind at 252, Gingrich with 128 and Paul with 45. Romney still needs to reach the 1,144 figure to lock down the nomination, in addition to winning over the many still-unconvinced voters in the party’s conservative base. A Washington Post /ABC News poll released on Tuesday had Romney trailing Obama in a head-to-head race by a 51 to 44 percent margin. Stick with MTV’s Power of 12 throughout the presidential election season for updates and news from the campaigns. Related Videos Barnstorming The Iowa Caucus With Andrew Jenks Super Tuesday: MTV News Is On The Ground!
The latest Lost Planet 3 trailer which was revealed to the masses today will introduce Jim, a rig pilot who left earth to go on an extremely dangerous gig on E.D.N. III, and to make sure he is a willing participant, his bank account has been adequately compensated. Being an employee of Neo-Venus Construction (NEVEC), he is part of the team who are preparing the planet for colonization at the Coronis… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : übergizmo Discovery Date : 10/04/2012 15:41 Number of articles : 2
