Source: www.nytimes.com --- Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Highlights of 2011 included Richard Bean's "One Man, Two Guvnors" and a revisionist "Hamlet," starring Michael Sheen. ...
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The wildly volatile early stages of the Republican presidential race made it especially hard for pundits to see around corners this year ? particularly when the line between prognosticating and wishing seemed occasionally to disappear. Trying to gauge the impact of scandals also proved difficult. And a tragic crime caused some classic overreaction.
Here are the year?s biggest screw-ups from the commentariat.
Continue ReadingViolent right-wing rhetoric caused the Tucson shootings.
Jared Loughner is crazy. That?s the opinion of the experts who diagnosed him with schizophrenia, the judge who ruled in May that he was not mentally competent to stand trial, and many of the friends and family members who watched him stop making sense, stop being able to hold down a job and stop being able to relate to people in recent years.
These facts were not yet widely known on Jan. 8, the day that Loughner shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in the head and killed six others in Tucson, but that didn?t stop the country?s most prominent liberal commentators from drawing political meaning out of the act that very day.
Within hours of the shooting, Paul Krugman posted to his blog and Keith Olbermann demanded on the air that conservative figures like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin disavow their violent rhetoric.
Subsequent reporting suggested that Loughner was not engaged in partisan politics, and as Time magazine later put it in its look into Loughner?s mental state, ?In short, saying Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck caused Loughner?s actions is, to put it charitably, completely idiotic.?
Michele Bachmann will win the Republican nomination.
Bachmann?s moment at the top of the polls in Iowa may have been fleeting, but in midsummer it was convincing enough to inspire MSNBC?s Chris Matthews to make a bold prediction: She would beat Mitt Romney and win the Republican nomination for president.
Matthews told the live audience on ?Real Time With Bill Maher? in July, ?She?s my hero. She?s going all the way. She?s going to win this thing. I tell you right now, I predict she beats Romney. She?s going to beat him in New Hampshire.?
He pointed to Pat Buchanan?s performance in the state against George H.W. Bush and McCain?s victory over Romney last time around. ?I think you?re going to see a huge upset,? he predicted, because Bachmann has ?passion? and is ?not a fake.?
Current polling puts her in a single-digit fifth place in both Iowa and the nation ? and a 3.8 percent in New Hampshire, according to the Real Clear Politics average.
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TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japanese and Indian stocks outperformed the rest of Asia in thin trade Monday, with sentiment partly lifted by signs of U.S. economic recovery, although trading was subdued with many markets closed for Christmas holidays.
Tokyo's Nikkei stock average (.N225) ended up 1 percent, above its 25-day moving average of 8,459, while India's main 30-share BSE index (.BSESN) rose 1.14 percent, as investors sought holiday-season bargains.
But MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) slipped from a two-week high touched earlier in the day to trade down 0.1 percent.
U.S., European and some Asian markets including Hong Kong and Singapore were closed Monday.
Wall Street stocks rose Friday, with the broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) breaking through its 200-day moving average after a four-day rally lifted stocks to bring the index up 0.6 percent for the year at last week's close.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) rose to its highest in five months Friday.
"The Nikkei is moving with New York. The gains in the U.S. and Europe gave some sense of relief to markets," said Hajime Nakajima, a wholesale trader at Cosmo Securities in Osaka, Japan.
In a sign the markets may be stabilizing for the time being, the CBOE Volatility index VIX (.VIX) fell to 20.73 on Friday, near a five-month low, reflecting receding investor desire for protection in stock index options against future losses.
The VIX -- a measure of expected volatility in the S&P 500 over the next 30 days -- fell to its lowest since the global financial crisis of October 2008 at 14.3 earlier this year, before picking up to a year high of 48 in August. It has been slipping since hitting a high above 30 earlier this month.
CONCERN ON CHINA EARNINGS
The Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC) fell 0.5 percent on concerns over corporate earnings outlook, pushing below the psychologically important 2,200 level in light trading.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (.KS11) slid 0.6 percent on doubts over the euro zone debt crisis getting resolved.
"Program selling was the main drag on the index today, and despite the optimistic U.S. data, foreign investors aren't ready to re-enter the market in force as long as the (European Central Bank) isn't taking more concrete measures," said Lee Kyung-soo, a market analyst at Shinyoung Securities.
Investors will be looking for clues over the strength of the U.S. economy from data due this week, including the S&P Case-Shiller house price index for October and consumer confidence for December.
U.S. consumer spending growth was tepid and a gauge of business investment fell for a second month in November, data showed Friday, but recent labor and manufacturing figures implied a more-lasting and fundamental strengthening of the recovery.
The U.S. Congress Friday approved a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut that will preserve income for most Americans, supporting their purchases of goods and services and helping sentiment.
The euro was up 0.13 percent to $1.3060, well above its 11-month trough of $1.2945 hit earlier this month.
The latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed investors reduced their short euro positions slightly, potentially giving support to the single currency.
"Given a lack of factors to trade and low liquidity, activity is expected to be lackluster this week, but sluggish results of French and Italian government debt sales scheduled this week could pressure the euro amid an absence of progress in bolstering euro zone safety net," Barclays Capital said in a research note.
The 10-year Italian government debt yield stayed near 7 percent, above which many say is unsustainable for managing public finances and the economy, while 10-year Spanish government bond yield also stood at an elevated 5.40 percent.
Wariness about European banks' health and risks of another global credit crunch made banks reluctant to borrow to each other, pushing the London interbank offered rate for three-month dollars up further Friday to 0.57575 percent, its highest since early July 2009.
(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau and Mari Saito in Tokyo, and Joonhee Yu in Seoul; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
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Although the bay's herring spawning grounds are now free of toxic oil, studies have found that the moderate-size spill of 54,000 gallons had an unexpectedly large and lethal effect.
The culprit, a common type of ship fuel called "bunker fuel," appears to be especially toxic to fish embryos, particularly when exposed to sunlight, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"That's the big lesson," said John Incardona, a toxicologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. "This bunker oil is literally the dregs of the barrel, and it's much more toxic than crude oil."
The container ship Cosco Busan spilled low-grade bunker fuel after it sideswiped the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on a foggy November morning four years ago. This type of sludge-like fuel is cheap and thus popular among operators of commercial shipping fleets that transport raw materials and goods around the globe.
Scientists have traditionally focused on larger crude oil spills, such as last year's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico or 1989's Exxon Valdez tanker disaster, in which 11 million gallons of oil were discharged into Alaska's Prince William Sound. The Exxon spill is suspected of wiping out the sound's herring fishery, which has never bounced back.
From studies in Alaska, scientists knew that oil could cause heart deformities to developing herring in their embryonic sacs.
But after examining herring embryos placed in cages in shallow waters near the Cosco Busan spill site, researchers were surprised to find that nearly all had died, and their tissues were deteriorating faster than expected in the bay's chilly water.
"We didn't think there was enough oil spilled to cause this much damage," said Gary Cherr, a study coauthor and director of the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory. He described the total spill as similar in size to a large backyard swimming pool.
Oil and water don't mix. The fat-filled herring egg sacs can act like little sponges, soaking up the highly toxic compounds from the bunker fuel. Once exposed to sunlight during low tides, the oil compounds became even more lethal to developing fish.
"Bunker fuel is used worldwide and is spilled relatively often," Cherr said. "It is important to look at small spills in sensitive areas," he added, now that science understands the lethal potential of low concentrations.
The owners and operators of the Cosco Busan in September agreed to pay $44.4 million to cover government claims, the cost of the cleanup ? about half of the spilled oil was captured ? and bay restoration programs. Besides tarring about 30% of the bay's herring spawning grounds, the spill killed about 6,800 seabirds and closed beaches for months.
ken.weiss@latimes.com
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? 6th Circuit Issues Major Decision Addressing Volunteer Coverage Under Title VII | Main
The?Lodi News-Sentinel?reports that California Governor Jerry Brown has signed an anti-bullying bill ?into law that will create an anti-bullying system at all California schools. ?The bill, known as ?Seth?s Law,? requires school districts to institute anti-harassment policies and an online complaint procedure, with shorter timelines for investigating claims of bullying.?
Source:?Lodi News-Sentinel, 10/14/11, By Steven Mayer
?
December 27, 2011 | Permalink
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Who knows when they will be back again?
The ongoing NCAA investigation into Oregon's recruiting receded into the background during the Ducks' run to the first Pac-12 championship and a third straight appearance in a BCS bowl game.
But the NCAA investigators haven't gone away and, at some point, they are going to decide whether there is enough evidence to issue a notice of allegations.
The NCAA acted against Ohio State last week, taking away three scholarships from the Buckeyes for each of the next three recruiting classes and slapping them with a one-season ban on postseason play.
That means no Big 10 championship, and no bowl next year.
There was some teeth-gnashing in Columbus, Ohio, over the verdict, which is a little harsher than what the Buckeyes proposed for themselves. But, really, Ohio State didn't get off too badly.
Three scholarships a year is a small fraction of the allowable 85. It's nothing compared with the 10-per-year limitation USC faces for the next three years, NCAA penalties stemming from the Reggie Bush mess. USC's bowl ban, which has been served, was two years.
It's difficult to know what is in store for the Ducks. NCAA investigations are hush-hush, and really, you never know what the NCAA might do if we get around to the penalty phase.
For their part, the Ducks are revealing only that which state open records law forces them to reveal.
Oregon hired the law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King in March to conduct an internal investigation into the matter. According to a heavily-redacted invoice released after a records request from the Oregonian, the firm still was plugging away in November, conducting interviews and conferencing.
This has been going on since March, so clearly there has been plenty of ground to cover, possibly involving more than Houston-based talent scout Willie Lyles.
Remember, the allegations first surfaced about Lyles' mentorship of five-star recruit Lache Seastrunk. Seastrunk, from Temple, Texas signed with Oregon in 2010. Shortly thereafter, Oregon purchased a $25,000 national recruiting package from Complete Scouting Services, which was owned and operated by Lyles.
The materials received for the 25-grand were revealed to be largely outdated and useless. Lyles since has suggested that perhaps the Ducks were paying more for his access and influence than for his scouting service.
As it turns out, he had advisor/mentorship roles with a number of Texas prep players who turned up at Oregon, including Seastrunk, LaMichael James, Dontae Williams, Tra Carson and Marcus Davis. Lyles' connections with other schools, such as LSU and California, have also been called into question.
Documents made public by Oregon in response to records requests reveal a number of phone calls between Lyles and coaches and employees of the UO football program, particularly around important dates on the recruiting calendar. So there is plenty of smoke surrounding the Lyles-Oregon relationship.
But the documents, which include email exchanges, also reveal a cordial working relationship between the Bond, Schoeneck & King attorneys, UO administrators and the NCAA investigators. It appears from what we've been allowed to see, that Oregon is cooperating completely with the NCAA.
This is important. Greg Sankey, associate commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and a member of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions, said Ohio State "met its obligation to cooperate" with the NCAA.
By contrast, former USC athletic director Mike Garrett thumbed his nose at NCAA investigators.
In the end, the NCAA hit Ohio State with the charge of "failure to monitor" Jim Tressel's football program. USC was hammered with the more serious "lack of institutional control."
It doesn't take a genius to connect the dots and see that the NCAA slammed USC not only for rules violations, but also for not taking the NCAA rules and the school's obligation to enforce them seriously.
Oregon apparently is playing ball with the NCAA, which should count for something if and when the time comes.
But Ohio State played ball too, and next year the Buckeyes will be home for the holidays.
Ken Goe: 503-221-8040;
kgoe@oregonian.com
twitter.com/KenGoe
Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/12/oregon_insider_ohio_state_case.html
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Stephen Colbert to the GOP primary rescue? (Update: Guest editorial in The State) bit.ly/vnU5Pl 
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MOSCOW ? Rescue vessels and a helicopter are searching for five people missing in a fierce storm off Russia's east coast after a Cambodia-flagged ship sank early Sunday.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry said in a statement that it has recovered three bodies from the icy waters of the La Perouse Strait, which lies between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan.
The accident took place in the same waters in which a Russian floating oil rig capsized and sank last Sunday killing 17 people. Thirty-six people are still missing, feared dead.
Officials said five of the Cambodia-flagged ship's crew were Russian, and the others are Indonesian. Two of the dead have been identified as Russian nationals, and one remains unidentified.
The ship, named Ginga, was sailing through the Russian waters from a Japanese port. Russian news agencies reported that it was a fishing boat.
Emergencies Ministry representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Two trawlers, a Russian helicopter, a rescue vessel, two steamboats and a Japanese maritime safety department ship were conducting the search. Efforts were hampered by strong winds and meters-high waves.
Nikolay Sukhanov, a top official from Russia's Sailors Union, told RIA Novosti that he thought that the size of the crew, its flag and route could suggest that the ship was poaching in the waters on the Russian-Japanese maritime border.
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Next phase of Oil Well Road widening under way in Golden Gate Estates dlvr.it/122RGD 
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PACHUCA, Mexico ? Three U.S. citizens traveling to spend the holidays with their relatives in Mexico were among those killed in a spree of shooting attacks on buses in northern Mexico, authorities from both countries said Friday.
A group of five gunmen attacked three buses in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Veracruz on Thursday, killing a total of seven passengers in what authorities said appeared to be a violent robbery spree.
The Americans killed were a mother and her two daughters who were returning to visit relatives in the region, known as the Huasteca, said an official in the neighboring state of Hidalgo, where the mother was born.
Hidalgo state regional assistant secretary Jorge Rocha identified the dead U.S. mother as Maria Sanchez Hernandez, 39, of Fort Worth, Texas, and the daughters as Karla, 19, and Cristina, 13. Rocha said all three held dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship. A 14-year-old Mexican nephew traveling with the three was also killed.
A U.S. Embassy official confirmed the women's nationalities, but could offer no information on their ages or hometowns. The official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name, said consular authorities were offering assistance to the victims' relatives.
While funeral plans were unclear, Rocha said Sanchez Hernandez's mother wants her daughter to be buried in Mexico.
Three other Mexican citizens were killed in the Thursday attacks on the three buses.
The five gunmen who allegedly carried out the attacks were later killed by soldiers.
Earlier in their spree, the gunmen shot to death three people and killed a fourth with grenade in the nearby town of El Higo, Veracruz.
On Thursday, the U.S. Consulate General in Matamoros, a Mexican border city north of where the attacks occurred, said in a statement that "several vehicles," including the buses, were attacked, but did not specify what the other vehicles were.
The consulate urged Americans to "exercise caution" when traveling in Veracruz, and "avoid intercity road travel at night."
While the specific area where the Thursday attacks occurred is not frequented by foreign travelers, other parts of the Huasteca ? a hilly, verdant area on the Gulf coast ? are popular among Mexican tourists and some foreigners.
The attack occurred near the border with the state of Tamaulipas, an area that has been the scene of bloody battles between the Zetas and Gulf drug cartels.
___
Associated Press Writer Mark Stevenson contributed to this report
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A whole lot of people use Fandango, the online movie ticket purchasing service, from their mobile devices. Already the app was highly convenient, allowing you to purchase your tickets from anywhere you could establish a 3G Internet connection just by using a credit card number. Then you can have tickets emailed to you to print out, and at some theaters, you can even just scan a barcode on your device and you?re on your way.
Apparently, though, Fandango is taking steps to make the service even more convenient by adding support for eBay?s PayPal service to the mobile apps as well. That will open up even more options for payments, as currently Fandango supports either storing your credit card information on your mobile device or storing it in an online Fandango account that you can link to your app. Both are secure, but neither carries quite as much piece of mind as PayPal for some users.
Fandango has seen about 20 million app downloads across Apple?s iOS platform, Google?s Android, Research In Motion?s BlackBerry and Microsoft?s Windows Phone 7, Fierce Mobile Content reports, and the company says that the number of tickets it sold on mobile devices leapt by 73 percent in 2011 as compared to 2010. Fandango?s online service accounted for $32 million of the total ticket sales for this summer?s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (19 percent of its total gross), and of that $32 million, about 20 percent ? $6.5 million ? came through Fandango?s mobile apps. That?s a whole lot of tickets being sold through apps.
With PayPal added in, purchasing tickets on Fandango?s apps will be even easier, which could very well have an effect on how many users are making those purchases. PayPal accounted for $3.5 billion in payments during 2011, suggesting just how widespread the service is. There are a lot of people with PayPal accounts out there, and the service does a pretty good job of remaining (mostly) secure.
More and more, users are becoming more comfortable with using mobile devices to make purchases. A survey taken in November suggested that 70 percent of mobile users polled said they had already or planned to buy holiday gifts using their mobile devices, and that they?d be spending more on mobile transactions than they did in 2010.
So building support for a mobile payment structure for Fandango?s mobile service is a no-brainer. According to Fandango?s press release, PayPal support should be available to users now ? just in time for holiday movie-goers to enjoy it.
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WEDNESDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Widowers who are still single a few years after their wife's death have a significantly increased chance of developing mental health disorders, according to a new study.
Researchers followed 691 Swedish widowers whose wives died of cancer and found that those who found a new partner within four to five years did relatively well in dealing with the loss of their wife.
But widowers who were still single after four to five years had a far higher risk of developing depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and emotional blunting. They were also more likely to use sleeping pills and antidepressants, said the researchers at the University of Gothenburg's Sahlgrenska Academy.
"Previous studies have shown that people who lose their partner are at greater short-term poor mental health," Professor Gunnar Steineck said in a university news release. "Our study is the first to show that the risk of poor mental health lasts for many years but, on the average, the risk is restricted to those who don't find a new partner."
The findings suggest that new love may help heal the pain caused by the loss of a spouse.
"We need more research to understand the underlying mechanisms, but yes, emotional support from a new partner does probably help to process grief and protect against mental illness," Steineck said. "But it could also be the case that those men who cope best with their loss are more likely to show an interest in finding a new partner."
More information
The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about mourning the death of a spouse.
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TOPEKA, Kan. ? A deadly storm that halted travel throughout the Great Plains weakened Tuesday as it headed east into Missouri and toward the Great Lakes, and officials reopened interstates in areas where motorists had been forced to adjust holiday plans mid-trip.
Authorities still were reporting snow drifts of up to 10 feet high in southeast Colorado, and Texas officials warned drivers to stay off the road in the Panhandle so crews would have a clear path to remove ice and snow. Major highways in the western half of the Oklahoma Panhandle remained closed.
Still, officials reopened Interstate 40 in the Texas Panhandle and New Mexico, and portions of Interstate 70 in western Kansas that had been closed. New Mexico reopened a closed section of Interstate 25, the main highway from Santa Fe to the Colorado line after crews cleared drifts as high as 5 feet. The storm dumped as much as 15 inches of snow as it hit parts of five states.
At least 40 people were stranded at the Longhorn Motel on Main Street in Boise City, Okla., where manager Pedro Segovia said blowing snow had created drifts 2- and 3-feet high and closed the main road.
"Some people cannot even get out of their houses. There is too much snow," Segovia said. "It's was blowing. We've got big piles. It's real bad."
Receptionist MaKenzee Grove sympathized with the 50 or so people stranded at the hotel where she works in Guymon, about 60 miles east of Boise City. She too spent Monday night there.
"I have this rinky-dink car that does not do well in this," Grove said. "If we wouldn't have had the wind, it wouldn't have been as bad. The winds ... made the drifts really bad."
A few guests traveling to Oklahoma City managed to leave Tuesday, but others would likely have to wait another night before all roads were clear, she said.
In Kansas, schools in Manhattan canceled classes Tuesday, anticipating several inches of snow. Topeka was pelted by a cold rain, which was expected to turn to a wintry mix of light sleet and snow later in the day, though forecasters expected the storm to become less potent as it moved northeast toward the Great Lakes.
Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Gardner said the patrol dealt with dozens of accidents in which motorists slid off highways Tuesday morning.
"We had ice-covered roads, covered by snow packed on top," he said.
The late-autumn snowstorm lumbered into the region Monday, turning roads to ice and reducing visibility to zero. Many of the areas hit Monday had enjoyed relatively balmy 60-degree temperatures just 24 hours earlier.
The storm was blamed for at least six deaths Monday, authorities said. Four people were killed when their vehicle collided with a pickup truck in part of eastern New Mexico where blizzard-like conditions are rare, and a prison guard and inmate died when a prison van crashed on an icy road in eastern Colorado.
___
Associated Press writers Jeri Clausing in Albuquerque, N.M.; Matt Curry in Dallas; and Tim Talley in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
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Gaming hardware company Razer has been on our radar for quite a long time: they've made high-end gaming peripherals like mice and keyboards for years, and have recently expanded into more esoteric devices and game-specific partnerships. They've been running under their own steam this whole time as what's called a "successful business," but they've decided to take a big funding round to expand their reach. IDG-Accel, specifically their joint China Capital Fund, has chipped in to the tune of $50 million, a minority investment that allows the fund to join the board at Razer, and allows Razer to expand further into the whole-systems business, something that requires considerably more R&D and space to manage.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/05O7cxl6Tpk/
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Home office veteran David Tate knows a thing or two about working from home without going insane, but there's one management challenge that can be particularly tricky: No matter how sound your relationship, a work-from-home lifestyle can be tough on your significant other. Here's how he handles it.
When you start working from home you have to prepare those around you for the inevitable consequences of this new lifestyle. I'd recommend telling your neighbors, kids, pets, imaginary friend(s), team of personal therapists, and parole officer. Of course, the absolute most important person to prepare is your Significant Other (SO). A lot of people who try working from home give up after about a month and when you ask them why they say "I was driving my SO crazy so she threw a burrito at my face". If you do not properly handle the work from home transition (aka "The Great Move Away From Pants") you will eventually have a burrito thrown at you.
When you start working from home your SO's life is going to change in unexpected ways and they need to be prepared for this shift. The way you communicate, interact, and smell are all going to change in ways that they don't expect.
Why? Because of mismatched expectations about the benefits to their lives. The sad reality is that working from home does not offer many benefits to the significant other. Well maybe you will look at them more and be able to do cool things like eat lunch with them sometimes or do them small favors. But the reality is that telecommuting (i.e. riding your phone to work) has certain realities that lead to other not so pleasant realities for your SO:
| Change for you | Consequence for your spouse |
| You can achieve higher productivity because you don't have to deal with others slowing you down | You are less patient |
| Less physical interaction with others | Your SO now lives with a slightly crazy person who thinks that eating cereal with eggnog instead of milk is totally normal |
| Cooler coffee breaks, low key lifestyle | They slowly begin to become jealous of the fact that you get to listen to music/watch Oprah while working |
| No longer have to shave or get all dressed up | They now live with a person who thinks track suits are a good look |
| Full-time access to Internet and kitchen | Live with 120% more juvenile and fatter version of you |
| You are always around | You are 140% more annoying |
You can see these realities and mismatched expectations when you announce your transition:
Honey, I'm going to start working from home.
Your SO hears other things:
Sweetheart, I am now available to wait for packages and repairmen for you full-time.
Organic maple syrup, we can now talk on the phone for four hours a day divided up into separate conversations spaced 17 minutes apart even when I'm in the bathroom.
French Toast sticks you can eat on the go, We are going to save $400 a month that we used to spend on gas and soap so feel free to spend that guilt-free by yourself on something that upgrades our lifestyle permanently without chatting with me first.
Peanut Butter M+M Gift Basket, I have achieved more freedom in my life and you should let your jealousy boil slowly like in a rice cooker until it burns our intimacy like if you picked up a rice cooker and it was crazy hot so you dropped it on your head and wow that hurt.
Never-ending pancakes from IHOP, you know how when you call me at work you say I'm sort of a jerk and are different and sound stressed - you now live with that version of me!
The SO Management Plan
You need to make sure that your SO knows what working from home actually is and establish the below ground rules.
You wouldn't like me when I'm working from home but will like what it makes me.
Tell your SO what working from home is: a risky challenge with a high payoff. Working from home is stressful - you have to work much harder at staying in the loop, reading between the lines, networking, and focusing to get things done. Managing the tension of working out of your home - where you used to just relax - is not easy. Let them know that focused/work version of you isn't chill/at home version of you.
You working from home may offer no direct benefit to your SO but does offer massive benefits to both of you.
Working from home successfully is not easy and might not be all roses and free burritos for your spouse, but it does offer them some good overall relational benefits:
Separating work from home is a critical component of telecommuting success and is the only one they can help you with
Your SO can't help you communicate effectively, stay organized, stay professional, and get more things done, but they can help you separate working from non-working. There are two common complaints that affect worker and SO: the SO complains that the worker continues working past normal work hours (since the office is right there) and the worker complains of being constantly interrupted by their SO during the day. Both of these common failures are just cases of work and home not being separated aggressively.
How to separate work from home is a separate topic, but the attitude should be that during established work hours you simply aren't there. Any interruption should be run through the filter of "Would you have called me during work for this?". I for one had my SO text me just like she would have if I had been at work - don't knock on the door.
I'd also suggest a month trial run in which you have very hard and fast rules about work hours, communication, and availability so that you set expectations firmly - i.e. as the worker don't be helpful in the beginning. The space this creates allows them to realize that after they leave you alone for a while you are able to establish yourself as a reliable telecommuter that you will be a more relaxed version of yourself.
Being left alone and in charge leads to super-productivity if you are intentional about it, and having more control means more freedom, means more happiness, and will allow the sort of things that they desire. When the Cheetos-dust clears most SOs, when given the choice, prefer a happy slightly crazy/stinky spouse to a clean miserable one.
Photo by Karlova Irina/Shutterstock.
I'm writing a book about successfully working from home; click here if you want to know when it is complete.
Managing Your Significant Other When Working from Home | Certain Extent
David Tate does eat cereal with eggnog and is writing a book about successfully working from home. You can follow him on Twitter, Google+, or signup to hear when the book is complete.
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Highlights of the $1 trillion-plus 2012 spending legislation in Congress:
_$518 billion for the Pentagon's core budget, a 1 percent boost, excluding military operations overseas.
_$115 billion for Pentagon war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan, $43 billion less than 2011 costs.
_$7.2 billion to sustain and modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
_$11.8 billion for the IRS, an almost 3 percent budget cut.
_$39.6 billion for homeland security programs, a 5 percent cut, though border security and immigration enforcement are increased.
_$8.4 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, a 6 percent cut from the president's request.
_$4.3 billion for the Indian Health Service, a 6 percent increase.
_$30.7 billion for health research, a 1 percent increase.
_$14.5 billion for Title I grants to schools, virtually the same as last year.
_$11.6 billion for grants to school districts for special needs children.
_$4.3 billion for Congress' own budget, a 5 percent cut.
_$122.2 billion for veterans programs.
_$3.5 billion for low-income heating and utility subsidies, a cut of about 25 percent.
_$53.3 billion for foreign aid and the State Department's budget.
_$8.1 billion for disaster aid.
_Reforms to the Pell Grant program that maintain the maximum award at $5,550 but limit the number of semesters the grants may be received and make income eligibility standards more strict.
___
The measure also contains many policy provisions, including those to:
_Block detainees from Guantanamo Bay from being transferred to the United States.
_Block new energy efficiency regulations for light bulbs.
_Prohibit the District of Columbia government from funding abortions for poor women.
_Ban federal funding of needle exchange programs that help prevent the spread of AIDS among drug users.
_Delay new Labor Department regulations limiting coal dust in mines.
___
Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration succeeded in dumping numerous other GOP policy "riders" from the bill, including attempts to:
_Block Environmental Protection Agency rules on greenhouse gases, mountaintop removal mining and hazardous emissions from utility plants, industrial boilers and cement kilns. GOP efforts to block EPA rules on coal ash and large-scale discharges of hot water from utility plants were also blocked.
_Ban taxpayer subsidies from being used to purchase National Public Radio programming.
_Eliminate taxpayer grants to Planned Parenthood.
_Require all teen pregnancy prevention grants to go to abstinence-only programs.
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GENEVA ? The head of the World Trade Organization and a U.N. food expert have exchanged testy messages in a public spat over how to help feed the world's poor.
Olivier De Schutter, the U.N.'s expert on the right to food, accused WTO chief Pascal Lamy on Friday of advocating a trade-centric approach "that has failed spectacularly."
De Shutter, a Harvard-educated lawyer based at the University of Louvain, Belgium, says food bills in the poorest countries jumped as much as sixfold from 1992 to 2008.
Many poor countries rely on large-scale imports even as domestic farmers struggle to compete on the open market.
Lamy says limiting food trade to safeguard domestic needs risks driving prices up even higher and "exacerbating the negative impacts on poor consumers."
___
De Schutter's letter: http://bit.ly/skbqy9
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U.S. Sec. of Defense Leon Panetta, left, during his meeting with Libyan Prime Minister Abd al-Raheem Al-Keeb, right, in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, Dec., 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)
U.S. Sec. of Defense Leon Panetta, left, during his meeting with Libyan Prime Minister Abd al-Raheem Al-Keeb, right, in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, Dec., 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)
U.S. Sec. of Defense Leon Panetta greets members of the Libyan delegation on the tarmac during his arrival in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, Dec., 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)
U.S. Sec. of Defense Leon Panetta greets members of the Libyan delegation on the tarmac during his arrival in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, Dec., 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)
U.S. Sec. of Defense Leon Panetta, left, is presented with a gift during his meeting with Libyan Minister of Defense Usama al-Jwayli, right, in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)
U.S. Sec. of Defense Leon Panetta is greeted by Ambassador Gene Crets during his arrival in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, Dec., 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) ? Pentagon chief Leon Panetta made history Saturday as the first American defense secretary to set foot on Libyan soil and said he hoped the post-Moammar Gadhafi government could assemble the country's militias into "one Libya."
Panetta has indicated that the U.S. will give the Libyans some time to gain control of the militias that overthrew Gadhafi during an eight-month civil war before determining how to help the fledgling government.
At a news conference in the capital with Prime Minister Abd al-Raheem al-Keeb, Panetta said that he was confident that the new Libyan government is reaching out to all groups and would bring them together as part of "one Libya."
Panetta, who was joined by Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command, said the United States would provide whatever assistance the Libyans needed.
The prime minister told reporters that he was optimistic that the new government in Tripoli could deal the militias.
Panetta's route into the city took him past lush orange groves, carcasses of bombed buildings and the charred and graffiti-covered compound once occupied by Gadhafi.
Flying from rooftops were the green, black and red flags, adorned with a star and a crescent, belonging to the new government. Amid the Arabic graffiti splashed across the walls of the compound was a short comment in English: "Thanx US/UK."
Panetta also made an emotional visit to what historians believe is the gravesite of 13 U.S. sailors killed in 1804. Those deaths were caused by the explosion of the U.S.S, Intrepid, which was destroyed while slipping into the Tripoli harbor to attack pirate ships that had captured an American frigate.
Panetta walked into the small walled cemetery with more than two dozen gravestones and made his way to a corner where five large but simple white gravestones mark the graves of the American sailors. The stones read, "Here lies an American sailor who gave his life in the explosion of the United States Ship Intrepid in Tripoli Harbour, Sept. 4, 1804."
Panetta placed a wreath at the site and then observed a moment of silence. He also left behind a memento of his visit on top of one of the stones, a U.S. secretary of defense souvenir coin.
While eager to encourage a new democracy that emerged from Libya's Arab Spring revolution, the U.S. is wary of appearing as trying to exert too much influence after an eight-month civil war.
At the same time, however, leaders in the U.S. and elsewhere worry about how well the newly formed National Transitional Council can resolve clashes between militia groups in the North African nation.
Ahead of Panetta's visit, the Obama administration announced it had lifted penalties that were imposed on Libya in February to choke off Gadhafi's financial resources while his government was using violence to suppress peaceful protests.
The U.S. at the time blocked some $37 billion in Libyan assets, and a White House statement said Friday's action "unfreezes all government and central bank funds within U.S. jurisdiction, with limited exceptions."
Recovery of the assets "will allow the Libyan government to access most of its worldwide holdings and will help the new government oversee the country's transition and reconstruction in a responsible manner," the White House said.
But the continuing violence in Libya, including recent skirmishes between revolutionary fighters and national army troops near Tripoli's airport, reflects the difficulties that Libya's leaders face as they try to forge an army, integrating some of the militias and disarming the rest.
Officials acknowledge that process could take months, and that they can't force the militias to go along.
By traveling to Libya, Panetta was highlighting the different approaches that the U.S. and other countries are taking with respect to rebellions in the region against tyrannical leaders.
The U.S. and NATO provided months of military power and assistance to the Libyan rebels, but officials have made it clear they do not intend to do the same in Syria despite the furor over President Bashar Assad's crackdown on pro-reform demonstrators.
Panetta, who met with Turkish officials Friday, said they did not discuss any specific steps to increase pressure on Assad to step down.
But they talked about the need to work together with other nations to "get Assad to do the right thing."
At some point, he said, he believes that the type of uprisings that happened in Libya and elsewhere across the Middle East will take place in Syria.
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David Guttenfelder / Pool via EPA, file
A building of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station as seen through a bus window in Okuma, Japan, on Nov. 12.
By NBC News and msnbc.com news services
Updated at 6:23 a.m. ET
TOKYO -- The tsunami-devastated Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant has reached a "cold shutdown" and is no longer leaking substantial amounts of radiation, Japan's prime minister?said Friday.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's announcement marks a milestone nine months after the March 11 tsunami sent three reactors at the plant into meltdowns in the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.?It is a?crucial step toward lifting evacuation orders and closing the plant.
"Even if unforeseeable incidents happen, the situation is such that radiation levels on the boundary of the plant can now be maintained at a low level," Noda said. "Now that we have achieved stability in the reactors, a major concern for the nation has been resolved."
However,?experts noted that the plant remains vulnerable. Its surroundings are contaminated by radiation and closing the plant safely will take 30 or more years.
'Our battle is not over'
NBC News reported that there are still sporadic reports of leaks of contaminated water from the site.?
"There are many issues that remain," Noda added. "Our battle is not over."
Noda's?announcement means officials?can now start discussing whether to allow some evacuees to return to less-contaminated areas ? although a 12-mile zone around the plant is expected to remain off limits for years to come. The crisis displaced some 100,000 people.
A cold shutdown normally means a nuclear reactor's coolant system is at atmospheric pressure and its reactor core is at a temperature below 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius), making it impossible for a chain reaction to take place.
According to?plant operator?TEPCO, temperature gauges inside the Fukushima reactors show the pressure vessel is at around 158 degrees??F (70 C). The government also says the amount of radiation now being released around the plant is at or below 1 millisievert per year ? equivalent to the annual legal exposure limit for ordinary citizens before the crisis began.
Akira Yamaguchi, a nuclear physicist at Osaka University, said that the government's definition of cold shutdown is disputable.
"But what's most important right now is that there aren't any massive radiation leaks any more," he said.
Winter woes?
Putting longer-term issues aside, he warned that much of the backup equipment installed at the plant since the crisis began is makeshift and may break down. He said winter cold could test their strength.
Tamotsu Baba, the mayor of?evacuated Naimie town,?told a?press conference Friday that it was "hard to accept" Noda's declaration.
"We still feel a major distrust towards the government," he added.
Located 150 miles northeast of Tokyo, the plant was wrecked by a huge earthquake and a?tsunami that exceeded 45 feet in some areas, which knocked out its cooling systems, triggering meltdowns and radiation leaks.
NBC News reported that?the extraction of more than 3,000 fuel rods from the site, most likely?involving robotic cranes, is due to begin next year. High-powered water sprays will be used to decontaminate?roads and other infrastructure in nearby towns from early next month.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
NBC News' Arata Yamamoto, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report
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Paramount Pictures
Tom Cruise is on a "Mission."
By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
The last James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace," came out in 2008. But while fans of action-packed spy thrillers wait for 007 to return in 2012's "Skyfall," they can fill the gap nicely?with "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol."
Finally, the "Mission: Impossible" series is back on track, and this latest installment is packed with exotic scenery, fancy cars, crazy gadgets, beautiful women and handsome men. And except for an overlong prison-escape sequence at the very start, once the fuse starts burning on this one, it never slows down.?
Tom Cruise is back as spy Ethan Hunt, and when the Kremlin blows up, he and his team are disavowed by their organization and must go rogue, becoming the "ghosts' of the title. Which has no real effect on anything, because they still have devices that would make Bond's Q drool -- iPhones that can pull a suspect's face out of a crowd, magnetic vests that let the wearer float, and an amazing pair of gloves that allow Cruise to climb the outside of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Those stomach-churning skyscraper scenes live up to their billing, and even sitting safely in a comfortable theater seat it's hard to watch Cruise swooping around at 2,700 feet without feeling queasy. But there's not a ton of time for Spider-Man antics, as there are plenty?more action scenes and exotic locales to jump around in, including an underwater shootout and a fight in a car park where the levels, and the parked cars, slide around just to make things more difficult. The film was partially shot with?IMAX cameras, and numerous scenes take?full advantage of that format.
Don't stop to question the plot too closely -- Hunt can beat up an entire Russian prison but struggles to best one gray-haired villain (Michael Nyqvist), and the team?magically happens to find all the puzzle pieces to stop a nuclear launch in the time it takes most folks to grab a shower. But enjoy the supporting cast, which includes Simon Pegg as the comic relief computer whiz, Jeremy Renner as an analyst with a guilty secret, and Paula Patton as the lone female agent, who switches between seduction and butt-kicking with aplomb.
The film is director Brad Bird's first live-action undertaking -- you may know him from "The Incredibles" and "Iron Giant" -- and it's fun to think that maybe?his animation experience helped him guide Cruise and pals as they swoop around like cartoons. J.J. Abrams of "Lost" is one of the producers, and he reunites with Josh "Sawyer" Holloway in a pivotal role.
One rumor had Cruise retiring from the franchise after this film and Renner taking over, but Moviehole reports that Cruise, Bird and Pegg are all open to returning for a fifth film.?Why not? Cruise will be 50 in July but for a guy who famously did some of his own Burj Khalifa stunts, he has the verve of a action hero half his age. Should he choose to accept it, audiences will likely be happy to follow him on another "Mission."
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December 2, 2011 in Open Mic
All great movements are popular movements. They are the volcanic eruptions of human passions and emotions, stirred into activity by the ruthless word cast into the midst of the people.?People are more amenable to rhetoric than any other force.
Doom can be averted by a storm of passion, but only those who are passionate can arouse this in others.?He who owns the youth gains the future.?As soon as our own propaganda shows even a glimpse of right on the other side, the cause for doubting our own right is laid.
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Source: http://www.occupyoakland.org/2011/12/%E2%80%9Coccupy-oakland-tribune%E2%80%9D-finance-proposal/
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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45523013#45523013
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Stock markets may have soared after central banks around the world, led by the Fed, got together in a rare coordinated action to provide more dollars to Europe's strained financial sector. But we also got an indication of just how bad things have become. There have been concerns for months that Europe's banks were having difficulty getting dollar financing, which is very important to the operation of banks in France and elsewhere, as financial institutions around the world became nervous about lending money to a sector saddled with large euro zone sovereign debt holdings of dubious quality. The scary thing about that problem is that it could have caused a financial crisis in Europe even without a major new event in the debt crisis (like an Italian default). For central banks to act as they did, the situation must have become extremely severe, or was at least deteriorating badly.
And though that potential danger may have been averted (probably only in the short term), the central bank decision has done nothing to alleviate the underlying sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone. We're about to get some more action on that front as well, however, with yet another summit of European leaders approaching on December 9. The indications are that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy want to push ahead with some sort of "fiscal union," or at least their vision of one. As I wrote in a recent TIME magazine story, a fiscal union would probably be a real solution to the debt crisis. By coordinating national budgets and centralizing at least some decision making over spending priorities, a fiscal union could start repairing the shattered finances of euro zone countries, provide a backbone of support for weaker members like Italy, and convince investors that Europe will truly do whatever it takes to save the euro. (Read "Is Europe's debt crisis becoming a banking crisis?")
We'll have to wait for the details to get the full picture of what's on the table. But based on the early signs, the version of a fiscal union Merkel & Co. seem to advocate is really just an "austerity union," a way of forcing painful budget cuts, tax hikes and other measures onto euro zone countries through stiffer sanctions and regulations, with very little offered in return. That won't work. The euro can't survive on austerity alone. In fact, austerity, as it is being implemented now, is damaging the euro's prospects. Here's why:
The idea behind the German-backed solution to the debt crisis is to fix the broken countries of the euro zone. That, needless to say, does have to happen. But it can't be the entire focus of the crisis-fighting effort. Yes, some euro zone countries have been given financing (bailouts) to support them during their austerity programs, but now the bigger nations infected by the crisis (Italy and Spain) aren't even being offered that much. Instead, their new Prime Ministers are being placed under more and more pressure to cut, cut, cut, cut -- while the rest of the zone sits back and waits. But as we've witnessed for more than a year, cutting alone won't bolster investor confidence. They simply don't believe that the financial adjustments these countries must make can be achieved in any reasonable period of time. What these countries are being asked to do is reverse years -- in some cases, decades -- of fiscal policy in a matter of months. (France hasn't recorded a budget surplus since 1974.) (Read "Bailouts and Austerity Measures Aren't Working: Is This the Euro's Last Stand?")
Most of all, austerity is killing growth in the euro zone, and without growth, the crisis will be much harder to solve. Just look at some statistics. Spain recently downgraded its 2011 growth estimate by half a percentage point to a mere 0.8%. Portugal's GDP contracted 0.4% in the third quarter from the previous quarter. Greece's third quarter GDP plummeted 5.2% from the previous year -- its best quarterly performance of 2011. The OECD in November forecast that euro zone growth would sink to a pathetic 0.2% in 2012 from 1.6% this year. Without growth, closing deficits and stabilizing debt is much more painful. If GDP is stagnant or contracting, the amount of debt you need to eliminate to bring that crucial government-debt-to-GDP ratio down gets larger, and thus more difficult to achieve. Ditto with budget deficits. So to meet euro zone debt and deficit targets, countries have to cut more and more, further suppressing growth, and moving the target further off yet again. They become like a dog chasing its tail.
Investors know this full well, and that's why they remain wary of the euro zone debt situation even as its political leaders slice away at budgets. So borrowing costs remain lofty, making it harder, once again, for Italy and Spain to meet budget targets, which means they have to cut even more. And the pain inflicted by such severe austerity on populaces already suffering from an economic downturn (Spain's unemployment stands near a staggering 23%) only fuels opposition to reform and ire towards the monetary union. So the sick contradiction facing the euro zone is that austerity is necessary to fix the debt crisis, but at the same time, it also feeds the debt crisis. (Read "How to Know When the Euro Crisis Reaches a Tipping Point.")
How does Europe escape the trap? Austerity has to be balanced with something else to help these countries restore growth while repairing their economies. Yes, structural reforms to free up labor markets and decrease regulation will all help, but not in the short or even medium term. Nouriel Roubini argued in the Financial Times the other day that debt restructuring is the answer, to alleviate the burden on Italy. I'd suggest that the euro zone needs to improve the functioning of the common market by implementing EU-wide incentive programs to get companies in healthier countries, like Germany, to invest in weaker nations and hire the unemployed. Or the proposed fiscal union could be a true fiscal union, more like the United States, in which the center has the ability to tax and thus support member states that are economically struggling.
My sense is that none of the above is actively being considered. It seems to me that the only support being discussed is some form of a bailout -- to find a source of money to provide a financial "shield" for Italy and Spain so they can fund themselves at lower cost while implementing reforms. That may help slow the deterioration of the debt crisis, but it won't necessarily solve the debt problem itself, at least not in any acceptable time frame (as we've seen in Greece). If this is the route Europe takes, the members of the euro zone will have to be prepared to financially support its weaker members for an awfully long time before we see a real improvement in their economic health.
The solution to the debt crisis won't be budget cuts, more taxes, and more rules to force them down the throats of Italians, Spanish and Greeks. Merkel, Sarkozy and their counterparts have to find a broader solution. Otherwise, Europe is facing a race to the bottom.
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She likely won't get "21," but Adele is poised to take the biggest share of nods when the Grammy nominations are announced Wednesday night.
The British singer-songwriter has had a great year, thanks to her sophomore album, "21." The mournful album about a failed relationship is the year's best-selling disc with more than 4.5 million copies sold. It has resulted in two smash singles, "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You."
The Recording Academy will likely add to Adele's achievements. She is a strong contender to get bids for album of the year and for song and/or record of the year for the searing groove "Rolling in the Deep."
But she's not the only favorite for top nominations. Taylor Swift's multiplatinum "Speak Now" is a possible contender for album of the year, as is Tony Bennett's "Duets II," which marked the 85-year-old's first album to debut at No. 1, making him the oldest artist to achieve that feat.
David Walgren and Deborah Brazil tell TODAY that actual time spent behind bars is not a reflection of the seriousness of t...
Lady Gaga's "Born This Way," which had the year's biggest debut with 1.1 million albums sold in its first week, could become her third straight disc to be nominated for album of the year. She was cited for "The Fame Monster" this year and for her debut, "The Fame," in 2010.
Then there's Kanye West. His "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" was one of the most highly regarded albums of 2010, and is eligible for a nomination for album of the year. So is his collaboration with Jay-Z for "Watch the Throne," another contender in the category.
Story: Adele 'on the mend' following throat surgeryA handful of the nominations are scheduled to be revealed during the fourth annual Grammy nominations concert special, to air live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on CBS at 10 p.m. EST. Lady Gaga is slated to open and close the show.
Other performers include Katy Perry, who could get a record of the year nomination for her hit "Firework"; Rihanna, who could snag a few nominations, including album of the year for "Loud"; and The Band Perry, the country sibling trio likely to be up for best new artist. (Another strong contender for that category, Nicki Minaj, is scheduled to be a presenter on the special.)
The Band Perry, at rehearsals Tuesday night, were hopeful about getting a nomination.
"Our fingers are crossed. We kinda don't like to think too much about that kind of stuff on nights before nominations. We don't want to be a bad luck charm. I'll tell you what, it would be the cherry on top of a really wonderful year," said Kimberly Perry. "We actually just today got the news that we've been certified platinum. We've been high-fiving and celebrating all day. If we were honored to be nominated for best new artist, we would definitely be celebrating two days in a row."
This year's nominations will mark the newly trimmed Grammys. Earlier this year, amid some protests, the academy cut the number of categories from 109 to 78. Some of the more niche categories, like best Zydeco or Cajun music album, were eliminated. In addition, men and women will now compete together in vocal categories for pop, R&B and country, instead of having separate categories for each sex.
Even with the reductions, there is an avalanche of categories, as noted by Neil Portnow, the Academy's CEO and president.
"We've got 78 categories now. It would certainly be impossible to do all of them on any of our shows," he said Tuesday.
The 54th annual Grammy Awards will be presented Feb. 12 in Los Angeles, and will be telecast live on CBS.
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/45492241/ns/today-entertainment/
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