U.S. Army sergeant referred to court martial over Afghan slayings
Label: World
Shooting renews argument over video-game violence
Label: TechnologyWASHINGTON (AP) — In the days since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., a shell-shocked nation has looked for reasons. The list of culprits include easy access to guns, a strained mental-health system and the “culture of violence” — the entertainment industry’s embrace of violence in movies, TV shows and, especially, video games.
“The violence in the entertainment culture — particularly, with the extraordinary realism to video games, movies now, et cetera — does cause vulnerable young men to be more violent,” Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said.
“There might well be some direct connection between people who have some mental instability and when they go over the edge — they transport themselves, they become part of one of those video games,” said Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, where 12 people were killed in a movie theater shooting in July.
White House adviser David Axelrod tweeted, “But shouldn’t we also quit marketing murder as a game?”
And Donald Trump weighed in, tweeting, “Video game violence & glorification must be stopped — it is creating monsters!”
There have been unconfirmed media reports that 20-year-old Newtown shooter Adam Lanza enjoyed a range of video games, from the bloody “Call of Duty” series to the innocuous “Dance Dance Revolution.” But the same could be said for about 80 percent of Americans in Lanza’s age group, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Law enforcement officials haven’t made any connection between Lanza’s possible motives and his interest in games.
The video game industry has been mostly silent since Friday’s attack, in which 20 children and six adults were killed. The Entertainment Software Association, which represents game publishers in Washington, has yet to respond to politicians’ criticisms. Hal Halpin, president of the nonprofit Entertainment Consumers Association, said, “I’d simply and respectfully point to the lack of evidence to support any causal link.”
It’s unlikely that lawmakers will pursue legislation to regulate the sales of video games; such efforts were rejected again and again in a series of court cases over the last decade. Indeed, the industry seemed to have moved beyond the entire issue last year, when the Supreme Court revoked a California law criminalizing the sale of violent games to minors.
The Supreme Court decision focused on First Amendment concerns; in the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that games “are as much entitled to the protection of free speech as the best of literature.” Scalia also agreed with the ESA’s argument that researchers haven’t established a link between media violence and real-life violence. “Psychological studies purporting to show a connection between exposure to violent video games and harmful effects on children do not prove that such exposure causes minors to act aggressively,” Scalia wrote.
Still, that doesn’t make games impervious to criticism, or even some soul-searching within the gaming community. At this year’s E3 — the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the industry’s largest U.S. gathering — some attendees were stunned by the intensity of violence on display. A demo for Sony’s “The Last of Us” ended with a villain taking a shotgun blast to the face. A scene from Ubisoft’s “Splinter Cell: Blacklist” showed the hero torturing an enemy. A trailer for Square Enix’s “Hitman: Absolution” showed the protagonist slaughtering a team of lingerie-clad assassins disguised as nuns.
“The ultraviolence has to stop,” designer Warren Spector told the GamesIndustry website after E3. “I do believe that we are fetishizing violence, and now in some cases actually combining it with an adolescent approach to sexuality. I just think it’s in bad taste. Ultimately I think it will cause us trouble.”
“The violence of these games can be off-putting,” Brian Crecente, news editor for the gaming website Polygon, said Monday. “The video-game industry is wrestling with the same issues as movies and TV. There’s this tension between violent games that sell really well and games like ‘Journey,’ a beautiful, artistic creation that was well received by critics but didn’t sell much.”
During November, typically the peak month for pre-holiday game releases, the two best sellers were the military shooters “Call of Duty: Black Ops II,” from Activision, and “Halo 4,” from Microsoft. But even with the dominance of the genre, Crecente said, “There has been a feeling that some of the sameness of war games is grating on people.”
Critic John Peter Grant said, “I’ve also sensed a growing degree of fatigue with ultra-violent games, but not necessarily because of the violence per se.”
The problem, Grant said, “is that violence as a mechanic gets old really fast. Games are amazing possibility spaces! And if the chief way I can interact with them is by destroying and killing? That seems like such a waste of potential.”
There are some hints of a sneaking self-awareness creeping into the gaming community. One gamer — Antwand Pearman, editor of the website GamerFitNation — has called for other players to join in a “Day of Cease-Fire for Online Shooters” this Friday, one week after the massacre.
“We are simply making a statement,” Pearman said, “that we as gamers are not going to sit back and ignore the lives that were lost.”
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Survivor Winner Denise Stapley: 'I'm in a Daze'
Label: Lifestyle
TV Watch
By Steve Helling
12/18/2012 at 01:10 PM EST
Denise Stapley
Nate Beckett/Splash News Online
Moments after exiting the stage at the Survivor reunion, the 41-year-old sex therapist from Iowa told PEOPLE what she'll do with her money – and how she got her incredible arms.
Before we talk Survivor, you are shorter than I expected!
I'm 5'2". Everyone says, "You're so little." I'm one of those people who look bigger on TV.
It's probably because you're so buff. How did you get those arms?
I love to swim. It's my recreation and my exercise. I am most comfortable in the water. I loved the water challenges in the Philippines.
But there weren't many at all!
I know! What's up with that? There were weather issues so we couldn't be in the water as much as I would have liked. But you adapt.
You were on a tribe that lost repeatedly. How did you adapt to that?
Just every day, you assess where you are and what you need to do. I was never in real danger because I was aligned with Malcolm. But yes, losing all those challenges was so demoralizing. We lost the first one, and the momentum just want away. On paper, our tribe was as strong as the others, but it just didn't work out that way in actuality.
You mentioned your alliance with Malcolm, but he was very angry at you when you voted him off.
I made a move. You have to make moves in this game, and I made one to get rid of my biggest threat. Malcolm is great and we are friends, but if you don't make moves in Survivor, you go home.
How are things between you and Malcolm now?
Just fine, they really are. We will always be friends.
(Malcolm later told PEOPLE, "She's my jungle mama. If I couldn't win, I wanted her to win. I love her and we will always be close. Always.")
So you recognized Lisa Whelchel right away, correct?
Yes, I did. They didn't show it but I was the one who told Jonathan Penner who she was.
And what was it like competing against her?
You know, she was wonderful – just a nice, great woman. It's easy to say this because I won, but I really appreciated everyone out there.
Even Abi?
Even Abi. I meant what I said in tribal council. I stand behind the things that I said. But sure, I could have phrased things better.
So what were your strengths in the game?
I can listen to people very well. Pay attention to what they're saying, and react to them. I'm physically fit, and I was able to work hard around the camp. I also tried to adapt to each situation.
How sure were you that you were going to win?
I had a good idea that I might, but you don't want to assume. So I just felt cautiously optimistic.
What will you do with the $1 million prize?
I will relax a little bit, take a deep breath and go from there. I'm in a daze right now. My daughter is nine, so I'll set up college funds and all that. And I will always be thankful for Survivor for this incredible gift of the adventure ... and, of course, the million dollars!
Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence
Label: HealthNEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.
Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.
"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.
High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.
Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.
"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.
"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.
Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.
Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.
She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.
"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."
After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.
__
AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.
___
Online:
Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5
Wall Street rallies on "fiscal cliff" optimism
Label: BusinessNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its best two-day run in a month, as investors gained confidence that "fiscal cliff" talks were progressing, even as significant differences separate Democrats and Republicans in Washington.
The gains followed a rally on Monday that lifted the S&P 500 to its highest point in nearly two months. Investors remain confident that Washington will come to an agreement to avoid a series of spending cuts and tax hikes before the end of the year that could hurt economic growth.
President Barack Obama's most recent offer makes concessions to the Republicans in taxes and entitlement spending, but House Speaker John Boehner said the offer is "not there yet," though he remains hopeful about an agreement. Senate Democrats, however, have expressed concern about entitlement cuts, particularly to Social Security.
"As you get more and more clarity and dialogue that there will be a compromise to avoid a fiscal cliff, I think the markets are going to rally," said Weston Boone, vice president of listed trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets, in Baltimore.
"What's holding this market back - the S&P 500 - from continuing to reach higher highs is the macro headwinds, and a lot of that emanates from (Washington) D.C."
For a second day, banks led the rally. Goldman Sachs Group
Jefferies rose 2.9 percent to $18.77. The S&P 500 Financial Index <.gspf> climbed 1.2 percent.
"I think it's an expectation that if the fiscal cliff is resolved, it's going to be a better environment in 2013 for the financial names," said Michael James, senior trader at Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles.
Shares of firearm makers sank on Tuesday as investors sold after the school shooting in Newtown, CT on Friday that killed 20 children and six adults.
Smith and Wesson
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> jumped 104.46 points, or 0.79 percent, to 13,339.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 13.77 points, or 0.96 percent, to 1,444.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gained 39.29 points, or 1.31 percent, to 3,049.89.
Tech shares rose, and gains in large-cap technology shares lifted the Nasdaq. Seagate Tech
The S&P Energy Index <.gspe> also climbed 1.5 percent.
Baker Hughes Inc
Arbitron Inc surged 23.6 percent to $47 after Nielsen Holdings NV
(Editing by Jan Paschal)
Egypt opposition protests against constitution
Label: WorldCAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi staged protests in Cairo on Tuesday against an Islamist-backed draft constitution that has divided Egypt but looks set to be approved in the second half of a referendum this weekend.
Several hundred protesters outside the presidential palace chanted "Revolution, revolution, for the sake of the constitution" and called on Mursi to "Leave, leave, you coward!". While the protest was noisy, numbers were down on previous demonstrations.
Mursi obtained a 57 percent "yes" vote for the constitution in the first part of the referendum last weekend, state media said, less than he had hoped for.
The opposition, which says the law is too Islamist, will be encouraged by the result but is unlikely to win the second part this Saturday, which is to be held in districts seen as even more sympathetic towards Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.
The National Salvation Front opposition coalition said there were widespread voting violations last Saturday and called for protests to "bring down the invalid draft constitution".
The Ministry of Justice said it was appointing judges to investigate complaints of voting irregularities.
Opposition marchers converged on Tahrir Square, cradle of the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak almost two years ago, and Mursi's presidential palace, still ringed with tanks after earlier protests.
A protester at the presidential palace, Mohamed Adel, 30, said: "I have been camping here for weeks and will continue to do so until the constitution that divided the nation, and for which people died, gets scrapped."
The build up to the first day of voting saw clashes between supporters and opponents of Mursi in which eight people died. Recent demonstrations in Cairo have been more peaceful, although rival factions clashed on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt's second biggest city.
RESIGNATION
Egypt's public prosecutor resigned under pressure from his opponents in the judiciary, dealing a blow to Mursi and drawing an angry response from his supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the Islamist group that propelled Mursi to power in an election in June, said the enforced departure of public prosecutor Talaat Ibrahim was a "crime" and authorities should not accept the resignation.
Further signs of opposition to Mursi emerged when a judges' club urged its members not to supervise Saturday's vote. But the call is not binding and balloting is expected to go ahead.
If the constitution is passed, national elections can take place early next year, something many hope will help end the turmoil that has gripped Egypt since the fall of Mubarak.
The closeness of the first referendum vote and low turnout give Mursi scant comfort as he seeks to assemble support for difficult economic reforms.
"This percentage ... will strengthen the hand of the National Salvation Front and the leaders of this Front have declared they are going to continue this fight to discredit the constitution," said Mustapha Kamal Al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at Cairo University.
Mursi is likely to become more unpopular with the introduction of planned austerity measures, Sayyid told Reuters.
To tackle the budget deficit, the government needs to raise taxes and cut fuel subsidies. Uncertainty surrounding economic reform plans has already forced the postponement of a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. The Egyptian pound has fallen to eight-year lows against the dollar.
Mursi and his backers say the constitution is needed to move Egypt's democratic transition forward. Opponents say the document is too Islamist and ignores the rights of women and of minorities, including Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.
Demonstrations erupted when Mursi awarded himself extra powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies and boycotted by many liberals.
The referendum has had to be held over two days because many of the judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott in protest. In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of those voting.
(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan and Edmund Blair; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Alison Williams)
Merry Christmas, America-Haters?
Label: TechnologyWhen TNT was preparing its annual special “Christmas in Washington” with the president of the United States, you’d think the last star musician they would consider to join the official caroling would be Psy, the South Korean rapper. What on Earth is Christmasy about this man’s invisible-horse-riding dance to his dorky disco-rap hit “Gangnam Style”? It’s not exactly the natural flip-side to “O Holy Night.” But TNT couldn’t resist this year’s YouTube sensation.
This inane publicity stunt backfired when the website Mediaite reported on Dec. 7 that Psy (real name: Park Jae-sang) had participated in a 2002 protest in which he crushed a model of an American tank with a microphone stand. But that’s nothing compared to the footage of a 2004 performance after a Korean missionary was slaughtered by Islamists in Iraq. These lyrics cannot be misunderstood.
“Kill those f—-ing Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives … Kill those f—-ing Yankees who ordered them to torture … Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers … Kill them all slowly and painfully.”
This isn’t just anti-American. It’s anti-human.
Guess where this story first surfaced in the American media? CNN, from the same corporate family tree as TNT. It was posted back on Oct. 6 on CNN’s iReport, an open-source online news feature that allows users to submit stories for CNN consideration.
The Korean one-hit wonder put out the usual abject careerist apology, but he weirdly said, “I’m deeply sorry for how these lyrics could be interpreted.” Those darn lyrics and those darn people who misinterpret lyrics about killing Yankees’ mothers. It is like Barack Obama expressing regret for the awful things said about Susan Rice, ignoring the awful things said by Susan Rice.
Psy is now a millionaire. As Jim Treacher wrote at the Daily Caller: “So far he’s made over $ 8 million from the song, about $ 3 million of it from the people he once wanted to kill.” Brad Schaeffer at Big Hollywood noted his own father fought for South Korea’s independence in the Korean War: “Had it not been for ‘f——-g Yankees’ like my Dad, this now-wealthy South Korean wouldn’t be ‘Oppan Gangnam Style’ so much as ‘Starving Pyongyang Style.’” (Gangnam is a posh district in the South Korean capital of Seoul.)
Despite the controversy, neither the Obama White House nor the TNT brass felt it was necessary to send Psy packing before the Dec. 9 taping. On Saturday, ABC reporter Muhammad Lila merely repeated, “the White House says the concert will go on and that President Obama will attend, saying that they have no control over who performs at that concert.”
What moral cowardice. On Monday morning, another pliant publicist, NBC correspondent Peter Alexander, calmly relayed that the White House did take control on the Psy front — on its own “We The People” website, where the people may post petitions to the president for their fellow citizens to sign. A petition asking Obama to dump Psy from the Christmas concert was itself dumped. Alexander explained: “But that petition was removed because the rules say the petitions only apply to federal actions. And, of course, the President had no say over who the private charity chose to invite.”
This is double baloney. The White House hasn’t removed silly “federal action” petitions like the one asking to “Nationalize the Twinkie Industry,” or one to “Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.” They removed one that they didn’t want people to sign.
As for Obama having “no say over” who appeared on the TNT show, the president could easily declare he wasn’t going to share a stage with this America-hater. Or he could have obviously placed one phone call to Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes (an Obama donor), and expressed the dismay of the President of the United States.
Instead, the Obamas came and honored Psy. Yes, the president honored a man who despised America enough to want its citizens slaughtered.
John Eggerton of Broadcasting and Cable magazine observed, “At the end of the taping, when the First Family customarily shakes hands and talks briefly with the performers, the First Lady gave Psy a hug, followed by a handshake from the President, who engaged Psy in a short, animated discussion — at one point Psy appeared to rock back with laughter — and patted the singer on the shoulder.”
I never thought I’d ever view a Christmas special featuring a hideous hater of America celebrated by the President of the United States.
L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. To find out more about Brent Bozell III, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM
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Hilary Duff: I May Be 'One and Done' with My Son Luca
Label: Lifestyle
Mom & Babies
Celebrity Baby Blog
12/17/2012 at 01:00 PM ET
Steve Granitz/WireImage
This Christmas will mark the first as a family of three for Hilary Duff and she couldn’t be more excited to celebrate — Luca Cruz, lopsided tree and all.
“He’s into everything. I’m running around the house just trying to keep up with him. He’s so fast!” Duff, 25, tells Access Hollywood Live.
“He loves the Christmas tree. Obviously we have a funny looking Christmas tree [because] all the ornaments are at the top.”
Continuing with tradition, the trio — Duff, husband Mike Comrie and their 9-month-old son — will spend the holidays in Newport Beach, Calif. and take part in his family’s festivities.
“It’s nine kids going crazy, basically wrapping paper flying in the air, toys everywhere and mayhem,” she says. “We’re really looking forward to that — we get to bring a baby this year! — so it’s really exciting.”
In addition to cherishing time with her son, animal advocate Duff recently contributed to A Letter to My Dog: Notes to Our Best Friends. And with her pack of pooches a big part of the household, the new mom and Comrie made it their priority to prep them for baby boy’s arrival last March.
“We kicked the dogs out of the bed a month before Luca came so they didn’t blame the baby for why they couldn’t sleep in the bed any more,” she explains.
“We gave them a blanket … that Luca’s smell had been on in the hospital — and it worked. Mike brought Luca in, I came and gave the blanket to the dogs and loved on them … They’ve been fine with him.”
Having just regained her pre-baby body, Duff admits adding another baby to the mix isn’t in the couple’s immediate future.
“Mike and I are literally obsessed with Luca. We’re like, ‘He’s perfect. We should just be one and done,’” she shares. ”But I think once your baby starts getting older you miss that phase and you go in for round two. Maybe when [Luca's] two or three?”
– Anya Leon
Experts: No link between Asperger's, violence
Label: HealthNEW YORK (AP) — While an official has said that the 20-year-old gunman in the Connecticut school shooting had Asperger's syndrome, experts say there is no connection between the disorder and violence.
Asperger's is a mild form of autism often characterized by social awkwardness.
"There really is no clear association between Asperger's and violent behavior," said psychologist Elizabeth Laugeson, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Little is known about Adam Lanza, identified by police as the shooter in the Friday massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. He fatally shot his mother before going to the school and killing 20 young children, six adults and himself, authorities said.
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the unfolding investigation, said Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger's.
High school classmates and others have described him as bright but painfully shy, anxious and a loner. Those kinds of symptoms are consistent with Asperger's, said psychologist Eric Butter of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who treats autism, including Asperger's, but has no knowledge of Lanza's case.
Research suggests people with autism do have a higher rate of aggressive behavior — outbursts, shoving or pushing or angry shouting — than the general population, he said.
"But we are not talking about the kind of planned and intentional type of violence we have seen at Newtown," he said in an email.
"These types of tragedies have occurred at the hands of individuals with many different types of personalities and psychological profiles," he added.
Autism is a developmental disorder that can range from mild to severe. Asperger's generally is thought of as a mild form. Both autism and Asperger's can be characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behavior or interests and problems communicating. Unlike classic autism, Asperger's does not typically involve delays in mental development or speech.
Experts say those with autism and related disorders are sometimes diagnosed with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
"I think it's far more likely that what happened may have more to do with some other kind of mental health condition like depression or anxiety rather than Asperger's," Laugeson said.
She said those with Asperger's tend to focus on rules and be very law-abiding.
"There's something more to this," she said. "We just don't know what that is yet."
After much debate, the term Asperger's is being dropped from the diagnostic manual used by the nation's psychiatrists. In changes approved earlier this month, Asperger's will be incorporated under the umbrella term "autism spectrum disorder" for all the ranges of autism.
__
AP Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.
___
Online:
Asperger's information: http://1.usa.gov/3tGSp5
S&P 500 rises more than 1 percent
Label: Business
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