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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Britney Spears Is Giving Mexico A Free Concert For Christmas
Pop superstar Britney Spears is to perform a free Christmas concert in Mexico this weekend, according to a local report. The Toxic hitmaker, who is currently touring the world with her Femme Fatale shows, is scheduled to perform three concerts in the country in December, and she will reportedly add an extra free gig in [...]
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Dutch transfer killer whale Morgan to Spain (AP)
AMSTERDAM ? A plane carrying a young killer whale departed the Netherlands Tuesday afternoon heading for a Spanish amusement park after conservationists lost a legal battle to have her released into the open sea.
Around dawn, the 1,400 kilogram (3,085 pound) female orca named Morgan was lifted from her tank by a crane, resting in a hammock that restrained her movement and protected her fins. Trainers kept her wet during the transfer into a blue-painted box on a truck, and her breath stood out in plumes as she exhaled through her blowhole from time to time while hanging several meters (yards) aloft in the cool morning air.
More than 50 trainers, handlers and other workers were involved in the operation moving Morgan onto the plane that left Amsterdam around 1 p.m. local time headed for the Spanish island of Tenerife. There Morgan will be transferred again onto a truck and finally hoisted into a much larger tank in Loro Parque by early evening, the Harderwijk Dolphinarium said in a statement.
The city of Harderwijk had issued an emergency ban blocking "Free Morgan" demonstrations during the transfer, though a coalition of conservationists who sought to have her released said they never planned interfere with the operation.
"We would never do anything that could endanger Morgan," said coalition spokeswoman Nancy Slot.
Morgan, who is estimated to be about 3 years old, weighed only 400 kilograms (880 pounds) when she was rescued in shallow waters off the Dutch North Sea coast in June 2010.
The Dutch government permit that originally approved her capture said the dolphinarium could hold her and restore her health so she could be released. But after the park assembled a team of experts for advice on what to do next, they found she had little chance of survival in the wild unless her natal pod, or family, could be identified.
Analysis of her vocal patterns showed only that she was from Norwegian waters.
Opposing experts for the "Free Morgan" group said the dolphinarium was guided by financial interests, rather than concern for the animal's well-being, and proposed a plan for reintroducing her to the wild.
International treaties prohibit the trade of killer whales ? which are actually classified as oceangoing dolphins ? without difficult-to-obtain exemption permits. Fewer than 50 orcas are held in captivity worldwide and the bulk of them are owned by SeaWorld, a subsidiary of U.S. private equity giant the Blackstone Group L.P.
A female capable of breeding and introducing new genes into the pool of captive orcas is worth millions of euros (dollars).
The Dutch dolphinarium is owned by France's Compagnie des Alpes. Loro Parque, owned by a German businessman, received four orcas on loan from SeaWorld that Morgan will join. Though Morgan cannot be transferred to the United States, any offspring she has may be.
The Harderwijk Dolphinarium, which put Morgan on display after her rescue, has not disclosed financial details of her shipment to Loro Parque, though spokesman Bert van Plateringen said it will not make money from the deal.
Orcas are thought to be among the most intelligent and social of mammals, and the idea of reintroducing captive whales into the wild garnered widespread public sympathy after the 1993 film "Free Willy."
Real life releases have a mixed record at best, however. Keiko, the animal that starred in "Free Willy," was released in Icelandic waters after 20 years in captivity. He died, apparently of pneumonia, after surviving two months on his own and swimming about 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) to Norway.
Though the "Free Morgan Coalition" says it will continue to seek Morgan's release, it concedes her transfer to Spain is a major blow to its hopes.
Experts agree that chances of a successful release into the wild decline the longer an orca is exposed to humans.
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Calm prevails as Occupy deadlines pass in 2 cities
Wall Street protesters dance to music as they remain at the camp in front of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite will be dismantled, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
Wall Street protesters dance to music as they remain at the camp in front of Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated Friday that the protestors's campsite will be dismantled, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)
Steven Venus fortifies his space at Occupy Philly with wood pallets, Sunday Nov. 27, 2011, in Philadelphia, in defiance of the city?s 5 p.m. Dilworth Plaza eviction order. (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek)
A member of Occupy Philly who identified herself as Laura watches the demonstration at Dilworth Plaza, in Philadelphia, Sunday Nov. 27, 2011, held in defiance of the city?s 5 p.m. eviction order. (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek)
Police officers watch as members of Occupy Philly demonstrate at Dilworth Plaza, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011, in Philadelphia, in defiance of the city?s 5 p.m. eviction order. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek)
Members of Occupy Philly, from right to left, Shawn Grant, Brianne Murphy, and Diane Isser, demonstrate at Dilworth Plaza, in Philadelphia, on Sunday Nov. 27, 2011, in defiance of the city?s 5 p.m. eviction order. (AP Photo/ Joseph Kaczmarek)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Deadlines for Wall Street protesters to leave their encampments came and went in two cities with no arrests in Philadelphia and a festive, party-like atmosphere as protesters in Los Angeles defied the order clear out early Monday.
Protesters defied the mayor's deadline to vacate their encampment near City Hall in Los Angeles, with about 1,000 flooding into the area as hundreds of tents remained standing as they have for nearly two months.
A celebratory atmosphere filled the night with protesters milling about the park and streets by City Hall in seeming good spirits. A group on bicycles circled the block, one of them in a cow suit. Organizers led chants with a bull horn.
"The best way to keep a non-violent movement non-violent is to throw a party, and keep it festive and atmospheric," said Brian Masterson.
Police presence was slight right after the 12:01 a.m. PST Monday deadline, but it began increasing as the morning wore on. At the same time, the number of protesters dwindled.
"People have been pretty cooperative tonight. We want to keep it peaceful," police Cmdr. Andrew Smith told The Associated Press.
He refused to discuss how or when police will move to clear the park, but he said: "We're going to do this as gently as we possibly can. Our goal is not to have anybody arrested. Our goal is not to have to use force."
A deadline set by the city for Occupy Philadelphia to leave the site where it has camped for nearly two months passed Sunday without any arrests.
The reactions to the expired deadlines in Los Angeles and Philadelphia were far different from those in other cities in recent weeks, where pepper spray, tear gas and police action have been used in the removal of long-situated demonstrators since the movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed began with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan two months ago.
Dozens of tents remained at the encampment outside Philadelphia's City Hall Monday morning, twelve hours after a city-imposed deadline passed for the protesters to move to make way for a construction project.
No arrests were immediately reported Monday. The camp appeared mostly quiet amid a heavy police presence, but around 5 a.m. EST a handful of people were marching one of the city's main business corridors banging drums.
The scene outside City Hall was quiet most of the day Sunday. But the sound of protesters' drumming did bring complaints from several people living in nearby high-rise apartment buildings.
In Los Angeles, by 2:30 a.m., most protesters had moved from the camp site in the park to the streets. That put them technically in compliance with the mayor's eviction order, but could lead to confrontation with police if they try to clear the streets.
There have so far been no arrests or reports of violence.
"We're still here, it's after 12, ain't nobody throwing anything at the cops, they haven't come in and broken anyone's noses yet, so it's a beautiful thing," said Adam Rice, a protester standing across the street from police in riot gear.
In Philadelphia, along the steps leading into a plaza, about 50 people sat in lines Sunday with the promise that they would not leave unless they were carried out by authorities. For a time, they linked arms. But as it seemed that a forceful ouster was not imminent, they relaxed a bit. A police presence was heavier than usual but no orders to leave had been issued.
A few dozen tents remained scattered on the plaza, along with trash, piles of dirty blankets and numerous signs reading, "You can't evict an idea."
Several hundred supporters surrounded those who were prepared to face arrest for one of the Occupy movement meetings known as a general assembly.
The meeting started out with logistics ? making sure those sitting in had quarters to make calls from jail and that someone was gathering important medical information ? but it soon turned to big ideas.
The protesters described their many hopes for a better world. Among them: reparations for slavery and Native American lands, better and more inspiring schools, recognizing gay marriage, and end to homelessness, fewer TVs and better pay for artists. Some of those who spoke with hope and joined in rendition of "Lean on Me," had goggles with them, just in case pepper spray is used.
There was a sense that the occupation in front of Philadelphia's Gothic-style City Hall would soon be over, but hope that the movement would last.
"This is just baby steps," said R.W. Dennen, who said he felt a bit guilty that he wasn't preparing to be arrested.
Elsewhere on the East Coast, eight people were arrested in Maine after protesters in the Occupy Augusta encampment in Capitol Park took down their tents and packed their camping gear after being told to get a permit or move their shelters.
Protesters pitched tents Oct. 15 as part of the national movement but said Sunday they shouldn't have to get a permit to exercise their right to assemble. Occupy leaders said a large teepee loaned by the Penobscot Indians and a big all-weather tent would stay up.
In Philadelphia, Steve Venus was fortifying the area around his tent with abandoned wood pallets left over from those who had already packed up. He said the $50 million construction project, including a planned ice skating rink, was not a good enough reason for Occupy Philadelphia to leave the plaza.
Venus, 22, said that by enforcing the deadline, the city was essentially telling Occupy supporters "your issues are not important. The only issue that's important is the ice skating rink."
On Friday, Mayor Michael Nutter expressed support for the movement's ideals but said protesters must make room for the long-planned project, which they were told of when they set up camp Oct. 6.
Nutter was out of town Sunday, but his spokesman reiterated that "people are under orders to move."
The mayor himself had an exchange on Twitter with hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, who asked Nutter "to remember this is a non-violent movement ? please show restraint tonight."
Nutter's response: "I agree."
Graffiti, lack of sanitation and fire hazards, including smoking in tents, were among the city's chief concerns at Dilworth, which had about 350 tents at the height of the movement.
___
Mulvihill reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press Writers Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia, Glenn Adams in Augusta, Maine, contributed to this story.
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Environmental programs fall victim to budget cuts (AP)
BOISE, Idaho ? When lightning ignited a wildfire near Idaho's Sun Valley in 2007, environmental regulators used monitoring gear to gauge the health effects for those breathing in the Sawtooth Mountains' smoky, mile-high air.
That equipment sits idle today after the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality was hit by $4 million in spending cuts, a quarter of its budget, since the recession began. Water testing on selenium-laced streams in Idaho's phosphate mining country also has been cut back, as have mercury monitoring and hazardous waste inspections.
The cuts to environmental programs in Idaho provide a snapshot of a national trend. Conservation programs and environmental regulations have been pared back significantly in many states that have grappled with budget deficits in recent years.
Because environmental programs are just a sliver of most state budgets, the cuts often go without much public notice. More attention is focused on larger reductions in Medicaid, public education or prisons.
A 24-state survey by the Environmental Council of States, the national association of state environmental agency leaders, showed agency budgets decreasing by an average of $12 million in 2011. The Washington, D.C.-based group also says federal grants to help states administer new federal Environmental Protection Agency rules regarding air and water quality also have waned, falling by 5.1 percent since 2004.
Regulators in many states say they are trying to maintain fundamental environmental protections required by the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and other federal laws.
"Hopefully, even with all the cuts in place, we're still doing a good job of protecting that," said Martin Bauer, Idaho's air quality administrator.
Yet environmentalists and some state regulators are concerned that the budget cuts imperil programs designed to safeguard public health and safety.
In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican presidential candidate, signed a budget that cut funding for the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality more than 30 percent, from $833 million to $565 million. That included reducing air quality inspections and assessments.
Colin Meehan, of the Environmental Defense Fund in Austin, worries that Texas will struggle to meet Clean Air Act obligations.
"We see this as not just a problem from a regulatory standpoint," he said. "It's a public health issue."
While the Texas agency reduced state incentive programs to cut pollutants, those were not required by federal law, agency spokeswoman Andrea Morrow said. The reductions "are only one part of the state's overall approach" to paring emissions, she said.
In some states where conservatives control the Legislature and the governor's office, environmentalists have been critical of deep cutbacks to the programs they had fought to implement. Some suggest the severity of the cuts is due as much to a political agenda to reduce government regulations as it is to cope with state budget deficits.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's first budget included his veto of a $500,000 water quality study on Lake Okeechobee and some $20 million in cuts to Everglades' restoration. Scott, a Republican, said the steps were necessary to balance a state budget hard hit by home foreclosures and real estate losses.
But the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature also cut $210 million from property tax revenue intended for local water-management districts that protect Florida's swamplands. Environmentalists blasted those cuts, complaining they were meant to help Scott fulfill pledge to cut taxes.
"It would have been appropriate for there to have been some level of budget reductions," Audubon of Florida advocacy director Charles Lee said. "But it's clear what happened in Tallahassee in 2011 was targeted, ideologically driven, and I would add, mean-spirited."
Scott insists his administration uncovered overly generous pension payments and questionable purchases by the local water districts. He said water resources deserve protecting, but the agencies that oversee them also must be fiscally responsible.
Budget cuts have affected high-profile programs in several other states, as well.
In South Carolina, they mean health officials will not perform a statewide study of how mercury-tainted fish affect those who eat them. Contaminated fish have been found in some 1,700 miles of the state's rivers. That state's Department of Natural Resources' budget was cut more than 50 percent, dropping to $14 million from $32 million.
The state Department of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania has seen general fund support slip from $217 million in 2009 to $140 million, levels last seen in 1994.
"This is a silent train wreck that's happening," said David Hess, the former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. "What these cuts do is cut the capacity and the ability of environmental agencies to do their jobs."
At best, states will know less about how their air and water quality are faring. At worst, they could become dirtier and more dangerous places to live, Hess said.
Oregon, for example, reduced air pollution monitoring, as the Department of Environmental Quality faces budget cuts through 2013. In North Carolina, lawmakers eliminated a $480,000 mapping program created after a landslide killed five people in 2004, jettisoning the jobs of six geologists who said more maps were needed to help protect Appalachian mountain residents by helping them decide where it is safe to build.
"It's very shortsighted," said DJ Gerken, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center in Ashville, N.C. "We've had 48 landslide deaths since 1916. What's changed is the appetite for building in these areas where risks are most abundant."
In some cases, it's difficult to know what effect the spending cuts will have over the long term because environmental problems often evolve over time.
When Washington's Legislature trimmed $30 million, or 27 percent, from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife's budget, three employees who had been diving in the Puget Sound to hunt down invasive sea squirts lost their jobs.
The gelatinous invaders, known as tunicates, form a goopy mat on the sea floor, raising fears that they will hurt the shellfish industry, as they have in eastern Canada.
"We are basically addressing tunicates on an emergency basis only," said Allen Pleus, Washington state's aquatic invasive species coordinator.
While the state's oyster growers will not rule out the potential for future problems caused by the sea squirts, they say they do not see an immediate threat to their livelihoods.
"There isn't any place I'm aware of that the tunicates are causing harm on the shellfish farms," said Bill Dewey, of Taylor Shellfish Farms in Shelton, Wash.
Elsewhere, budget cuts to invasive species programs have caused more alarm.
The Hawaii Invasive Species Council, a main player in that state's fight against non-native plants and animals, saw its budget cut by more than half to $1.8 million.
Fearing "a collapse of our inspection capacity," spokeswoman Deborah Ward said her agency redirected 40 percent of its remaining money to preserve inspections that help keep invasive pests such as brown tree snakes from hitchhiking their way into the islands from Guam. Hawaii has no native snakes, so experts fears their arrival could decimate native bird species.
As the money was shifted, however, the state cut back on field crews who targeted invasive species already on the islands. Those include pigs, wild goats and sheep that can decimate an ecosystem full of plants that evolved without natural protections, like thorns.
"They're like bonbons for pigs," Christy Martin, a spokeswoman for the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species in Honolulu, said of the state's native plants. "If there's nobody out there actually doing the work, you get astronomical reproduction. We have a year-round breeding season here, so everything goes crazy, and you lose ground."
___
Associated Press writers Emery P. Dalesio in Raleigh, N.C.; Jim Davenport in Columbia, S.C.; Bill Kaczor in Tallahassee, Fla.; Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu; Philip Rawls in Montgomery, Ala.; and Chris Tomlinson in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
"Breaking Dawn" tops holiday weekend box office (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Vampires feasted at the Thanksgiving weekend box office, bringing the newest "Twilight" movie its second win in a row, over a strong comeback for "The Muppets" and other family fare that filled theaters.
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1" delivered an estimated $113.5 million around the globe from Friday through Sunday. The film ranked No. 1 for the second straight week at U.S. and Canadian theaters, where ticket sales hit $42 million for three days and $62.3 million over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
The film's total box-office take since its release reached $489.3 million globally.
"Breaking Dawn: Part 1" is the fourth movie in the "Twilight" series, one of Hollywood's most lucrative franchises. The movies are based on best-selling novels by Stephenie Meyer about a human-vampire-werewolf love triangle, a story that has generated legions of die-hard female fans.
For the latest movie, "word of mouth is good. (Fans) are supporting the film," said Richie Fay, president of domestic distribution for independent studio Summit Entertainment, which backed the film.
In second place, audiences welcomed the Muppets back to theaters for the first time in 12 years.
New Disney movie "The Muppets," starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams alongside Kermit, Miss Piggy and their puppet friends, took in a strong $29.5 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters in three days. The five-day holiday weekend haul reached $42 million domestically. Two international markets added $1.6 million.
Disney bought the rights to the Muppets in 2004, and the media, entertainment and consumer-products giant is eager to interest a new generation in the characters.
"It's hard to have anyone argue we didn't bring them back," said Dave Hollis, Disney's executive vice president for motion picture sales and distribution. The movie's performance "exceeded expectations," he said.
The Muppets starred on a weekly television show in the 1970s and early 1980s plus a series of films, the last being 1999's "Muppets from Space."
Critics loved the new Muppets movie, with 98 percent giving it a favorable review, according to aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences awarded an A rating on average, according to exit-polling firm CinemaScore. The movie cost about $45 million to produce.
FAMILY FILMS COMPETE
In third place for the weekend, dancing penguin sequel "Happy Feet Two" earned $13.4 million over three days domestically during its second weekend in theaters and $18.4 million through five days.
Rounding out the top five were two other new family movies that critics adored.
Animated 3D movie "Arthur Christmas," which cost about $98 million to produce, pulled in $12.7 million at domestic theaters over three days and $17 million in five days to finish in fourth place. The movie explains how Santa delivers presents around the world in one night and has earned $22.3 million overseas since opening two weeks ago.
Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures, said the film "opened about where we hoped it would," adding that he expected the Christmas theme would appeal throughout the holiday season.
"Hugo," a 3D family movie, ended the weekend in fifth place with $11.4 million over three days and $15.4 million over five days. The movie centers on an orphan living in a Paris train station in the 1930s.
The film exceeded studio forecasts for its release in about 1,300 locations, far fewer than the 3,000-plus for the other widely released films, said Don Harris, president of domestic distribution for Paramount.
In a small number of theaters, "My Week with Marilyn," starring Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe, opened with $1.8 million from 244 screens from Friday through Sunday. Critics have praised Williams' performance in the Weinstein Co. film and mentioned her as an Academy Award contender for the role.
Walt Disney Co released "The Muppets." Privately held Summit Entertainment released "Breaking Dawn: Part 1." "Arthur Christmas" was distributed by Sony, and "Hugo" was released by Paramount, a unit of Viacom Inc. Time Warner unit Warner Bros. distributed "Happy Feet Two."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Bill Trott)
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