Spotify gets app-happy with new platform (video)

Don't say we didn't warn you. As previously reported, today's Spotify "what's next" event in New York City is all about the apps. The Swedish music streaming service's CEO Daniel Ek took the stage today to officially unveiled its new app finder, a platform aimed at bringing users music related info like info like lyrics, events and magazine record reviews. Announced partners include Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Last.fm, Billboard, Pitchfork and more. The company considers the platform the next step in a social strategy that the company began with Facebook integration, a move that brought a vast number of new users to the service.

According to Ek, Spotify is using the platform to add features of its own, as well, including new Facebook-style social stream that lets you see what friends are doing on the service in real-time. The platform will be open to everyone, according to the company, but Spotify will get final approval of all apps before they make their way onto the service. A number of apps, including Rolling Stone and Last.fm will be made available in beta today.

Gallery: Spotify's 'what's next' event

Continue reading Spotify gets app-happy with new platform (video)

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/spotify-gets-app-happy-with-new-platform/

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Ali Fedotowsky and Roberto Martinez: Behind the Split

After meeting fiance Roberto Martinez on The Bachelorette, then experiencing an epic courtship, Ali Fedotowsky said she was ready to marry him, and quickly.

Fast forward a year and a half, and it's over.

The pair had a nice run by Bachelorette standards (18 months qualifies as a long-term relationship by any measure), but she broke up with Roberto last week.

Now, in People's new cover story, Ali explains why.

"I wouldn't be being truthful if I said this came out of nowhere," a tearful Fedotowsky said, reflecting on the rocky times she and Roberto endured of late.

"We definitely were having problems. But I always believed we could work it out."

Despite putting the brakes on their fast-tracked wedding plans last year, and then twice more postponing plans to walk down the aisle with Roberto, Ali says they did make a concerted effort to stay together and to weather the tough times.

In spite of that, their arguments continued, and worsened at that.

"We both realized we were unhappy more than we were happy," says Ali, in a candid take of a romance born on a show so often phony. "And we both deserved more"

[Photo: WENN.com]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/11/ali-fedotowsky-and-roberto-martinez-behind-the-split/

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Germany, France examine radical push for eurozone (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? Germany and France are exploring radical methods of securing deeper and more rapid fiscal integration among euro zone countries, aware that getting broad backing for the necessary treaty changes may not be possible, officials say.

Germany's original plan was to try to secure agreement among all 27 EU countries for a limited treaty change by the end of 2012, making it possible to impose much tighter budget controls over the 17 euro zone countries -- a way of shoring up the region's defenses against the debt crisis.

But in meetings with EU leaders in recent weeks, it has become clear to both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy that it may not be possible to get all 27 countries on board, EU sources say.

Even if that were possible, it could take a year or more to secure the changes while market attacks on Italy, Spain and now France suggest bold measures are needed within weeks.

As a result, senior French and German civil servants have been exploring other ways of achieving the goal, one being an agreement among just the euro zone countries.

"The goal is for the member states of the common currency to create their own Stability Union and to concentrate on that," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told ARD television on Sunday.

Another option being explored is a separate agreement outside the EU treaty that could involve a core of around 8-10 euro zone countries, officials say.

An even more pressing decision faces euro zone finance ministers when they meet on Tuesday.

Detailed operational rules for the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), are ready for approval, documents obtained by Reuters showed. [ID:nL5E7MR0UA]

The approval of the rules will clear the way for the 440 billion euro facility to attract cash from private and public investors to its co-investment funds in coming weeks, which, depending on interest, could multiply the EFSF's resources.

With Germany rigidly opposed to the idea of the ECB providing liquidity to the EFSF or acting as a lender of last resort, the euro zone needs a way of quickly calming markets, where yields on Spanish, Italian and French government benchmark bonds have all been pushed to euro lifetime highs.

Policymakers hope progress toward tougher fiscal rules will also assuage investors. Schaeuble said a Stability Union could be a decisive step to winning more confidence from the markets.

"That means that every euro zone member has to do its homework on its budget discipline. We want to ensure that through treaty changes," he said.

RADICAL OVERHAUL

Reuters exclusively reported on November 9 that French and German officials were discussing plans for a radical overhaul of the European Union to establish a more fiscally integrated and possibly smaller euro zone.

"The Germans have made up their minds. They want treaty change and they are doing everything they can to push for it as rapidly as possible," one senior EU official involved in the negotiations told Reuters. "Senior German officials are on the phone at all hours of the day to every European capital."

While Germany and France are convinced that moving toward fiscal union - which could pave the way for jointly issued euro zone bonds and may provide more leeway for the European Central Bank to act forcefully - is the only way to get on top of the debt crisis, some other euro zone countries are unable or unwilling to move so rapidly toward that goal.

Not only Greece, Ireland and Portugal, which are receiving EU/IMF aid, but also Italy and Spain and some east European countries such as Slovakia, would either find it difficult under current economic conditions to meet the budget constraints Germany wants, or simply do not agree with the aim.

Consequently, the French and German negotiators are exploring at least two models for more rapid integration among a limited number of euro zone countries, with the possibility of folding that agreement into the EU treaty at a later stage.

TWO MODELS

One is based on the Pruem Convention of 2005, also known as Schengen III, a treaty signed among 7 countries outside the EU treaty but which was open to any member state to join and was later acceded to by 5 more EU states plus Norway.

Another option would be to have a purely Franco-German mini-agreement along the lines of the Elysee treaty of 1963 that other euro zone countries could also sign up to, officials say.

"The options are being actively discussed as we speak and things are moving very, very quickly," a European Commission official briefed on the discussions told Reuters.

One source said the aim was to have the outline of an agreement set out before December 9, when EU leaders will meet for their final summit of the year in Brussels.

Sarkozy, who has made two speeches in the past two weeks highlighting the need for more rapid fiscal integration in the euro zone, and has acknowledged that it may be inevitable that a 'two-speed Europe' emerges, is due to make another keynote address on December 1 which could provide a platform for laying out in more detail the ideas that he and Merkel are developing.

A senior German government official denied there were any secret Franco-German negotiations, but emphasized that both countries saw the need for treaty change as pressing and were exploring how to achieve that in the best way possible.

"Germany and France are continuing to focus on proposals for a limited treaty change that can be presented at the EU summit in December," the official said, emphasizing that there was a need to act quickly to get changes in place.

The ECB has bought the bonds of euro zone strugglers in intermittent fashion when they have reached crisis point. Economists say it has to act much more radically to turn the market tide but the central bank, and Germany, has opposed any such move. Commitments to binding fiscal rules by euro zone governments may be the cover it needs to change tack.

"If this bond run is not stopped it will really endanger the stability of the European and even the global financial system. Bold action by the ECB is definitely needed," Peter Bofinger, one of the five "wise men" who formally advise the German government on the economy, told Irish state broadcaster RTE.

Reuters reported a similar possibility on Friday, with euro zone officials saying that if much tighter fiscal integration could be achieved among euro zone states, it would give the ECB more room to maneuver and buy sovereign bonds.

While EU officials are clear about the determination of France and Germany to push for more rapid euro zone integration, some caution that the idea of doing so with fewer than 17 countries via a sideline agreement may be more about applying pressure on the remainder to act.

By threatening that some countries could be left behind if they don't sign up to deeper integration, it may be impossible for a country to say no, fearing that doing so could leave it even more exposed to market pressures.

"Some of this is just part of the posturing you hear -- it's pressure from Germany to go for treaty change as quickly as possible," the official involved in the negotiations said.

"To some extent you have to see these ideas as part of the bargaining chips that are being put on the table."

(Reporting by Luke Baker, Julien Toyer in Brussels, Carmel Crimmins in Dublin, Matthias Sobolewski, Andreas Rinke, Erik Kirschbaum and Gernot Heller in Berlin, Writing by Luke Baker, editing by Mike Peacock)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111127/bs_nm/us_eurozone_crisis

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How I Pulled Off a 10-Day London Vacation for $700 [Travel]

Back in September, we published serial traveler Matthew Kepnes' ultimate travel hacking guide, sharing his best tips and advice on how to travel cheaply without sacrificing comfort. The guide inspired many questions, so Matt had an idea: It's one thing to say "Hey, this stuff works," but it's another to actually show how it works. So here's how Matt managed a 10-day trip to London for a measly $700.

Ed. note: While not every hack Matt employs will come easily to all of us, his guide is full of clever methods that can shave dollars off your next trip?to London or elsewhere. Also worth noting: Several of Matt's suggestions involve using rewards points or miles. At first glance, that may seem rather unrealistic if you aren't already a frequent traveler, however Matt does provide several tips for how you can accumulate points and miles without spending any money.

Photo by Andresr/Shutterstock.

The first city on my list is London. I came here for a 10-day trip for a travel conference and thought it would make for the perfect example. London is notorious for being one of the most expensive places in the world to visit. No one goes to London under the assumption that they aren't going to spend a lot of money.
And that's why London is a perfect first place to do this. Because, if you can travel hack London, you can travel hack anywhere.

Using my own travel hacking tips, 10 days in London only cost me 481.21 GBP?$710 USD. That works out to be roughly $70 USD per day. And that's not just my day-to-day expenses. That includes EVERYTHING?my flight to London, my hotel, transportation, food, drinking, and attractions.

Think about that for a second: I had a 10-day vacation in London for $700 USD that included airfare. When was the last time you went to Europe for that little money? When was the last time any real big international trip cost that kind of money?

How Did I Do It?

Before I explain how I did it, I want to take a second to explain some of the ground rules I laid out for myself. I didn't backpack London. My goal was to show the budget travelers of the world?the two-week holiday makers?that you can do London on the cheap without being a backpacker. That saving money isn't all dorm rooms, couchsurfing, and eating pasta.

So, visiting London as a budget traveler, I made three rules:

1. I wouldn't stay in hostels. I wanted to stay in nice accommodation to prove that even a hotel stay can be cheap.

2. I had to eat a few nice meals. When you go on holiday, you want to eat nice food, so I agreed that I would have at least two really nice meals in London.

3. I couldn't say "no" because it was expensive. Many backpackers skip sightseeing because of the cost but I wanted to do all the normal sightseeing activities regular tourists do. You don't go on a short vacation to not sightsee right?

With these ground rules in place, I set off to do London as your average, everyday traveler.

Part One: The Flight

I used my American Airlines frequent flier miles to pay for my flight. A round-trip ticket from Boston to London cost me 60,000 miles, plus a service charge of $165.10 in taxes and fees.

The miles I used were "anytime miles," but American Airlines also offers "OffPeak Miles" (off-season really), and you can actually fly to London for as little as 40,000 miles round-trip.

How do I get so many miles?

I'm a frequent flier, so I can generate a lot of miles per year. I normally fly about 40,000 to 50,000 miles per year, which, compared to most travel writers, is pretty low. But I've written extensively on how to get miles for free. I sign up for bonus credit cards, sign up for deals, use preferred merchants, and sign up for every contest that gives extra miles. All told, I have accumulated over 400,000 frequent flier miles with American Airlines alone through these methods.

While I have written many blog posts on how to get free miles, here's a quick summary of the best methods:

Sign up for a branded airline credit card: Whether you love Delta or fly United and the Star Alliance, all U.S. carriers have a branded travel credit card that gives you 25,000-30,000 points when you sign up and make one purchase. That's a free economy ticket right there. Airline credit cards are the best way to kick start your mileage balance. Often times they offer huge sign up bonuses. For awhile, American Airlines gave you 75,000 miles when you got their branded credit card. Virgin Atlantic has offered 50,000. United has done 40,000. The quickest and best way to gain a lot of free miles is to get one of these travel credit cards.

Watch out for special promotions: I sign up for all airline mailing lists. I always watch out for special 2-for-1 mile deals. Or when they have special card offers to earn extra miles. American Airlines just gave me 1,000 miles for watching a demo on their new shopping toolbar. I once got 5,000 miles for joining Netflix. Often times you get miles for filling out surveys or they will give you a 100% bonus on purchasing miles. Promotions help big time, and airlines seem to always be offering them. Utilizing promotions over the course of a few months can yield big results.

Sign up for a non-airline credit card: Sign up for a non-airline credit card like a Starwood American Express card and you can get 10,000 sign-up points. When you convert 20,000 points into miles, you get a 5,000-mile bonus. I highly recommend signing up for this card too but signing up for any "points" card like the AMEX travel card or a Capital One card will do. Afterwards, you can transfer your sign-up bonus points to the airline you use and redeem them for flights.

For all of these methods, the bonus points take about 6-8 weeks to post from the time you sign up for a credit card. If you want, sign up for my free newsletter?I always post the best mile bonuses on it. Or read Boarding Area, which features all mileage bonuses big and small.

Note: Readers of my blog know I've been in Europe for long time. However, I also went home to Boston in September on a round trip flight from London. I'm using that flight as the basis for this article.

Part Two: Accommodation

I had hoped that by the time I went to London, my Marriott or Starwood points would credit to my account. Marriott is offering a new card with Chase that got me 70,000 points plus 1 free stay for signing up and after the first use. I jumped on this deal but the points took too long to place into my account. On the plus side, I now have 70,000 points and a free night at the Marriott for future use.

A few months ago, Starwood hotels offered a 60,000 points bonus. I signed up but forgot to use the card quickly enough and by the time I remembered, the point transfer took too long.

However, my points didn't get credited in time, so I used more American Airlines miles for this. I used 68,000 points plus $25 USD for 5 nights accommodation in a 4 star hotel. I stayed in a hotel near Hyde Park, a very well-to-do neighborhood in London.

Now, while you can use airline miles for vacations and hotels, you never get as good of a point conversion as you do with flights. Five nights using hotel points would have cost me just 50,000 points. The point here, though, is that by signing up for a branded hotel card, you can use those points to get free hotel stays for your next vacation. Or you can use the bonuses from an airline. Either way, getting free hotel rooms isn't that hard.

For the other 4 nights I was London, I used Wimdu, an apartment rental company. While I normally like hostels, I wanted some peace and quiet while in London as well as a kitchen. The room cost 150 GBP ($238 USD) for 4 nights.

Regarding all these credit cards: While you may get a small short-term ding opening lots of credit cards in a short time, over the long term your credit will be fine so long as you pay off all your cards at the end of the month. Even after opening all these credit cars, I still have a credit score of about 800.

Part Three: Attractions

London is great for sightseeing because so much is free here. It makes sightseeing on a budget really easy. The best museums?British Library, British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Museum of London (just to name a few)?are all free. Hyde Park? Free. Kensington Gardens? Free. It's easy to fill a few days with sightseeing in London without ever spending a penny.

But sadly, not everything is free. For attractions that weren't free, I used the London Pass. This tourist card cost me 54 GBP ($86 USD) for two days of sightseeing. It covers over 32 destinations and offers free public transportation. You can get a pass for up to 6 days (87 GBP). There are hundreds upon hundreds of dollars in savings with this pass. However, I didn't have much time nor the desire to see all 32 spots. I was able to see:

• Westminster Abbey
• Tower of London
• St. Paul's Cathedral
• Ben Franklin House
• Britain at War Museum
• Shakespeare's Globe Museum
• London Tombs

Without this pass, the same attractions would have cost me 104.55 GBP. I saved 50% by using the London Pass and I didn't even use it for everything it offers. This is why in so many of my posts about various cities I always stress getting a city pass if you plan to do a lot of museums and tours. You can save a lot of money by doing so. It's one of the best budget travel tips out there and is all too often overlooked.

Part Four: Food

I didn't want to be the typical backpacker and eat kebabs and pasta for every meal. But at the same time, I know locals don't eat out 100% of the time, either, and a great way to save money is to cook, which is part of the reason I got a place with a kitchen for my last 4 nights. I wanted to mix eating out with cooking a few meals. During my 10 days in London, I spent 103.80 GBP ($165 USD) on food, which broke down the following ways:

I spent 9.11 GBP on groceries, including bread, sandwich meat, vegetables, and pasta. This was enough for 3 dinners and 3 lunches.

I spent 2.20 on water bottles, which I refilled over the course of my trip.

My hotels and serviced apartment provided breakfast, though I did go out for McDonald's one morning. I just love those hash browns.

The rest was spent on dining out. I got pizza one day, went out for good Thai for one dinner, had great Indian one night, ate typical fish and chips the next, had a few Starbucks green teas, and tons of kebabs. They are everywhere in London. According to my friends, you are a true Londoner if you are dining on kebabs, especially if it's after a night out.

As I said, I didn't want to skimp on meals. I ate how I wanted to eat, when I wanted to eat. I did look for deals though as any good budget traveler knows that good food doesn't have to be expensive. In London, I found the best way to eat out on a budget was to look for lunch specials. Most restaurants I came across had lunch specials and many pizza places offered a "buy one, get one free" deal on takeaway.

Another great way to save money is to get the Taste Card. This diner's club card offers 50% discounts on thousands of restaurants as well as two for one specials. It can really pay off, especially on those nice meals you'll want to have. You can only live on fish and chips for so long.

Part Five: Transportation

My London Pass covered public transportation for the two days it was valid. And since cabs in London are notoriously expensive even by London standards, I refrained from taking them.

For transportation to Heathrow airport, I took the Heathrow express to get into the city (18.50 GBP) and the London Underground to get out (5 GBP). Around the city, I loaded my oyster card (metro card) for unlimited use within Zones 1-3 for 7 days at a cost of 32.20 GBP. (Everything you really need to see is mostly in Zone 1, but my conference was in Zone 3, so I had get out there.)

Conclusion: How Much Would This Trip Regularly Cost?

Had I fallen into the trap that most people do of booking a "normal vacation," in London, this trip would have cost me three times as much.

A flight to London from Boston right now is currently running around $650 USD.

Currently, the average price of a decently rated 3-4 star hotel in central London is 70 to 100 GBP ($111 to 158 USD) per night. For my 9 night trip, that adds up to around $1,000 USD as I would have gone with the cheapest.

Had I refrained from cooking, I probably would have added about another 70 GBP ($111 USD) on dining out knowing my eating habits.

If you add up all of that plus my transport and food, I would have spent around $2,000 USD. By traveling hacking and cleverly using reward points, I spent 10 days in London for less than the current price of a flight to London, saving myself $1,300 USD! Think about that. I saved 66% off the cost of a normal vacation, and I didn't skimp on anything. I just traveled smart, used reward systems, and everyday frugality to my advantage. I stayed in nice places, dined out well, and saw all the attractions I wanted. I didn't sacrifice comfort.

One the most important points I wanted to get across with this trip was to show people that cheap travel doesn't mean bad travel. I wanted to take a vacation to London that my parents or friends?people who wouldn't be caught dead sleeping in 15 bed dorms to save money?could take. I wanted to travel cheaply without sacrificing comfort.

And I did just that. "Travel Hacking" might not be the best phrase in the world, but the principles behind it are simple and easy. Travel doesn't have to be expensive. Repeat that. Travel doesn't have to be expensive. By investing just a little extra time into planning my trip, I was able to have a wonderful trip for around the cost of the going rate for a flight to London. You don't need to spend thousands traveling. A vacation doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg and the next time you are inclined to think so, just remember that yes, it is possible to travel any cheap and anyone can do it.

Note: One thing that is missing from this article is my conference costs. Most people don't visit London for travel conferences, so I didn't add any costs related to that conference to this post.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/6PPZFcy4oM8/how-i-pulled-off-a-10+day-london-vacation-for-700

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China keen to invest in Western infrastructure: CIC head (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? China is keen to invest in the ailing infrastructure of Western countries, especially Britain, the chairman and chief executive of the Asian country's sovereign wealth fund wrote in the Financial Times.

"Now, infrastructure in Europe and the U.S. badly needs more investment," China Investment Corporation's (CIC) Lou Jiwei wrote in an op ed piece.

He said while China had traditionally confined itself to the role of contractor in overseas infrastructure projects, the country's investors now saw a need to invest in, develop and operate such projects.

"In a sign of this determination, the China Investment Corporation ... is now keen to team up with fund managers or participate in public-private-partnerships (PPP) in the UK infrastructure sector as an equity investor," Lou wrote.

"CIC believes that such an investment, guided by commercial principles, offers the chance of a 'win-win' solution for all."

Local co-investors need to provide local knowledge for infrastructure projects while the government must encourage domestic players to head them, Lou wrote.

He proposed PPP arrangements for infrastructure projects whereby governments invest with local or overseas institutional investors to share the risks and returns.

Lou said long-term investment in infrastructure was inadequate and emphasised the need for governments to implement pro-investment policies such as making fiscal adjustments, lowering taxes and offering bank loans at discounted rates.

"These measures will generate demand for equipment manufacturing, put more people on the payroll and cut back on unemployment benefit spending," he wrote.

(Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111127/bs_nm/us_china_infrastructure

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The Little Rooster Wakes Ladies With A "Cock"-A-Doodle-Doo [Nsfw]

It's an alarm clock! It's a vibrator! It's Both! More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/pLKaeFPoX88/the-little-rooster-will-have-ladies-yelling-cock+a+doodle+doo

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DNC attacks Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper in new ad (The Ticket)

Democrats accuse Mitt Romney of behaving as if he's two men "trapped" in the same body in a new television attack ad set to air this week in several cities across the country.

In an effort to build on their decision to label Romney a "flip-flopper" this election season, the Democratic National Committee uses the commercial to question the former Massachusetts governor' position on health care and abortion. (You can view the ad above.)

"From the creator of 'I'm running for office for Pete's sake,' comes the story of two men trapped in one body," the ad's narrator states, spoofing a film trailer. The commercial, paid for by the Democratic National Committee, will be aired in Albuquerque, N.M., Raleigh, N.C., Columbus, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Penn., Milwaukee, Wis. and Washington, D.C.? The ad points viewers to website mittvmitt.com where visitors as of Monday were able to view a four-minute video building on the same flip-flopper theme.

The strategy feeds into Romney's campaign argument that President Obama and his supporters view Romney as their biggest threat for 2012.

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul on Sunday turned the ad around on Democrats, arguing in a statement that Obama is the one who should be faulted for changing his positions:

President Obama will say and do anything to hold on to power. Despite what he said he would do for the middle class, President Obama has failed to create a single net new job and has wreaked more havoc on the middle class than any president in modern history. President Obama himself concedes he hasn't delivered on his campaign promises--however, he is still asking Americans to reward his failures with a second term. It is clear that this election is going to be about Candidate Obama running against President Obama.

Other popular Yahoo! News stories:

Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook and follow us

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20111128/el_yblog_theticket/dnc-attacks-mitt-romney-as-a-flip-flopper-in-new-ad

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Kansas governor says staff overreacted to teen's tweet (tbo)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167677977?client_source=feed&format=rss

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"Beginners," "Tree of Life" win Gotham Film Awards (omg!)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" and the Christopher Plummer film "Beginners" shared the top prize for best feature film on Monday at the Gotham Awards, a key event for independent movies which also marks the start of the film-awards season culminating in the Oscars.

The honors for "The Tree of Life," a mystical period drama starring Brad Pitt, and "Beginners," which stars Ewan McGregor as a man whose elderly father (Plummer) comes out of the closet, scored upset victories.

Alexander Payne's "The Descendants," a well-reviewed Oscar front-runner which stars George Clooney in a family drama set in Hawaii, was nominated in three categories but won none.

Instead "Beginners," directed by relative neophyte Mike Mills, also won best ensemble performance at the New York-based awards, co-hosted by Edie Falco and Oliver Platt.

Mills lauded his cast, singling out Plummer by saying there was "no good reason for Christopher Plummer to believe in me. But he did."

The best documentary honor went to "Better This World," about two boyhood friends from Texas accused of attempting to bomb the 2008 Republican convention.

The Gotham Awards are held annually by the Independent Feature Project, a nonprofit organization founded in 1979 that supports independent filmmaking. The awards provide a focus on the year's top independent movies heading into award season.

Felicity Jones took the prize for breakthrough actor for her work in "Like Crazy," playing a British student separated from her American boyfriend after her visa expires.

Dee Rees won the breakthrough director award for her debut non-documentary feature, "Pariah," about a New York City African-American teenager confronting her sexual identity.

"Girlfriend" won the audience award, while "Scenes of a Crime," the story of a man appealing a life prison sentence, was named best film without a distribution deal.

Special tribute awards were given to Charlize Theron, Gary Oldman, "A Dangerous Method" director David Cronenberg and Fox Filmed Entertainment CEO Tom Rothman.

Films and performances singled out at the Gothams often reflect those nominated for Independent Spirit Awards, another key set of honors for indie movies organized by Los Angeles-based group Film Independent, which announces its annual nominations for the year's best on Tuesday.

Last year's top Gotham winner, "Winter's Bone," an ultra-low-budget indie that cost about $2 million, went on to score four Oscar nominations including best picture.

Presenters at the awards included Alec Baldwin, Stanley Tucci, Melissa Leo and Tilda Swinton.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_beginners_tree_life_win_gotham_film_awards050053282/43740837/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/beginners-tree-life-win-gotham-film-awards-050053282.html

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At 84, Barbara Cook hardly slowing down (AP)

NEW YORK ? When word came that Barbara Cook was to be saluted at the Kennedy Center Honors, one of the first people to send best wishes was Stephen Sondheim.

"He said, `Nobody deserves this more than you. Except me,'" Cook says, laughing.

Cook, whose buttery soprano helped define show after show on Broadway, from "Candide" and "The Music Man" to various revivals of "Carousel," will be recognized for her contribution to American culture next month at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

"To me it's a validation not only of all my work, but because I put so much of my life into what I do, I feel like it's a validation of my life," she says in her handsome Upper West Side apartment that she shares with two parakeets, Gilbert and Sullivan.

Cook will join a handful of other theater professionals for the honor, including Bill T. Jones, Andrew Lloyd Webber, James Earl Jones, Edward Albee, Harold Prince, Arthur Miller and Sondheim, who has written many of the songs she is famous for singing. CBS will broadcast the show Dec. 27.

Despite a slipped disc in her spine and an arthritic knee that force her to use a cane, Cook is hardly slowing down. She's doing a deegdmonthlong stand with Michael Feinstein at Feinstein's at Loews Regency and she is also working on a memoir. This summer, she released her latest CD, the swing-influenced "You Make Me Feel So Young."

"Of course, I think I've gotten better at it," she says about her performances. "I still think this is a work in progress. I do. Seriously. As the years go by, I have more and more courage to go deeper and deeper and deeper."

Though her Grammy Award-winning voice may have changed over the years, Cook is philosophical. "I'm 84," she says. "I'm lucky there's still enough there that I can make the songs happen. I'm very fortunate."

Feinstein says Cook's spirit remains eternally youthful and that she has an undiminished enthusiasm for music and art. Her pipes may have deepened, but so has her ability to tunnel into a lyric.

"She can't sing `Glitter and Be Gay' any more, but she has supreme abilities as an interpreter and still is a damn good singer," he says. "I mean, what she may have lost off the high end most people didn't have to begin with."

With Feinstein, Cook plans to sing Irving Berlin ? a songbook of his work sits on her piano's music rack ? Duke Ellington, and Rodgers & Hart, as well as Broadway hits and holiday classics.

Cook is unfussy and warm, with a slight Southern accent and an appetite for popular culture. She calls Lady Gaga "terrific" and enjoyed listening to Amy Winehouse on Tony Bennett's new CD ("There's something about her work that's very appealing to me, even though I cannot understand a word hardly.") She enjoyed Hugh Jackman's new show on Broadway and wants to see "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" ("You know, just leave my brain at the door and enjoy it").

The idea of joining the Kennedy Center's august group of artistic giants makes her a little flustered. "Barbara Cook and Gregory Peck? Barbara Cook and James Cagney? Barbara Cook and Fred Astaire? Gee whiz. Wow," she says, noting past recipients.

Raised in Atlanta, Cook has always hated vocal exercises, never had a vocal coach and has an effortless skill of creating beauty by just opening her mouth. "I don't remember when I didn't sing. I just always sang," she says. "I think I breathed and I sang."

Cook made her Broadway debut in 1951 in the unsuccessful "Flahooley" but later was cast in Leonard Bernstein's musical version of Voltaire's "Candide," Arthur Schwartz's "The Gay Life" and Meredith Wilson's 1957 hit musical "The Music Man," for which she won a Tony Award. She has spent the last several years on her own concerts and solo albums, including "Mostly Sondheim," "Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall" and "Barbara Cook's Broadway."

Early in her career, Cook battled nerves and self-doubt until she realized that pouring herself into a role was enough. She recalls one moment in particular when it became clear.

"I was auditioning for something, standing in the wings, waiting to go on, and thinking that everybody was prettier, everybody sang better, everybody had a better body ? all that stuff," she says. "Suddenly, I thought, `You know? We are all so individual. And if I can find my individual take on this ? whatever that turns out to be ? then there's no competition.'"

Cook, who later in life battled alcoholism ? "I was a drunk" she says plainly at one point ? and is still haunted by the contentious relationship she had with her mother, sometimes teaches master classes and enjoys passing along her hard-fought wisdom.

When asked what her advice usually is to aspiring singers, she says it boils down to three words that she learned early on herself and have been her guide: You are enough.

"You are enough. You are always enough. You don't ever have to pretend to be anything other than what you are. All you have to do is deeply embrace who you are and you'll be fine," she says.

"In life, aren't you drawn to the more authentic people? Of course. You're not drawn to phonies."

___

Online:

Feinstein's at Loews Regency: http://feinsteinsattheregency.com/

Kennedy Center: http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/honors

Cook: http://www.barbaracook.com

___

Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_en_mu/us_theater_barbara_cook

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Siri hack lets you start your car with voice commands (Yahoo! News)

When the?iPhone 4S launched with the powerful built-in voice assistant,?Siri, we knew hackers would be eager to get their hands on it. It didn't take long, and we've already seen Siri used to allow?voice control of a household thermostat, but developer?Brandon Fiquett took the idea on the road. The intrepid hacker has created a mod that allows the iPhone 4S to remotely start a vehicle simply by asking.

In order to pull off the impressive modification, Fiquett uses a proxy server to allow Siri to communicate with the remote start system installed on his Acura TL. He then modified a bit of Siri's code ? this is the part the would void your warranty ? to respond to requests like "Start my car" and "Stop my car."

You can see Fiquett's handiwork in the video above, and marvel at the simplicity. Of course, if you already have a remote start system installed on your vehicle, you could do the same with a single button press, but asking a robotic assistant to take care of it for you is much more?futuristic... and awesome.

[via?The Verge]

This article originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20111128/tc_yblog_technews/siri-hack-lets-you-start-your-car-with-voice-commands

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NASA rover launched to seek out life clues on Mars (Reuters)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) ? An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Florida on Saturday, launching a $2.5 billion nuclear-powered NASA rover toward Mars to look for clues on what could sustain life on the Red Planet.

The 20-story-tall booster built by United Launch Alliance lifted off from its seaside launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 10:02 a.m. EST (3:02 p.m. GMT).

It soared through partly cloudy skies into space, carrying NASA's Mars Science Laboratory on a 354-million mile (556 million km), nearly nine-month journey to the planet.

"I think this mission is an important next step in NASA's overall goal to address the issue of life in the universe," lead scientist John Grotzinger, with the California Institute of Technology, told reporters shortly after the launch.

The car-sized rover, nicknamed Curiosity, is expected to touch down on August 6, 2012, to begin two years of detailed analysis of a 96-mile (154-km) wide impact basin near the Martian equator called Gale Crater.

The goal is to determine if Mars has or ever had environments to support life. It is the first astrobiology mission to Mars since the 1970s-era Viking probes.

Scientists chose the landing site because it has a three-mile-high (4.8-km high) mountain of what appears from orbital imagery and mineral analysis to be layers of rock piled up like the Grand Canyon, each layer testifying to a different period in Mars' history.

The rover has 17 cameras and 10 science instruments, including chemistry labs, to identify elements in soil and rock samples to be dug up by the probe's drill-tipped robotic arm.

'LONG SHOT'

The base of the crater's mountain has clays, evidence of a prolonged wet environment, and what appears to be minerals such as sulfates that likely were deposited as water evaporated.

Water is considered to be a key element for life, but not the only one.

Previous Mars probes, including the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, searched for signs of past surface water.

"We are not a life-detection mission," Grotzinger said. "We have no ability to detect life present on the surface of Mars. It's an intermediate mission between the search for water and future missions, which may undertake life detection."

With Curiosity, which is twice as long and three times heavier than its predecessors, NASA shifts its focus to look for other ingredients for life, including possibly organic carbon, the building block for life on Earth.

"It's a long shot, but we're going to try," Grotzinger said.

Launch is generally considered the riskiest part of a mission, but Curiosity's landing on Mars will not be without drama.

The 1,980-pound (898 kg) rover is too big for the airbag or thruster-rocket landings used on previous Mars probes, so engineers designed a rocket-powered "sky-crane" to gently lower Curiosity to the crater floor via a 43-foot (13-meter) cable.

"We call it the 'six-minutes of terror,'" said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, referring to the landing. "It is pretty scary, but my confidence level is really high."

Curiosity is powered by heat from the radioactive decay of plutonium. It is designed to last one Martian year, or 687 Earth days.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111126/ts_nm/us_space_mars

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Super Soul Sunday: Painting Straight From The Soul

"Would you describe your soul as more Matisse, or Picasso?" In this Sunday's new short from Rainn Wilson's production company "SoulPancake" the team asks people to step out of their head and paint straight from their souls.

For more programming to nourish your mind, body and spirit tune in to OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network's new "Super Soul Sunday," airing Sundays from 8-11 a.m. ET/PT with an encore at noon and visit
http://www.oprah.com/own-super-soul-sunday/soulpancake.html.

For more on SoulPancake please visit: http://soulpancake.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/26/super-soul-sunday-finding_n_1113885.html

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Get A Low cost Insurance coverage Quote Before You Purchase ...

When you head to an automotive dealership and purchase a new automobile, it?s essential to have automotive insurance earlier than you possibly can drive your new car home. Typically automobile shoppers wait until they are at the automotive dealership before contacting their current car insurance companies in regards to the new car. Sometimes, automotive customers who are shopping for their first vehicles ? automotive customers who don?t have already got automobile insurance coverage for an additional automotive ? wait until the day of the purchase to buy an automobile insurance coverage policy.

These strategies are tricky. Neither provides the new automotive owner time to buy round for an inexpensive car insurance coverage quote, and leaves the brand new automobile owner with few automotive insurance coverage options.

In case you are in the market for a brand new car the best methodology is to get an affordable insurance coverage quote before shopping for your car, and you are able to do so by following the following tips:

Select your automobile earlier than you truly purchase it. There are several steps to this. First, decide what kind of car you want. Have in mind a secure, reliable car with many safety options will get you an affordable insurance quote. Then, look at gross sales papers, taking note of the car dealerships in your area that sell the automobile you want. Finally, visit the automobile dealership just to introduce your self and let a salesman know your intentions.

Contact your present automobile insurance company. Allow them to know you?re within the process of purchasing a brand new car. Tell them the make, mannequin, and yr, as well as all security features. Ask them in the event that they can give you a brand new automobile insurance quote.

Contact other automobile insurance companies. In case you should not have a current car insurance coverage company, or you want a cheaper insurance quote than what your present company gave you, now could be your chance to buy around. Talk to a number of automotive insurance companies to get an affordable insurance quote earlier than you really buy your car.

For data in regard to average cost of car insurance, swing by Orion Lamziahli?s internet site instantly.

Source: http://www.31night.com/2011/11/get-a-low-cost-insurance-coverage-quote-before-you-purchase-your-automotive/

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OECD issues stark warning on global economy (AP)

PARIS ? The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday policy makers around the world must "be prepared to face the worst," as the economic impact of Europe's debt crisis threatens to spread around the developed world.

The Paris-based OECD said in its latest Economic Outlook that continued failure by EU leaders to stem the debt crisis that has spread from Greece to much-bigger Italy "could massively escalate economic disruption" and end in "highly devastating outcomes."

The half-yearly update also recommended urgently boosting the EU bailout fund and called on Europe's central bank to do more to stem the crisis.

"The ECB has the means to provide a credible measure to avoid further contagion in the sovereign bond markets," ECB Chief Economist Carlo Padoan said. "And if you ask me if that is the lender of last resort function, I would say yes."

Many think the ECB is the only institution capable of calming frayed market nerves and Merkel's continued dismissal of a greater ECB role knocked market sentiment and stocks all round Europe fell again after a morning rebound.

Potentially, the ECB has unlimited financial firepower through its ability to print money. However, Germany finds the idea of monetizing debts unappealing, warning that it lets the more profligate countries off the hook for their bad practices. In addition, it conjures up bad memories of hyperinflation in Germany in the 1920s.

Padoan also upped the pressure on Europe to implement the Greek debt restructuring agreed to by EU leaders in October, saying that further delay could render the plan "insufficient," just as an earlier plan unveiled in July turned out to be.

The OECD now forecasts the eurozone economy to be in a six-month recession lasting through the first quarter of 2012, followed by a slow recovery that will leave the 17-nation bloc with only 0.2 percent growth next year.

Padoan warned however that a combination of factors including continued fiscal gridlock in the U.S. and a sovereign debt default or bank failure in Europe could result in a "downside scenario" that sees the eurozone shrink by 2 percent next year and even more in 2013.

The OECD expects the U.S. to grow by 2 percent next year and 2.5 percent in 2013, while the Japanese economy is forecast to grow 2 percent next year and 1.6 percent in 2013.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_bi_ge/world_economy

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Review: Super Mario 3D Land For The 3DS

It's not hard to love Mario. He's had his ups and downs - what, for example, was the deal with Paper Mario? And Super Mario Strikers was pretty hard to love - but darn it if the little guy doesn't keep coming back for more and keeps you, at the very least, entertained. Super Mario 3D Land is the latest in the Mario saga. The story is fairly typical - something was stolen (a lot of leaves) and Bowser took Princess Peach. Your mission is to find the leaves (which are special and give you the Tanooki suit) and then find Peach. What you go through to find her, however, is where all of the fun comes in.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/h-s0TAWCmuA/

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Puerto Rico Welcomes New Cruise Ship

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Puerto Rico is welcoming a new cruise ship it says will generate $3.6 million in revenue this season.

Commerce and Economic Development Secretary Jose Perez-Riera says the Celebrity Silhouette ship that docked on the island for the first time Saturday can accommodate 2,850 passengers.

Perez-Riera said the U.S. Caribbean territory had seen a drop in cruise ship arrivals in the previous four years.

About 535,000 cruise ship passengers visited Puerto Rico from January to April of this year, a nearly 1 percent drop compared to the same period last year.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/26/puerto-rico-welcomes-new-_0_n_1114415.html

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That was fast: Apple pulls first subscription-based iPad game (Digital Trends)

Seattle?s Big Fish Games scored a bit of a coup this week by being the first app developer to get a subscription-based game app into the iTunes App Store. But, the bubble has burst, at least for now: Apple has removed Play Instantly from the iTunes App Store.

Play Instantly was the first iPad app to offer subscription access to games: for $4.99 a month, subscribers could play any available titlle as much as they liked, without having to purchase a separate copy of the game app. Play Instantly?s operation is similar to the OnLive PC gaming service: instead of downloading versions of the app, users connect to gamed via the cloud (which means Play Instantly only worked via a solid Wi-Fi connection: 3G doesn?t cut it).

Big Fish has expressed surprise over the removal, telling Bloomberg the company was trying to contact Apple to find out why the app had been pulled. Big Fish Games was very public about the release of the Play Instantly app and its revenue model: the $4.99/month subscription price included access to ?dozens? of Big Fish premium casual games, and the company anticipated that Play Instantly would expand to ?several hundred? titles for iOS, Android, and PCs in 2012?that would also come with a higher subscription price of $6.99/month.

Play Instantly may be the first game service to use Apple?s subscription model, but numerous publishers have been using it since the launch of the original iPad. Like app sales and in-app purchasing, Apple takes a 30 percent cut of subscription fees, leaving 70 percent for developers. Apple?s high share of subscription fees has led some publishers (like the Financial Times) to eschew Apple?s subscription technology in favor of iPad/iOS-optimized Web services.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111124/tc_digitaltrends/thatwasfastapplepullsfirstsubscriptionbasedipadgame

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McCaskill asks for investigation into Obama administration???s sole-source vaccine contract (Daily Caller)

Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, has asked The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review the Obama administration?s award of a $443 million sole-source contract to a company owned by a major Democratic donor.

The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that the Obama administration has taken unusual steps to procure an experimental smallpox vaccine from a company owned by a major Democratic donor despite concerns from some experts that such a drug was unnecessary and would not be effective.

Citing ?serious questions? about the contract, the Los Angeles Times reported?that McCaskill has asked the inspector general of HHS to investigate. McCaskill is the chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting and Oversight.

The New York-based Siga Technologies was awarded a contract in May to deliver 1.7 million doses of an antiviral pill called ST-246. It was the only company asked to submit a proposal, and the price tag of $255 a dose is well above what government specialists said was reasonable. When a contracting specialists at HHS was resistant to pay so much, the company complained and the lead negotiator was replaced.

Ronald Perelman, a billionaire and longtime Democratic Party donor, owns Siga Technologies. After the government put a renewed emphasis on protecting the nation from chemical and biological attacks in the wake of September 11, 2001, Perelman bought a controlling stake in Siga through his holding company.

A year after Perelman?s investment, in 2004, President George W. Bush signed Project BioShield, a $5.6 billion, ten-year program to stockpile medications in the event of such an attack.

ST-246, the company?s most promising new compound, was purchased from a Pennsylvania company two months later. It then began lobbying heavily for U.S. government contracts.

Starting in 2005, Siga spent $800,000 on three separate lobbying firms.?Representatives?of the company told the Los Angeles Times that they lobbied only ?generally? for biodefense spending, and that, ?Neither Siga nor anyone else on Siga?s behalf ever lobbied anyone to get this contract.?

Siga also hired Andrew Stern ? the former Service Employees International Union president and a frequent White House visitor ? to their board last year.

Perelman and his holding company partners donated a combined $607,550 to federal campaigns during the last two elections, the paper reported. Sixty-five percent went to Democrats, while Perelman donated another $50,000 to Obama?s inauguration.

In October 2010, Siga announced it had been awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to develop ST-246, despite the fact that the contract stipulated only a small business could be the winning bidder. A smaller company protested, and in response, the Obama Administration blocked everyone except Siga from bidding for a second offering of the contract.

The government?s?justification?for only talking to Siga was that an antiviral was needed within five years, and Siga was the only company who could do it. That justification troubled some HHS officials, one of whom called it ?a stretch? in an internal email obtained by the paper. As much as $115 million in taxpayer money had already been spent developing the drug, which had not been approved by the FDA.

The FDA is skeptical ST-246 can ever be approved for use in humans, in part because there?s no way to guage its effectiveness short of exposing people to virus. The United States and Russia are the only two nations to have stockpiles of smallpox, a highly lethal virus that was all but eradicated in the 1970s. The last American case was in 1949.

McCaskill is the first senator to call for a review into the purchase of ST-246. In a statement released Wendesday, Siga said a review would show its contract was ?negotiated and executed in good faith in accordance with all applicable law to address an important national security need.?

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2 new radio stations in Zimbabwe get licenses (AP)

HARARE, Zimbabwe ? The state broadcasting authority says it has issued two licenses to commercial radio stations to compete with the sole government-owned broadcaster loyal to Zimbabwe's president.

The independent Media Institute of Southern Africa on Friday criticized the announcement by the authority and said the new stations were not fairly chosen by officials appointed by the information ministry run by President Robert Mugabe party.

Zimbabwe Newspapers, publishers of the main pro-Mugabe daily Herald, will launch a Talk Radio channel. The second channel, ZiFM, is controlled by a black empowerment campaigner and stalwart of Mugabe's party who says it will go on air within six months.

A coalition deal with the former opposition in 2009 called for an end to the three decade monopoly of Mugabe's Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_af/af_zimbabwe_radio_stations

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'The X Factor' Judge Nicole Scherzinger Bares Her Behind!

Gorgeous X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger is baring it all -- from the back, anyhow. But it's not a Playboy pictorial, it's an artsy photography book dedicated to the butt.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/x-factor-nicole-scherzinger-poses-butt-book/1-a-405292?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Ax-factor-nicole-scherzinger-poses-butt-book-405292

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Mike Signer: Mitt Romney's Chimerical Foreign Policy

In Greek mythology, the chimera was a beast cobbled together from lions, snakes, and goats. In an accident of etymology, the term has also come to mean a foolish fantasy.

The term does a pretty good job of describing the foreign policy Mitt Romney has assembled so far -- though an even better metaphor might be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

In CNBC's recent "Commander-in-Chief" debate, Romney described his foreign policy as "pretty straightforward" and said he would be "guided by an overwhelming conviction": that "America has the strongest values, the strongest economy, and the strongest military."

Yet Romney has been anything but strong and full of conviction, particularly in the area where these vaunted attributes matter most: foreign policy. Romney's foreign policy was in full view on October 7 at the Citadel, where he presented a major address on foreign policy packed with dissonant approaches.

On the one hand, he described a hawkish, militant face to the world, such as "enhancing our deterrent against the Iranian regime" by regularly stationing carrier groups in the Persian Gulf, increasing the shipbuilding rate from nine to 15 per year, and redoubling our missile defense program. In the CNBC debate, Romney went even further, becoming the first major presidential candidate publicly to advocate a military confrontation with Iran over nuclear weapons.

Under pressure, he later rolled back his approach to say that he would merely "back up American diplomacy with a very real and very credible military option."

Such slipperiness was evident in that Citadel speech, where a Janus-faced Romney seamlessly switched from hawkishness to reveal a much softer, almost bureaucratic face -- particularly in areas where the politics, for him, are more challenging.

On the knotty problem of the Arab Spring, for instance, the best Romney could manage was a single presidential appointment, promising he would "begin organizing all of our diplomatic and assistance efforts in the greater Middle East under one official." On the thorny issue of Afghanistan, he pledged a "full review of our transition to the Afghan military to secure that nation's sovereignty from the tyranny of the Taliban." And when it came to how he would employ the Pentagon, he said only this: "I will speak with our generals in the field, and receive the best recommendation of our military commanders."

It was as if two different Romneys were speaking in the speech -- one swaggering, chesty, and militant, the other a Beltway bureaucrat. Taken on its own, each approach is at least consistent. But all together, Romney's chimerical policy suggests a presidency with strong-willed advisors running rough-shod over their principal, a preference for canned language about "exceptionalism," and a tactical approach centered on gestures about "strength," rather than actual strength.

Romney recently announced a wide-ranging, almost dizzying list of 22 different "foreign policy advisors." They ranged from neocons like Eliot Cohen (a principal architect of the Iraq War) to soft power diplomats like Paula Dobriansky (who ran public engagement under President George W. Bush).

Less examined was the contradictions between and within these advisors -- and the degree of influence they will have over their candidate.

Among these advisors, as well as the wildly variant promises Romney has been making, you can detect two strands of intellectual DNA, traceable to two very different political constituencies Romney needs. On the one hand, there are the "realists" represented by the first Bush administration. On the other hand are the neoconservatives who dominated the second Bush administration. So far, Romney has been trying to have it both ways -- but history shows this unnatural beast would rather tear itself apart that peacefully live as a hybrid.

George H.W. Bush was skeptical about sweeping doctrines and the role of idealism in foreign policy. He believed that multilateral institutions were an efficient way for America to pursue our interests, and he saw good in methodical, bureaucratic attempts to bring friends and foes together. On the basis of these beliefs, he refused to replace Saddam Hussein the first Gulf War, and he attempted a cool, calm oversight of the collapse of the Soviet Union. He was attacked for the natural restraints of his approach (such as his refusal to remove Saddam Hussein from power in the Gulf War), but even President Obama has described himself as a fan of Bush's foreign policy.

Bush's brash, hot-headed son had very little interest in his father's approach. As he described in his recent memoir Decision Points, George W. Bush was more interested in a decision than the process that would drive it. Soon after he was sworn in, the U.S. abruptly withdrew from engagement with countries and regions, including China, the Middle East, and Russia, while overtly saber-rattling.

After 9/11, Bush and his neoconservative advisors abandoned any hints at Herbert Walker-style realism (such as W's early aversion to "nation-building"), instead exploiting the conjoined fear and ambition of that moment to ram through a foreign policy aimed at making the U.S. an "imperium of values" (columnist Ben Wattenberg's memorable phrase). Their push to unite universal ideals with unilateral military strength created an at once reckless and unapologetically ambitious foreign policy. The invasion of Iraq and the "global war on terror" followed.

Romney's defenders will doubtless argue that his unusual grafting of 41 and 43 reflects a nimble, facts-on-the-ground approach -- the defense now being offered for his changes on abortion and climate change, among others.

But the facts suggest that Romney's hybrid foreign policy may not just be a multi-faceted attempt to supply both hard and soft power at once. Instead, a deeper problem lurks: the realism may in fact be just a cover for a hidden neocon agenda. In other words, this chimera may actually be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Take Eliot Cohen's white paper titled "An American Century" that dominates Romney's official campaign website. It reads like George W. Bush Redux. Cohen/Romney still places an inordinate focus on the remaining "Axes of Evil" (North Korea and Iran); presents a blustery, likely inept Freedom Agenda 2.0; and, in a McCarthyite fashion, reframes anyone who questions the unilateral exercise of power as an adherent of "decline"; while presenting a transparently political agenda toward the Middle East.

It would be one thing if Mitt Romney was really as much of a neocon as Eliot Cohen. But experience suggests he is not. When he ran for president the first time, for instance, Romney promised to convene a "summit of nations" that would "include moderate Islamic states and other leading developed nations. The objective of the Summit would be to create a worldwide strategy to support Muslim nations and peoples, in their effort to defeat radical, violent Jihad."

Of course, now that Romney is a front-runner for the nomination in 2012, with a political base radically opposed to such engagement, such promises have disappeared. To be sure, chimeras are exceptional. But as Greek mythology shows, these foolish beasts only rarely win their fights.

Michael Signer is managing principal of Madison Law & Strategy Group, PLLC, author of Demagogue, and an adjunct professor at Virginia Tech.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-signer/mitt-romneys-foreign-policy_b_1101920.html

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