“Community”: Jason Alexander filming “Crazy” guest spot
Label: LifestyleLOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Community” might be losing a Chevy Chase, but it’s gaining a Jason Alexander.
Former “Seinfeld” star Alexander, who played neurotic bumbler George Costanza on the series, will guest-star on the beleaguered NBC comedy, and while the actor is tight-lipped on the details, he promises that the episode will be a doozy.
“Filming a crazy episode of ‘Community’ this week,” the actor tweeted early Tuesday. “Can’t say much about it but it’s a fun one.”
It is not known what role Alexander, who guest-starred on “Two and a Half Men” earlier this year, will play on the series, or if he will appear on more than one episode. A spokeswoman for the NBC series has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Last month, news broke that Chevy Chase – who plays Pierce Hawthorne on the series – is leaving “Community,” following an ugly standoff with the show’s creator and former showrunner, Dan Harmon, and an incident when he reportedly tossed out the N-word, after complaining about his character’s racism. Chase will appear in most of the episodes of the upcoming fourth season.
“Community” returns to the air February 7.
TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Obama takes “fiscal-cliff” campaign to middle-class
Label: HealthWASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama takes his “fiscal-cliff” campaign to the home of a family in Northern Virginia on Thursday to illustrate the impact of letting taxes go up on the middle class, as signs emerge that Republicans are contemplating a change in strategy in their battle with Democrats over deficit reduction.
With about three weeks remaining before steep tax hikes and budget cuts that comprise the so-called fiscal cliff are set to begin, the White House said Obama would visit the home of a family that responded to a presidential Twitter request for real-life stories about the burden of a tax increase on the middle class.
Northern Virginia is a suburban expanse across the Potomac River from the U.S. capital that includes some of the wealthiest counties in the United States as well as populous middle-class developments that have grown up over the past quarter century. Due to its proximity to the White House, the president often uses it as a setting for public relations efforts.
“A member of this family shared her story about how paying $ 2,200 more in taxes next year would impact them if Congress doesn’t act,” said a White House statement, which added that over 100,000 people responded to the Twitter request.
Obama and Democrats in Congress want the tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year to be extended for taxpayers with income below $ 250,000 a year, but not for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.
In exchange, the president has said he is willing to consider significant spending cuts that include unspecified changes to “entitlement” programs such as Medicare, the government health insurance plan for seniors.
Republicans are holding out for an extension of all the tax cuts, but have become increasingly divided over the past two weeks about whether they can prevail in the face of Obama’s firm stance and Republican control of only the House of Representatives but not the U.S. Senate.
On Wednesday night, Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee hinted on PBS’ “Newshour” program that a change of strategy might be in the works.
“I think that there’s a lot of thinking about the best way to actually cause the president to actually come forth with a real plan” for deficit reduction that might break the deadlock, he said, adding that “it just isn’t” happening now.
“There’s movement in a lot of directions,” he said. “And so I do think Republicans are looking” at “what is the best way to get us in a place where we actually have the leverage.”
(Editing by Peter Cooney)
Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Fuel rise axed as economy worsens
Label: Business5 December 2012 Last updated at 10:02 ET
George Osborne: “There will be no fuel tax rise this January”
Chancellor George Osborne has scrapped a planned 3p rise in fuel duty, but benefits face a further squeeze as he admitted the UK economy was struggling.
There will be more money for roads, London’s Underground and schools, but councils were warned of cuts to come.
Austerity measures will be extended to 2018, as debt-cutting targets are missed, his Autumn Statement revealed.
“Turning back now would be a disaster” for the UK, he said. But Labour said his economic plans were “in tatters”.
Mr Osborne had said debt would start falling as a proportion of GDP by 2015/16 – the year of the next general election.
But he has been forced to delay that target by a year because of the worse than expected state of the economy, which is now expected to shrink this year by 0.1%.
The Office for Budgetary Responsibility says the UK has a “better than 50% chance of eliminating the structural current deficit in five years time”, said the chancellor – meaning his other key objective has been pushed back by a year to 2017/18.
This move heralds a fresh benefits squeeze and a raid on the pensions of the wealthy.
‘In this together’
Most working age benefits, such as Jobseekers Allowance and Child Benefit, will be go up by 1%, less than the rate of inflation, for the next three years.
Continue reading the main story
What is the Autumn Statement?
- One of the two major statements the chancellor has to make to Parliament every year
- Since 1997 the main Budget – which contains the bulk of tax, benefit and duty changes – has been in the spring before the start of the tax year in April
- The second statement has tended to focus on updating forecasts for government finances
- Over the past few years this distinction has become blurred, with the Autumn Statement becoming more of a mini Budget
- Under the last Labour government it was called the pre-Budget report
And there will be a further cut in tax relief on large pension pots, saving £1bn a year.
He told MPs: “I know these tax measures will not be welcomed by all; ways to reduce the deficit never are. But we must show we’re all in this together. When you’re looking for savings, I think it’s fair to look at the tax relief we give to the top 2%.”
Income tax personal allowances will go up by £1,335 – £235 more than previously announced – so no tax will be paid on earnings under £9,440.
The threshold for the 40% rate of income tax is to rise by 1% in 2014 and 2015 from £41,450 to £41,865 and then £42,285.
The basic state pension will rise by 2.5% next year to £110.15 a week.
Mr Osborne announced a fresh crackdown on tax avoidance and a squeeze on Whitehall budgets to pay for a new road and school building programme.
He told MPs: “It’s taking time, but the British economy is healing.”
But Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, for Labour, accused Mr Osborne of breaking his own rules on falling debt on which his credibility depended.
“Today after two and a half years we can see, and people can feel in the country, the true scale of this government’s economic failure,” Mr Balls told MPs,
He said the average family with children on £20,000 a year would be “worse off” – even with the personal allowance changes.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
At a time when his critics – and Ed Balls in particular – are able to say “I told you so”, George Osborne looked and sounded confident whilst the shadow chancellor looked the reverse.”
End Quote
Mr Balls claimed Mr Osborne’s plan to raise £1bn from pension tax relief on the well-off raised less than £1.6bn given away in Mr Osborne’s first Budget on the same reliefs.
CBI director general John Cridland welcomed the promised investment in infrastructure and new tax relief measures for small firms but said businesses now “need to see the chancellor’s words translated into building sites on the ground”.
“It is no surprise that after a difficult year the economic realities dictate that austerity and debt reduction will take longer,” he added.
“The chancellor has stuck to his guns on deficit reduction – avoiding deeper cuts or more borrowing in order to retain international credibility.”
But TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “What is missing today is any vision of a future economy that can deliver decent jobs and living standards – it’s pain without purpose.”
He added: “When you are self-harming you should stop, not look for better sticking plasters.”
BBC News – Business
Sri Lanka see backlash from Aussie ‘wounded soldiers’
Label: World(Reuters) – Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has warned his team to be wary of a backlash from Australia in their three-test series after the hosts were stung by their series defeat to South Africa earlier this week.
Australia’s hopes of snatching the Proteas’ top test ranking ended in a crushing 309-run defeat in the third and final test in Perth on Monday, but Jayawardene took little comfort from the home side’s disappointment.
“I see them as wounded soldiers – they could come back stronger against us,” Jayawardene told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday, on the eve of a three-day tour match against a Chairman’s XI side.
“So we just need to make sure we are ready for that and start well.
“We can’t be complacent – we need to make sure we know from ball one we give them a good go at it.”
Sri Lanka have their own problems coming into the first test at Hobart next week, losing their last test at home to New Zealand by 167 runs to level a two-match series 1-1, with key batsmen out of form.
Kumar Sangakkara scored five, nought and 16 in his three innings against New Zealand, but Jayawardene backed the veteran to bounce back in Sri Lanka’s bid to win their first test Down Under.
“I am happy that he went through a lean phase because he’ll be really hungry for runs – that’s Kumar for you,” Jayawardene said of the 35-year-old stalwart.
Jayawardene also said he would weigh up his future as captain after the series, which includes tests in Melbourne and Sydney, after taking on the role for a second time in the wake of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s sudden resignation in January.
“After this, we get a well-deserved four weeks off, after about three years, so it gives me a bit of time to think (about) what I need to do,” said Jayawardene, who captained the team for more than three years in his first stint from 2006.
“We need to groom another leader as well. It’s very important to have that changeover done smoothly while the senior players are still in the side.”
Australia / Antarctica News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Austrian farmers dip into Internet “milking” craze
Label: TechnologyVIENNA (Reuters) – Dumping a bottle of milk over your head and filming it for a video post on the Internet has become a popular youth craze, but Austrian farmers say the spillage is a crying shame.
“Milking”, as the trend is known, is among a variety of tongue-in-cheek stunts in which young people shoot pictures or videos of themselves posing as owls, planks of wood, or famous people and then share them on YouTube and other social media.
Austria’s AMA farm lobby on Wednesday launched its own “true milking” campaign to decry the wanton waste of dairy resources and to encourage consumers to drink it instead.
“At a time when too much food already lands in the trash, it is worth questioning dumping milk. This is a valuable product of nature that our farmers provide daily with lots of love and labor,” AMA milk marketing manager Peter Hamedinger said.
Milking has become an Internet hit, with one video from Newcastle in England getting more than half a million clicks on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtJPAv1UiAE
AMA’s marketing arm said the milking craze seemed to reflect a strange youthful protest against authority. It sought to one-up the video trend with its own clip featuring a young man who holds a carton of milk high above his head and drinks the contents without spilling a drop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsJ3OsP1Fks&feature=youtu.be
“In line with the nature of the medium, this message is not communicated in a commercial way and absolutely not with finger pointing, but rather with a wink of the eye for the Internet generation,” the farm products board said in a statement.
(Reporting by Michael Shields, editing by Paul Casciato)
Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News
And the most overpaid actor award goes to: Eddie Murphy
Label: LifestyleNEW YORK (Reuters) – Eddie Murphy was once among Hollywood’s top box office draws, but he now has the dubious honor of being crowned its most overpaid actor, according to Forbes magazine.
In its annual list, determined by the misalignment between star salaries and their films’ box office take, Murphy, once a one-man gold mine with 1980s hits such as “Trading Places” and “Beverly Hills Cop”, displaced Drew Barrymore for the top spot.
“Murphy‘s career has just collapsed,” Forbes said, citing such recent box office bombs as “Imagine That”, “A Thousand Words” and “Meet Dave”.
Weighing box office receipts against paychecks, Forbes calculated that for every dollar Murphy was paid for his last three films, they returned an average of just $ 2.30 at the box office. Murphy placed second on the list a year ago.
Popular actresses such as Katherine Heigl, and Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock, made the top five, with “returns” ranging from $ 3.40 to $ 5.
Forbes took issue with Witherspoon’s “questionable” choices such as the star-laden, James L. Brooks romantic comedy “How Do You Know”, which was one of 2010′s worst-performing films. It cost $ 120 million, much of which went toward star salaries, but grossed a paltry $ 49 million.
The cast included two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, as well as actors generally considered solid at the box office such as Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller.
“Washington‘s films do fine at the box office but he can demand an outsized paycheck on those movies,” Forbes noted. His current hit “Flight” was not included for this year’s list.
Washington‘s return was the same $ 6.30 calculated for Sandler, whose comedies Forbes said were consistent performers — except when they’re not, such as the disappointing “Jack and Jill”.
It was the same with Stiller, whom Forbes said “earns so much money per film that one miss can make him seem overpaid. That’s what happened with “Tower Heist”, in which the actor co-starred with — Eddie Murphy.
Will Ferrell, who topped the list for two of the last four years and came in third a year ago, didn’t place.
The full list can be found at www.forbes.com/overpaidactors.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Patricia Reaney and Andrew Hay)
Celebrity News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Watch: World’s Oldest Person Dies at 116
Label: HealthHome > Video > Most Popular
NYC Man Pushed on Subway Tracks, Killed by Train
NYC Man Pushed on Subway Tracks, Killed by Train
Police are looking for suspect who they say pushed another man off a subway platform.
NYC Subway Fight Caught on Tape
NYC Subway Fight Caught on Tape
Video shows a group of teenage girls scuffling with police officers.
Bystanders Pull Mom, Son From Subway Tracks
Bystanders Pull Mom, Son From Subway Tracks
Frightening moment caught on tape shows straphangers rushing to aid of mother, son.
Caught on Tape: Man Run Over by Subway
Caught on Tape: Man Run Over by Subway
An Oregon man survives an encounter with two trains after falling on the tracks.
Arrest in Deadly Subway Push
Arrest in Deadly Subway Push
A man is held for questioning in deadly subway shove.
Kate Middleton Spends Second Night in Hospital
Kate Middleton Spends Second Night in Hospital
Lama Hasan has the latest on the health of the Duchess of Cambridge.
Alaska Barista Murder Suspect Found Dead
Alaska Barista Murder Suspect Found Dead
FBI believes Israel Keyes was linked to seven other killings across the U.S.
Kate Middleton Pregnant: Royal Couple Expecting
Kate Middleton Pregnant: Royal Couple Expecting
Prince William and his wife announce they are expecting their first child.
Judge Orders Return of Adopted Girl to Biological Father
Judge Orders Return of Adopted Girl to Biological Father
Adoptive Utah couple has 60 days to return child given up by mother without father’s knowledge.
Kate Middleton Pregnant, Rushed to Hospital
Kate Middleton Pregnant, Rushed to Hospital
The Duchess of Cambridge, expecting first child, diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum.
Alaska’s Missing Barista: Arrest Made
Alaska’s Missing Barista: Arrest Made
Israel Keyes was arrested in disappearance of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig.
Missing Alaska Barista Had Past Restraining Order
Missing Alaska Barista Had Past Restraining Order
Samantha Koenig’s father says he thinks he knows who holds the key to the case.
Twins Caught Fighting in the Womb
Twins Caught Fighting in the Womb
MRI footage shows twin fetuses kicking each other.
Dad Fights for Daughter Given Up for Adoption
Dad Fights for Daughter Given Up for Adoption
John Wyatt is in a custody dispute with ex-girlfriend over baby Emma.
Barista Kidnapped at Gunpoint
Barista Kidnapped at Gunpoint
Police are searching for a teen taken against her will by coffee shop robber.
Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Osborne to announce PFI reforms
Label: Business4 December 2012 Last updated at 09:21 ET
The government is expected to change the way it raises money for public projects such as schools and hospitals to ensure a better deal for taxpayers.
Chancellor George Osborne is set to announce the changes to the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement.
Under the plans, the taxpayer will take a share of up to 49% in new projects.
The current PFI regime has been criticised as being too generous to private contractors.
As well as allowing the taxpayer to take a share in profits from public infrastructure projects, the coalition says the new scheme, expected to be called PFI 2, will be quicker and more transparent.
It will allow the public sector to appoint directors to the boards of individual projects, as well as requiring the projects to publish financial performance figures every year.
The government has also renegotiated existing PFI deals to save £2.5bn, according to the BBC’s business editor Robert Peston.
Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said the chancellor must explain “which frontline services, like the police and social care, he will cut further to pay for this latest U-turn”.
“In last year’s Autumn Statement, ministers boasted that their infrastructure plan would boost the economy, but none of the road schemes they announced have even started construction. The government needs to ensure that this funding urgently gets through on the ground.”
‘A way forward’
The previous government engaged the private sector to provide major funding for large numbers of schools and hospitals, in return for payments from the public sector.
But the Treasury has decided that this financing model is no longer appropriate at a time when government debt levels are so high.
Nick Bliss, a lawyer who has worked on PFI contracts for 20 years, told the BBC the changes should provide more of a partnership between the public and private sectors.
“From the private sector’s perspective, what has really irritated them has been for the last year or two, there has been a total lack of consensus about the way forward.
“This at least will provide a way forward and these are the rules of the game, like them or loathe them.”
BBC News – Business
Swiss spy agency warns U.S., Britain about huge data leak
Label: TechnologyZURICH (Reuters) – Secret information on counter-terrorism shared by foreign governments may have been compromised by a massive data theft by a senior IT technician for the NDB, Switzerland‘s intelligence service, European national security sources said.
Intelligence agencies in the United States and Britain are among those who were warned by Swiss authorities that their data could have been put in jeopardy, said one of the sources, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information.
Swiss authorities arrested the technician suspected in the data theft last summer amid signs he was acting suspiciously. He later was released from prison while a criminal investigation by the office of Switzerland’s Federal Attorney General continues, according to two sources familiar with the case.
The suspect’s name was not made public. Swiss authorities believe he intended to sell the stolen data to foreign officials or commercial buyers.
A European security source said investigators now believe the suspect became disgruntled because he felt he was being ignored and his advice on operating the data systems was not being taken seriously.
Swiss news reports and the sources close to the investigation said that investigators believe the technician downloaded terrabytes, running into hundreds of thousands or even millions of printed pages, of classified material from the Swiss intelligence service’s servers onto portable hard drives. He then carried them out of government buildings in a backpack.
One of the sources familiar with the investigation said that intelligence services like the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, routinely shared data on counter-terrorism and other issues with the NDB. Swiss authorities informed U.S. and British agencies that such data could have been compromised, the source said.
News of the theft of intelligence data surfaced with Switzerland’s reputation for secrecy and discretion in government and financial affairs already under assault.
Swiss authorities have been investigating, and in some cases have charged, whistleblowers and some European government officials for using criminal methods to acquire confidential financial data about suspected tax evaders from Switzerland’s traditionally secretive banks.
The suspect in the spy data theft worked for the NDB, or Federal Intelligence Service, which is part of Switzerland’s Defense Ministry, for about eight years.
He was described by a source close to the investigation as a “very talented” technician and senior enough to have “administrator rights,” giving him unrestricted access to most or all of the NDB’s networks, including those holding vast caches of secret data.
Swiss investigators seized portable storage devices containing the stolen data after they arrested the suspect, according to the sources. At this point, they said, Swiss authorities believe that the suspect was arrested and the stolen data was impounded before he had an opportunity to sell it.
However, one source said that Swiss investigators could not be positive the suspect did not sell or pass on any of the information before his arrest, which is why Swiss authorities felt obliged to notify foreign intelligence partners their information may have been compromised.
Representatives of U.S. and British intelligence agencies had no immediate response to detailed queries about the case submitted by Reuters, although one U.S. official said he was unaware of the case.
SECURITY PROCEDURES QUESTIONED
Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber and a senior prosecutor, Carolo Bulletti, announced in September that they were investigating the data theft and its alleged perpetrator. A spokeswoman for the attorney general said she was prohibited by law from disclosing the suspect’s identity.
A spokesman for the NDB said he could not comment on the investigation.
At their September press conference, Swiss officials indicated that they believed the suspect intended to sell the data he stole to foreign countries. They did not talk about the possible compromise of information shared with the NDB by U.S. and British intelligence.
A European source familiar with the case said it raised serious questions about security procedures and structures at the NDB, a relatively new agency which combined the functions of predecessor agencies that separately conducted foreign and domestic intelligence activities for the Swiss government.
The source said that under the NDB’s present structure, its human resources staff – responsible for, among other things, ensuring the reliability and trustworthiness of the agency’s personnel – is lumped together organizationally with the agency’s information technology division. This potentially made it difficult or confusing for the subdivision’s personnel to investigate themselves, the source said.
According to the source, investigators now believe that in the months before his arrest, the data theft suspect displayed warning signs that should have been spotted by his bosses or by security officials.
The source said that the suspect became so disgruntled earlier this year that he stopped showing up for work.
However, according to Swiss news reports, the NDB did not realize that something was amiss until the largest Swiss bank, UBS, expressed concern to authorities about a potentially suspicious attempt to set up a new numbered bank account, which then was traced to the NDB technician.
A Swiss parliamentary committee is now conducting its own investigation into the data theft and is expected to report next spring. Investigators are known to be concerned that the NDB lacks investigative powers, such as to search premises or conduct wiretaps, which are widely used by counter-intelligence investigators in other countries.
(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News
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