'Hunger Games' Hopes And More: 2012 Movie Wish List

MTV Movies team has high hopes for 'The Avengers,' 'Looper' and more.
By MTV News staff

Jennifer Lawrence in "The Hunger Games"
Photo: Lionsgate

As we while away the last few days and hours of 2011, looking back upon all the great, unforgettable fare that descended upon our cineplexes this year, we can't help but get excited for what the new year will bring us.

We might not get another "Harry Potter," but there's a lot coming down the pike to fill the void: a new "Alien"-esque film in "Prometheus," the gritty and ruthless "Hunger Games," the superhero spectacle "The Avengers," and a brand new Batman, via "The Dark Knight Rises." Here's a brief rundown of what we hope delivers on the hype and makes our "Best of 2012" lists this time next year.

A Successful "Avengers" Assembly
I have a lot of high hopes for movies in 2012. I need "Prometheus" to be as awesome as it appears to be, and Christopher Nolan has to send Batman off in style, but perhaps my biggest concern comes in the form of "The Avengers." Bringing Earth's Mightiest Heroes together under one cinematic roof is a lofty idea, and one that could easily explode in Marvel's face. A successful "Avengers" would mean ambitious, world-building films that extend across multiple franchises can exist. An "Avengers" that fails both critically and commercially is nothing short of a gut shot for comics on the big screen. Too much effort and passion, both from filmmakers and fans, has been put into "The Avengers" over the past few years. Marvel absolutely has to get it right ... and I've got all my fingers, toes and what-have-you's crossed that they will. - Josh Wigler

Taylor Kitsch Solidifies His Movie-Star Status
Fans of the dearly departed drama "Friday Night Lights" know Taylor Kitsch as big Tim Riggins, the football-playing, bad-boy-with-a-big-heart from Dillon, Texas. But if you've never spent four quarters with the state champion Panthers, you may not be well-acquainted with Kitsch's sizeable acting chops (and even bigger biceps). After all, his big-screen turns ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "The Bang Bang Club") haven't left such an indelible mark as his TV alter ego. But that could (and should) all change in 2012, as the 30-year-old headlines two big-budget popcorn flicks: Disney's "John Carter" and the boardgame-cum-potential-blockbuster "Battleship." Here's hoping clear eyes and full hearts really can't lose. - Amy Wilkinson

"The Hunger Games" Takes Out "Twilight"
The end of the "Twilight" film franchise is bittersweet. We'll miss our favorite vampires and werewolves, but 2012 marks the arrival of a new franchise that deserves just as much attention and adoration as Stephenie Meyer's fangtastic fantasyland. "The Hunger Games" is not "Twilight" and shouldn't ever be compared as such, but it deserves that blockbuster status. This is a story about survival, self-reliance and discovery, with a female protagonist who is strong, resilient, independent, intelligent and real. In short, Suzanne Collins' creation has everything modern youth-targeted fiction lacks. I pray to the movie powers for Gary Ross' big-screen adaptation to be the biggest success story of the year and that the fan fervor for the "Games" doubles that of "Twilight." - Kara Warner

Luck For "Looper"
Looking ahead to 2012, it's impossible to not stop in awe when considering the sheer number of blockbusters I can't wait to see. This is "stars aligning" material. We're talking Batman, Bilbo and Bond, but if I have my way, people will turn out in droves to see a movie they probably haven't heard of yet: Rian Johnson's "Looper." A sci-fi/crime movie hybrid, "Looper" takes place in the near future where mobsters send their enemies back in time where waiting hitmen finish the job. In the film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis play the younger and older versions of the same character, and if that and the story don't completely sell it, I'm afraid you're lost, my friend. Test screenings left critics raving, and Johnson has made consistently interesting work since his indie debut "Brick." If there is any justice at the movies, people will see "Looper." - Kevin Sullivan

Related Videos

• 'The Hunger Games': 2011 In Review
• MTV Rough Cut: Tom Hiddleston

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676625/2012-hunger-games-avengers-movies-wish-list.jhtml

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Likes Long Walks on the Beach and Literate RP Partners...

Hi, BC here, and I'm interested what you might have up your sleeves! :D

I am literate and I usually write at least two paragraphs though I definitely can write more if I'm given more to work with and my characters are usually female though I can play males if necessary. I have nothing against any type of pairing though I'm usually really rubbish at actually writing anything but hetero in the romance section (I can try but I can't promise it'll be any kind of pretty). I am open for any genre and if I haven't done it before I'm always up for trying something before passing judgement. I'm in school (though on break for now) and I work (or will, by the middle of January) so hours won't always be too open but I can commit to at east one post/reply a day if needed and never less than twice a week.

I personally don't have any plots floating around but I would love to help with fleshing out an idea or help develop one if needed. I RP in PM, thread, tab and MSN (though I like threads the most I am not adverse to any of the others.)

I'm good with basically any type of setting as long as I'm told some background if I'm not already familiar with it. I also don't mind (understatement) helping to flesh out some designs or develop an idea though I myself don't have any plots lying around, unfortunately.

Honestly, I'm open for just about anything- private RP, group, any setting, any pairing...

Some ideas though:
Asylum - haven't done one of these in a while and last time I did I played Johnathon Crane, aka Scarecrow...
Fantasy - Modern, Dark, Medieval, etc
Sci-fi - Like 'Mass Effect' and such
Romance- I usually like this a a subplot but I don't mind it as the entire story
Realism
Mythological
MMORPG based - taking part in both 'real life' and in the game.
Fandoms - There is a lot so just ask :3
Urban Fantasy - faeries, vampires, werewolves in the city... all of that is good ^.^
Roommates
Vampire HunterxVampire
University TeacherxStudent
Step siblings
-Witchhunter - though never really done one before
High School
Boarding School

My Only Real Rules/Requests:
-No oneliners
-No txt speak
-Respond to me at least twice a week. If you're going to be gone for longer than a few days, please tell me in advance if you can.
-No instaromance, unless it is a pre-existing relationship
-If the story has stalled and seems to be going nowhere, talk to me about it. Communication is key!
-If you want to quit, tell me, don't worry about it. If I don't like it I will certainly tell you.
-Be blunt if you don't like something I do or where I take the story, I will fix it or rewrite it so we're both happy.
-I will not write anything graphic, sexually, just not what I do. If you want that, you'll just have to look elsewhere, sorry.
-As I said before, I'm not good at writing same-sex couples (for whatever reason it just comes out crap) and of the two I'm even worse at writing the female variety. I apologize in advance, I will try if the plot revolves around it and I like it, but I can't promise a whole lot D: so sorry!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/YBwXjSI-tCY/viewtopic.php

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Mass. judge upholds fetus kidnapping charge (AP)

WORCESTER, Mass. ? A Massachusetts judge has denied a request to dismiss charges against a woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and cutting the unborn baby from her womb.

The judge in Worcester (WUH'-stur) Superior Court ruled last week there was "substantial" evidence to link Julie Corey to the July 2009 slaying of Darlene Haynes and the abduction of her unborn child.

The Telegram & Gazette (http://bit.ly/uIuFNe) reports that Corey's lawyers had filed a motion to dismiss murder and kidnapping charges, saying prosecutors didn't give the grand jury any evidence linking her to Haynes' killing.

Prosecutors say the 37-year-old Worcester woman beat and strangled Haynes, who was eight months pregnant, before taking the fetus.

Corey and her boyfriend were found days later with the baby in a Plymouth, N.H., homeless shelter. Corey has pleaded not guilty.

___

Information from: Telegram & Gazette, http://www.telegram.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_re_us/us_cut_from_womb

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Cancer Horoscope for Dec 29, 2011

You may control your weight by exercising. Don't spend too much on entertainment or cosmetic improvement. You should avoid controversial issues that could cause arguments with loved ones. Your gloomy life may give tension to your spouse. Travel plans if any-might get postponed due to last minute changes in your schedule.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dayhoroscope/~3/qZr386axR0A/horoscope.asp

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American chefs boost fine dining in France (AP)

PARIS ? Paris, once regarded as the gastronomical center of the world, is looking to a cadre of young chefs from a country derided for its love of processed cheese ? gasp, the United States ? to help raise the bar.

French chefs have been opening fine restaurants stateside for years, but up until about a decade ago, the opposite would have been almost unthinkable. Now, bright young things from New York, Chicago and Seattle are behind some of the City of Light's most-hyped, hardest-to-get-into establishments.

Chefs such as Spring's Daniel Rose, or Braden Perkins and Laura Adrian, the pair behind the Hidden Kitchen and the new Verjus, are bringing a fresh energy to Paris' somewhat rigid fine dining scene and infusing it with American eclecticism.

"Food in France has taken a lot of hits over the years ... and they were pretty slow to acknowledge that it was going downhill," said pastry chef-turned-writer David Lebovitz, one of a handful of American food bloggers who cover the Paris food scene.

"I think we're now on the cusp of a real renaissance here" ? thanks in part, he said, to this nouvelle crop of American-born or trained restaurateurs.

It used to be that French-American culinary exchanges followed the model established by Julia Child in the era when: Americans came to France to study and then went home to impart their wisdom, or simply to cook. Child attended Paris' renowned Cordon Bleu culinary school in the 1940s, then returned to the U.S. to educate her compatriots on the art of French cuisine.

The new generation of American chefs here has dispensed with the going home part.

Rose, the 30-something behind Spring ? Paris' hardest-to-come-by table, according to Le Figaro newspaper ? moved here as a 19-year-old college student primarily, he says, out of laziness.

"I wanted to finish university in a place where I thought it would be really easy. And I thought, `the American University of Paris ? English is my first language, it's not everyone else's, I probably have a pretty good chance,'" said Rose. He said he went to cooking school for largely the same reason.

After a series of apprenticeships with top French chefs, he opened the first incarnation of Spring, a 16-seat restaurant where the centerpiece was an open kitchen where Rose held court as he prepared the food ? single-handedly at first.

"Everybody in the world loves a French restaurant and my project was to try to discover what was essential about a French restaurant. ... And by paring it down to the essence, I was feeding (my clients) French food that they hadn't seen in a long time," said Rose in an interview in Spring's new 28-seat location, near the Louvre Museum. "It was a novelty. I was the American who opened the restaurant that all the French people wanted to open."

Rose has the reputation of being the French-est of Paris' American chefs, and the menu at Spring is unapologetically Gallic: There's no Franco-American fusion, none of the catering to special dietary needs that's become almost de rigueur in the U.S. ? just a constantly changing medley of French classics made from top-notch, in-season products.

Taking the opposite tack is Marc Grossman, a New York filmmaker-turned-restaurateur who has set about Americanizing the way the French eat. In the land of the cote de boeuf, foie gras and escargot, Grossman founded two vegetarian eateries, Bob's Juice Bar and Bob's Kitchen.

"I think people are always looking for something different and in carnivorous Paris I guess you could say we're exotic," said Grossman, whose ever-changing menu of smoothies, meat-free burgers, and grain-packed muffins were the stuff of a minor culinary revolution when he first opened, in 2006. "From the beginning, the response has been enthusiastic, and our customers have been unusually regular."

Seattle natives Perkins and Adrian represent the middle path between Rose's unyielding Frenchness and Grossman's healthy California-style offerings.

At their new postage stamp-sized wine bar and just-opened upstairs restaurant, Verjus, the pair serves up food that charts an ideal course between French sophistication and American heartiness. The wine bar's menu of amuse-bouches includes buttermilk fried chicken, roasted clams, and s'mores made with high-end French chocolate.

Perkins and Adrian shot to culinary fame here in 2007, when they opened the Hidden Kitchen, the now-closed supper club the pair held twice a week in their central Paris pad. Though underground restaurants are not unheard-of elsewhere, the Hidden Kitchen was a novelty here, and even the French press lavished them with praise: Le Figaro's review called it "quite chic and clearly successful ? it's fully booked for months."

The Anglo-Saxon influence is often palpable at top restaurants here, even when the chefs themselves are not Americans. Gregory Marchand, the Frenchman behind the aptly named Frenchie restaurant, cut his teeth in New York and London, where he worked for telegenic chef Jamie Oliver, before returning to France. Known for its market cooking, Frenchie competes with Spring for the top spot among Paris' contemporary tables.

Kansas-born, Paris-based food blogger Meg Zimbeck said she sees French chefs' newfound appreciation for America as part of a generational shift.

"There's a fear among the older generation that they're not getting as much credit as they are due," said Zimbeck, the founding editor of Paris by Mouth, a restaurant review website.

"The younger French chefs, they couldn't care less about that. They're traveling, they're bringing back new ingredients. They have shorter attention spans and they're not afraid of change," even if that change hails from the country long mocked as the birthplace of Velveeta and other processed cheese products.

Still, writer Lebovitz warns that Paris remains a challenging destination for young American cooks with big dreams.

"Paris has this huge mystique, it's like a magnet," said Lebovitz, "but a lot of times people come here with starry eyes and have absolutely no idea of what they're in for."

Lebovitz, a pastry chef by training who spent 12 years at Alice Waters' iconic Berkeley, Calif., eatery Chez Panisse and moved to Paris seven years ago, says reality can be jarring. Beyond the never-ending bureaucratic torture that is the quest for working papers or, worse still, authorization to open a restaurant, Lebovitz cited the maddening surprises of daily life here.

He described a recent surreal but pedestrian quest for plain white sugar: After searches in several local grocery stores turned up nothing, he resorted to crushing sugar cubes to finish his dessert recipe. "It's inexplicable, but these kind of things happen all the time in Paris," Lebovitz added with a resigned smile.

Still, for those who manage to overcome the obstacles, Paris is a huge prize.

"For anyone who likes to cook or eat, this place is simply a dream," said Lebovitz. "Actually, it's a dream for pretty much anyone."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_american_chefs_in_paris

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Gene identified in increasing pancreatic cancer risk

Public release date: 29-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jeremy Moore
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
215-446-7109
American Association for Cancer Research

PHILADELPHIA Mutations in the ATM gene may increase the hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer, according to data published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most morbid cancers, with less than 5 percent of those diagnosed with the disease surviving to five years. Approximately 10 percent of patients come from families with multiple cases of pancreatic cancer.

"There was significant reason to believe this clustering was due to genetics, but we had not, to this point, been able to find the causative genes that explained the cluster of pancreatic cancer for a majority of these families," said lead author Alison Klein, Ph.D., associate professor of oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and director of the National Familial Pancreas Tumor Registry.

Klein and colleagues used next-generation sequencing, including whole genome and whole exome analyses, and identified ATM gene mutations in two kindreds with familial pancreatic cancer.

When these initial findings were examined in a large series for patients, ATM mutations were present in four of 166 subjects with pancreatic cancer but were absent in 190 spousal control subsets.

Klein said that knowledge of the presence of the ATM gene could lead to better screening for pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death. However, there are currently no recommended screening tests.

Many doctors use endoscopy as a screening tool for pancreatic cancer, but researchers are still evaluating this technique in clinical trials.

###

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 29-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jeremy Moore
Jeremy.Moore@aacr.org
215-446-7109
American Association for Cancer Research

PHILADELPHIA Mutations in the ATM gene may increase the hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer, according to data published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most morbid cancers, with less than 5 percent of those diagnosed with the disease surviving to five years. Approximately 10 percent of patients come from families with multiple cases of pancreatic cancer.

"There was significant reason to believe this clustering was due to genetics, but we had not, to this point, been able to find the causative genes that explained the cluster of pancreatic cancer for a majority of these families," said lead author Alison Klein, Ph.D., associate professor of oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and director of the National Familial Pancreas Tumor Registry.

Klein and colleagues used next-generation sequencing, including whole genome and whole exome analyses, and identified ATM gene mutations in two kindreds with familial pancreatic cancer.

When these initial findings were examined in a large series for patients, ATM mutations were present in four of 166 subjects with pancreatic cancer but were absent in 190 spousal control subsets.

Klein said that knowledge of the presence of the ATM gene could lead to better screening for pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death. However, there are currently no recommended screening tests.

Many doctors use endoscopy as a screening tool for pancreatic cancer, but researchers are still evaluating this technique in clinical trials.

###

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @aacr #aacr
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/aafc-gii122711.php

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Childhood hypersensitivity linked to OCD

ScienceDaily (Dec. 27, 2011) ? In childhood, rituals like regular schedules for meal, bath, and bed times are a healthy part of behavioral development. But combined with oral and tactile sensitivities, such as discomfort at the dentist or irritation caused by specific fabrics, these rituals could be an early warning sign of adult Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

According to Prof. Reuven Dar of Tel Aviv University's Department of Psychology, hypersensitivity and excessive adherence to childhood rituals may foreshadow the onset of OCD as the child ages. He first suspected the link while working with OCD patients who reported sensitivity to touch and taste as children. Now, in the first comprehensive study of its kind, Prof. Dar and his fellow researchers have established a direct correlation between sensory processing -- the way the nervous system manages incoming sensory information -- and ritualistic and obsessive-compulsive behaviors.

The study, which appears in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, suggests that when children experience heightened levels of sensitivity, they develop ritualistic behaviors to better cope with their environment. In the long term, this is one potential pathway to OCD.

Connecting the behavioral dots

Two studies were devised to map the connection between sensory processing, rituals, and OCD. In the first, parents of kindergarten children were asked to complete three questionnaires on their child's behaviour -- their level of ritualism, such as the need to repeat certain acts or to order objects in a particular way; their level of anxiety, with questions relating to reaction to strangers, worrying about outcomes of events, and attachment to family members; and last, their reactions to everyday sensory events such as being touched or exposed to unusual tastes or smells.

In the second study, the researchers asked 314 adult participants to answer surveys online in relation to their OCD tendencies, their anxiety levels, and their past and current sensitivity to oral and tactile stimulation.

Results from both studies indicated a strong connection between compulsive tendencies and hypersensitivity. In children, hypersensitivity was an indicator of ritualism, whereas in adults it was related to OCD symptoms. As a whole, these findings provide preliminary support for the idea that such sensitivities are a precursor to OCD symptoms. When children are extremely sensitive to certain types of touch or smell, they can feel that they are being attacked, or that the environment is threatening them, Prof. Dar believes. Ritualism could develop as a defence mechanism, helping these children to regain a sense of control, which is also a symptom of adults with OCD.

Identifying the turning point

Next Prof. Dar hopes to conduct a longitudinal study to better understand the connection between hypersensitivity in childhood and adult OCD, following a large sample of children who experience oral and tactile sensitivities through to adulthood.

Of course, Prof. Dar says, all children have particular habits and preferences, and they're not all precursors to OCD. So what should parents watch for to correctly characterize normal and potentially pathological behavior? "If you see that a child is very rigid with rituals, becoming anxious if unable to engage in this behavior, it is more alarming," he explains. Also, age is a factor. A habit exhibited by a five- or six-year-old is not necessarily a predictor of OCD. If the same behavior continues to the ages of eight and above, it could be a warning sign, especially if accompanied by anxiety or distress.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Friends of Tel Aviv University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/UpWpKjHtd18/111227142541.htm

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Exclusive: Afghanistan sets ground rules for Taliban (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) ? Afghanistan will accept a Taliban liaison office in Qatar to start peace talks but no foreign power can get involved in the process without its consent, the government's peace council said, as efforts gather pace to find a solution to the decade-long war.

Afghanistan's High Peace Council, in a note to foreign missions, has set out ground rules for engaging the Taliban after Kabul grew concerned that the United States and Qatar, helped by Germany, had secretly agreed with the Taliban to open an office in the Qatari capital, Doha.

U.S. officials have held about half a dozen meetings with their insurgent contacts, mostly in Germany and Doha with representatives of Mullah Omar, leader of the Taliban's Quetta Shura, this year to prepare the way for face-to-face talks between the group and the Afghan government.

A representative office for the group is considered the starting point for such talks and Doha has in the past served as a meeting ground for initial contacts.

But the Afghan peace commission which has suffered a series of setbacks including the assassination of its head in September said that negotiations with the Taliban could only begin after they stopped violence against civilians, cut ties to al Qaeda, and accepted the Afghan constitution which guarantees civil rights and liberties, including rights for women.

The council, according to a copy of the 11-point note made available to Reuters, also said any peace process with the Taliban would have to have the support of Pakistan since members of the insurgent group were based there.

"The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is in agreement regarding the opening of an office for the armed opposition, but only to move forward the peace process and conduct negotiations," the council said.

The government would prefer such an office in either Saudi Arabia or Turkey, both of which it is close to, but was not averse to Doha as long as the authority of the Afghan state was not eroded and the office was only established for talks, officials said.

"We are saying Saudi or Turkey are preferable, we are not saying it has to be there only. The only condition is it should be in an Islamic country," said a government official.

President Hamid Karzai's administration recalled its ambassador from Doha last week, apparently angry that it had been kept in the dark about the latest round of contacts with the insurgent group.

Officials said Kabul was also deeply concerned about reports that the United States was considering the transfer of a small number of Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo Bay military prison to Doha as a prelude to the talks.

"We are a sovereign country, we have laws. How can you transfer our prisoners from one country to another. Already it's a violation to have them in Guantanamo Bay," the official said.

The Afghan government wanted the prisoners to be returned to its custody, the official said.

Reuters reported this month that the United States was considering the transfer of an unspecified number of Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay into Afghan government custody as part of accelerating, high-stakes diplomacy.

"We have no problem with this. In fact we have been demanding this for a while. These are Afghan prisoners," said the official, who declined to be identified.

The tension between the Karzai administration and the United States over engaging the Taliban underscores the challenges of seeking a political settlement as the West prepares to withdraw most combat troops from the country by 2014.

Efforts to engage the insurgent group have faced a string of setbacks, the most recent being the assassination of the head of the peace council and former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, in September at the hands of a suicide bomber who pretended to be a Taliban emissary.

HARDENING OF POSITIONS

It led to a hardening of positions with Karzai saying the government could not talk to suicide bombers and that there should be an address for the Taliban so that negotiators know they are talking to the right representatives.

"We are committed to the reconciliation process, the experience of the last 10 years shows no military solution is possible. Talking to the armed opposition is the key in this regard," said presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi.

White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the United States backed steps toward reconciliation that bring Afghans together and allow insurgents eschewing violence and abiding by the Afghan constitution to come off the battlefield.

"We will join initiatives that support Afghan-led reconciliation. Pakistan also has an important role to play in supporting the Afghan-led process," she said.

A State Department official added Washington will continue to work very closely with Kabul authorities to draw in Taliban fighters who break from al Qaeda terrorists and agree to respect the rights of Afghans, including women and ethnic minorities.

"We believe it is in the interests of both of our countries, as well as the region as whole, to work together to support a stable, secure, and prosperous Afghanistan inside a stable, secure, and prosperous region," the State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Afghan peace council, laying down the markers for engagement with the Taliban, said well known figures from both the Taliban and the government had to be involved in talks.

It said that "before any negotiations can take place, violence against Afghan people must stop and that the armed opposition must cut ties to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups".

It also said that the Taliban must accept the constitution and honor the gains made in the last 10 years since they were ousted from power, conditions that the Taliban have shown no sign of accepting.

The Taliban do not accept the constitution and have vowed to carry on fighting until all foreign troops have left the country.

The peace council said Pakistani support was necessary for talks to take place, another condition that makes the task harder because of fraught ties between the United States and Pakistan which fears it is being shut out of the process.

Opening a Taliban office in a third country is seen as a way to create distance from Pakistan which has longstanding ties to the insurgent group.

But the government official said he did not think the peace council had laid down such tough conditions that the talks would fail even before they started.

"We don't think it's a deal breaker. We are quite optimistic," he said.

(Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis in Honolulu and Alister Bull and Jim Wolf in Washington; Editing by Robert Birsel, Ed Lane and Sandra Maler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111226/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_talks

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Iran military wants more ties with Iraq

By the CNN Wire Staff

December 27, 2011 -- Updated 0736 GMT (1536 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Iran is conducting naval exercises in the region
• The nations fought a protracted military conflict between 1980 and 1988
• The Middle East neighbors have enjoyed closer ties in recent years
• The leaders of both nations are Shia Muslims

(CNN) -- Iran is prepared to expand military and security cooperation with neighboring Iraq, a top Iranian military official said -- a week after U.S. forces pulled out of Iraq.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to establish, boost and expand all types of military, defense and security cooperation with the friendly and brotherly nation of Iraq," Iran's armed forces chief of staff Hassan Firouzabadi said, according to a report Sunday by the semi-official Fars news agency.

The Middle East neighbors have enjoyed closer ties in recent years, especially as Iraq's Shia Muslim majority has solidified its power in the absence of former leader Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim. Iran's theocracy is Shia-led.

The development comes as Iran is flexing its naval muscles in the region by staging war games

The drills are the largest ever planned by Iran and are being staged in an area that stretches from the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the the Gulf of Aden, Fars reported last week.

The maneuvers began on Saturday.

"These war games are a warning to the western countries about the closure of the Strait of Hormuz," Zohreh Elahian, a member of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said Monday, according to Fars. "If any threat is posed to Iran, the Islamic Republic is capable of closing the Strait of Hormuz."

The strait is a narrow shipping channel that leads in and out of the Persian Gulf between Oman and Iran. It is strategically important because oil tankers carrying Middle East oil travel through it.

The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq gives Tehran more freedom to exert its influence in Iraq, analysts say.

"It will not have negative effects against Iran," said James Gelvin, a history professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, about the U.S. pullout.

Mike Breen, vice president of the progressive Truman National Security Project in Washington, described the ties between Iran and Iraq as "complicated."

"I would say it's too soon to tell because the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government are only beginning to write the next chapter in their nation's history, and they have a complicated relationship with their neighbor Iran, and that's not always been a positive relationship," Breen said.

The nations fought a protracted military conflict between 1980 and 1988, in which up to 1.5 million people died. Iran accepted a U.N.-mandated cease-fire in July 1988.

CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr and Ed Payne contributed to this report

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/27/world/meast/iran-iraq-military/index.html?eref=edition

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European Union Close to Deal for $40.5 Million Manhattan Lease

December 26, 2011, 7:57 PM EST

By David M. Levitt

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union is negotiating a $40.5 million lease in midtown Manhattan to replace office space it must vacate by late July.

The Brussels-based alliance is close to an agreement for its United Nations delegation to take about 45,000 square feet (4,200 square meters) at 666 Third Ave., known as the Chrysler East tower, said Christopher Matthews, an EU spokesman. The 32- story property and its neighbor, the iconic Chrysler Building, are controlled by Tishman Speyer Properties LP.

The EU seeks to complete the deal so it can move from its current home, two blocks away at 222 E. 41st St., before it has to pay holdover fees, according to two people with knowledge of the plans. Those costs could be substantial, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks are private.

The fees are ?certainly a consideration? in the lease negotiations, said Matthews, who is based in New York. ?We need to be out of here by the end of July, and that depends on the readiness of the new space. It?s all part of the deal.?

The EU would avoid the charges if it or Tishman absorbed the cost of paying overtime to construction workers to expedite the needed renovations, one of the people said.

Bud Perrone, a spokesman for New York-based Tishman, declined to comment.

Under lease terms, which are still being negotiated, the EU would pay about $60 a square foot annually for 15 years, with an option for an additional five years, Matthews said. That would be a commitment of at least $40.5 million, or 31 million euros, the currency the organization seeks to stabilize as it grapples with its sovereign-debt crisis.

Rent About Same

The rent would be about the same on a per-square-foot basis as the rate for the EU?s current 41,000-square-foot office at 222 E. 41st St., a 25-story tower between Second and Third avenues, according to Matthews.

Both buildings are within walking distance of the UN headquarters, at the East River end of 42nd Street. The EU has permanent observer status at the international body.

The offices need to accommodate about 60 people, and ample conference space is a priority, especially during the UN?s ?ministerial week in September, when we get a huge flood of visitors and VIPs from Brussels,? Matthews said.

?We have 27, soon to be 28, member states that come and meet at this location,? he said. ?This is, if you will, the rallying point where EU coordination takes place, so it has to be somewhere central.?

The New York Observer reported earlier this week that the EU is in talks for space at 666 Third Ave.

Expiring Lease

The EU was notified in the first quarter that its current landlord, Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II Inc. of Atlanta, wasn?t going to renew its lease, which expires in July. The building?s largest tenant, the international law firm Jones Day, is expanding into that space, according to one of the people with knowledge of the EU?s lease negotiations.

Terrell McCollum, a Wells spokesman, declined to comment. David Petrou, a Jones Day spokesman, didn?t immediately return phone and e-mail messages seeking comment. Beth Atkinson, a spokeswoman for New York-based Studley, said she would have to check with executives there before commenting.

The EU also looked at offices at 757 Third Ave., a 27-story property near East 47th Street, and 885 Second Ave., a 50-story tower a block west of the UN that?s also known as 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, among other locations, Matthews said.

The EU?s rent would be lower at 757 Third Ave., according to Mitchell Konsker, a broker with Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. who represents the building?s owner, RFR Holding LLC. The asking rate at the tower is $55 to $59 a square foot and ?a couple hundred thousand? square feet are available, Konsker said.

Cost isn?t the EU?s only consideration, Matthews said, citing security as another priority. The organization is concerned that any move may complicate its mission, he said.

?There could be some disruption if things don?t go well,? he said. ?It?s a busy time, and we?re doing all we can to avoid that.?

--With assistance from Flavia Krause-Jackson in United Nations. Editors: Christine Maurus, Daniel Taub

To contact the reporter on this story: David M. Levitt in New York at dlevitt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Taub at dtaub@bloomberg.net

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5665982629

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GOP presidential hopefuls back in campaign mode

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DES MOINES, Iowa -- Republicans in search of their party's presidential nomination are returning to campaign mode in Iowa after a brief Christmas respite.

Rick Santorum planned a Monday hunting trip with conservatives in Iowa and Mitt Romney is phoning supporters.

With just a week until Iowa holds its leadoff caucuses and many voters still undecided, the final push ahead of the Jan. 3 contests was heading into a critical time. Campaigns planned new television ads and phone calls to persuade holdout caucusgoers still weighing options.

Romney, Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich all scheduled bus tours to start this week. Rep. Ron Paul, who has built what may be the strongest political machine in the state, is also set to return later this week.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/651625/gop-presidential-hopefuls-back-in-campaign-mode

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Billionaire 'playboy' has a $20 million vision to save California

BERGGRUEN (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)

He's a little like Bruce Wayne without the cowl, Thomas Crown without the thievery, Howard Hughes without the planes (or the weirdness).

Now Nicolas Berggruen is trying to do what even a superhero governor couldn't: Save California.

At 50, never married, childless and bored with a billionaire's usual trappings, Berggruen owns no home, instead living in fine hotels as he roams the globe for business and pleasure, his extensive art collection ensconced in museums, his annual pre-Oscar party at the Chateau Marmont still a must for Hollywood's elite glitterati. He has been called a "playboy financier," living a life most Californians can't imagine.

But for the past year and a half he has been reimagining how to run the state, and he's promising to spend at least $20 million to make it so.

Berggruen is the brain and bankroll behind the Think Long Committee for California, a panel of political and business A-listers, which last month issued a report amid much buzz urging an overhaul of the state's tax structure and creation of a citizen "super committee" to shepherd future reforms.

He said he will spend millions of dollars to persuade Californians to vote for these changes in November.

"It may cost much more than $20 million, and if it does, then it does - we'll just have to put in more money or raise more money," he said in a telephone interview. "I'm a facilitator. At the end of the day, this very much has been a group

effort, very much a bipartisan effort. And if my name disappears from this, it's perfectly good. It's not about me at all."

Fat chance. Politics get personal, and Berggruen's biography is so intriguing that many are suspicious that his mission isn't what it seems.

The Paris-born son of a German actress and a prominent art dealer and collector - his father was Pablo Picasso's friend and had a fling with Frida Kahlo - Berggruen studied finance and international business at New York University before launching a company to make investments that multiplied the family fortune.

Forbes says he "has holdings that range from a revitalization project in Newark, N.J., to Hydro Electric Power Plants in Turkey to a Spanish media conglomerate," and is worth about $2.3 billion.

Reforming California's political scene may seem like an odd sideline, but those who know Berggruen say it's in keeping with his newfound civic philanthropy.

San Francisco art dealer John Berggruen, 68, said the Think Long Committee's seeds might have been planted at his breakfast table a few years ago, when then-Attorney General Jerry Brown dropped by to meet Berggruen's younger half-brother and talk "about California's electoral process and the referendum process, about whether this state was governable."

By then, the elder Berggruen said, his brother had realized "there was more to his existence than creating wealth" and had begun studying political philosophy and practice with UCLA scholars.

"One thing led to another, by virtue of his innate curiosity and intelligence, and this is something that became intensely stimulating to him," John Berggruen said.

Seeking a better world

Nicolas Berggruen in 2010 founded a namesake Los Angeles-based think tank as a vehicle of that commitment, aimed at convening panels of experts to reach consensus ideas - more appealing to the public than one billionaire's own musings - to better the world. Among its projects is a "21st Century Council" of former heads of state, Nobel laureates and others pursuing global governance reform.

It also has a "Future of Europe" project seeking a way toward integration and out of debt, and a "Vision for Africa" project aimed at enriching and democratizing that continent.

Fixing California might seem easy by comparison - unless you know much about California.

Progressive Democratic activist Robert Cruickshank blogged that if Berggruen really wants to help California, "he would take the $20 million he is pledging to spend on this shockingly regressive proposal and instead invest it in an initiative to raise taxes on the rich, on corporations, and to fix the state's unfair property tax system. Instead he's using it to help himself and his friends get even richer."

California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro issued a statement saying he's "saddened to hear that some believe that a massive new category of taxation is the answer to California's economic or budget problems."

Berggruen hoped to overcome this schism by assembling a diverse panel of the state's top political and business minds, unburdened by concerns of re-election or even popularity.

A positive environment

Former Gov. Gray Davis said he had met Berggruen only once before, briefly, when the billionaire came to him in February 2010 seeking "a couple of ex-governors to lead this operation." That didn't work out, but a heavy-hitting bipartisan panel was convened nonetheless.

"It was spirited at times, but basically ... a relatively amicable and positive environment, because we all realized what we were there to do," Davis said - to smooth California's boom-and-bust fiscal cycle, and reform its shortsighted, must-get-re-elected governance.

Of Berggruen, Davis said, "As far as I can tell, what you see is what you get - he wants to do his part to leave this world better off and he's willing to devote a lot of his time and a good deal of his resources to make that happen, with no guarantee of success."

Berggruen said he knew the report would meet with push back.

"Entrenched interests will always defend the status quo," he said. "Californians know the system doesn't work. ... People have to be in a state of mind where they know change is needed."

There are some third rails even a billionaire won't touch. Altering Proposition 13's property-tax strictures - perhaps a "split-roll" plan for commercial property reassessment, or modifying the two-thirds legislative majority requirement for tax votes - "obviously was discussed" but "could've made the overall plan less feasible," Berggruen said.

Davis said he expects Berggruen will have final versions of the proposed ballot measures by this week and then get them cleared for petition circulation.

Berggruen believes in letting voters directly decide the state's fate.

"At the end of the day," he said, "that's the ultimate way of giving citizens the real power."

Source: http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_19616583?source=rss_viewed

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Two-Person Debate Challenges Are Nothing New to Campaigns (ContributorNetwork)

The State Column reported Dec. 22 that GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich challenged former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney to a debate between just them lasting 90 minutes without a moderator, but the latter declined. The former House speaker is not happy about the onslaught of negative ads aimed at him, which he generally blames Romney for. It's nothing new for one candidate to throw down the gauntlet to another candidate over having a debate without a moderator, and/or when other major candidates are still vying for the Commander-in-Chief post.

In 2008, Clinton challenged Obama to a debate without a moderator

The race for the last open Democratic presidential nomination was a rough and tumble spectacle between Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and then Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., which drug out well into 2008 before the latter would prevail. Clinton wanted a change in the normal format to where the two would go at it without a moderator in the spirit of the Lincoln-Douglas-style debates, according to CNN.

But the soon-to-be Democratic nominee, accused of "ducking" debates, declined her invitation, saying to Fox News personality Chris Wallace, "I'm not ducking one. We've had 21. We want to make sure we're talking to as many folks possible on the ground taking questions from voters."

Third party presidential candidate Perot challenged GOP nominee Dole in 1996, excluding Clinton

During the 1996 election season, Reform Party candidate Ross Perot challenged the GOP presidential nominee, former Kan. Sen. Bob Dole, to a debate between just them in St. Louis while on "Good Morning America." Perot cited words to a song in doing so, "I'll be there, and so I say to Bob Dole, 'Meet me in St. Louis, Bob Dole, tell me you'll be there," as reported by CNN/Time AllPolitics.

Perot was not happy about the prospect of being excluded from the debates with President Bill Clinton and Dole, who refused the offer. Clinton easily won a second term though, capturing 379 electoral votes to Dole's 159, while Perot got none and only 8.40 percent of the popular vote, according to National Election Results.

Gingrich has already called out Obama to seven Lincoln-Douglas-style debates

The former House speaker has shown a penchant for challenging his rivals to one-on-one debates this year alone, whether they be from his party or not. Even though he has yet to secure the GOP presidential nomination, that hasn't stopped him from calling out the president not just for one debate where no moderator is around to interfere with the exchanges, but seven Lincoln-Douglas-style debates if he gets the GOP nomination, as reported by ABC News' The Note.

Earlier this month, Gingrich and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman squared off in New Hampshire in the spirit of the Lincoln-Douglas format with just a timekeeper. One could safely bet that Gingrich would take on Obama even now at this juncture, given his "I'll take on all comers" attitude.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111225/pl_ac/10740723_twoperson_debate_challenges_are_nothing_new_to_campaigns

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Kris Humphries Gets Booed By The Crowd During His First Game Back In The NBA [Video]

As if he hasn't been through enough after being chewed up and spit out by the Kardashian Khaos Kreator, poor (figuratively, not literally) Kris Humphries was booed during a preseason Nets' game at Madison Square Garden. ESPN says he was "booed lustily" when he came into the game during the second quarter, and then again every time he touched the ball for the six minutes he stayed in the game. Ouch!

But then, after he came out of the game, the crowd chanted "We want Humphries! We want Humphries!" off and on for the rest of the game. Wow, the crowd's reaction perfectly captures the world's feelings towards all things Kardashian: you really hate them but the minute they go away you realize you can't live without them. Boo! Wait, where are you going? Come baaaaack! [ESPN]

---

Last night, during his Home for the Holidays concert in Toronto, Justin Bieber brought his three-year-old sister, Jazmyn, on stage with him. He and Jazzy sang part of his hit "Baby" before having an extended conversation about how she cut her own hair and shaved her 2-year-old brother's head while she was at it. She also announced that she is a princess. Of course, the audience oohed and ahhed as their hearts melted from the sweetness. He seems refreshingly unguarded and genuine when talking to her?quite a welcome contrast to the manufactured side of him we so often see. Oh, and Jazzy tripped as she walked off the stage, which tipped the scales from "very cute" to "off-the-charts adorable." [HuffPo]

---

When it comes to the great sweatpants divide of 2011, it looks like Scarlett Johansson falls firmly in the "no sweatpants" camp:

I always like to put a little bit of makeup on. I'm not the kind of person that just slops around in sweatpants. I like to feel a little more together - you never know who you're going to see out there!

Actually, I do know who I'm going to see out there: no paparazzi and no one I really care about, so I don't mind sweating it up on occasion. But I can see, were you forced to be camera-ready at all hours of the day or night, why you might ditch the comfy pants in favor of something more flattering. [People]

---

After getting arrested last night for fighting with his boyfriend Sauli Koskinen in Finland, Adam Lambert explained his actions via Twitter:

Jetlag+Vodka=blackout.
Us?blackout=irrational confusion.
jail+guilt+press=lesson learned.
Sauli+Adam+hangover burgers= laughing bout it. :)

That is one complicated equation! [Twitter]

---

• Last night's Guns N' Roses show in Los Angeles was quite the who's who of random B-listers. Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean and his brand new wife, Rochelle DeAnna Karidis, displayed their wedding rings and their coordinated nail polish. (He had black polish with a red heart on his ring finger. She wore red polish and a black heart.) Jim Carrey also got in on the Axl action, and brought a blonde woman who may be his new girlfriend. And rounding out the fading-star-packed night was Jared Leto, who showed up wearing a velvety-looking coat and a fedora. [People, TMZ, Just Jared]
• Alas, Alec Baldwin has decided not to run for mayor of NYC after all. He said on his podcast,
  

  I've lost my appetite. Plus the people that are running for mayor?I know this is terrible?I look at them and I don't see myself in that crowd. They're like a guy on a date that you can tell he just can't wait to get his hand up your blouse before even the lights go out in the theater. They're all just so horny for it. Horny for their own ascension. Whereas for me, I've got a job now?I've got a good job.

  He might not be horny enough, and he might be too rash to have been a good mayor anyway. But it's a damn shame we won't get to see what his campaign ads would have looked like! [E! Online]

• Ooh, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively continue to look as if they're playing for keeps. He's taken her all the way to Canada to meet his family. Aaaaand continuing in their grand romantic tradition of eating desserts together, they were seen picking out some sweets at Vancouver's Original Cupcake Shop. [Extra TV]
• Finally, there's a celebrity couple who we don't need to constantly monitor for a potential baby bump: Nick Lachey has said that he and wife Vanessa aren't in any great hurry to reproduce:
  

  I don't think there's necessarily any timetable for it. We're definitely excited about being parents at some point, but I think whenever that happens, we'll embrace it and be excited for it. There's no real sense of urgency at this point.

  Phew. Now we can give our undivided attention to Kate Middleton's midsection. [People]

• Speaking of the Royal couple, Prince William might be getting Kate a very special Christmas gift:
  

  [S]peculation is swirling over what [Prince] William is going to get Kate for Christmas, [and] the general consensus at this point is that the Duchess of Cambridge is getting a puppy.

  Hmm, that could mean that she is not pregnant, because who buys a puppy right when they're having a baby?too many poops to clean up after at once! Or it could mean that she is pregnant because they can just pay someone else to clean up after the puppy and then they can have it snuggle with the baby to keep it warm at night in that drafty old castle they'll be living in. [Us Weekly]

• Comedian Louis C.K. has made a whopping $1 million on sales of his new comedy special, Live at the Beacon Theater. It went online 10 days ago, and costs just $5 to download. Last night on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Louie announced he's already given away $280,000 of of it to charity. He's paying for production of the special with another $250,000, and he's keeping $220,000 for himself. Then he's also giving $250,000 of his earnings out as bonuses to people he works with. Wow, he's like a skinnier, funnier, red-headed Santa Claus! [ONTD]
• Didn't get your own personalized Christmas card from Fergie and Josh Duhamel this year? No problem, she posted it to Facebook so you can spend hours gazing upon it. [Just Jared]
• Just when you thought you were over his "puppy dog eyes staring past someone and straight into the camera" act on The Office, John Krasinski does something cute like go on Sesame Street (see the video here) and try to explain the word "soggy." Then BAM! You are right back where you were when he was first wooing Pam lo those many years ago: smitten! [Entertainment Weekly]
• Human meatball Mario Batali has been named in a sexual harassment suit filed by a former employee at his restaurant Babbo. According to TMZ, the waiter claims that the star chef stood by and did nothing as his other employees harassed him. The waiter says they, "'smacked his buttocks on a weekly basis,' repeatedly grabbed his genitals, and made crude sexual comments." [TMZ]
• In case you were wondering what the cast of Fresh Prince of Bel Air looks like now, Will Smith helpfully posted a picture of their reunion on Facebook. (Hint: they all look a little older!) [Just Jared]
• Suburgatory actor Jeremy Sisto and his wife Addie Lane have announced they're expecting a second child. It's a boy, and he's due in March. Their 2-year-old daughter is named Charlie-Ballerina, so bet on an interesting name for their new addition?maybe something like Leslie-Fireman? [People]
• Katie Finneran, from I Hate My Teenage Daughter, and her husband Darren Goldstein are also expecting their second baby, due in the early summer. Luckily it's a boy, so he doesn't have to endure constant references to how his mother hates him when he's a teenager. [People]
• Actress and reality TV star Brigitte Nielsen is recovering after a car accident in Los Angeles. Her neck and back were injured, but she's been released from the hospital and is resting at home. [OMG!]

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Occupy hecklers drown out Bachmann at Iowa diner (cbsnews)

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Aaron Rodgers is 2011 AP Male Athlete of Year

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2011, file photo, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) scrambles past Atlanta Falcons linebacker Curtis Lofton (50) on a 7-yard touchdown run during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game in Atlanta. Rodgers is the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year chosen by members of The Associated Press after his MVP performance in the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl victory in February and his stellar play during the team's long unbeaten run this season. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2011, file photo, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) scrambles past Atlanta Falcons linebacker Curtis Lofton (50) on a 7-yard touchdown run during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game in Atlanta. Rodgers is the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year chosen by members of The Associated Press after his MVP performance in the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl victory in February and his stellar play during the team's long unbeaten run this season. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2011, file photo, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) celebrates with teammates after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in the NFL Super Bowl XLV football game in Arlington, Texas. Rodgers is the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year chosen by members of The Associated Press after his MVP performance in the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl victory in February and his stellar play during the team's long unbeaten run this season. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2011, file photo, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) celebrates with Jordy Nelson, left, after Nelson scored a touchdown during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl XLV football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Arlington, Texas. Rodgers is the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year chosen by members of The Associated Press after his MVP performance in the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl victory in February and his stellar play during the team's long unbeaten run this season. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2011, file photo, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) celebrates the Packers' 31-25 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers after the NFL Super Bowl XLV football game in Arlington, Texas. Rodgers is the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year chosen by members of The Associated Press after his MVP performance in the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl victory in February and his stellar play during the team's long unbeaten run this season. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) ? When Aaron Rodgers needs to rekindle the feelings that drove his rise from a junior college quarterback to Super Bowl MVP, he doesn't have to look too far.

Rodgers held on to the many rejection letters he received from marquee college programs as he was coming out of high school. Even today, he leaves a few of them sitting out at his house.

"I chose the couple that I thought were most demeaning to display in a space in my house that really nobody is able to see but myself," Rodgers said. "It's something that I think is important to keep fresh on your mind. Maybe not every day, but once a week your eyes might pan across it and you have a little laugh about the journey you've been on ? at the same time, remembering that there still are people out there that you can prove something to."

Good luck finding those doubters now.

Rodgers is the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year, chosen by members of The Associated Press, after he turned in an MVP performance in the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in February and then went on to lead his team on a long unbeaten run this season.

Rodgers received 112 votes out of the 212 ballots submitted from U.S. news organizations that make up the AP's membership. Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander finished second with 50 votes, followed by tennis standout Novak Djokovic (21), Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton (6) and NASCAR champion Tony Stewart (5).

Rodgers is one of three quarterbacks to receive the honor in the past five years. The New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees won in 2010 and the New England Patriots' Tom Brady won in 2007.

Rodgers says it still feels "surreal at times" to be considered among the biggest names in sports.

"Those guys are household names, the best of the best," Rodgers said. "(It's) special to win the award, and something I'll remember."

Through 14 games this season, Rodgers has completed 68.1 percent of his passes for 4,360 yards with 40 touchdowns and six interceptions. The Packers are 13-1, and Rodgers' play is leaving people speechless ? even his coach, Mike McCarthy.

"I'm running out of things to say about him," McCarthy said earlier this month, after Rodgers drove the Packers into position for a last-second, game-winning field goal to beat the New York Giants.

Green Bay's 19-game winning streak came to an end at Kansas City on Sunday, but the Packers remain a strong favorite to repeat as champions. That's thanks in large part to Rodgers' knack for making big plays without major mistakes.

It has been a long and challenging journey out of obscurity for Rodgers, who wasn't offered a big-time scholarship out of high school and had to play a year in junior college. Then came his agonizing wait on draft day, three seasons on the bench behind Brett Favre and a tumultuous first year as a starter.

If Rodgers' path to stardom had been smoother, he says he wouldn't be the player ? or person ? he is today.

"It's something that gives me perspective all the time, knowing that the road I took was difficult. But it did shape my character and it shaped my game as well," Rodgers said. "I try and keep that on my mind as a good perspective, but also as a motivator, knowing that it took a lot to get to where I am now and it's going to take a lot to stay where I'm at."

Strangely, earning widespread respect throughout the sports world could become a challenge in and of itself for Rodgers, who draws motivation from proving himself to his doubters and critics.

Is that becoming more difficult?

"It would only be tougher if you stopped remembering or drawing or thinking about those things," Rodgers said. "And I think a great competitor has to have at least some sort of chip on their shoulder, or at least the attitude that you have something to prove every time you take the (field)."

Unable to attract attention from a big-time college program, Rodgers played a year at Butte College in Oroville, Calif., near his hometown of Chico. His play there eventually got the attention of Cal coach Jeff Tedford, and Rodgers transferred.

Rodgers thrived at Cal and went into the 2005 NFL draft expecting to be taken early in the first round. But he didn't hear his name called until the Packers chose him with the 24th overall pick.

Once in Green Bay, Rodgers found himself backing up Favre, a revered Packer who didn't necessarily like the idea that the team had put his eventual successor in place. Favre kept fans and the franchise on their toes every offseason, flirting with the idea of retiring but always coming back.

Then came the summer of 2008, when tension between Favre and the Packers' front office finally snapped after Favre retired, changed his mind and asked for his job back ? or a chance to play elsewhere. Favre was traded to the New York Jets and Rodgers finally had his chance.

Rodgers wasn't immediately embraced by a segment of fans who supported Favre. He even was booed at the team's "Family Night" scrimmage. He stayed calm on the outside and played pretty well in his first year as a starter despite the team's 6-10 record.

But he still had his doubts.

"I had a lot of confidence in my abilities," Rodgers said. "But the doubts and worries are associated with, 'How am I going to be perceived by my teammates? How's my performance going to be scrutinized?' And you go through a point where you're reading your own clippings. You're 6-10 your first season, and you're reading some of these (Internet) comment boards, in the back of your mind, that negative voice is telling you, 'You know, you're not going to live up to any expectations you put on yourself, and you're not as good as you think you are.' Those can mess with you a little bit, but you can also draw some motivation from those negative thoughts. And I did."

Rodgers led the Packers to the playoffs in 2009 season ? then won it all last February.

"I think a weight comes off your shoulders after you win a Super Bowl, and you realize that all those doubts and worries and successes and failures you had before then, a lot of those get wiped away and the slate almost goes clean," Rodgers said. "Because you won the ultimate prize, and you had the chance to silence some of your critics, the challenges change, the way you're viewed changes. I think a lot of the things that you really worried about too much become very little in importance."

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Connect with AP Sports Writer Chris Jenkins: www.twitter.com/ByChrisJenkins

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-21-FBN-Male-Athlete-of-the-Year/id-9a0ca6f93eda4aed93d83b3075ec0776

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