Gary Oldman Talks Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Now playing in limited release is director Tomas Alfredson?s (Let the Right One In) great new movie, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.? Based on the 1974 British novel by John le Carre, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the first novel of the ?Karla Trilogy? and the first film installment that may spawn a franchise.? The spy thriller features Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch, just to name a few.? Set during the Cold War era, the story follows former spy George Smiley (Oldman) through his investigation of a possible double agent within MI-6.? It?s a hell of a movie and one you should definitely see.

Anyway, when I was at the New York City press junket I interviewed Gary Oldman twice.? The first time was a video interview where we talked about how he found Smiley?s glasses (it was a very important part of discovering the character) and working with the IMAX cameras on The Dark Knight Rises. However, I also participated in a roundtable interview with the extraordinary actor where he talked about how he got involved in the project, working with the rest of the cast, if he used John le Carr? as a source and if le Carr? told him anything that he could share, and a lot more.? Hit the jump to read what he had to say.

Question:? Was this a project that you went after or did it come after you?

Gary Oldman:?? It came to me.? It was a rare occasion to me where it was an offer and one wasn?t in the lining up with the usual suspects where you are one in five people that they are looking at.? So it just came in.? It was a constant director.? I know that Tomas [Alfredson] wanted to cast Smiley before they cast anyone else.? The story that he tells me is that they were going through the lists and after five months of this they were almost giving up.? Then the casting director said, ?What about Gary??? Then I think from that day on?.directors can sometimes become obsessed with a casting idea and the story is that was it was once she suggested me.? So I came in fighting for that role and when you are on that list?sometimes the lists are ridiculous.? Sometimes they are looking at me, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Harrison Ford and we are all up for the same part. [laughs]

Did you see yourself in the role immediately when they came to you?? Was it a no brainer to do?

Oldman:? I am old enough to remember the series when it was first shown.? Obviously, [Alec] Guinness made such a mark playing it and carrying the face of Smiley.? He was nearly 70 when he played and my first thought was ?Well, I am a bit young.?? But it was Tomas? idea to cast it younger across the board.? But the ghost of Guinness was large.? You could honestly say that it was almost a definitive portrayal of Smiley.? I said, ?God, how do you pull that off??? because he was so beloved and so much part of the British establishment as an icon.? In the end, I sort of played a trick with my head.? I sort of thought, ?Well, there have been other Romeos, Hamlets, and King Lears, and it is just another reinterpretation? So I sort of approached it rather how you would approach a classical part.? It is a role that has been played by someone else?especially in the U.K. because the inevitable comparisons were going to be there and they have reacted very flagrantly and there have been a few that have said, ?There will only ever be one Smiley.??? It is like we are in some kind of competition, you know?? But I didn?t jump at it.? I had to consider it.

Is it more difficult to portray someone who is quiet than someone who will act out loud and be wild?

Oldman:? Do you mean in comparison to some of the other stuff that I have done? [laughs]

Like Romeo is Bleeding, just to throw that out there.

Oldman:? Well, I?ve played quiet before.? I wouldn?t say Beethoven was over the top or Lee Harvey Oswald.? I just felt that it was?I?ve been 30 years for someone to offer me a part like this.?? The challenges are that when you play a character that is so emotionally closed there are times when you ask yourself if you are doing enough and if it?s reading.? That is where you have a director, who is the barometer of what you are doing.? Occasionally we would do a take and Tomas would say to me ?Can you glance to the tape recorder or when you look can you??? and I was would say ?Well, I did? and he would say ?Well, can you make it a little bigger because we couldn?t catch it.?? So you can actually go the other way.? The trick is that one likes to think that you have a certain charisma because we are in a profession where you have to a certain extent believe that you are interesting and that people want to watch you and that you are playing a character that actually wants to disappear.? He is beige and he just becomes part of the room, which makes him forgettable.? So that was an interesting challenge ? you have to dial everything down.? But the roles that you play in are what is required of you.? I think you can get a bit typecast.? I think people remember movies like Leon: The Professional and certainly the two movies I did with Luc Besson.? They are very big, but they are cartoonish characters.? So it was great to work on a piece of material where you can really play subtext.??

You share a lot of scenes with Benedict Cumberbatch.? How did you feel your dynamic was with him behind the scenes.? He didn?t live through that era, but you did.? So did you offer him any advice on how to change his mannerisms?

Oldman:? No.? We all had this great book.? So in terms of one?s homework it was one stop shopping because there was the book and we had access to John le Carr? if we needed it as there is a resource.? I know that Benedict spoke with him.? But he is intuitive.? He is a wonderful actor, isn?t he?? I always think it is exciting to see these people come up.? But it is the linage.? It is like we are links in a chain.? Now it is people like?you look at a different generation and at people like Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, and Michael Fassbender, who are great young actors that are coming through.? But Benedict is intuitive.

Did you use John le Carr? as a source and did he tell you anything that you could share?

Oldman:? I wanted to know a little bit more about George in the earlier days before we meet and the movie begins because John was a spy and he lived through that time.? He was a great inspiration and I modeled George on John initially as a sort of springboard.? You put a character like this and he had a certain musicality in his voice and a certain wonderful quality about him.? So I kind of started and stole some little mannerisms from him.? You begin almost with an impersonation and the more that you do the work the further that you get away from it.? But he is sort of the DNA of the whole thing.? He is 80 this year and it is like kind of hanging out with a 30 year old.? He has a prolific memory and he is a great actor, impersonator, and a wonderful raconteur.? He says ?I?m there if you need me.? I am at the end of the telephone if you need me.?? He sort of plays that a little but once you meet him and you get him talking it is like putting a coin in the juke box.?? You just put the coin in and then the record plays.? It is fantastic.? You can?t shut him up. [laughs]

There is that scene where George Smiley becomes an actor when he is reenacting that initial encounter with Karla.? Was that in the script or did you take that away from John le Carr??

Oldman:? In the book it is a flashback.? I think Tomas didn?t want to do another flashback so he reinterpreted it and reshaped the scene for it to become almost a story that I tell to Guillam.? I think it is Smiley working out something in the moment even as he is telling it.? He creates Karla in a way.? I think he feels responsible that he was the one that got away and he couldn?t turn in so he subsequently becomes Karla.?? It must be a very odd profession.? We showed the movie to people in MI6 who loved it and thought that it was very accurate.? There was a guy there whose family believes that he is a chauffeur for diplomats and that that is what he does for a living, but he is a spy.? It is a strange profession in as much that if you are part of law enforcement and you go off after a bad guy and you are lucky enough to catch him ? he goes through the process of the justice system and is imprisoned.? With a spy, you find a guy, you get him, and you try to turn him.? He may have killed people, but there are no consequences in that respect.? You want him now to come over to you.

Are you ready to jump back into the role or are you going to need a little bit of a break before you put the white hair back on for Smiley?

Oldman:?? There are whispers that we may do another one.

Are you ready for it?

Oldman:? I would love to do it.? I?ll love to play him again.? I kind of miss him.

Did you have any Cold War experience?? Did you travel during these days to Eastern Europe or Eastern Germany?

Oldman:? No.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924159/news/1924159/

beyonce dance for you nba lockout over gone with the wind nba lockout news nba lockout news gifts for mom gifts for mom

China trims holdings of US Treasury debt (AP)

WASHINGTON ? China bought less U.S. Treasury debt in October and total foreign holdings dipped for the first time since July.

Total foreign holdings of Treasury debt edged down 0.1 percent to $4.66 trillion, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

China, the largest foreign holder, bought 1.2 percent less to bring its total holdings to $1.13 trillion. China had increased its holdings 1 percent in September after a reduction of 3.1 percent in August.

The small decline in overall holdings still left them at high levels that suggest foreign demand for U.S. debt remains strong. That strength comes despite a prolonged debate this summer over increasing the nation's borrowing limit. Investors don't appear to be concerned that Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit rating on long-term U.S. debt in August.

S&P said it lowered the U.S. credit rating because of political gridlock in Washington that had slowed the debt limit increase and not because the ratings agency thought the U.S. couldn't pay its bills. U.S. government debt is still considered a safe investment and it has been in high demand as worries about the European debt crisis have intensified.

Japan, the second-largest buyer of Treasury debt, increased its holdings by 2.3 percent in October to $979 billion. Britain, the third-largest holder, reduced its holdings 3.1 percent to $408.4 billion.

The 0.1 percent dip in overall holdings followed a 1.9 percent rise September and a 2 percent gain in August. Overall foreign holdings of Treasury securities had fallen 0.4 percent in July and 0.3 percent in June. Those declines had been the first overall declines since April 2009.

Net purchases of long-term securities, a category that includes not only U.S. government debt but also bonds sold by U.S. companies, showed a net increase of $4.8 billion in October after a $68.3 billion gain in September.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_bi_ge/us_foreign_holdings

lord monckton andy kaufman october 21 2011 ohio ohio john beck john beck

T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II getting fixes for caller ID, battery life, Wifi calling

T-Mobile's Samsung Galaxy S II is getting an update today to Android 2.3.5, software version T989VUVKL1. You're getting a trio of "enhancements" (read: bugfixes) with this update, including caller ID, battery and Wifi calling. T-Mobile notes that the update's not mandatory, but we can't think of why you wouldn't want a better phone. 

You can get the update over the air, or use the Kies Mini desktop app thingy if you're a glutton for punishment.

Source: T-Mobile; More: T-Mobile Galaxy S II forums
thanks, Burt, for the tip!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/P5OVLmsTOuo/story01.htm

cloudy with a chance of meatballs houston nutt houston nutt peter marshall peter marshall zombie boy zombie boy

Atheist messages displace CA park nativity scenes (AP)

SANTA MONICA, Calif. ? Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the three wise men are being crowded out by atheists.

Most of the Christmas nativity scenes that churches had placed in a Santa Monica coastal park for decades have been displaced by non-religious displays ? and the churches are crying conspiracy.

The Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee, a coalition of 13 churches, and the Santa Monica Police Officers Association, has traditionally claimed 14 of the 21 display spaces, which are vandal-proof, cage-like areas surrounded by chain-link fencing.

The coalition displays have featured life-size depictions of the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.

But atheists got all but three of the spaces this year because of a new lottery system. The coalition got two spots to display Jesus, Mary and the wise men. The third went to Isaac Levitansky of Chabad Channukah Menorah.

Adding to the loss, the atheists have used only three of the display areas to promote their message.

One reads: "Religions are all alike ? founded upon fables and mythologies. ? Thomas Jefferson."

"Happy Solstice," reads another.

And a display with photographs depicting King Neptune, Jesus Christ, Santa Claus and Satan reads, "Million Americans know MYTHS when they see them. What myths do you see? American Atheists. Since 1963. athiests.org."

"Our belief is that these new applicants have been working together to displace and push out the nativity scenes from the park, rather than erecting a full display of their own," said Hunter Jameson, a spokesman for a coalition of the city's churches.

The Santa Monica Daily Press ( http://bit.ly/tr8h1T) reported that churches had little or no competition for the spaces during the past 57 years. This year, 13 people bid for spaces, prompting City Hall to use a random lottery system to allot the spots.

Two individuals got 18 spaces. One person can request a maximum of nine.

Damon Vix is behind the effort to allocate the spaces by lottery.

Last year, he put up a sign with the Thomas Jefferson quote and selections on U.S. Supreme Court decisions about the importance of separating church and state.

Vix now helps other atheists acquire the park spaces, including American Atheists Inc. and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Secularists feel a need to be more vocal and express their civil rights, he said.

"For 60 years, it's almost exclusively been the point of view of Christians putting up nativity scenes for a whole city block," Vix said.

Jameson pushed the city to give local preference in awarding the spaces. Vix doesn't live in Santa Monica.

City Attorney Marsha Moutrie wrote, however, that the Christmas displays cross the boundary into First Amendment free speech rights, which know no geographical boundaries.

"Everyone has equal rights to use the streets and parks for expressive activities, irrespective of residency," Moutrie wrote.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_re_us/us_atheists_displace_nativity_scenes

best buy kohls target target walmart jcpenney loft

Father of Kris Humphries Threatens to Pen Kim Kardashian Tell-All

Might the manipulative, large-breasted roof soon get blown off DivorceGate?

In the latest issue of Life & Style, William Humphries - the father of Kris Humphries and the very brief father-in-law of Kim Kardashian - says he'd "love to write a book" about the ordeal Kim and her family put his son through.

"It's important to him that Kris' side of the story is out there," a friend tells the tabloid.

Humphries may not be entitled to any of Kim's assets, due to a prenup, but no non-disclosure agreement was ever signed. He and/or his dad are free to dish and dish and dish and "Kris has told his father everything," a source notes.

William "has many stories to tell," the magazine reports.

Kris, of course, says he just wants to move forward and find a new NBA team. But we have a feeling this story is far from over.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/father-of-kris-humphries-threatens-to-pen-kim-kardashian-tell-al/

alec baldwin alec baldwin rock and roll hall of fame erin andrews erin andrews blagojevich sentence mythbusters cannonball

US: No indication drone in Iran was shot down

TEHRAN, Iran?? A U.S. official said Sunday that Washington had no indication that a drone that had crashed in Iran had actually been shot down.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Inside the drug tunnels
   2. What shoplifters are taking these holidays
   3. People can smell your neuroticism
   4. Trends and Takeaways: No core?
   5. Gingrich takes control in Iowa
   6. 10 most captivating beaches in the world
   7. 84-year-old woman: I was strip searched at JFK

In Tehran, state television quoted a military source as saying that Iran's military had shot down a U.S. reconnaissance drone aircraft in eastern Iran.

"There is absolutely no indication up to this point that Iranians shot down this drone," the official told NBC News.

The NATO-led force in Afghanistan said the drone the Iranians claim to have shot down may be an unarmed surveillance drone that was lost last week while flying over western Afghanistan. A surveillance drone flying over western Afghanistan had gone out of control late last week and may be the one Iran said it had shot down over its own airspace, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Sunday.

"The UAV to which the Iranians are referring may be a U.S. unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week. The operators of the UAV lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status," an ISAF statement said.

The statement about the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was issued in Kabul and released to reporters covering an international conference on Afghanistan in the German city Bonn. Iran's armed forces have shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that violated Iranian airspace along the country's eastern border, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday.

Iran is locked in a dispute with the U.S. and its allies over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusations, saying its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and that it seeks to generate electricity and produce isotopes to treat medical patients.

The type of aircraft Iran says it downed, an RQ-170 Sentinel, is made by Lockheed Martin and was reportedly used to keep watch on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan as the raid that killed him was taking place earlier this year.

The surveillance aircraft is equipped with stealth technology, but the U.S. Air Force has not made public any specifics about the drone.

Iran said in January that two pilotless spy planes it had shot down over its airspace were operated by the United States and offered to put them on public display.

The Islamic Republic holds frequent military drills, primarily to assert an ability to defend against a potential U.S. or Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities.

Tehran has focused part of its military strategy on producing drones for reconnaissance and attacking purposes.

Iran announced three years ago it had built an unmanned aircraft with a range of more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers), far enough to reach Israel.

Ahmadinejad unveiled Iran's first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft in August 2010, calling it an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies.

NBC News, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45541622/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

earthquake in texas official time news 9 tuscaloosa tuscaloosa earthquake california earthquake california

Scorsese to receive Critics Choice Music+Film award (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Cue the Ronettes' "Be My Baby," or maybe the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter."

Martin Scorsese, whose iconic use of those songs (in "Mean Streets" and in a couple of different films, respectively) has made him one of the most rock 'n' roll savvy of all directors, has been named recipient of the second Music+Film Award by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.

The award will be presented to Scorsese at the Critics Choice Movie Awards on January 12 at the Hollywood Palladium.

The award, according to the BFCA press release, "honors a single filmmaker who has touched audiences through cinematic storytelling, and has heightened the impact of films through the brilliant use of source and original music." The inaugural Music+Film Award was given to Quentin Tarantino in January.

Scorsese, whose latest film is "Hugo," is well-known for his use of rock songs in films like "Mean Streets," "GoodFellas" and "The Departed." He has also directed a string of concert films and rock documentaries, from "The Last Waltz" and "Shine a Light" to the Bob Dylan and George Harrison docs "No Direction Home" and "George Harrison: Living in the Material World."

The 17th annual Critics Choice Movie Awards will air live on VH1. With a voting body of more than 250 television, radio and online critics, the show is often a reliable predictor of Academy Award winners.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111206/film_nm/us_martinscorsese_award

school closings ny giants lindsey vonn lindsey vonn josef stalin new york giants kourtney and kim take new york

AP Interview: Pakistan PM sees progress in US ties

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani gestures during an interview with The Associated Press at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Gilani says his country wants to rebuild ties with the United States despite Islamabad's ongoing retaliation for deadly airstrikes on its troops by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani gestures during an interview with The Associated Press at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Gilani says his country wants to rebuild ties with the United States despite Islamabad's ongoing retaliation for deadly airstrikes on its troops by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani gestures during an interview with The Associated Press at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Gilani says his country wants to rebuild ties with the United States despite Islamabad's ongoing retaliation for deadly airstrikes on its troops by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani smiles during an interview with The Associated Press at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Gilani says his country wants to rebuild ties with the United States despite Islamabad's ongoing retaliation for deadly airstrikes on its troops by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, center, gestures during an interview with The Associated Press at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Gilani says his country wants to rebuild ties with the United States despite Islamabad's ongoing retaliation for deadly airstrikes on its troops by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani pauses during an interview with The Associated Press at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Gilani says his country wants to rebuild ties with the United States despite Islamabad's ongoing retaliation for deadly airstrikes on its troops by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) ? In an overture to Washington, Pakistan's prime minister said Monday his country wants to repair U.S. relations pushed close to rupture since NATO airstrikes on the Afghan border killed 24 Pakistani troops last month.

Yousuf Raza Gilani's interview with The Associated Press was the strongest indication yet that Islamabad realizes Pakistan needs an alliance with Washington even as it continues retaliating for the Nov. 26 raid by blocking NATO and U.S. supplies from traveling over its soil into landlocked Afghanistan.

The interview came a day after U.S. President Barack Obama called Pakistan's president to tell him that the airstrikes were not deliberate targeting of Pakistani soldiers and that the U.S. was committed to a full investigation. The White House said Obama and President Asif Ali Zardari reaffirmed their countries' relationship, which it described as "critical to the security of both nations," and agreed to keep in close touch.

Gilani didn't offer the U.S. anything other than Pakistan's willingness to consider starting over, apparently believing the attack had given Islamabad fresh leverage to dictate terms in what has been an uneasy and largely transactional relationship since Pakistan joined the U.S. war against violent Islamist extremism after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Gilani said new ties being negotiated with the U.S. would ensure that the two countries "respected each other's red lines" regarding sovereignty and rules of engagement along the border.

"We really want to have good relations with the U.S. based on mutual respect and clearly defined parameters," he said in the interview at his residence in the eastern city of Lahore, at one point having to put up with a mischievous grandchild using a watch to reflect sunlight onto his face.

"I think that is doable. I think that it won't take long. We are not anti-American, we are part of the system, we have to work with the entire international community."

Despite Gilani's gentler rhetoric, the gulf between the two nations remains wide. U.S. officials have said the airstrikes have been the most serious blow to a relationship that has been battered by a series of crises this year, exposing its brittleness each time.

Pakistani officials have been demanding more clarity in their relationship with the United States for some time, angry over the CIA presence in the country and the covert but routine drone strikes that kill militants on its side of the border.

A new agreement, even a vague, nonbinding one, may be enough to satisfy domestic critics that Pakistan has extracted something from Washington before agreeing to reopen the supply lines.

The May 2 U.S. mission that killed Osama bin Laden infuriated the army, which faced humiliation at home for failing to detect the U.S. raid and suspicion abroad after the al-Qaida leader was revealed to have been hiding in an army town for five years.

The Obama administration wants continued engagement even as Pakistan's refusal to attack militant sanctuaries along the border over the last three years has fueled criticism in Congress the country is a duplicitous ally unworthy of American aid.

Many U.S. officials regard Pakistani cooperation as vital for peace talks with Afghan insurgent leaders to succeed because many of the leaders live in Pakistan and have ties to its security forces. The country, home to 180 million people, has nuclear weapons and a thriving Islamist militant insurgency of its own that is giving support to al-Qaida operatives. Containing that threat requires good intelligence cooperation for several years to come.

Gilani also said Pakistan remains committed to working with Afghanistan to bring insurgent leaders into talks with the government. That may offer some reassurance to international leaders who discussed Afghanistan's future at a conference Monday in Bonn, Germany.

Islamabad boycotted the Bonn conference because of last month's deadly airstrikes, disappointing Afghan and Western leaders.

"I think we have evolved some mechanisms, and we are ready to cooperate," Gilani said, referring to meetings with Afghanistan's military and intelligence chiefs on a framework for talks. "We are committed (to reconciliation), despite that we are not attending" the conference on Afghanistan, he said.

Speaking in Bonn, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said it "was unfortunate that Pakistan didn't participate" but said she was encouraged by Gilani's remarks, presumably to the AP, that the U.S and Pakistan will continue cooperation.

"I expect that Pakistan will be involved going forward and we expect them to play a constructive role," said Clinton.

The civilian government that Gilani heads is in many respects subservient to the army, which formulates Afghan policy. Gilani is unlikely to say anything that does not broadly reflect the thinking of the army.

This year's crises in Pakistan-U.S. ties included an incident in which an American CIA contractor shot and killed two Pakistanis on the street in Lahore. The previous disputes have been patched up, though at a cost of dwindling trust and expectations on both sides.

Pakistan, despite the fiercely anti-American rhetoric of its people, many of its lawmakers and ? increasingly after the NATO strike ? its army, relies on Washington for military and civilian aid to maintain some parity with its regional foe India, as well as diplomatic legitimacy.

In Gilani's office, along with photos of his children, there are two pictures of the prime minister with then-President George W. Bush in Washington. There's also a signed note from Bush in 2008 pledging continued support for Gilani's efforts to bring stability to the country and thanks for "the fine-looking gun" he had brought him as a gift.

Besides boycotting the Bonn talks and blocking supplies, Pakistan gave the U.S. 15 days to vacate Shamsi air base, which has been used by American drones to strike militants along the Afghan border. U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter said in a local TV interview that Washington was doing its best to comply with the demand to leave the base.

The move was not expected significantly to curtail drone attacks in Pakistan since Shamsi was used only to service drones that had mechanical or weather difficulties. NATO officials say the supply line blockage is not affecting operations, but that a stoppage of more than a month would begin to hurt.

Washington and Islamabad have given differing accounts of what led to the airstrikes on the Pakistani army posts last month, in what is at least the third such incident along the porous and poorly defined border since 2008.

U.S. officials have said the incident occurred when a joint U.S. and Afghan patrol requested air support after coming under fire. The U.S. checked with the Pakistan military to see if there were friendly troops in the area and were told there were not, they said.

Pakistan has said the coordinates given by the Americans were wrong ? an allegation denied by U.S. defense officials.

___

Associated Press writers Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, Zarar Khan and Sebastian Abbot in Islamabad and Anne Gearan in Germany contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-05-AS-Pakistan/id-15f9ef14970d4bdc8be9cb5cb9d879cc

election results 2011 board of elections board of elections senate bill 5 senate bill 5 joe paterno press conference joe paterno scandal

Video: Priebus on 2012 GOP field

October 30: Plouffe, roundtable

Nearly a year away from the 2012 election, we?ll talk to the president?s 2008 campaign manager, now White House Senior Adviser, David Plouffe. Then author of the definitive new biography on the late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson; Author of the new book ?The Time of Our Lives,? NBC News Special Correspondent, Tom Brokaw; Former Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm; and Republican strategist, Mike Murphy.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/45541777#45541777

dale sveum ny jets ny jets jets broncos

Ron Paul Declines Donald Trump?s GOP Debate Offer Questioning ?Dignity? of Event

Donald Trump offered to host a GOP debate in December and is teaming up with Newsmax, a conservative magazine and news Web site, to moderate a presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa on Dec. 27th.

Ron Paul is among the first to decline the invitation in no uncertain terms saying through his campaign chairman, that his proposal is ?wildly inappropriate? and ?flies in the face of that office?s history and dignity.? Trump, who briefly considered a presidential bid himself, announced yesterday that he will team up with Newsmax.. Jon Huntsman also declined. There has been no word from the other candidates so far, according to the Daily Beast.

Some media reports are claiming the legitamacy and dignity of a political debate hosted by Mr. Trump, and Twitter reports are echoing the some of the same sentiments.

On Twitter, Pourmecoffee quipped, ?Clown to host circus.?

Newsmax sent candidates the invitation on Friday afternoon. It began, ?We are pleased to cordially invite you to ?The Newsmax Ion Television 2012 Presidential Debate,? moderated by a truly great American, Mr. Donald J. Trump.? Spokesmen for several candidates did not immediately respond to questions from The New York Times about whether they would accept.

Mr Trump is expected to announce an endorsement after the debates. In 2008 he endorsed John McCain, but his backing over the years has been for both Democrats and Republicans.

Since the 1990 U.S. elections, Donald Trump has made contributions to campaigns of both Republican Party and Democratic Party candidates. These have included Republicans John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, and George W. Bush and Democrats Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Tom Daschle, Joe Biden, Harry Reid, Rahm Emanuel, Hillary Clinton, Anthony Weiner, Charles Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Charles Rangel), according to wikipedia.

Source: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/11016321-ron-paul-declines-donald-trumps-gop-debate-offer-questioning-dignity-of-event

rudolph the red nosed reindeer adam carolla desean jackson rick neuheisel rick neuheisel festivus festivus

Source:

lady gaga marry the night video pac 12 championship game pac 12 championship game green bay packers stock hanukkah bobby valentine bobby valentine

Corrections

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=2ac86400da8626e1cc0fee7eac713dac

gop debate dos santos snl boxing news boxing andy dalton miami marlins

Croatia centre-left to take power as economy sinks (Reuters)

ZAGREB (Reuters) ? A centre-left opposition bloc is on course to take power in Croatia on Sunday but faces a tougher fight to revive the ex-Yugoslav republic's flagging economy before it joins the European Union in 2013.

Voters look set to punish Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor's conservative HDZ for corruption scandals and rising unemployment.

The opposition bloc, led by the Social Democrats (SDP) of former diplomat Zoran Milanovic and known as Kukuriku, is forecast to win a majority of the 151 seats in parliament, according to a poll on Wednesday by Ipsos Puls.

The HDZ, Croatia's dominant political party since independence in 1991, is polling a distant second.

Milanovic, 45, would take the reins just as Croatia, a tourist hotspot of 4.3 million people on the Adriatic, faces its deepest economic downturn as an independent state.

His first task will be to avert a credit rating downgrade by introducing a lean state budget by the end of March.

Milanovic has said he expects "sweat, but no blood or tears."

He told Reuters on Thursday: "Croatia is in a financial crisis. We will have to face up to the fact that we have been living beyond our means."

More than two decades after it split from Yugoslavia in a 1991-95 war, Croatia is due to join fellow ex-Yugoslav republic Slovenia in the EU in July 2013.

The country's economy boomed over the past decade on the back of foreign lending and services that largely replaced its socialist-era industry.

Sleek highways were carved through the countryside to the Adriatic coast and the property market thrived. But governments failed to curb lavish state spending, cut red tape or reform the labor market. Now it appears the debt crisis has hit much harder than expected.

"DRASTIC REFORMS"

The Kukuriku (cock-a-doodle-doo) alliance, which took its name from a restaurant on the coast where the party leaders agreed to join forces, says it plans a combination of austerity measures and steps to revive industry and attract foreign investment.

It has not ruled out turning to the International Monetary Fund as a "last resort" to cope with the fallout from the euro zone crisis.

The HDZ government won praise from the EU for pursuing an anti-graft campaign over the past two years that saw former party leader and prime minister Ivo Sanader in court.

But the extent of government graft uncovered has hurt the party's standing, with a number of senior party officials arrested or questioned over alleged slush funds diverting profits from state firms or doctoring public tenders.

Now Croatia's poor economic shape is causing concern in Brussels, where enthusiasm for further expansion to the poorer countries of the Western Balkans was already waning before the sovereign debt crisis shook the foundations of the union.

Despite the fact they are not joining the euro zone, "more and more EU governments and parliaments are starting to think about the economic performance of new member states," said a senior EU diplomat in Zagreb, who declined to be named.

Despite an otherwise stable banking sector, one small local lender collapsed last week because of mismanagement. Soccer players from two Croatian Premier League clubs have gone on strike over unpaid salaries.

Many shop windows in the capital Zagreb are pasted with closure or discount notices.

Unemployment stood at 17.4 percent in October. The biggest national union, SSSH, estimates that at least 20,000 workers have lost their jobs since 2009, while another 15,000 are working without pay.

"The new government must immediately start drastic reforms," said Vladimir Ferdelji, a local businessman who heads the national managers' association. Otherwise, he said, Croatia risks going the way of Greece.

"This will mean street protests, unstable government, devaluation of the kuna, a massive rise in unemployment, unless we make big changes," Ferdelji said.

Polling stations open at 7 a.m. (2 a.m. EDT) and close at 7 p.m., when exit polls will follow. An official, preliminary count is expected by midnight.

(Reporting by Zoran Radosavljevic; Editing by Matt Robinson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/wl_nm/us_croatia_election

sara evans lionel richie cma awards cma awards christmas tree tax cmas cmas

Hungary issues Steve Jobs postal sheet, card (AP)

BUDAPEST, Hungary ? Hungary's postal service says it has issued a numbered commemorative sheet and card in memory of Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc. who died in October.

Magyar Posta said Wednesday that 5,000 copies of the memorial set have been issued, selling for 1,000 forints ($4.40, euro3.30) each.

The sheet includes a perforated portrait of Jobs, while the card shows silhouettes of some of the inventor's characteristic poses and a quote about Jobs by Erno Rubik, the Hungarian architect who created Rubik's Cube and other mechanical puzzles.

A Budapest software company is planning to unveil a Jobs statue in December.

Jobs died at age 56 on Oct. 5 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111130/ap_on_hi_te/eu_hungary_steve_jobs

iphone update blackberry outage blackberry outage seal beach ca seal beach seal beach bhutan

For Herman Cain, the campaign all but over (San Jose Mercury News)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/168822102?client_source=feed&format=rss

sleep no more cyber monday deals war eagle war eagle pawn stars restrepo nba news