Hewlett-Packard's Mark Hurd didn't sit down for an interview with me, but he's begun doing phoners post-earnings and I'm still holding out hope that 2010 will be the year for a two-camera, in-depth production. Come on, Mr. Hurd. Now's a good time!

 I predicted that Google would come up with new revenue streams, and with YouTube turning a profit and Android looking good, that prediction came true too, and its stock price reflects a new found euphoria.

 Microsoft's redesign of the Zune came true, but it didn't include the phone I expected. Steve Ballmer tells me no way, but I still see the company entering the smart phone arena with a handset of its own.

 I predicted that Intel , HP, Cisco , IBM and Oracle were all oversold and that such lows presented good opportunities for investors. All of them would have been good bets last December.

 I asked whether Palm would survive 2009. Despite the Pre and the Pixi, I think the jury's still out. Dell is entering the smart phone market with hardware of its own. Maybe that means Nokia is the best (last? Only?) hope for Palm in 2010.

 I predicted that Advanced Micro Devices would be acquired in 2009. Didn't happen. With that $1 billion from Intel as part of that new settlement, 2010 could be a much better year for AMD. But "much better" is relative when you're scraping for Intel scraps merely to survive.

 I said Apple posed the biggest opportunity for tech investors in 2009 and I was right. I'd say the same holds true for 2010. Look for the tablet Mac, but not anywhere close to the $2,000 price tag being thrown around. Apple will re-invent mobile computing once again with this device, but beyond hardware and software, it'll do so with price as well.

 If 2009 was a big year for 3D movie-making, 3D TV will blossom big in 2010. New TVs from Sony , Samsung, LG and others will grab lots of attention, and new 3D TV production from upstarts like 3Ality will show viewers enormous possibilities.

 Some other predictions.

 This is cool stuff. Digital books and eReaders from Amazon , Sony, Barnes & Noble and 17 other manufacturers will enjoy their true break-out year.

 Microsoft will enjoy a big-time renaissance. Cisco continues to be one of this region's most exciting growth stories. Netbooks start to fade as a fad as consumers realize that their iPhones, Research In Motion's Blackberrys and Nokia smart phones get the job done at a fraction of the size (and cost.)

 And Twitter, as we know it, will fade away. Either acquired or shut down. $155 million in venture capital so far, and still no meaningful revenue stream to speak of. And certainly no profits. At some point, someone will step up and yell "Tulips!"

 Meantime, I'm sure of a few key predictions in 2010: Innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit will continue to thrive here in Silicon Valley. It's what makes my job so fun and America so great. ||||| My personal Top 10 technology predictions for 2010

 One of my responsibilities as the Director of IT Innovations at PwC is to spend a good deal of time researching and developing insights on the impact of emerging technologies. This year, for the first time, I thought it might be fun and, frankly, quite useful to share with you my thoughts on what I believe may be the big IT trends in 2010. While I was somewhat tempted to be bold and creative in my forecast, I decided to ground the Top 10 in areas that have some real momentum. If you agree with the predictions, what might that mean for your work and your industry? In what area do you think I got it completely wrong? I’d love to know what you think.

 1. Software as a Service

 2010 will be a big year for providers of software as a service (SaaS). The obvious big names in this space will release new offerings to compete with popular desktop applications. New and existing operating systems that are built primarily to support the SaaS model will begin to be more widely accepted and adopted.

 2. Netbooks

 This popular form-factor will have outstanding sales and may even surpass laptop sales by year-end. Given its remarkable low-cost, we will likely see more offerings that make available free Netbooks. In addition, the ubiquity of embedded Web-cams will drive further use of personal video in both non-work and work environments.

 3. Cloud Services

 An obvious growth area in 2010; we will see new and expanded services from all the usual suspects. Expect major announcements from large businesses and government agencies choosing to move some of their core applications and data to the cloud.

 4. Mobile Money

 By late 2010, paying for products and services via a mobile device such as a cellphone will begin to emerge in the mainstream US. Multiple flavors will be available including custom applications and text messaging. More likely in 2011-12 will be the emergence of banking services from the big Telco’s. Rather than simply being a middleman, the telecommunication companies may announce banking divisions.

 5. Free Software

 If current trends continue, it’s quite possible that all software will be available in a form of free, but 2010 will be the first year that this trend reaches a point of inflection. A combination of enterprise-class open source, freemium, freeware, ad-supported, and alternate revenue-model software will have lasting and destructive impact on the notion of license-paid software.

 6. Harvesting the Social Graph and Web-Squared

 2010 will see the introduction of the first widely available and easily usable products for better understanding the mass of unstructured data being accumulated across public and private clouds. The emergence of intelligent solutions to interpret massive related and un-related data in order to create forecasts and identify trends will help people make more sense of the world and see previously hidden signals.

 7. More Video

 Continued investment in video infrastructures will see greater use in work and non-work environments. It will be more common (but still not ubiquitous) to have video conversations with colleagues and external parties such as customers and suppliers. Rigorous competition in this space between the major players and many start-ups will continue to push the price down for high-quality video. Greater use of PCs and Netbooks with Web-cams will continue towards critical mass. In addition, content creation will continue its profound migration from text to video, further consuming bandwidth and forcing more enterprise investment in network infrastructure.

 8. Green IT

 This may be a inconsistent area of investment as continued tight budgets and more immediate costs (e.g. migration to updated operating system) distract from major green initiatives. However, going into 2011 and beyond, broad adoption of virtualization and further movement towards hosting in the cloud may help organizations lower their data center carbon footprint.

 9. Mobile Location-based Services (LBS) and Augmented Reality

 Expect to see an extraordinary number of start-ups and existing technology companies offering mobile LBS-related services. Proximity-based solutions will become more common. Mobile devices will begin to offer compelling overlay data for the real world that help people with existing and new activities. Lots of noise and confusion will ensue as both consumers and providers try to figure out acceptable services. For example: how will people respond when they stroll through a mall and are bombarded with text messages from different retail stores?

 10. Social Spaghetti Integration

 More social features will begin to show up in ERP apps. New and increased support for ERP solutions that, for example: integrate social networking will see a further blurring of the lines between work and non-work applications and activities.

 Do you agree or disagree with any of my predictions? I’d love to know what you think. ||||| But real-time is more than just a horde of new Twitter-like services hitting the Web in 2010 (although that's inevitable -- cargo cults abound). It's a combination of factors, from the always-connected nature of modern smartphones to the instant gratification provided by a Google search.

 Why wait until you get home to post a restaurant review, asks consumer trends tracker Trendwatching, when scores of iPhone apps let you post feedback as soon as you finish dessert? Why wonder about the name of that song, when humming into your phone handset will garner an instant answer from Midomi?

 Look out, too, for real-time collaboration: Google Wave launched earlier this year, resulting in both excitement and confusion. A crossover between instant messaging, e-mail and a wiki, Wave is a platform for getting things done together. Web users, however, remain baffled. In 2010, Wave's utility will become more apparent.

 Location, location, location

 Fueled by the ubiquity of GPS in modern smartphones, location-sharing services like Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite and Google Latitude are suddenly in vogue.

 As I ruminated in this column two weeks ago, Foursquare and its ilk may become the breakout services of the year ... provided they're not crushed by the addition of location-based features to Twitter and Facebook.

 What's clear is that location is not about any singular service; rather, it's a new layer of the Web. Soon, our whereabouts may optionally be appended to every Tweet, blog comment, photo or video we post.

 Augmented reality

 It's yet to become part of the consumer consciousness, but augmented reality has attracted early-adopter buzz in the latter part of 2009. ||||| Tablet PCs suck. They're underpowered, only marginally portable, and awkward to use in anything but a traditional seated position, with a desk to support them. Microsoft and its cadre of hardware partners have been trying for years to create a compelling tablet computing experience -- and consistently failed. Yet this year, persistent rumors of an Apple tablet -- an "iTablet" -- created a real buzz. But to believe that Apple can somehow succeed where all others have failed is to ignore some fundamental realities of tablet computing.

 Reality No. 1: The lap doesn't work as a desk

 Have you ever tried filling out a paper questionnaire on a moving train? Even with a clipboard, the mechanics are anything but graceful. With each lurch or bump you risk missing the mark. At best you end up with illegible chicken scratch; at worst, you put the pen right through the paper. It's a real mess.

 [ Stay up on tech news and reviews from your smartphone at infoworldmobile.com. | Get the best iPhone apps for pros with our business iPhone apps finder. | See which smartphone is right for you in our mobile "deathmatch" calculator. ]

 Now imagine this same scenario with the iTablet. You're trying to enter an e-mail address or a URL using a nifty onscreen keypad. Each time you aim for the "R" key you end up hitting "T" instead. Then, just as you go to touch the Send button, you slip and hit Cancel -- or worse.

 Contrast this with a typical small laptop or netbook, where the combination of your lap and palms acts as stabilizing influences. Add the surety of a traditional keyboard -- for typing, navigating, and so on -- and this "lapdesk" modus operandi gives the clamshell form factor a distinct advantage when operating in raucous mobile environments. ||||| Smart phones will become more prevalent and NetBooks will take off, which along with broader WiFi and faster broadband speeds will make it easier to access even high-definition content on the go.

 I expect the movie giants to experiment with "collapsing windows," thereby offering video-on-demand before DVD releases, giving consumers more home video options closer to a movie’s theatrical release.

 The big question is whether consumers will have to pay for access to the distribution stream, as moguls like Rupert Murdoch threaten to start charging for News Corp’s web sites.

 But even if sites start charging, there will always be a free alternative. And when you do pay, it will be for premium, differentiated products—the equivalent of HBO and Showtime—and will probably seem worth it.

 2. Social media will grow and be increasingly influential.

 Social networks and communication tools will only grow in size and influence. Twitter and Facebook allow word of mouth to travel faster than ever, and that will only accelerate as more people get smart phones and sign up for social networking services.

 Social media will prove increasingly crucial for marketers to reach consumers on their home turf. And it will increasingly be the filter through which we find and consume content.

 The platform Twitter and Facebook provide for consumers to broadcast their opinions will continue to disarm traditional advertising. Opinions fly so fast that movie marketers can no longer “buy” a huge opening weekend; now it’s far more important to get moviegoers on board, to have them spread the word about the film.

 We can expect marketers of every kind to try to learn from the huge success of Paramount’s “Paranormal Activity.” The film's promotional campaign asks consumers to “request” that the movie open in their town.

 Social media is sure to also have growing influence over the way we consume content. We follow the lead of friends who share articles or videos on Facebook. Twitter enables a customized news feed, with nearly every possible publication, blogger and journalist on board. And MySpace is turning itself into a destination for content, and for strangers in real life to be virtual friends because of shared interests.

 3. More content than ever will be produced, forcing media giants to distinguish themselves from unprofessional alternatives.

 The sheer amount of content available in 2010 will explode. These days it’s so easy to produce and distribute content, through YouTube , blogs populated by ads, or even a Twitter feed. That means consumers will be able to find that a blog or news site seems made just for them. Fragmentation reaches far beyond user-generated content, the cable world will continue to profit from this drive for narrower channels.

 Oprah Winfrey’s move from broadcast syndication to her own cable network, OWN, speaks to the ongoing shift to greater choice that we’ll see in 2010. Viewers will continue their shift away from broadcast to more niche cable networks and advertisers will follow them. People will still watch TV instead of YouTube videos because the quality and the production value are still that much higher; user-generated options just can’t compete.

 Print media will struggle even more to compete in a world crowded with citizen journalism and user-generated blogs. We can expect more local newspapers to go under as they lose subscribers and ad dollars to free, online alternatives. Even web sites like Huffington Post, which doesn’t pay many of its bloggers, can deal a real blow to national papers’ online traffic.

 Meanwhile, the movie studios are dealing with the proliferation of entertainment options by moving in the opposite direction; they’re looking to capture the mainstream. Making movies is so expensive it doesn’t make sense to invest in a movie that will only attract a tiny niche. The studios will make fewer films, eliminating specialty- or art-film divisions, and instead invest in sure-thing bets. They will acquire independent films if they see real mainstream potential, like Paramount did with “Paranormal Activity,” but they won’t invest in making and distributing niche products. ||||| Paul Sancya, AP

 Paul Sakuma, AP

 Sponsored Links

 If 2010 taught us anything, it's that few people are able to accurately predict even the simplest events in the near-term future, let alone the big ones. From the price of gold, to unemployment, to Google Wave, prognosticators got more than a few major items wrong in their predictions lists.Here, in no particular order, are "10 for 10" -- 10 of the worst predictions of 2010."Unemployment Drops Below 9 Percent," Newsweek "business predictions for 2010," December 2009.Unfortunately, despite increasing efforts to contain our nation's unemployment epidemic, the unemployment rate never dipped below 9.5 percent, and climbed to 9.8 percent in November. Let's hope that a dip in the unemployment rate below 9.5 percent is something we will see in the coming year."The GOP will make good, though not great, gains in the midterms," John Berbyshire, National Review , Dec. 30, 2009Republicans took an incredible 63 seats in the House and came within just a few seats of taking the Senate. But the next part of Derbyshire's prediction -- "They will immediately embark on a strategy guaranteed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory" -- may still come to pass."A new social network will rise to join the big ones." Marshall Kirkpatrick, ReadWriteWeb , Dec. 24, 2009.Not quite. In fact, 2010 was the year of Facebook. It topped 500 million users, it was the subject of constant IPO speculation, Time named its founder Person of the Year, and it spawned a hugely successful feature film. Meantime, its competitors struggled to stay afloat (looking at you, MySpace and Bebo). In short, no one is even attempting to challenge Facebook for supremacy. Perhaps someday a new player will rise to make the king of all social networks a second-rate choice, but that day doesn't look to be coming any time soon."Twitter, as we know it, will fade away. Either acquired or shut down." CNBC Tech Check Predictions 2010 , Dec. 1, 2009Many predicted the downfall and/or complete demise of Twitter in 2010, and many were completely wrong. Twitter has instead silenced its critics by gaining more than 100 million users, increasing staff from 130 to 350 people and raising more than $200 million in financing, raising its value to $3.7 billion, all during the past 12 months "To believe that Apple can somehow succeed where all others have failed is to ignore some fundamental realities of tablet computing." Randall C. Kennedy, Infoworld.com , Dec. 22, 2009Apple still hasn't lost its golden touch: More than 4 million iPad buyers in a single quarter can attest to that."In 2010 ... netbooks will take off," Julia Boorstin, CNBC , Dec. 1, 2009Between the announcement and introduction of the iPad and its many tablet-based competitors, and the lack of performance and high prices, netbook sales spiraled downward in 2010. Expect a continued free-fall in sales unless prices are slashed drastically, or the iPad ceases to exist."In 2010, Wave's utility will become more apparent," Pete Cashmore, CNN Tech , Dec. 3, 2009Massively over-hyped during its introduction in late 2009, Google Wave was to be the central hub of our lives, merging our e-mail, social networking, instant messaging, wiki and every other form of digital media in one "easy to use" package. "Easy to use" it was not, however. So while some were optimistic that Google Wave's utility would shine through eventually, the rest of us decided to simply ignore its clunky, scatterbrained approach to digital life.Google promptly flushed Wave down the toilet in August, less than a year after its introduction."A serious correction could send the precious metal toward $870," Saxo Bank analysts, cited by CNBC , Dec. 17, 2009.Not even close to coming true. Gold prices have steadily rallied upward in the past year, rising past the $1,400 mark per troy ounce late in the year."By late 2010, paying for products and services via a mobile device such as a cell phone will begin to emerge in the mainstream U.S.," Jonathan Reichental, reichental.com , Jan. 1, 2010.Another prediction that may come to pass someday but that wasn't meant to be in 2010. Simply put, people are not yet ready to give up their credit cards in favor of a "credit phone" to pay for purchases on- or offline."We project that at least half the cast will, of their own volition, opt to stay," Sarah Ball, Newsweek , December 2009While the cast of ABC's monumental hit would probably have liked to stay on the island and continue to collect their handsome paychecks, writers instead opted to kill everyone off in the series' finale.Here's one prediction you can count on coming true: Most 2011 predictions will also be spectacularly wrong, and I'll be watching.J. Conboy is a highly opinionated freelance writer with many specialties. You can find more of his work on AOL News, AOL Travel Luxist and various other AOL sites. ||||| What might happen in the upcoming year? We asked a few of National Review Online’s sages to prophesy the events of 2010.

 JOHN DERBYSHIRE

 Looking over last year’s predictions, I seem to have batted not quite .500, which actually isn’t bad as these things go, but chastening none the less. Thus chastened, I’m a little less fertile of predictions this year, but here are a handful.

 Science: A more or less Earth-like planet will be observed in a more or less Earth-like orbit around a more or less Sun-like star.

 North Korea: Kim Jong Il will be deposed by his military. (Yes, it’s true, I cut’n’pasted that from last year’s predictions. It’s bound to happen one year soon, though, unless the little toad dies first.)

 We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism

 will, after three months as a “sleeper,” shoot to the top of the bestseller charts. There it will meet Sarah Palin’s cheery memoir. The two books will thereupon mutually annihilate in a burst of gamma rays.

 Anniversaries: Virginia Woolf’s remark that “on or about December 1910 human character changed” will be widely quoted.

 – John Derbyshire is an

 National Review Online columnist and author, most recently, of columnist and author, most recently, of We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism

 .

 JONAH GOLDBERG

 Gay rights and immigration will stay off the president’s agenda as the White House tries to claw back to the center in anticipation of the 2010 elections. Gay rights and immigration will stay off the president’s agenda as the White House tries to claw back to the center in anticipation of the 2010 elections. Rubio beats Crist in what has become a major nationalized election. The Frank Rich crowd will insist that this time it’s really, really, for honest, true that Rubio’s win spells the doom of the GOP as a mainstream party. Chris Dodd loses his election. Capital police need to use a crowbar to loosen his grip on his office desk. Harry Reid loses re-election bid, calls results an “evil lie, bought and paid for by the insurance companies.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg will retire for health reasons. This will create enormous problems for Obama, as the base will demand someone even more liberal than Sotomayor, while the times will require someone more moderate. Obama will go with his gut and name a very, very, liberal nominee. The GOP will not take back the House. But it will be very, very close.

 After a seemingly smooth start, troubles with Gitmo North will mount. The terror trial in New York will be a farce from the word go.

 National Review Online

 will have more blogs than people working for it.

 A new reality show about the makers of a reality show will cause the cultural commentariat to implode in on itself.

 Keith Olbermann takes himself so seriously, he cuts off his left hand to emphasize his seriousness about the public option. (He waves bloody stump at paramedic, yelling “don’t touch the hair!”).

 There will be no meaningful, binding global treaty on climate change in 2010.

 Iran will get the bomb even as the democracy movement gains steam.

 The Goldberg File — now in newsletter format — will be so successful the suits will keep me on for another year.

 – Jonah Goldberg is editor-at-large of

 .

 : Will urge a world-wide eugenics program.. Barack Obama’s illegal-immigrant aunt, Zeituni Onyango, will not be deported. (Copied that one from last year, too.): . . . will bump along the bottom, probably with a couple of small lurches downwards.: The GOP will make good, though not great, gains in the midterms. They will immediately embark on a strategy guaranteed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Go Stupid Party!: Michelle Obama will slip by her minders and say something outrageous. The MSM will not report it. Persons who refer to it will be denounced as racists. ||||| It's not exactly a return to normal, but as NEWSWEEK's Rana Foroohar points out, maybe this is the new normal. Considering where unemployment's been over the past two years, and where we feared it might be headed, sub-9 percent unemployment should be seen as a success 12 months from now, and is certainly attainable. From end to end, this recession cost us 7.2 million jobs, and essentially doubled the unemployment rate, from 4.9 percent in December 2007 to our current 10 percent. Give or take a month or two, that took two years. So shedding one point in 12 months, a 10 percent change, shouldn't be a problem. We're already headed in the right direction, having fallen from 10.2 percent to 10 percent from October to November. Since we usually add jobs in December, if only temporary ones, by early 2010 we'll likely be looking at an unemployment rate in the high 9 percent range. And don't forget: unemployment is a lagging indicator. So the economic growth that began last summer and that most economists think will continue through next year, should be more than enough to pull unemployment below 9 percent, especially with Congress's new job-creation package. Now, that's not to say that it won't spike back above 10 percent in 2011. State budgets are still a huge mess, and with no stimulus cash to bridge deficits next time around, there could be a wave of laid-off cops and teachers and firemen coming down the line. But again, unemployment's lagging, so that probably won't hit, if it does at all, until 2011; just in time for the president to start campaigning again. |||||

Write a summary.

– The media gave us plenty of predictions for 2010, and plenty of them simply didn’t come true. AOL News lists some of the most glaring: Job growth will begin again. Newsweek predicted it unemployment would fall “below 9%,” but it was never less than 9.5%. Republicans won’t storm the midterms. The National Review foresaw “good, though not great, gains.” The GOP won 63 House seats. Twitter will fizzle. Tell that to the 100 million new users this year, CNBC. We’ll start riding Google Wave. Or so thought CNN. Google shut it down within a year of its debut. Netbooks will be hot. CNBC was wrong here, too: sales sunk. The iPad won’t sell. More than 4 million buyers proved Infoworld.com incorrect. Americans will use mobile devices like credit cards. So said reichental.com. Swiped your smartphone lately?


The seed for Wide00014 was:

 - Slash pages from every domain on the web:

 -- a ranking of all URLs that have more than one incoming inter-domain link (rank was determined by number of incoming links using Wide00012 inter domain links)

 -- up to a maximum of 100 most highly ranked URLs per domain

 - Top ranked pages (up to a max of 100) from every linked-to domain using the Wide00012 inter-domain navigational link graph ||||| America

 County In Utah Threatens Takeover Of National Park Areas

 i i itoggle caption Wanda Gayle/NPR Wanda Gayle/NPR

 San Juan County has become the fifth county in Utah to declare a state of emergency in response to the closure of National Park areas.

 But the San Juan County Commission has also decided to storm National Park Service barricades, take control of some parks, and reopen them to the public.

 "This is civil disobedience," says Phil Lyman, a CPA and county commissioner from Monticello, Utah, in the southeastern corner of the state. "What's happening to us is wrong."

 The commissioners had decided to take down the barricades at Natural Bridges National Monument as early as Thursday morning but put off that move to give Utah Governor Gary Herbert time to discuss the issue with Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

 "The decision has been made," Lyman adds. "But decisions change."

 San Juan County also includes Hovenweep and Rainbow Bridge National Monuments, the Island in the Sky and Needles Districts of Canyonlands National Park and the Hite Marina inside the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

 In an emergency meeting Wednesday, the commissioners decided to mobilize Sheriff's deputies, search and rescue volunteers, firefighters, EMT's, portable toilets, garbage trucks and three mobile command centers.

 At least 60 people would be involved, according to Rick Bailey, the county fire marshal. Bailey said the costs of the operation haven't been calculated but he said they're necessary.

 "How do we let local businesses starve to death?" he asked.

 The commissioners indicated in their Wednesday meeting that they are seeking financial assistance from the state of Utah.

 Bailey says 70 percent of the county's businesses depend on visitors to the region's National Parks, Monuments and Recreation Areas, as well as public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.

 Ninety-one percent of the county is state, federal or Indian reservation land and the county has a history of protesting and resisting federal land management policies.

 The county is also as big as Connecticut and Delaware combined and the National Park areas involved in the planned takeover are hundreds of miles apart.

 Kate Cannon, the regional superintendant of the National Park Service, has been kept informed, the commissioners said in their meeting Wednesday.

 "We have been advised by the Park Service...that it is against the law," Bailey says of the county's plans. "They have not indicated that they would make arrests or stop people."

 Trespassing in a National Park can trigger a citation that is then adjudicated by a Federal Magistrate, who can levy fines of up to $500 and jail terms of up to six months.

 A spokesman for the National Park Service says the agency plans to issue a statement soon.

 "We don't want to threaten or intimidate federal employees," an unidentified commissioner said during a recorded conference call. "We're not strong-arming anybody. We're just getting people into these places."

 This weekend and early next week are usually very busy for federal and state lands in the state because universities and public schools have fall break.

 In their Wednesday meeting, the commissioners said they were prepared to provide or clean toilets, collect garbage, conduct search and rescue operations, staff park entrances and provide law enforcement. They also discussed maximizing media attention and staging photo opportunities.

 They agreed that they would explain their actions by saying "we as a county are trying to do what is in the best interests of the public."

 Gov. Herbert told reporters Wednesday he's also prepared to marshal funding and workers to open other National Park areas in the state. He's asked President Obama to immediately authorize state funding and/or staffing.

 "This is just...common sense," Herbert said. "And frankly we ought to be finding solutions to keep them open rather than saying why they have to be closed." |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A southern Utah county isn't taking the government shutdown lying down: It's threatening to reopen its national parks to breathe life back into the area's struggling economy, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. With help from firefighters, EMTs, and search and rescue volunteers, San Juan County—where 70% of businesses rely on visitors to parks, monuments, and public lands—says it will remove barricades, bring in staff, public toilets, and other resources to operate. "How do we let local businesses starve to death?" the fire marshal asked. One wrinkle: The move is against the law. It will be "civil disobedience" done peacefully, the county commissioner says. "We’re watching one of our prime months fade away from us," he says. "It’s really painful. What's happening to us is wrong." Though the costs of the operation haven't been tallied up, the county, the fifth in Utah to declare a state of emergency due to closures, has appealed to the state for funding, NPR reports, adding that barricades could be down as early as today. It's not clear how the feds will respond, but these trespassers at national parks are now headed to court.


Summarize this article:

Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz of Hawaii was appointed Wednesday to succeed the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.

 Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced the appointment after receiving a list of three candidates from the state Democratic Party earlier in the day. The other candidates were U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and Esther Kiaaina, a deputy director in the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

 Inouye died Dec. 17 of respiratory complications at the age of 88. He had sent Abercrombie a letter that day, saying he would like Hanabusa, 61, to succeed him.

 "Sen. Inouye conveyed his final wish to Gov. Abercrombie. While we are very disappointed that it was not honored, it was the governor's decision to make," Jennifer Sabas, Inouye's chief of staff, said in a statement. "We wish Brian Schatz the best of luck."

 Schatz will serve until an election is held in 2014. Had Hanabusa been appointed, a special election would have been needed to fill her seat.

 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had urged Abercrombie to name Inouye's successor before the end of the year. Schatz could be sworn in as early as this week, which would make him Hawaii's senior senator heading into the new Congress, which begins Jan. 3.

 Sen. Daniel Akaka is retiring at the end of this Congress, after 22 years in the Senate. Democratic Rep. Mazie Hirono was elected in November to succeed him.

 Schatz, 40, is a former state representative and a former chairman of the state Democratic Party. He also was a leader of President Barack Obama's campaign in Hawaii in 2008.

 In making his case before the party's central committee Wednesday, he said he understood the importance of seniority in the Senate and said that if he was appointed, he would strive to make serving in the Senate his life's work.

 ___

 Becky Bohrer can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bbohrerap. ||||| The governor's choice is a rejection of the senator's 'last wish' to have Hanabusa replace him

 By Derrick DePledge

 Cindy Ellen Russell / Star-Advertiser U.S. Senate appointee Brian Schatz and Gov. Neil Abercrombie gather in the governor's office with members of the state Democratic Party central committee.

 U.S. Sen.-designate Brian Schatz left for Washington aboard Air Force One tonight after he was selected by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to replace the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.

 Schatz, 40, will be sworn in Thursday so he can participate in Senate votes to avert a fiscal cliff of federal tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to take effect in January.

 President Barack Obama cut short his annual Oahu vacation to work on the budget and other issues when Congress returns Thursday. He invited Schatz to join him on the flight, the White House said.

 Schatz said he is "humbled" and "honored" by the appointment.

 He said the first thing he would do is reach out to the rest of the delegation to establish Hawaii's game plan for the coming Congress.

 Schatz said he would also reach out to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and to the White House on the pressing issues now before Congress.

 "I am honored to serve in this capacity. ... If given the opportunity, I'll make Hawaii proud," Schatz said.

 Next in line to be lieutenant governor is Senate President Shan Tsutsui of Maui. Abercrombie said Tsutsui is weighing it and must make a decision "promptly."

 Schatz, a former Makiki state lawmaker and Democratic Party of Hawaii chairman, was elected lieutenant governor in 2010.

 Abercrombie chose Schatz from a list of recommendations from the Democratic Party of Hawaii that included U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and and Esther Kiaaina, the deputy director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

 Inouye had asked Abercrombie to name Hanabusa, who represents urban Honolulu's 1st Congressional District, as his "last wish" before he died last week at 88 of respiratory complications.

 Jennifer Sabas, Inouye's chief of staff, issued a statement, saying, "Sen. Inouye conveyed his final wish to Gov. Abercrombie. While we are very disappointed that it was not honored, it was the governor's decision to make. We wish Brian Schatz the best of luck."

 Hanabusa congratulated Schatz and said she "will continue to work to serve the people of our state, and support our delegation's efforts."

 "Having served as chair of the Hawaii Senate Judiciary Committee when the succession law was passed, I fully respect the process and the governor's right to appoint a successor," Hanabusa said in a news release.

 Schatz will become the state's senior senator. U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, who was elected in November to replace the retiring U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, would be the junior senator.

 Schatz will serve until voters in 2014 elect a senator to fill out the remainder of Inouye's six-year term, which runs through 2016. Schatz said he plans to run in 2014 and in 2016.

 Schatz will be the youngest U.S. senator — for a few days. Mike Lee of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida, both 41, are currently the youngest. Sen.-elect Chris Murphy of Connecticut will become the youngest at 39 when he is sworn in Jan. 3.

 Inouye died Dec. 17 at 88 of respiratory complications.

 The Democratic Party of Hawaii's state central committee heard from more than a dozen candidates this morning at the party's headquarters at Ward Warehouse before going into private executive session to come up with the short list.

 Prior to Abercrombie's announcement, Hanabusa said in a video message from Washington D.C. that she is honored to have the senator's support but respects that it is the state central committee and the governor that will make the selection.

 "Not one of us has any favorable rights to that position," she said. "Having said that, I also ask that each and every one of you consider what we are facing in Washington, D.C., and what his successor must be able to do. The most critical thing is they must be able to hit that ground running.

 "We are being faced with major issues, the stability or our nation and our state is at risk. We are looking at the fiscal cliff. We are also looking at another debt ceiling debacle with the Republicans. And I believe that I have the qualifications to best address those concerns."

 Schatz said that while no one could fill Inouye's shoes, he has the potential, because of his youth, to build up seniority over decades if he is appointed and supported by Democrats for election in 2014 and 2016.

 "I want to be your senator because Hawaii's values need to be represented on the national stage, that compassion and a love of peace is a sign of strength, not of weakness, and that we can disagree without being disagreeable," he said.

 U.S. Rep.-elect Tulsi Gabbard, who would be the first woman military veteran to serve in the Senate, also had applied for the seat. She said she has already made national connections since her November election that could be helpful to the islands.

 "We're facing desperate times," she said. "Our new senators will have little power and no real seniority for at least 15 years. How can we solve this problem? We need someone in the U.S. Senate who will not only build seniority over time, but will immediately have influence and be effective despite the lack of seniority."

 The state central committee, which allowed the public and the news media to witness the candidates' remarks, also heard from candidates former congressman Ed Case, state Senate Vice President Donna Mercado Kim, state Sen. Will Espero, Abercrombie deputy chief of staff Blake Oshiro and Oahu Democratic chairman and labor attorney Tony Gill. |||||

– The late Sen. Daniel Inouye's seat has been filled—although his replacement goes against Inouye's "last wish," the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie today chose Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz, a former leader of the state Democratic Party, to take Inouye's vacant seat in Washington. Schatz described himself as "honored" and "humbled' by the position. But Inouye—before dying of respiratory complications last week—had asked that Abercrombie choose US Rep. Colleen Hanabusa. Hanabusa was in contention along with other state officials, but Abercrombie picked Schatz after hearing from more than 12 candidates this morning. "Sen. Inouye conveyed his final wish to Gov. Abercrombie," said Inouye's chief of staff, the AP reports. "While we are very disappointed that it was not honored, it was the governor's decision to make." Schatz, 40, will serve at least until 2014, when voters will elect a senator to complete Inouye's six-year term ending in 2016. Schatz said he will be sworn in tomorrow so he can join Democrats on votes regarding the fiscal cliff.


Article:
Casey Affleck will no longer be presenting the Best Actress Award at the Oscars.

 According to Deadline, The Manchester by the Sea actor will also not be attending the ceremony.

 Affleck allegedly did not want to "become a distraction from the focus that should be on the performances of the actresses in the category".

 His decision to withdraw from presenting came from being in a "no-win situation" because of the #MeToo campaign.

 He feared that his position presenting the award was going to create controversy.

 Affleck's decision to forego bestowing the award and the ceremony isn't a surprise considering claims that have been made against him in the past.

 In 2010, two women that worked on the Affleck-directed film I'm Still Here sued him for sexual harassment.

 One woman claimed Affleck came into her bed while she was sleeping without her consent.

 The other woman claimed she was pressured to stay in his hotel room when he aggressively grabbed her in order to intimidate her upon refusal.

 Both women alleged they were verbally berated by Affleck and he had someone else working for him expose himself to them alongside other misconduct allegations.

 The women also claimed Affleck allegedly locked himself in their hotel rooms along with two other women for sex.

 One woman sued Affleck for $2m, while the other sued for $2.25m.

 In 2010, Affleck settled the cases outside of court and the settlement amounts have never been disclosed.

 The actor has denied the claims.

 According to Affleck's lawyer, he even wanted to counter-sue the women when he was first sued.

 In a 2016 New York Times profile, Affleck addressed the allegations saying, "It was settled to the satisfaction of all. I was hurt and upset—I am sure all were—but I am over it. It was an unfortunate situation—mostly for the innocent bystanders of the families of those involved.”

 Normally the Best Actor gives presents the winner of Best Actress with her award and the Best Actress winner gives the Best Actor his accolade.

 Because of the uncomfortable situation, Affleck has shifted this year's dynamic at the Oscars ceremony. ||||| EXCLUSIVE: Casey Affleck has withdrawn from presenting the Best Actress Award at the upcoming Oscars, Deadline hears. He has notified the Academy he will not be attending the event, sources said. I’ve heard that Affleck did not want to become a distraction from the focus that should be on the performances of the actresses in the category and that is why he made the proactive move. He was in a no-win situation, with all the attention surrounding the #MeToo movement. The specter of Affleck presenting would have created controversy.

 “Manchester By The Sea” Amazon Studios

 Affleck won the Best Actor Oscar last year for his performance in Manchester By the Sea. Long considered an underrated actor with strong performances in everything from Gone Baby Gone to Out of the Furnace and Good Will Hunting, Affleck turned in a career performance in the Kenneth Lonergan-directed film as the shell of a man haunted by past family trauma. But attention right now isn’t on that accomplishment as much as the outcry over a settlement and non-disclosure agreements that followed allegations of inappropriate behavior toward two women who worked on I’m Still Here, the film Affleck directed that starred Joaquin Phoenix.

 It has been a tradition at Oscars that the Best Actor winner presents the Best Actress trophy while the Best Actress winner presents Best Actor. Affleck’s decision alleviates a potential sore point for the Academy, and also eliminates an awkward situation for the five nominated lead actresses. Affleck’s hope is to put the focus back on their performances. ||||| Don't Let Casey Affleck Present at the Academy Awards

 by: Care2

 target: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

 During the 2017 Academy Awards, actress and advocate for sexual assault survivors Brie Larson presented Casey Affleck with the Best Actor award. Social media users were quick to point out that Larson refused to clap for Affleck while he received a standing ovation from the audience. When asked if her refusal to join the applause had something to do with sexual harassment allegations against Affleck, Larson responded that what she did “spoke for itself.”

 As the most recent recipient of the Best Actor award, Casey Affleck is scheduled to present the Best Actress award at the 2018 Academy Awards.

 It’s time for Hollywood to stop victimizing women by propping up actors with disturbing histories of sexual harassment or sexual assault. Please sign this petition demanding that Affleck not be allowed to present at next year’s Academy Awards.

 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently ousted Harvey Weinstein following the news that he had terrorized women in Hollywood for over three decades. While the Academy was right to dismiss Weinstein, why does it continue to celebrate other men who have similar histories of abuse against women?

 The Academy needs to take a real stand and stop celebrating men who abuse women. It can start by keeping Casey Affleck offstage. Please sign this petition demanding that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences refuse to let Casey Affleck present the award for Best Actress at the 2018 Academy Awards. ||||| Casey Affleck has withdrawn from presenting the best actress award at the 2018 Oscars amid continuing concern about sexual harassment allegations.

 A rep for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed the withdrawal on Thursday and said, “We appreciate the decision to keep the focus on the show and on the great work of this year.”

 Affleck was not immediately available for comment. A rep for the actor said he would not attend the Oscar ceremonies.

 Affleck won the best actor award last year for “Manchester by the Sea.” He would have been in line to present the best actress award if the Academy had followed tradition, under which the previous year’s best actor winner would present the following year’s award for best actress. The show’s producers, Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, had not yet disclosed who the presenter will be.

 The withdrawal comes following the re-emergence of accusations of sexually abusive conduct by Affleck on the set of 2010 movie “I’m Still Here,” which he directed. The allegations were made in lawsuits filed against Affleck by producer Amanda White and director of photography Magdalena Gorka and were settled prior to the release of the film, which starred Joaquin Phoenix.

 Related Last Time I Cried at the Movies How Kevin Hart Failed to Apologize, Offended the LGBTQ Community and Blew His Oscar Hosting Dreams

 Affleck said in an interview with the Boston Globe after winning the Oscar that both sides in the case are prohibited from commenting on the matter and said, “I believe that any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent, and everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and anywhere else.”

 He also told the newspaper, “There’s really nothing I can do about it, other than live my life the way I know I live it and to speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time.”

 Affleck’s decision to forego the Oscar ceremonies comes as the anti-sexual harassment movement, embodied by the #MeToo and Times Up campaigns, shows no sign of abating. Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Matt Lauer, Louis C.K., and Charlie Rose have lost their jobs over accusations of sexual harassment and assault.

 The Care2 petition started in October calling on the Academy to not allow him to present the Best Actress award had gathered nearly 20,000 signatures. The news about Affleck’s withdrawal was first reported by Deadline Hollywood. |||||Summary:

– In a break with tradition, last year's Best Actor winner will not be presenting the Best Actress award at this year's Oscars. Casey Affleck's win last year for Manchester by the Sea was controversial because of past accusations of sexual harassment, and sources tell Deadline that he decided to drop out because he "did not want to become a distraction from the focus that should be on the performances of the actresses in the category." Affleck denied accusations in 2010 that he sexually harassed producer Amanda White and director of photography Magdalena Gorka on the set of I'm Still Here, though he settled with them out of court for an undisclosed sum, the Independent reports. A rep for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed Affleck's withdrawal Thursday, saying they "appreciate the decision to keep the focus on the show and on the great work of this year," Variety reports. An Affleck rep says he will not be attending the ceremony at all this year. After last year's controversy, Affleck said both sides in the case are banned from commenting on it. He added that he believes "any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent." Almost 20,000 people signed a petition at Care2 urging the Academy not to let Affleck present the award.


Article:

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

 / Updated By Tom Winter and Dartunorro Clark

 A federal court approved a $25 million settlement on Tuesday with students who said they were duped by Donald Trump and his now-defunct Trump University, which promised to teach them the "secrets of success" in the real estate industry.

 The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco finalized the settlement after it was first approved by a judge last March following an appeal by Sherri Simpson, a Florida woman who said she spent roughly $19,000 on Trump University workshops. Simpson had wanted to opt out of a class action suit in order to pursue a separate suit against Trump, but the court rejected that.

 Students had alleged that Trump University, which was open from 2005 to 2010, used false advertising and high-pressure sales techniques to lure them to free investor workshops at which they were sold expensive seminars and told they would be mentored by real estate gurus, leading to the loss of thousands of dollars in tuition.

 A "one-year apprenticeship" at the educational institute cost $1,495; a "membership" over $10,000; and "Gold Elite" classes ran $35,000.

 Trump faced two lawsuits in California and one in New York, brought by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. They were folded into one class action suit after Trump was elected, according to court documents.

 Trump paid the $25 million in January of last year, but it was held in escrow until the court upheld the settlement, according to The Associated Press.

 Schneiderman applauded the settlement in a statement.

 "For years, President Trump refused to compensate the victims of his sham university. His reversal in 2016 —and the large-scale settlement that resulted — opened the door for student victims to finally obtain the restitution they deserve," he said. "My office will continue to hold those who commit fraud accountable, no matter how rich or powerful they may be."

 The court said in its ruling that plaintiffs are expected receive 80 percent to 90 percent of what they paid for Trump University programs.

 Trump, who has boasted about his real-estate and investing acumen, rebuffed the claims of fraud during his 2016 presidential campaign and vowed to fight them until the end.

 However, he quickly settled after the election.

 "We are pleased to announce the complete resolution of all litigation involving Trump University," said a Trump University spokesperson when the settlement was announced in November 2016. ||||| Florida bankruptcy lawyer Sherri Simpson wanted to take President Donald Trump to trial over the $19,000 she paid for classes and a mentorship program. | Alan Diaz/AP Photo Appeals court rejects challenge to Trump University settlement The objector wanted to take president to trial over the fraud claims.

 A federal appeals court has upheld the $25 million settlement President Donald Trump agreed to in a bid to resolve long running lawsuits claiming fraud in his Trump University real estate seminar venture.

 The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a challenge brought by Florida bankruptcy lawyer Sherri Simpson, who said she wanted to take Trump to trial over the $19,000 she paid for classes and a mentorship program.

 Story Continued Below

 Lawyers for Simpson said notices sent to thousands of Trump University participants earlier in the litigation promised the right to opt out of the class-action suits immediately or after any settlement was proposed, but the three-judge appeals court panel disagreed.

 "Reading the notice as a whole and in context, we conclude that it promised only one opportunity to opt out," Judge Jacqueline Nguyen wrote, joined by Judges Andrew Hurwitz and Steven Logan. "The correct inquiry here is what an average class member would have understood the notice to guarantee ... and the actions of the class members in this case bolster our conclusion that a reasonable reading of the notice precludes Simpson’s interpretation. Among over eight thousand class members, Simpson is the only one advancing this understanding of the notice."

 The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

 In the 21-page opinion, Nguyen noted arguments from the class-action lawyers who pursued the suits that Simpson's objection seems to have developed late in the process and may have been coached by her attorneys. During arguments last November, one of the lawyers for the class charged that there was "a whole political aspect" to Simpson's objection, suggesting she wanted a trial simply to make a spectacle of the fraud allegations against the president.

 The appeals court panel indicated that was plausible, but said it wasn't a good argument against her objection.

 "Plaintiffs repeatedly characterize Simpson’s argument as 'attorney-manufactured,' The timeline and evolution of her objection support that assertion, but our court would have little work to do without creative arguments 'manufactured' by zealous attorney advocates," Nguyen wrote in a footnote.

 The 9th Circuit also upheld the settlement as fair and reasonable, particularly in light of the complexity involved in seeking to take a president-elect to trial on the eve of his inauguration — the posture the cases were in at the time Trump agreed to settle them just a week or so after winning the election.

 "Both classes of plaintiffs would have faced significant hurdles had they proceeded to trial, including the difficulty of prevailing in a jury trial against either the President Elect (if the trial had proceeded as scheduled) or the sitting President (if the trial had been postponed, as Defendants requested)," Nguyen wrote. "Under these challenging circumstances, the district court acted well within its discretion by approving the settlement."

 The decision clears the way for about 4,000 Trump University participants to receive as much as 90 percent of what they paid, usually between about $1,500 for a seminar up to $35,000 for the top tier mentorship.

 Simpson could delay the settlement further through an appeal to a larger set of 9th Circuit judges or to the Supreme Court, but one of her lawyers said Tuesday she is giving up the fight.

 "I'm not surprised, but we are disappointed that there will never be a public trial on Trump University and that all of the lurid facts about the fraud won't receive the public hearing they deserve," attorney Gary Friedman said.

 Friedman said Simpson's team decided to forego a further appeal so that class members can receive their payments. Lawyers for Trump and his companies had said they would back out of the settlement if Simpson was allowed to proceed with a trial.

 Simpson said a Supreme Court petition would have taken months to resolve and en banc review was unlikely to be granted given the unanimous ruling from the three-judge panel. "It was never something we took lightly, holding up everybody's payment," the attorney added.

 One of the lawyers who pressed the case over Trump University for years, Jason Forge, said Tuesday that he welcomed the ruling and the relative speediness with which the appeals court acted.

 "Thrilled for the students and really grateful the Court recognized the urgency of getting this money to them," Forge said in an email. "Justice expedited is justice extended."

 New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose office will distribute $4 million under the settlement, also welcomed the ruling.

 "For years, President Trump refused to compensate the victims of his sham university. His reversal in 2016—and the large-scale settlement that resulted—opened the door for student victims to finally obtain the restitution they deserve," Schneiderman said in a statement. "My office will continue to hold those who commit fraud accountable, no matter how rich or powerful they may be."

 An attorney for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 All three appeals court judges assigned to the case were appointed by President Barack Obama. ||||| Amber Eck, one of the lead lawyers in the lawsuits, said it was time to distribute the settlement money to the thousands of former students who sued. |||||
What is a summary?

– A lengthy legal battle between Donald Trump and Trump University students, who say they paid thousands of dollars for real estate "secrets" they never received, is finally over. On Tuesday, an appeals court in San Francisco approved a $25 million settlement reached last year while rejecting an appeal from a Florida woman who hoped to opt out of the class-action lawsuit and pursue a separate case against Trump, reports NBC News. Sherri Simpson, who says she paid $19,000 for Trump University classes, argued a notice sent to students early in the litigation progress promised they could opt out at the time the notice was sent or after a proposed settlement. But judges said the notice gave "only one opportunity to opt out." They added "among over 8,000 class members, Simpson is the only one advancing this understanding of the notice," per Politico. The decision also referenced claims that Simpson's challenge was politically motivated to hurt the president. Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to fight allegations that students paid up to $35,000 for Trump University programs based on false promises they'd reveal Trump's "secrets of success," per the Los Angeles Times. Though Trump quickly agreed to the $25 million settlement after his election victory, his lawyers said he'd back out if Simpson were granted a trial. Though "we are disappointed … all of the lurid facts about the fraud won't receive the public hearing they deserve," her lawyer says Simpson will end her fight so that 4,000 students can receive payments. In what the appeals court calls a "highly favorable" deal, students are expected to get 80% to 90% of what they paid to the school while it was open from 2005 to 2010.


Article:

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Thursday declined to rule out resuming the use of torture under some circumstances by the U.S. government.

 Republican presidential candidate, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, speaks during a forum sponsored by Americans for Peace, Prosperity and Security, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, at St. Ambrose University in... (Associated Press)

 "I don't want to make a definitive, blanket kind of statement," Bush told an audience of Iowa Republicans, when asked whether he would keep in place or repeal President Barack Obama's executive order banning so-called enhanced interrogation techniques by the CIA.

 "When you are president your words matter," he said.

 The former Florida governor said that in general, he believes torture is inappropriate, and that he was glad his brother, former President George W. Bush, largely ended the CIA's use of the techniques before he left office. The CIA used waterboarding, slapping, nudity, sleep deprivation, humiliation and other methods to coerce al-Qaida detainees — methods the military would be prohibited from using on prisoners of war.

 A Senate report released last year cited CIA records in concluding that the techniques were more brutal than previously disclosed, that the CIA lied about them, and that they failed to produce unique, life-saving intelligence. The CIA and its defenders take issue with the report.

 Jeb Bush said he believed that the techniques were effective in producing intelligence, but that "now we're in a different environment."

 He suggested there may be occasions when brutal interrogations were called for to keep the country safe.

 "That's why I'm not saying in every condition, under every possible scenario," Bush said.

 Later Thursday in Iowa, Bush said there is a difference between enhanced interrogation techniques and torture, but declined to be specific. "I don't know. I'm just saying if I'm going to be president of the United States, you take this threat seriously."

 Bush has been walking a careful path, seeking to disassociate himself from some of the unpopular aspects of his brother's legacy while praising him.

 In discussing the Iraq war, for example, Bush, who previously acknowledged that the intelligence didn't support the decision to invade, on Thursday said he had learned from some of the mistakes made during the occupation, including what he said was a wrong decision to disband the Iraqi military. He said his brother also now believes that was a mistake.

 Bush blames the rise of the Islamic State group on what he said was Obama's failure to negotiate an agreement to leave U.S. troops there in 2011. Asked if it was true that there would be no IS absent a U.S. invasion of Iraq, he said there was no way to know.

 He repeated his call for a more aggressive posture toward the Islamic State group but, like the Obama administration, he opposes sending in regular U.S. ground forces. He does favor putting special operations troops on the battlefield.

 Bush spoke at a foreign policy forum sponsored by Americans for Peace, Prosperity and Security, a group chaired by Mike Rogers, a former Republican congressman from Michigan who chaired the House Intelligence Committee.

 ___

 Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey contributed to this report from Ankeny, Iowa. ||||| AP Photo Jeb Bush defends George W.’s Iraq War legacy The former Florida governor stops running away from his Iraq War problem.

 DAVENPORT, Iowa — Jeb Bush is owning his Iraq War problem.

 Bush, wrestling with his brother’s legacy of the war for the second time in three days, again sought to cast blame on the Obama administration for its failure to achieve a “fragile but secure” peace in the region that has been overrun by ISIS militants.

 Story Continued Below

 As he did in his speech Tuesday night outlining his own approach to combating ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the former Florida governor and presidential hopeful glossed over his brother’s decision to go to war in Iraq — and while acknowledging that mistakes were made, he seemed to view the war itself in positive terms.

 “I’ll tell you, taking out Saddam Hussein turned out to be a pretty good deal,” the former Florida governor told a crowd of roughly 200 people who attended a forum on national security at St. Ambrose College.

 Bush’s efforts to present himself as a strong, sensible commander in chief are complicated by the unpopular war his brother waged in Iraq — a war the likely Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, supported at the time — and by his own tendency to view it in a more favorable light.

 While Democrats are sure to mine Bush’s words for attack ad soundbites, the candidate showed no signs of tempering his praise for his brother’s war record.

 To the contrary, after months of difficulty reconciling the broadly held public view that the Iraq War was a mistake with his own hawkish foreign policy views and an innate unwillingness to rehash and criticize his brother’s record, he has settled on a strategy: unapologetically arguing that the war, however misconceived, brought about an opportunity for a more stable Middle East, one that the current Democratic administration squandered.

 “I’m not saying this because I’m a Bush,” he said. “I’m proud of what he did to create a secure environment for our country.”

 With 17 of his 21 foreign policy advisers being veterans of George W. Bush’s White House, Bush’s position is no great surprise. And in a wild Republican primary to be decided by a conservative electorate clamoring for a more muscular approach to foreign policy, it might be a smart strategic play.

 “It’s not like you can run a campaign for president and not talk about Iraq,” said Tim Miller, Bush’s campaign spokesman. “We can talk about Iraq on our terms. Terrorism and radical Islam is something the country cares about and certainly Republican primary voters are very concerned about it. He wanted to take the mantle as somebody who’s going to have a strategy and be a leader on it. There’s a primary electorate on our side that’s looking for that.”

 Specifically, Bush focused again on the 2007 troop surge as a “courageous” decision that, he argues, temporarily curtailed sectarian violence within in Iraq; and he blames President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton for removing American troops too hastily and creating the power vacuum that’s allowed ISIS to take root.

 “We just washed our hands of the effort,” Bush said. “We declared success and then chaos occurred afterwards.”

 More than anything else Bush said Thursday afternoon here, that statement underlined the political perils of this candidate talking about that war. The words he chose to criticize Obama for bringing U.S. forces home from Iraq too soon evoked decade-old critiques of his brother’s infamous declaration of ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Iraq in a show of bravado aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln in May 2003.

 Some Bush donors privately question the strategy of Bush focusing attention on foreign policy and, specifically, the Iraq War with his speech Tuesday night in Los Angeles and the forum on national security here Thursday. Even though Tuesday’s speech didn’t begin until after 9 p.m. Eastern time, it garnered significant media attention.

 “If you’re of the view that the U.S. should do nothing about ISIS, Jeb’s not going to be your candidate,” Miller said. “And that might be the majority view of the media, so that’s something we have to contend with; but that’s not the view of the American people.”

 The subject of the Iraq War was the first major thing to trip Bush up earlier this year and, whatever the campaign’s attempts to deal with it head on now, will likely be something he wrestles with for the duration of his campaign.

 Back in May, Bush stumbled during an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly when he didn’t clearly answer whether he believes the war, in hindsight, was a mistake (after four days of controversy, he acknowledged it was, in hindsight, a mistake).

 “The decision to dismantle the Iraqi army was a mistake, and I think my brother would admit that today,” he said Thursday, as he pushed back at questions suggesting that he was attempting to rewrite history by suggesting that ISIS “didn’t exist” when his brother was president and that Obama bears the blame for carrying out the Strategic Forces Agreement his brother negotiated to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

 “I reject this out of hand, this whole idea that somehow, after the surge, they’re just doing it because the agreement required them to do it,” Bush said. “Leadership requires a strategy.”

 Asked whether Clinton, then Obama’s secretary of state, deserved credit for pushing within the administration to maintain a larger troop presence in Iraq, Bush hedged: “She was not very effective in her advocacy,” he said.

 Bush bristled at the moderator’s suggestion that his own strategy to take on ISIS isn’t that different from Obama, but he defended the administration’s use of drones and said that he would keep detainees imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, just as Obama, despite promises to close the prison, has done.

 “This is not a torture chamber,” Bush said. “There is no other option that I can see.”

 In reiterating his own plan to root out ISIS, Bush called for engaging U.S. allies and working to strengthen a coalition of moderates in Syria, but his critique of Obama again brought to mind those leveled against his brother’s war.

 “We can’t unilaterally go into countries,” he said.

 Follow @politico |||||
What is a summary?

– George W. Bush left Iraq in pretty good shape, only for President Obama to mess it all up, according to Jeb Bush. The candidate, speaking at a national security forum in Iowa yesterday, continued to defend his brother's war record, arguing that "taking out Saddam Hussein turned out to be a pretty good deal," Bloomberg reports. He blamed the rise of ISIS on Obama's failure to strike a deal for US troops to stay in the country after 2011 and said that under the Bush administration, the "mission was accomplished" regarding Iraq's security. "That is a fact," he said. "You can't rewrite history in that regard." Bush said the 2007 troop surge was a courageous move but that chaos occurred when the next administration "declared success" and washed their hands of the effort, reports Politico, which notes that 17 of his 21 foreign policy advisers served under George W. Bush. The candidate, who admitted months ago that he wouldn't have invaded Iraq knowing what we know now, said mistakes were made after the invasion and that he and his brother now believe disbanding Iraq's military was an error. He also refused to rule out lifting Obama's ban on torture, telling the forum he didn't want to make a "definitive, blanket kind of statement," the AP reports. (This week, Bush used Iraq to attack Clinton.)


Summarize this article:

It might hit you right in the feels, even as your eyes are rolling. To quote one of Forrest's truest pieces of wisdom: Maybe both is happening at the same time. ||||| The festival of green screen that is "Bitch Slap" is surely intended to be a fond tribute to any number of hot-women-in-peril movies. Think Zack Snyder meets Roger Corman. Meets Christopher Nolan. Seriously. But when it offers only scant humor (and costumes) and interminable girl-fighting, isn't that actually just another entry in the genre?There is a plot, for those who look beyond the belles and whistling, but it has something to do with buried treasure and the CIA and other stuff like that, in a structure borrowed from "Memento," so the less said, the better. This movie's raison d'être bursts forth in close-up after close-up lovingly caressing the assets of its actresses. And they are appropriately cast as the three stupefyingly sexed-up conspirators/combatants/abrupt make-out session participants.There are moments of enjoyment -- the oh-so-gratuitous water fight, the lusty sadism of the most unhinged of the three, and did I mention the abrupt make-out session? There's plenty not to enjoy as well, including a surfeit of fistfights. The target audience must be that awfully precise niche that never tires of women punching each other. The film also suffers from the lack of Zoë Bell; it's the latest film to underuse the most memorable aspect of Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof" -- flinch and you'll miss her, but she does coordinate the stunts.Despite its obsession with décolletage, "Bitch Slap" is surprisingly puritanical (much teasing, no pleasing), substituting plentiful violence and a howlingly predictable "shock" ending for the payoff it promises.-- Michael OrdoñaMPAA rating: R for brutal violence, strong sexual content and language throughout, and brief drug use. Running time: 1 hour, 44 minutes. At the Landmark Nuart Theatre, West L.A.It can't be a good sign for a vampire movie when its most memorable trait is how desperate Chrysler's product placement appears.Sans teen angst or coifs, "Daybreakers" is set a decade after a vampire plague has swept the globe, the remaining human population no more than rapidly dwindling food stock. To grab life by the horns in the daytime, the well-heeled undead tool around in sunshield-bedecked Chryslers. Meanwhile, a crusading hematologist played by Ethan Hawke searches for a blood substitute to save the vampires from starvation -- and humans from extinction.Riding to the possible rescue in a modified muscle car is Willem Dafoe as a lapsed vampire whose re-humanizing could mean a cure, killing two bats with one stone. The corporate villains, led by Sam Neill, would rather cling to their upper-class status than address the problems. Hence, some chasing, some soul-searching, some excellent cranial explosions and spontaneous combustions (vampires apparently have hellacious allergies to splinters)."Daybreakers" may be harboring a message under the eruptions of gore: It depicts the exhaustion of resources by the powerful, who are even more addicted to profits and cars than blood. And the "cure," for the curious, can be rephrased as a Louis Brandeis commonplace for speaking political truths. Any higher intentions are brought crashing down by predictability, wooden characters, giggle-inducing attempts at scares (shrieking bats, anyone?) and cinematography so gloomy it should be checked for serotonin deficiency.This isn't the film to relieve our collective vampire fatigue. But perhaps it's nothing a spin in a brand-new Chrysler couldn't cure.-- Michael OrdoñaMPAA rating: R for strong bloody violence, language and brief nudity. Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes. In general release.What happened to Matthew Broderick? Maybe the question, and even its answer, is now obvious, but when and why did he go from the very picture of reedy, goofy, energetic youthfulness in films such as "War Games" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" to the puffy, downbeat and browbeaten exemplar of unhappiness and bitter ennui that he has been in pretty much everything since "Election"? Is adulthood that dreary? Is there something else we should know?In "Wonderful World," Broderick plays Ben Singer, a once moderately successful performer of children's music who has retreated from the world, becoming a self-styled, self-hating curmudgeon. His ex-wife now lives in a huge mansion with her new husband, and Singer's teenage daughter rarely wants to see him. He works as a proofreader in a law office, making a long-term career of a job most people use as a temporary landing pad. His only solace comes from smoking pot and playing chess with his Senegalese roommate Ibou (Michael Kenneth Williams). When Ibou goes into a diabetic coma, Ben finds himself with a new roommate in Ibou's sister ( Sanaa Lathan).It's presumably just a quirk of timing that "Wonderful World" traffics in many of the same motions as 2007's "The Visitor," both films using immigrants to open the eyes of closed-off main characters. Yet where "The Visitor" had at least a passing interest in the underlying political ramifications of its crossed-cultures story line, in "Wonderful World" the focus is strictly on the personal, in getting this Singer to sing again.Josh Goldin, a longtime screenwriter whose credits include "Darkman" and "Out on a Limb" -- and whose wife is a writer at the L.A. Times -- makes his debut as a writer-director with "Wonderful World." The results of Goldin's dual efforts are promising but uneven. The story never fully blends the idea of Singer's rediscovery of his artistic voice -- and even something as simple as why he was a children's performer in the first place is never addressed -- with his personal renewal. Why can't he be a kids' singer onstage and a jerk offstage?Broderick's sad-sack misanthropy is often taken as a given -- one look at the guy and he seems miserable -- and so the film never quite explores the hidden corners of his character's psyche. In a brief scene in the backroom of a guitar shop, Broderick's character jams with musician Dan Zanes, genuine leader of the movement to make kids' music hip, and guitar legend James Burton, sideman for Elvis Presley, Gram Parsons and Elvis Costello.In those moments, there is a simple buoyancy, a lifting of burden, that the rest of the film never quite reclaims.-- Mark OlsenMPAA rating: R for language, some drug use and sexual content. Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes. At the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills. ||||| Matthew Broderick Hides Behind Beard in Wonderful World

 Ben Singer (Matthew Broderick), once the third-biggest kids' musician in the country, is now the number-one grump of an unnamed city that's played by Shreveport, Louisiana, where writer-director Joshua Goldin's feature debut was shot, and which also doubles, later in the film, as Dakar, Senegal. More impoverished than the budget is Wonderful World's script, a shopworn tale of redemption in which the constantly outraged, pot-puffing misanthrope learns that "magic is everywhere." Alienating his legal-proofreader co-workers and even his 11-year-old daughter, Sandra (Jodelle Ferland), with his bilious indignation, Ben softens in the company of his Senegalese roommate and chess partner, Ibu (Michael K. Williams), who soon exits the movie in a diabetic coma, though his work in the rehabilitation of Ben's soul will be quickly picked up by his sister, Khadi (Sanaa Lathan). It's heartbreaking to see Lathan, an underemployed actress whose talents were last put to good use in 2006's Something Else, in such a ridiculous, impossible role, falling into bed with repugnant Ben and teaching Sandra West African dance. And Broderick looks as if he wants to hide permanently behind his three-day growth. |||||

– Critics are not sold on Wonderful World, a creaky indie starring Matthew Broderick as a misanthropic children’s folksinger. Here’s what the critics are saying: World is “a checklist-indie that offers up clichés with gusto,” even flirting with Magical Negro stereotypes, writes Nick Schager of Slant. “Broderick mopes and grouses admirably,” but this treacle is still “pretty close to the bottom of the barrel.” Keith Uhlich of Time Out New York agrees, crediting the cast with giving a “committed, nearly convincing effort” in what’s ultimately “fey Indiewood bullcrap.” The script, a “shopworn tale of redemption,” is atrocious, writes Melissa Anderson of the Village Voice, and it’s heartbreaking to see talented female lead Sanaa Lathan in “such a ridiculous, implausible role." Broderick, meanwhile, “looks as if he wants to hide behind his three-day growth.” Indeed, Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times wonders what the heck happened to Broderick. “One looks at the guy and he seems miserable,” he writes. “Is adulthood that dreary? Is there something else we should know?”


Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

 Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

 Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

 A year after the birth of her second child was marred in drama, Bristol Palin is pregnant with her third.

 Palin, 26, and husband Dakota Meyer — who turned heads with a sudden reconciliation and June wedding following a bitter custody battle over their baby — said Thursday, “We are so excited to announce that our family is expanding!”

 Speaking to “Entertainment Tonight,” the couple said, “God has blessed us so much; we are thankful for His grace and new beginnings. A springtime baby in the Meyer home and we can’t wait!”

 Their daughter Sailor Grace was born last December, sandwiched right between their broken engagement and eventual wedding.

 Bristol, whose mother is Sarah Palin, gave birth to older son Tripp as a teen, with high school sweetheart Levi Johnston. Bristol then became an advocate for abstinence. ||||| Congrats are in order for Bristol Palin and her husband, Dakota Meyer, who are expecting their second child together!

 "We are so excited to announce that our family is expanding!" the couple told ET in an exclusive statement. "God has blessed us so much; we are thankful for His grace and new beginnings. A springtime baby in the Meyer home and we can't wait!"

 WATCH: Bristol Palin Marries Dakota Meyer!

 Kendra LaCroix/Bristol Palin

 Palin and Meyer welcomed a daughter, Sailor Grace, last December, and the couple exclusively confirmed their nuptials to ET in June.

 "Life is full of ups and downs but in the end, you'll end up where you're supposed to be," they shared at the time. "We are so happy to share with loved ones the wonderful news that we got married!"

 ETONLINE

 NEWS: Bristol Palin Shields Her Kids for Happy Father's Day Message: There Have Been 'Too Many Creeps'

 The forthcoming baby will be Palin’s third child, as she also shares a 7-year-old son, Tripp, with ex-finacé Levi Johnston. Earlier this year, she shared a sweet Father’s Day message to Meyer on Instagram, thanking him for what he’s meant to her and her kids.

 “Thank you for putting our family first, working so hard, and giving our kids the most solid foundation, we love you soo, so much,” Palin, 26, wrote.

 See more about the adorable family in the video below.

 WATCH: Bristol Palin and Dakota Meyer's Secret Wedding: A Look Back at Their Cutest Moments

  |||||

Write a summary.

– Big news from the Palin clan: Page Six reports 26-year-old Bristol is pregnant with her third child. "We are so excited to announce that our family is expanding!" ET quotes Palin and husband Dakota Meyer as saying in a statement. "God has blessed us so much; we are thankful for His grace and new beginnings." Palin gave birth to her last child, daughter Sailor Grace, last December after ending her engagement with Meyer and before marrying him anyway.


News article:

CLOSE Josh Levine talks about an original Jackson Pollock painting, June 6, 2017, in a conference room at J. Levine Auction and Appraisal in Scottsdale. Levine expects the painting to sell for between $10 million and $15 million. Mark Henle/azcentral.com

 Josh Levine with an original Jackson Pollock painting, June 6, 2017, at J. Levine Auction and Appraisal, 10345 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Levine expects the painting to sell between $10 million and $15 million. (Photo: Mark Henle/The Republic)

 Corrections & clarifications: A previous version of this story misidentified where the painting was found inside the home.

 Jackson Pollock spent nearly all of his youth in Arizona and California. He even left a tiny bit of himself in Phoenix, close to what is now Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

 The 20th-century artist, internationally known for abstract, splatter and "drip" paintings, became a sensation in the New York art world starting in the 1940s until his death in 1956.

 So how is it that one of Pollock's paintings might have found its way into a Sun City garage?

 Josh Levine, owner and founder of J. Levine Auction & Appraisal LLC, said that he received a phone call from a Sun City resident, asking his firm to look at Los Angeles Lakers memorabilia that was signed by longtime star Kobe Bryant.

 What they found in addition seemed to be a proverbial treasure chest of 20th-century modern art, including works that appear to be created by Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Cora Kelley Ward and Pollock.

 Did he have a Pollock in hand? The possibility captured Levine's interest. Knowing how common fraud is in the art world, he says he spent more than $50,000 on forensics reports and private investigators to trace the lineage of the piece.

 A journey from New York to Sun City

 Levine walked through the connection from Pollock to the Sun City homeowner, whose name is not being released. Levine said he was a patient at an assisted-living facility and was being represented by a person with power of attorney over his estate.

 "As we went through the pieces, we saw that every single one of these artists were from the same social circle as Clement Greenberg," Levine said of the garage treasure trove.

 Greenberg was a well-known American modern art critic and essayist in New York in the mid-20th century.

 "If he said you were great, then you were great," Levine said.

 Greenberg also is known as an early promoter of Pollock's work.

 Levine said that the paintings were bequeathed to the Sun City homeowner by his sister, Jenifer Gordon, a close friend of Greenberg and Peggy Guggenheim, an art collector and socialite also important in promoting Pollock's work.

 Barbara McKay, an Australian artist who was friends with Gordon and Greenberg and lived in New York in the early 1980s, said she knew that Gordon had received a Pollock sometime during her life.

 "I knew that Jenifer had a Pollock and, as confident as I could be, given that photographs are never as clear as seeing the painting in the flesh, that this is the original painting," McKay said in an email to The Arizona Republic.

 The forensics report, done by Peter Paul Biro, said that the paint on the alleged Pollock contained no pigments or binding that was introduced after Pollock's death.

 This revelation, combined with information provided by private investigators hired by Levine, left no doubt in his mind that he was in possession of the real deal.

 "I'm brave enough to call it a Jackson Pollock and put my entire reputation on it," Levine said.

 The Noland that Levine found, titled "Replace!," sold for $110,000 in early 2016.

 Auction set for June 20 in Scottsdale

 Levine, who is auctioning the Pollock piece at his auction house in Scottsdale on June 20, expects it to sell for at least $10 million.

 "The owner of the painting had no idea what he had. He said to me, 'I didn't even know who he (Pollock) was until you told me about him,' " Levine said.

 "It just doesn't get any better than that. I'm almost sad that these past 18 months of research are going to be over," Levine said.

 READ MORE:

 Jean-Michel Basquiat painting scores record $110.5M at auction

 Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/2s67Dvs ||||| SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., June 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A rare, lost Jackson Pollock painting is going up for auction on Tuesday, June 20 at J. Levine Auction & Appraisal after the Scottsdale-based auction house spent nearly 18 months and tens of thousands of dollars researching and authenticating the forensics and ownership history. Online bidding is available now, with live bidding slated to begin at 11 a.m. PT on June 20. The auction house is located at 10345 N. Scottsdale Rd., in Scottsdale, Arizona.

 The abstract, untitled gouache painting measures 22 ½ x 32 inches with a forensic report stating, among other findings, that "the dating of the painting to the mid-twentieth century is well established as no pigments or binding media introduced in the late 1950s and 1960s have been detected. Furthermore, the artist's working materials and painting technique are illuminated." The full forensic report is available.

 The painting also comes with strong provenance, having come from the estate of Jenifer Gordon (Cosgriff) and bequeathed to her half-brother, who resides in an Arizona retirement community. Gordon (Cosgriff) lived in New York and was a known, lifelong friend of Clement Greenberg, an influential visual art critic most closely associated with American Modern art of the mid-20th century, Hazel Guggenheim McKinley, a mid-20th century modern artist and sister of Peggy Guggenheim, and Jackson Pollock. In addition, she also was in possession of various notable and listed art including authenticated pieces by Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Hazel Guggenheim McKinley and Cora Kelley Ward.

 "Interestingly, this estate first came to our attention when we were contacted to take a look at a signed 1992 L.A. Lakers poster," said Josh Levine, owner and CEO of J. Levine Auction & Appraisal. "We ended up signing a contract to auction the contents of the estate, and that's when we found many of the paintings stored away."

 One of the finds, a Kenneth Noland diamond-shaped acrylic painting titled "Replace!," caught the attention of art collectors when J. Levine auctioned it in January 2016. A phone bidder from New Jersey won the piece for $110,000 hammer price. The Olitski, Ward and McKinley sold in the same auction.

 Since January 2016, Josh Levine has been on a quest to authenticate the unsigned Pollock. Describing his initial research as "maddening," Levine hired a private investigative team and a forensic expert to help him put the pieces of the puzzle together.

 "Based on their work and findings, I believe this painting was one of Pollock's missing gouaches in his catalogue raisonné or from the period of 1945 to 1949," Levine said.

 Levine is well aware that scholars debate about the authenticity of Pollock paintings. The Pollock-Krasner Foundation does not authenticate paintings, and there have been many high-profile disputes in the past regarding whether or not a painting was an original Pollock.

 "The forensic report really just reaffirmed what I already believed to be true based on the provenance," Levine said. "I've spent hundreds of hours researching how this Pollock could end up here in Arizona, and I am confident that this is an original Pollock."

 For more information, visit www.jlevines.com or call (480) 496-2212.

 SOURCE J. Levine Auction & Appraisal |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– What does Kobe Bryant have to do with the possible discovery of a "lost" Jackson Pollock painting? Something, it turns out. An Arizona auction house says it was contacted by a Sun City resident who wanted someone to take a look at a 1992 LA Lakers poster signed by Bryant. "We ended up signing a contract to auction the contents of the estate, and that's when we found many of the paintings," among them one that Josh Levine of J. Levine Auction & Appraisal believed to be a Pollock. The Arizona Republic reports Levine was so intrigued by the potential Pollock that he spent more than $50,000 over 18 months in an attempt to establish it was done by the artist's hand. "I'm brave enough to call it a Jackson Pollock and put my entire reputation on it," he says. Still, Levine acknowledges potential Pollocks have long been a source of art-world consternation; the Pollock-Krasner Foundation does not authenticate Pollock paintings. But in a press release, the auction house describes the painting's provenance as "strong": The man who owned it—he had never heard of Pollock—was given the gouache painting by his half-sister, who was a longtime friend of an art critic who knew Pollock. The auction house further explains forensic tests established "the dating of the painting to the mid-twentieth century ... as no pigments or binding media introduced in the late 1950s and 1960s have been detected." The work, which measures 22.5 x 32 inches, will be auctioned June 20; Levine expects it will fetch $10 million to $15 million. (A painting made by a 21-year-old in 1982 recently sold for $110 million.)


Summarize this article:

The saga of the illegally obtained nude photos of dozens of celebrities has taken a darker turn. According to Reddit administrators, photos of gymnast McKayla Maroney and MTV actress Liz Lee, shared to 130,000 people on popular forum r/TheFappening, constitute child pornography.

 Maroney’s lawyers have confirmed that the illegally obtained photos were taken while the gymnast was underage. The attorneys’ letter, sent to Porn.com and other websites, demands that the images be removed.

 Additionally, Reddit users have been sharing revenge-porn photos of the actress Liz Lee, whose photos were not part of the initial leaks, but were taken and leaked by her boyfriend when Lee was 16.

 The ongoing leak—dubbed #CelebGate, or more distastefully, “the Fappening”—includes naked photos of A-listers including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton. It’s prompted outrage, and threats of legal actions from the women targeted. It has since emerged that the photos of at least one of the celebrities were taken when they were under 18.

 The Reddit community r/TheFappening has become the main hub for the leaked photos, due to the fact that Reddit is one of the few mainstream websites that isn’t proactively deleting all links to them. In an urgent post, the subreddit’s moderators warn the community that the site’s admins have informed them that Maroney was underage in the photos “and that we quickly need to remove them.

 “If we don’t remove them,” moderator SickOrSane continues, “this subreddit will most likely be banned, very quickly.”

 The moderator also warns against sharing Lee’s photos, which are apparently also being posted on the subreddit.

 Redditors have immediately begun to panic, discussing the potential implications of their downloading and sharing child pornography.

 Despite the proliferation of child pornography across r/TheFappening—in addition to the stolen intimate photos of adult celebrities—the Reddit admins have chosen not to remove the community, apparently content to let the moderators sort it out instead. They have, however, hidden the forum from r/all, a list of all content on Reddit.

 The focus, throughout the subreddit, is the potential ramifications community members may face for possessing child porn.

 Here, redditors respond to Classiest_Erection with step-by-step instructions for how to use software to wipe his hard drive, which ostensibly contains illegally obtained underage nudes. We’re watching a crime being aided and abetted in real time.

 In another instance, notwhoyouthinimnot goes out of his way to proactively encourage redditors to remove all record of their criminal activity.

 Other community members are only too eager to help.

 Some are more concerned with the fact that their community may be banned than the fact it’s being used to share flagrantly illegal material.

 The moderators, meanwhile, are joking about the fact that child porn has been found on their community. (The linked photo in the screenshot below is not pornographic.)

 Reddit admins may yet change course and decide to ban r/TheFappening. Even though redditors are using the site to instruct one another how to hide evidence of the child porn they downloaded via Reddit, administrators seem happy to allow the community to exist.

 It still remains unclear how the photos were leaked, though Apple has strongly denied early reports that hackers gained access to them through a vulnerability in iCloud.

 Photo via teuobk/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III ||||| The bizarre silver lining to this whole leaked celebrity nudes thing: a group of Redditors is so enamored with Jennifer Lawrence's naked body that they've donated thousands of dollars to the Prostate Cancer Foundation in her honor.

 Yesterday, a post on r/TheFappening, a Reddit thread dedicated to, erm, discussing and cataloging the dozens of naked celebrity pictures that hit the internet over the weekend, urged readers to "Be the hero TheFappening deserves" by donating money to prostate cancer research, which, the joke goes, Lawrence has supported in the past. (Get it? Masturbation may reduce risk of prostate cancer in men, and many of these men, upon viewing the photos—you're smart, you get it.)

 Horndog J-Law fans came out in droves, and TheFappening is currently the top fundraiser for PCF's Safeway Foundation $1 Million Matching Grant Challenge. According to TheFappening's donation page, they've given $5,273 to the cause so far, and the homepage for the fundraiser lists "Reddit The Fappening" as its most successful donor.

 Well, congratulations to you, you proud masturbators of Reddit: TheFappening somehow feels even more skeevy for your noble actions. If the rumors are true, and the weekend's leaks were just the tip of the iceberg, they may find a cure just yet.

 [Image via AP] ||||| McKayla Maroney I Was Underage in Hacked Nude Pics

 McKayla Maroney -- I Was Underage in Hacked Nude Photos

 EXCLUSIVE

 Olympic gymnastsays she was under 18 when the hacked nude photos of her were taken ... and now she's taking legal action against several porn sites that reposted the images.TMZ has learned one of Maroney's attorneys fired off a letter to Porn.com ... informing the site that McKayla was underage in several of the photos. The letter demands the images of McKayla -- who turned 18 last December -- be taken down immediately.Another attorney for the gymnast sent a different letter to multiple websites stating Maroney owns the copyright on the hacked photos.The legal claims by her attorneys are a strong indication the photos really do show McKayla -- even though she said on Twitter they were "fake photos." It's also possible only portions of the images are really McKayla. The letter is not specific.A rep for Porn.com tells us they immediately removed the pics once they got the letter from Maroney's attorney. |||||

– Some Internet users who started out gleeful about the leak of celebrities' nude photos are now busy trying to scrub their hard drives of child porn. Lawyers for McKayla Maroney, who turned 18 in December, say the Olympic gymnast was under 18 when the photos of her were taken and demanded that porn websites remove the images, reports TMZ. Maroney had initially tweeted that the photos were fakes. At Reddit, users of a forum that has been used to share leaked pics have been warned that some pictures of Maroney and MTV star Liz Lee were taken when they were underage and if they're not deleted, "this subreddit will most likely be banned, very quickly." The warning was followed by panicked discussion of how to erase the images, reports the Daily Dot, which describes efforts to advise users how to "remove all record of their criminal activity" as the "aiding and abetting" of a crime. The Prostate Cancer Foundation, meanwhile, has decided to return thousands of dollars donated by users of the same subreddit as "guilt money" for viewing the celeb photos, rather crudely " in honor of Jennifer Lawrence " (Gawker has the explanation here). "Guys, we're literally worse than cancer," one user wrote after the donations were returned, as per the Washington Post. (Apple says the leak wasn't a result of "any breach in ... iCloud or Find My iPhone.")