An Apple TV reboot could be a game-changer

(Wired) -- Even six months ago, Apple TV was the big snoozer in Apple's consumer hardware line-up. The device is a simple set-top media puck — not much more than a passive conduit for piping iTunes, Netflix and iPad content to one's TV.

But, oh, how times have changed.

On the eve of WWDC 2012 -- Apple's annual developers' conference -- speculation swirls around Apple's positioning as a television manufacturer, and how Apple TV might play into a greater television hardware strategy. Indeed, an Apple TV reboot could be a game changer. And it would also be the WWDC highlight for users of the set-top puck, for app developers, and even for the TV entertainment industry at large.

Now, granted, Apple just revamped the Apple TV user interface with the launch of the third-generation iPad. So in some respects, it seems unlikely that Apple would feature the product in another media event just a few months later.

But the streaming TV companion still offers vast untapped potential. And with the attendance of thousands of devoted developers, WWDC is the perfect venue to announce a new Apple TV platform that exposes API support. And we can't forget how Tim Cook recently said the TV space is "an area of intense interest" for Apple.

The next 'must have' technology gadget

New Apple CEO makes rare appearance

Steve Jobs in 2005: No one wants to die

Apple TV is one of the best set-top devices in a consumer electronics category that, quite frankly, doesn't enjoy mass consumer report. Think about it: How many of your non-techie friends own either a Roku, Boxee Box, Google TV or Apple TV? Nonetheless, Apple TV sales are picking up momentum: The device is on track to sell twice as many units as were sold in 2011.

The upshot: Apple doesn't need to announce its own television set at WWDC to make waves in the living room space. If it can reinvent Apple TV into a truly compelling, mass-market consumer product, it can realize Steve Jobs' dream of finally cracking the television code.

Apple just needs to address a few key areas before Apple TV becomes a really big deal.

Apps, apps, and AirPlay

"What we might see at WWDC is Apple opening up the app economy approach they've had with the iPhone and iPad to the Apple TV," Gartner analyst Michael McGuire told Wired.

Apple has well over 600,000 apps in the iOS App Store, but only eight third-party content choices (e.g., Netflix, MLB.com, Flickr, etc.) on Apple TV. So WWDC offers the perfect opportunity to introduce developers to how they could start expanding Apple TV's repertoire of content choices. Indeed, BGR reported that Apple would be introducing an entirely new OS and API for developers to take advantage of.

There are two possible ways Apple could open up the Apple TV platform to third-party app developers: It could allow devs to create dedicated TV apps, or it could more heavily leverage (and open up) the AirPlay feature already baked into Apple TV to port existing iPad apps to the big screen.

"We've been focused on trying to understand how the app model evolves with the introduction of the TV platform," Jeremy Allaire, CEO of online video platform Brightcove told Wired.

Indeed, Allaire detailed his thoughts on what could be next for Apple TV in an op-ed Monday morning. Allaire believes that instead of requiring developers to code for a third application platform (the TV), AirPlay Mirroring could be used with existing iPad apps.

AirPlay Mirroring "essentially turns your iPad into a powerful TV Apps platform that can render any application on the TV while enabling the user to use their touch-based device to browse, select, navigate, etc.," Allaire wrote in his piece. It makes sense.

iPad apps are already built for a screen with a lot of real estate, and it wouldn't be unnatural to, say, flick through Wired's iPad app with your finger while actually reading the content on the big screen.

"AirPlay functionality is a bit hidden from users and not super easy for developers to implement," Allaire said of the feature in its current state, so there's ample room for improvement.

NPD principal analyst Ross Rubin also believes "a multiscreen component that builds off AirPlay" could be in the stars.

More content

"To get people beyond the hardcore Mac fans, you need a lot of content," McGuire said. For example, average consumers want to see sports — live sports.

So, for the Apple TV to break out of its "hobby" label (a label Tim Cook might wish he had never used), its content offerings will need to drastically expand. But live content is hard to come by without a cable or satellite subscription, and that may remain so.

"History has shown that Apple hasn't shown the same kind of influence with the studios that they had with the [music] labels in the early days of the iPod," Rubin said. However, in light of recent announcements on the Xbox platform, McGuire thinks Apple could be inking deals with the same content providers who've partnered with Microsoft: ESPN, NBA, Univision, and Nickelodeon.

To go mainstream and become a true cable/satellite replacement for cord cutters, Apple TV would need to provide the "equivalent experience of hundreds of programming options at any point in time," McGuire said. Expanded app offerings could certainly help with this, but live streaming content would really seal the deal.

Ditch the remote

"The other area that's getting a lot of rumor traction is opening up the Siri interface, which for both the existing apps on Apple TV, as well as new apps, could be very interesting," McGuire said.

This could be accomplished through a peripheral add-on to Apple TV, as Allaire proposed for a forward-looking Apple TV experience. And, of course, Siri could handshake with the current Apple TV via coordination with the iPhone 4S (and maybe even the third-generation iPad, if it too receives Siri support as rumored.)

Apple could also take an Xbox Kinect-like approach, launching camera devices in its TV products for 3-D gesture recognition. As for relevance to WWDC, this would mean a new gesture-based motion API for developers to manage user interaction and face detection, with an actual hardware accessory to arrive in the more distant future.

But, heck, Apple already has patents on 3-D gesture recognition using the iPad, so perhaps an additional accessory isn't even necessary. "Apple can do a lot with the box they have in terms of disrupting and changing people's expectations of what TV is," McGuire said.

Read More

Milky Way will be hit head-on

Four billion years from now, a collision between the Milky Way (left) and Andromeda (right) galaxies will have ripped out streams of stars, warped the galactic shapes and turned Earth’s night sky into a dramatic swirl of starlight.

The monstrous Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way are destined to hit head-on, not in a glancing blow, new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope show.
By precisely locating the same stars in Andromeda in 2002 and then again in 2010, astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore have calculated how the galaxy has moved against the background of deep space — confirming that the galaxy’s sideways motion is but a fraction of the speed at which it’s hurtling toward the Milky Way.
Andromeda is 2.5 million light-years away and closing in on the Milky Way at 250,000 miles per hour. The cosmic collision will transform the heavens into a hallucinogenic swirl 4 billion years from now. Calculations suggest that the sun will be tossed out during this galactic mash-up, to drift erratically in the eventual single, large galaxy that will coalesce from the two.

Read More

Santorum lays out his political future

Washington (CNN) - Two months after he suspended his presidential campaign, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum on Friday laid out his future plans as he looks for ways to make sure his voice is heard and his influence is felt as a leader of the conservative wing of the Republican Party.

Santorum announced he was forming Patriot Voices, a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization he said would promote some of his key issues, including a commitment to family.

– Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
– Check out the CNN Electoral Map and Calculator and game out your own strategy for November.
"One of the things that we found as we traveled around the country is that people came up to me a lot and said I was out there speaking about things that gave voice to their concerns and a lot of issues," Santorum said in an interview on Fox News. "People are concerned obviously about the economy, about national security. But I think a lot of people have a basic anxiety with where America is going, and I try to talk about those."
Santorum said issues like manufacturing and religious liberty were important to many Americans, but were being ignored by members of both parties.
"We wanted to put together an organization that reflected those voices across America," Santorum said, adding that Patriot Voices would help a number of candidates running for office, including presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
On Thursday, sources close to Santorum said he was setting up the organization to provide himself a vehicle to push issues important to him and a platform to stay engaged.
"He needs to set up those political foundations going forward, to take his message forward and to build the support base he will need in the future," said Brent Bozell, a conservative activist and chairman of the organization ForAmerica.
In addition to discussing his latest move in media appearances Friday, Santorum is scheduled to speak before what will likely be a very friendly audience of conservatives at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Chicago.
Santorum, whom activists call a standard-bearer for the conservative wing of the party, has been looking for ways to promote the causes and principles he pushed during the campaign, such as repealing the Obama administration's health care reform initiative, building the nation's manufacturing sector and trumpeting ways to strengthen the family.
As a staunch opponent of abortion and proponent of traditional marriage, he is widely perceived to be a major voice for those causes in the GOP.
"It was pretty obvious social conservatism had a champion in the presidential race, and that was Rick Santorum," Hogan Gidley, the Santorum campaign communications director, told CNN. "It is pretty clear there is an appetite" for that in the party, he added.
Several conservative leaders who have talked to Santorum told CNN that he wants to be active politically and to make sure he stays engaged.
In an e-mail to supporters last month, Santorum previewed his next chapter. "I am extremely excited that I will soon be sharing with you exactly how we can play a major role in defeating Obama, elect trusted conservatives all across the country, and hold candidates accountable to the promises they make to us at election time. And believe me, I am going to need you to play a critical role."
Santorum will also have available the resources of the Red, White and Blue Fund - the super PAC that backed his presidential bid. It has since turned into a leadership group that can help support Santorum's political travel, donate to political candidates he backs and give him a platform. It had just under $324,000 in the bank as of April 30.
He will have to use the donor lists gathered from his presidential bid to raise funds and finance his efforts. His campaign still had debt totaling more than $2 million at the end of April, and he has sent out e-mails to supporters urging them to help him erase it.
Santorum won a lot of praise from the conservative wing of the party for being the last major opponent against Romney in the primary.
"More than any other conservative who ran for president this year he has a following because he was the last person standing," long-time conservative leader Richard Viguerie, a friend of Santorum's, told CNN. "He has a big following now and can build that larger."
Before he pulled out, the Romney and Santorum campaigns and the candidates themselves exchanged harsh words. It's not clear, however, just how much the wounds have healed.
Santorum met with Romney a month after pulling out and endorsed him on May 7 in a late-night email, which some analysts described as tepid because the actual announcement fell in the 13th paragraph.
Santorum defended the way he announced the endorsement in an interview on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
"It was a rough-and-tumble campaign," he said on the show. "I can't say it would have been an easy thing the next day to turn around and say, 'Let's just go forward.' It was tough and so I wanted an opportunity to, sort of, think about it a little bit and (allow) family think about it."
Santorum has yet to appear with Romney on the campaign trail, though representatives for Santorum and Romney have held some discussions about Santorum hitting the road for the presumptive GOP nominee, one source with knowledge of the matter told CNN.
"I do think Santorum has a role to play on the campaign trail and that role is to bridge the differences between team Romney and social conservatives," said Ford O'Connell, who worked on the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008.
He stressed Santorum would boost the Republican ticket by campaigning in Iowa and in areas with a large concentration of blue collar workers, such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.
"It does behoove Santorum to go out on the campaign trail because he is trying to run in either 2016 or run for another office down the road," O'Connell said.
Santorum has recently waded into the political waters with some endorsements of conservatives running in recent Senate primaries: former Texas solicitor general Ted Cruz, Indiana treasurer Richard Mourdock and Nebraska attorney general Jon Bruning.
Later Friday, Santorum will appear at fundraisers for Cruz and the Texas Republican Party.
Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, said one area where Santorum can have influence will be to help build support for House and Senate candidates because he connects with conservative supporters.
"He can use that and build upon that to help support conservative candidates," Perkins told CNN. "He has a very important role to play."
Besides mapping out his next political steps, he also has had to figure out how to support his family financially. He is expected to be a major draw on the speaking circuit.

Read More

House Republicans Vote To Defund Obama Immigration Efforts

WASHINGTON -- The House voted on Thursday to kill nearly every action by the Obama administration to reform the immigration enforcement system, approving amendments that would separate U.S. citizens from their undocumented spouses and end prioritization of deporting dangerous unauthorized immigrants.
"The administration is now saying, 'I don't like the laws, I won't enforce them,'" Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) said in support of an amendment proposed by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). "It would be equitable to an officer saying, 'I'm not going to enforce any drug laws, because I want to wait -- I may see a bank robber.'"
That amendment, and the 11 others offered and adopted by the GOP, stripped funding from government programs meant to make the immigration process, and treatment of immigrants, more humane and targeted toward the most dangerous. Many of the adopted measures transferred funding to border security, even though Customs and Border Protection would receive a $208 million increase in funding under Obama's proposed fiscal year 2013 budget.
Republicans have generally opposed every action by the Obama administration on immigration, even though deportations increased to record levels under his watch.
King's amendment -- one of the two that were introduced by the immigration hardliner and later approved -- would prohibit funding to implement the "Morton Memo," a document from Immigration and Customs Director John Morton in June 2011 that lays out priorities for deportation based on the fact that funding is too limited to deport all of the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the country. ICE took up a review in August 2011 under those guidelines to close deportation cases deemed low-priority -- an effort that so far has been less fruitful than expected.
Still, the administration and advocates argue that with limited funding, this type of prosecutorial discretion is necessary.
"You're going to go after the dangerous gang member before you're going to go after someone that is double parked or jaywalking," Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said in opposition to the amendment. "That is what police do all over the United States."
Another adopted amendment, proposed by Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), would ban the administration from granting waivers that would allow some undocumented family members of U.S. citizens -- spouses, parents and children -- to stay in the country while applying for legal status, which was proposed by Obama in January. Under current policy, those immediate family members must leave the country before they can return, without knowing when exactly they will be reunited with their U.S.-citizen families.
"This proposed rule ... makes it easier for illegals to stay in our country unlawfully," Graves said on the House floor. "But the core impact of the proposed rule would be to encourage relatives of U.S. citizens to come to the U.S. illegally."
Other adopted amendments included cutting funding for the ICE public advocate, a position created in February to work with stakeholders on their concerns about the system; blocking funding for a 2000 executive order that would aid non-English speakers; and banning so-called "sanctuary cities," which instruct police to avoid asking about immigration status because it is a federal duty.
Two Democratic amendments were adopted: Rep. Keith Ellison's (D-Minn.) amendment aimed at preventing racial profiling and a measure from Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) to limit the use of unmanned drones.

Read More

Frustrated liberals want more from Obama

They are trying to be hopeful, but the Democratic Party's most passionate voters are struggling to hide their frustration with President Barack Obama.
Republicans may attack the president as a big-government liberal, but many liberals meeting Thursday at Netroots Nation -- an annual convention likened to "a giant family reunion for the left" -- argue that Obama hasn't fought hard enough for progressive priorities on taxes, health care and the economy. Even more problematic for the president is this: With the election just five months away, some are threatening not to donate money or time or even vote in November for the man who overwhelmingly ignited their passions and captured their imaginations four years ago.
"I want to be happy with him," said Democrat Kristine Vaughan, a 45-year-old school psychologist from Canton, Ohio. "But I am finding that he has succumbed to the corporate influence as much as everyone else. I think he has so much potential to break out of that, but overall he has been a disappointment."
Vaughan isn't sure whether she'll vote for Obama a second time and probably won't donate money as she did during his first campaign. She refuses to support Republican challenger Mitt Romney, but is considering writing in another candidate in protest.
The sentiment is not unique among the 2,700 people gathered on the first day of this three-day convention. More than a dozen liberals interviewed here indicated some level of frustration with the president, despite widespread praise for his recent decision to support gay marriage and ongoing push to scale back military action in the Middle East.
Most plan on voting for Obama, but their varying levels of enthusiasm could spell trouble for a president whose 2008 victory was fueled by a massive network of grass-roots volunteers and small-dollar donors. Polls show the president locked in a tight race that's likely to be decided in several swing states where he scored narrow victories four years ago.
"He's done a good job, but he could have done a lot better," said Ed Tracey, 55, of Lebanon, N.H., who heads his local chapter of the group, Drinking Liberally.
Tracey was one of Obama's many small-dollar donors four years ago, but his dissatisfaction has affected his generosity: "I decided that unless I thought he really needed it, I wouldn't contribute," he said.
Despite the criticism, polling suggests Republicans may face a larger enthusiasm gap than Democrats.
In late May, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 93 percent of Obama voters said they are enthusiastic about voting for him, including 51 percent who were very enthusiastic. For Romney supporters, 75 percent were enthusiastic, and just 26 percent were very enthusiastic.
Still, a closer look at the Democratic base shows an evolution of enthusiasm -- or lack thereof -- over the past four years.
The widespread belief in Obama's message of hope and change turned to frustration as the president yielded to Republican pressure by devoting a significant portion of the 2009 stimulus package to tax cuts. Liberals were further irked when he abandoned the so-called "public option" in his health care overhaul, didn't go after big banks more aggressively in his financial overhaul bill and supported the extension of Bush-era tax cuts.
Now, many say Obama is not fighting hard enough for tax increases on the wealthy to help close the federal deficit.
"I look forward to him fighting much harder," said Arshad Hasan, executive director of Democracy for America, a group founded by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
But, like many liberals here, Hasan offered a mixed review of the president. He said Obama's decision to support gay marriage was "a huge accomplishment for progressives." He also was hopeful that Obama might shift further to the left should he win a second term.
"There's also a strain of thought among progressives that he's waiting until after the election to come out and be more boldly progressive," Hasan said. "I don't know which way that's going to go, but I know that either way, we get a much better deal than if Mitt Romney is elected."
Indeed, instead of hope and change, Democrats are trying to rally around their dislike for Romney, a man whom many are still getting to know.
Massachusetts-based liberal radio host Jeff Santos held the first stop of "the Real Romney tour" at the conference. The event was designed to highlight perceived weaknesses in the former Massachusetts governor's job-creation record and private-sector experience at Bain Capital, the Boston-based private equity firm he co-founded.
"He has no soul," Santos said of Romney.
Romney's association with reality television host Donald Trump drew some of the most heated criticism, especially given Romney's unwillingness to condemn Trump's repeated questioning of Obama's birthplace.
"If Mitt Romney can't stand up to a birther who's putting out racist conspiracy theories, how can he lead on other issues?" asked Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change, a liberal group that promotes African-American political influence.
Robinson said some blacks now have less enthusiasm for Obama.
"President Obama hasn't done everything we wanted. But we know what Romney would do," he said. "Mitt Romney has said things like he doesn't really care about the very poor. And for a community that is facing unemployment levels the black community is facing, we may not be going to the polls with hope, but that doesn't mean we won't be turning out."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/08/frustrated-liberals-want-more-from-obama/#ixzz1xDXzkO00

Read More

2012 bellwether emerges in central Virginia

Richmond, Virginia (CNN) -- Strategists for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney don't see eye to eye on much, but they do agree on this: It's tough to envision a path to the White House that doesn't include Virginia.

And as they look for ways to tip the balance in November, an unlikely bellwether is emerging in the heart of Virginia: Henrico County, a longtime conservative bastion that has mutated into a key barometer for political watchers in the commonwealth.

"It's the battleground county in the battleground state," said state Sen. Donald McEachin, a Democrat whose district encompasses parts of Henrico. "When you look at Democratic success over the past few years, whether it's Tim Kaine, Mark Warner or the president, what they all have in common is, they carried Henrico."

The exception to that decade-long trend is Jim Webb, who narrowly lost the county during his successful Senate race against George Allen in 2006.

Henrico's swing status was affirmed in 2009, when Bob McDonnell wrested the county back into Republican control in the governor's race just one year after Obama won it during his march to the White House.

For operatives in both political parties, the county's shift from conservative to competitive is striking.

Along with Hanover and Chesterfield, Henrico is one of three populous suburban counties outside the heavily African-American city of Richmond that were long counted on to deliver big Republican tallies in statewide races.

Until Obama won Henrico in 2008 by a 56% to 44% margin over John McCain -- a result that echoed his 52% to 46% win statewide -- the county was a killing field for Democrats in presidential races.

George H.W. Bush swamped Michael Dukakis there in 1988 and did the same against Bill Clinton four years later. The county went for Bob Dole over Clinton in 1996. George W. Bush won Henrico twice.

The county, the fifth largest in the state, is steeped in history and conservative tradition.

Founded in 1611 and named for Prince Henry, the typhoid-stricken eldest son of King James I, Henrico was one of the Virginia colony's eight original "shires": a point of pride for locals.

Today, tidy neighborhood roads are dotted with state-funded "Historical Highway Markers" that highlight minor Civil War skirmishes like "Dahlgren's Raid" and more momentous events like "Stuart's Mortal Wound."

Public schools bear the names of Harry F. Byrd, the towering founder of the Byrd Organization who ruled the state's politics for decades, and Mills E. Godwin, who helped Byrd implement the infamous program of "massive resistance" to school desegregation.

One high school, Douglas Southall Freeman, is named for Robert E. Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer. Its mascot is the "Rebel," though students long ago stopped waving the Confederate battle flag at football games as the school band played "Dixie."

Over the past 20 years, demographic shifts, steady growth and a burgeoning African-American population on the county's eastern side have transformed the county politically.

Affluent white voters are increasingly opting to settle in Chesterfield or Hanover instead. Out-of-state newcomers, known locally as "come-heres," have arrived in large numbers, further diluting Henrico's conservative flavor.

"It's gone Republican, and it's gone Democrat, and it's because there is a big group of independents who will vote the person and vote the issue, and where those independents go, that's where the elections go," McDonnell said.

African-Americans now account for a third of Henrico residents, up from 20% two decades ago, according to census data.

"Henrico is now more divided east and west than it's ever been," said Ray Allen, a veteran GOP consultant in Richmond. "And the reason for that, if you actually look at the voter trend, it's the growth in the east end of Henrico. It's now more minority than it ever was.

"Obama won Henrico in 2008 because he did very well in the east end," Allen said. "Bob McDonnell did really well in the 2009 governor's race because he was winning all the Republican areas in the west end and those swing moderates, the suburban vote."

The geographic and racial divide is reflected in the state's congressional map.

The west end of Henrico falls into the 7th District, represented by House majority leader and staunch conservative Eric Cantor.

The east end is carved into Rep. Bobby Scott's majority-minority 3rd District.

But the racial makeup is more complicated than just black and white. A swelling immigrant population in Henrico includes not just Latinos but emergent Vietnamese, Cambodian, Indian and Bosnian communities.

Democrats and Republicans alike say the area is increasingly taking on the character of the rest of the state.

"On election night, I want to know what Henrico is doing," said former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, a Republican who lost the county to Kaine in the 2005 governor's race. "It's really gone from red to purple in the last five to seven years. As Henrico goes, I think, the state will go in the presidential race and the Senate race, mainly because of the diversity in the county."

Levar Stoney, a Democratic operative advising likely gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, said the county has a little bit of everything: moderates, conservatives, liberals, blacks, evangelicals, business types and more.

"It's a cross-section of Virginia," he said. "If you find out what the vote total is on election night in Henrico, you will probably have a good idea of where Virginia is on election night as well."

The changing face of Henrico is a prime reason Obama's campaign in Virginia is once again targeting the area aggressively.

The campaign has two organizers dedicated to Henrico County: one for the predominantly black east end and another for the west end.

At the opening of their Henrico field office Saturday -- it's the Obama campaign's 15th office in the state -- organizers told a group of about 60 volunteers, most of them women, that the work ahead of them will be even more daunting than it was in 2008.

Since McDonnell's convincing victory two and a half years ago, Virginia Republicans have built the kind of sophisticated voter contact operation they sorely lacked during the last presidential race.

In big counties like Henrico, GOP turnout is expected to be markedly higher than it was when Obama won the state.

That leaves the Obama team with the difficult task of re-energizing supporters from the previous campaign along with identifying new voters, all while convincing skeptical independents who have retreated from Obama over the last three years to come back into the fold.

Lise Clavel, Obama's state director in Virginia, told the Henrico volunteers in stark terms that the campaign is certain to be outspent in the commonwealth by Mitt Romney and his allies.

"They are getting laser focused on Barack Obama now," Clavel told the group. "Those guys are coming after us, and they are coming after us hard."

Bridgit Donnelly, one of the campaign's regional field directors, echoed the warning as she tried to sign up neighborhood team leaders for Obama.

"This is going to be a huge fight to make sure we can turn Henrico blue again in November," she said.

Read More

Romney's VP candidates face 'intimate examination'

(CNN) -- One senator who has survived the vice presidential vetting process described it this way: Like having a colonoscopy without anesthesia.

The probing, highly personal examination that a presidential candidate uses to pick a running mate is uniquely American. Yet it is entirely shielded from public view: Those who submit themselves to it must bow to a secret, often uncomfortable "deep dive" for information by a small, exclusive tribunal of lawyers and accountants trying to wrest any skeletons out of a candidate's closet.

"It's every aspect of your life," former Al Gore 2000 presidential campaign manager Donna Brazile said. As former Bob Dole 1996 campaign manager Scott Reed put it, the examination includes digging into "sex, drugs and rock and roll."

Since presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's vice president meetings and deliberations are secret, a typical campaign practice, it's anyone's guess who is actually being vetted. But if Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and other potential candidates have been asked and have agreed to a vetting, they are virtually assured a process even more intense than the vetting they faced while running for office.

Who might run with Romney?

It's "the most intimate examination known to politics," Sen. John McCain's 2008 vetting chief A.B. Culvahouse recently wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

"No other candidate, not even the presidential nominee himself, is subjected to the same scrutiny."

Romney is intimately familiar with the process. In 2008 he submitted to a vetting to be McCain's running mate.

Simple process becomes a deep dive

The process usually begins simply: drawing from various sources, such as a candidate's preferred picks and names from others, a vetting team will draw up a list of potential vice president picks.

In his book "An Amazing Adventure," written with his wife, Hadassah Lieberman, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman said that in 2000, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Al Gore's initial list of potential running mates contained 30 or 40 names. Similarly, Culvahouse wrote that McCain's team prepared initial vetting reports on a list of more than two dozen people, none of whom knew they were being vetted.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker shoots down VP talk

Acting essentially as private investigators, vetters mine the Internet and public records, like newspaper articles and disclosure forms, for information on the potential candidates. Those chosen for further inspection will be asked to agree to a confidential vetting. If they agree, the candidates fill out a multiple-page questionnaire. How a candidate answers could generate a list of more probing questions.

"They're looking for things that could be embarrassing," Reed said.

In 2008, McCain's potential vice presidents -- including then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- faced 70 questions. Among them: Have you ever paid for sex? Have you ever been fairly or unfairly accused of sexual harassment? Have you ever hired an illegal immigrant?

Culvahouse talked about the questioning in his recent Journal opinion piece.

Explaining that he asked potential picks "questions I would not dream of posing in any other context," Culvahouse added, "Yet, as in all campaigns, if we had allowed good manners to intervene, anything we missed surely would have been dredged up by someone else."

"We asked about infidelity, sexual harassment, discrimination, plagiarism, alcohol or drug addiction, delinquent taxes, credit history and use of government positions or resources for personal benefit. Nothing was off-limits."

Culvahouse wrote that he discussed other matters with Palin: including daughter Bristol's pregnancy, "which the governor raised in a private discussion," ethical allegations against the governor and whether she would authorize a strike against Osama bin Laden if it meant civilian casualties.

All vetting information is ultimately relayed back to the candidate.

Noting her lack of experience on foreign policy and defense matters, Culvahouse said he advised McCain that "Gov. Palin would not be ready to be vice president on January 20, 2009, but that I believed she had the presence and wherewithal to grow into the position."

McCain chief judged Palin 'high-risk, high reward'

"I summed up her selection as 'high risk, high reward.' I stand by that advice," Culvahouse wrote.

Palin recalled her side of the vetting process in her book "Going Rogue."

Of Culvahouse's vetting, Palin wrote: "By the time his team of attorneys finished peppering me with questions, I decided that if a person had ever done a single dark and secret thing in their lives, Culvahouse's people would not only find out about it but get eyewitnesses, photos and blood samples."

"These guys knew stuff about me that I had long forgotten: They knew how I had voted on issues during my days on the city council. They reviewed copies of my tax returns. They had transcripts of sermons that visiting pastors had preached at a church I had not attended regularly since I was a teenager. And they were the ones who told [McCain campaign strategist Steve] Schmidt that Bristol was pregnant."

"I was impressed. I also thought, 'Good. They know exactly what they're getting.' "

By all accounts, candidates being vetted must divulge nearly every facet of their lives: surrendering tax returns, medical records, financial statements, court records, employment records, education records and enduring background checks and a thorough check of public statements and voting records.

Surviving the questionnaire and what Reed called the "deep dive" of information, potential vice presidents gain a reward: making it on the so-called "short list," where vetters ramp up their efforts to pull skeletons out of a candidate's closet.

"If you get near the end, you usually get down to what I call, 'Sex, drugs and rock and roll,'" Reed said. "Where it's usually a one-on-one conversation between the chief vetter and the potential candidate."

Reed said this could include "allegations of sexual relations, drug use, alcohol use, other medical conditions that may have been hinted at in medical records. You really have to drill down."

Lieberman recalled in his book the "exhaustive and demanding" vetting experience, led by former Clinton Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Gore's behalf.

"When Warren Christopher called to tell me I had made it to the short list and that they would soon have to start vetting me, he warned, 'Are you still willing to go forward with it, because it's not easy, and it can be a painful process, and there's no way I can reduce the pain?'"

"So I said, 'Chris [which is how he is known], you mean this is kind of like having a colonoscopy without anesthesia?'"

"Chris laughed and agreed," Lieberman wrote.

Eagleton in 1968 taught future candidates a lesson

Helping to guide Lieberman through the process was attorney Jonathan Sallet. Speaking to CNN, Sallet used a historical reference to stress the need for a careful vetting.

He discussed presidential candidate Sen. George McGovern's selection of Missouri Sen. Thomas Eagleton as his running mate in 1972. Eagleton withdrew just 18 days later after his treatment for mental illness and electroshock therapy became public.

"I think that was a lesson that people in both parties learned: that anything that could be considered important by voters needed to be considered important by vetters," Sallet said.

In past times, vice president picks were chosen at the political conventions. Only in recent years have running mates been chosen in a months-long, secret process that culminates in an announcement just before the convention.

Not all skeletons spell doom for consideration.

As Gore's campaign manager, Brazile was not involved in vetting Lieberman. But in her decades-long career in politics, she recalled a multitude of times she has vetted candidates for public office.

"In some cases" scandal can knock a candidate out of consideration, Brazile said.

"Remember, this is the first presidential decision that a presumptive nominee, like a Mitt Romney, will make, like an Al Gore will make," Brazile said. "So you want to get it right. You will be judged by this individual throughout the campaign."

Brazile added: "For a campaign, [damning information] can become an explosive part of a candidate's biography, especially when they're introducing themselves for the first time to the national media and to the public."

Reed echoed the sentiment.

If scandal does emerge, Reed said, "It depends on how severe it is."

"You keep that confidential. But you go back to the candidate and you discuss it," Reed added.

"Dole had a very explicit rule to me: Don't do anything to embarrass anybody," Reed said. "Which means, if you find out information, you don't leak it out to see how it gets vetted out in the court of public opinion."

In the final stretch, a potential running mate typically meets with the presidential candidate in a secret meeting.

Lieberman explained his private meeting with Gore.

"My turn came early one morning in late July, when I was smuggled into the U.S. Naval Observatory, the vice president's official residence, in the backseat of a van with darkened windows," Lieberman wrote. "Over breakfast, Gore said that this was awkward because we were friends, but he had to interview me."

"I told him not to worry. I knew how important this decision was, and he should feel comfortable asking whatever he wanted to know."

"He then proceeded to ask, in essence, 'Why should I pick you?' "

Read More

Obama speaks out on the economy, national security leaks

 

(

The United States will conduct "thorough investigations" into leaks of classfied information, President Barack Obama said Friday in his first public comments on the controversy since several members of Congress called for an independent counsel to investigate.

"The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive," Obama said. "It's wrong, and people ... need to have a better sense of how I approach this office and how people (around me) approach this office."
The controversy involves, among other things, last week's report in The New York Times that provided classified details of what it described as a U.S cyberattack targeting Iran's nuclear centrifuge program.
Some Republicans, led by Sen. John McCain of Arizona, alleged that the White House must be knowingly involved because of the nature of the leaked information. The White House rejects the accusations. The FBI and the U.S. attorney in Washington are investigating, federal lawmakers have told reporters.
Obama's comments in the White House press briefing room came after he made a statement on the economy, in which he called on Congress to pass all parts of his 2011 jobs plan to counter European economic troubles, which he says threatens a U.S. economic recovery (see below).
[Updated at 10:56 a.m. ET] President Barack Obama said Congress should adopt all parts of his jobs plan - which he introduced last year - to help counter economic "headwinds" from Europe that he says is holding back a U.S. economic recovery.
He said he appreciated the fact that Congress passed on part of his plan - a payroll tax cut extension. But he called for the passage of the other parts, including bills that would help people refinance their mortgages and give businesses tax breaks for hiring more workers.
Obama’s remarks come a week after a jobs report showed U.S. unemployment in May rose from 8.1% to 8.2%, and that only 69,000 jobs were added last month - the weakest growth in a year.
[Updated at 10:52 a.m. ET] The threat of further economic turmoil in Europe threatens the U.S. economy, President Barack Obama said Friday in urging European leaders to enact plans to stabilize their economies.
Obama said the good news is that European leaders know that "there is a path out of this challenge," including taking actions that would promote economic growth and job creation. He also urged Greece, which is facing a debt crisis, to remain in the euro zone.
Investors around the world have been concerned about Europe's financial difficulties, including fears that Spain, which is in recession, will need to be bailed out by other European nations, and uncertainties about whether Greece will be forced to drop the euro, according to CNNMoney. On Thursday, credit rating agency Fitch downgraded Spain's sovereign debt rating.
The decisions that are required to turn around Europe's finances "are tough, but Europe has the capacity to make them, and they have America’s support," Obama said.
If Europe as a whole goes into recession, that means fewer goods and services that the United States can sell to Europe, Obama said.
"And that is going to have some impact on our recovery," Obama said.
[Updated at 10:37 a.m. ET] U.S. President Barack Obama will deliver a statement about the economy Friday morning, the White House has said.
The president will talk about "the situation in Europe, which continues to pose headwinds to our recovery here at home," the White House said in a statement. The White House said he would begin speaking at about 10:15 a.m., but reporters still were waiting for him in the White House press briefing room at 10:35 a.m.
Obama will urge Congress to pass proposals "to put construction workers back to work upgrading our roads and bridges, teachers back in the classroom educating our kids and police and firefighters back on the job keeping our communities safe," according to the White House.
Obama’s remarks come a week after a jobs report showed U.S. unemployment in May rose from 8.1% to 8.2%, and that only 69,000 jobs were added last month - the weakest growth in a year.

Read More

Can Kim Kardashian conquer politics

(CNN) -- Don't print up the official stationary yet, but reality star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian has designs on political office. More specifically, she'd like to be the mayor of Glendale, California.

Kardashian shared her political aspirations in a bonus clip for her sister Khloe Kardashian Odom's E! show "Khloe & Lamar."

"I decided, I'm gonna run for the mayor of Glendale," Kim said as the sisters tooled around Dallas. "So I have to buy a house there."

The Kardashian candidacy is a long-term goal, Kim acknowledged, saying it's probably another five years down the road. The next Glendale municipal elections are slated for 2017.

Get Real! Kim Kardashian for mayor?

Kris on creating the Kardashian brand

"You have to have residency there ... so (assistant) Noelle (Keshishian) and I are like looking into all the requirements. ... She's going to help me with my campaign."

Kardashian's potential foray into politics comes after successfully parlaying her looks and business savvy into an empire estimated at $35 million. In addition to her reality shows, she has launched clothing and perfume lines. The socialite also endorses a number of other products, such as weight loss pills and tennis shoes.

Making the political bid attractive to Kardashian is Glendale's ethnic makeup. Many of the town's residents share her Armenian heritage.

"Kim has always looked for opportunities to grow and also do what she can to help and support the Armenian community," a statement from her representative said. "She's learning more about ways in which she can help to do her part to make a difference in the community."

Mayor Kim sounds good to a couple of the more influential members of the Los Angeles suburb.

"it's a great idea," Ara Najarian, a city councilmember and former Glendale mayor, told E! News. "I have offered her the position of honorary chief of staff to my office to help her get acquainted to Glendale."

Officially, Kardashian can't run for mayor, Najarian said. She would have to be elected to the city council and then selected to be mayor by the other councilmembers for a one-year term.

Reported by cnn.com

Read More

U.S. Guard wants to sink Japan Ship

The U.S. Coast Guard unleashed cannon fire Thursday at a Japanese vessel set adrift by last year's tsunami, stopping the ship's long, lonely voyage across the Pacific Ocean.

A Coast Guard cutter fired on the abandoned 164-foot Ryou-Un Maru in the waters of the Gulf of Alaska and more than 150 miles from land, spokesman Paul Webb said.
Soon after the 25 mm cannon fire started, the ship burst into flames, began to take on water and list, Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow said. A huge spiral of smoke could be seen over the gulf.
About two hours later, the vessel hadn't sunk and the cutter resumed shelling, Lt. Veronica Colbath said. This time, the Coast Guard used 50 mm shells.
The vessel poses a significant hazard and the Coast Guard has been warning mariners to stay away, Wadlow said. Aviation authorities are also advising pilots to steer clear of the area.
Officials decided to sink the ship rather than risk the chance of it running aground or endangering other vessels. The ship has no lights or communications system and has a tank that could carry more than 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
They don't know how much fuel, if any, is aboard. "It's less risky than it would be running into shore or running into (maritime) traffic," Webb said.

The ship had been destined for scrapping when the Japan earthquake struck, so there is no cargo on board, according to Webb. He said he doesn't know who owns the Ryou-Un Maru, which has been travelling about 1 mile per hour in the past days.
Earlier, Webb said the cutter was going to fire the cannons from several hundred feet away. The goal is to punch holes in the Ryou-Un Maru and sink it. A Coast Guard C-130 plane crew was monitoring the operation.
A Canadian fishing vessel, the 62-foot Bernice C, claimed salvage rights over the ghost ship. The Coast Guard stopped their plans to fire so the Canadian crew could have a chance to take the stricken ship.
A Canadian official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that the Bernice C was unable to tow the abandoned ship.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency studied the problem and decided it is safer to sink the ship and let the fuel evaporate in the open water.
The vessel has been adrift from Hokkaido, Japan, since it was launched by the tsunami caused by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck Japan in March 2011. About 5 million tons of debris were swept into the ocean by the tsunami.
The Japan earthquake triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis since the Chornobyl accident in 1986, but Alaska state health and environmental officials have said there's little need to be worried that debris landing on Alaska shores will be contaminated by radiation.
They have been working with federal counterparts to gauge the danger of debris including material affected by a damaged nuclear power plant, to see if Alaska residents, seafood or wild game could be affected.
In January, a half dozen large buoys suspected to be from Japanese oyster farms appeared at the top of Alaska's panhandle and may be among the first debris from the tsunami.
___
D'Oro reported from Anchorage, Alaska. Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

Read More

Christopher Carlson, Pleads Not Guilty

Christopher Carlson plead not guilty letters sent to Congress

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A Vancouver, Wash., man accused of sending threatening letters containing white powder to members of Congress pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges.
A federal grand jury in Portland indicted Carlson earlier this month on charges that he mailed threatening letters to Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.
The two counts arose from an investigation into the mailing of about 100 envelopes containing white powder. The U.S. attorney's office in Portland said the letters, postmarked in Portland, have tested negative for toxic substances.
The letters came to light in late February.
Recipients were told that there was a "10 percent chance you have just been exposed to a lethal pathogen."
The sender wanted an "end to corporate money and `lobbying,'" an end to corporate "personhood" and a new constitutional convention. The Associated Press obtained a copy of a letter.
The FBI focused on Carlson after a Vancouver police officer told the agency about a March 4 interview in which Carlson's wife reportedly told the officer about her husband's recent emotional turmoil.
Officer Leah Supriano was on patrol that day when a dispatcher reported concerns about possible domestic violence at the Carlson home. Supriano phoned Adrienne Carlson, who said her husband had verbally abused her and left. Then she gave the officer a statement about suspicions her husband had committed a crime.
"Adrienne told me that a few months ago, Chris had talked about sending letters to members of the Senate and the media to express his frustration with certain things," Supriano reported. "About two weeks ago, they were driving in Portland ... and when they passed a post office somewhere off Stark (Street), he pointed at the post office and told her that he was worried and wondered if they had surveillance cameras."

"Oh no, you didn't send those letters did you?" Adrienne Carlson said, according to the report.
Christopher Carlson acknowledged that he did, his wife reported.
The Oregonian has reported that Adrienne Carlson told the officer her husband said he'd laced the envelopes with a mixture of celery salt and corn starch.
Investigators have recovered dozens of letters addressed to U.S. senators and representatives. The Seattle office of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said it also received one of the letters.
Some letters were sent to Congress members' district offices.
The letters bore a return address from "The MIB." According to the Vancouver police report, Adrienne Carlson told the officer "MIB" meant "Man in Black." She added that her husband was planning to send a second round of letters that would contain lye, a highly corrosive chemical used to make soap and detergents.
The listed Portland return address didn't exist.
Vancouver police forwarded the woman's suspicions to the FBI, which investigated in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police.
Carlson's mother, Rose Hatch, and his stepfather, Bryce Hatch, described him as extremely bright, The Oregonian has reported. But they said he had a somewhat contemptuous view of politicians and was disappointed that President Barack Obama had not lived up to his high expectations.

Reported by HuffingtonPost.com

Read More

Lehman Brothers: The final chapter

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers moved into its final chapter Tuesday, but it will take years before the 161-year-old financial firm will close the book on its storied history.
Three and a half years after it filed for bankruptcy in New York, Lehman Brothers Holdings emerged from court protection Tuesday with a plan to redistribute roughly $65 billion to creditors before closing its doors for good.

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

• Print
• Comment

Those doors are housed on a few floors of the Time & Life building in midtown Manhattan, not far from the gleaming Times Square skyscraper that once housed about 9,000 of Lehman Brothers' estimated 25,000 employees.
Now, under the supervision of seven new directors, Lehman Brothers' litany of advisers, lawyers and ex-employees will remain busy. There's $10 billion in real estate, $9 billion in private equity investments, $3 billion in corporate loans and $2 billion in derivatives left to sell, as well as several multi-billion legal battles left to fight.
"We've been liquidating since the date of filing," said Steven Cohn, Lehman's treasurer in bankruptcy. "Our job was to marshal assets and we've gone from very little cash to managing about $30 billion in cash."

The 10 largest U.S. bankruptcies

The $65 billion Lehman plans to redistribute is but a fraction of the estimated $613 billion in debts held by the bank in 2008.
Not included in the $65 billion recovery estimate is any payout that could come from ongoing litigation that Lehman's fighting against JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) over that investment bank's alleged role in the bankruptcy.
Immediately after Lehman declared bankruptcy, Barclays (BCS) paid $1.3 billion for most of the firm's North American operations, its Times Square headquarters, and about 9,000 employees. Nomura Holdings (NMR) paid roughly $200 million for Lehman's operations in Asia.
About $10 billion of Lehman's current cash balance will be repaid to creditors in mid April, the first payout since Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 on Sept. 15, 2008.
The value of Lehman's estate could still change if real estate values recover or if the market continue to appreciate (or fall).
The Dow has jumped about 20% since Lehman filed. But it's been an expensive three and a half years in bankruptcy for the firm, with fees already topping $1.6 billion.
Although the real estate market has bounced back a bit, what Lehman paid for certain real estate investments still seems staggering. Lehman took a 50% stake in a $22 billion buyout of apartment operator Archstone-Smith in 2007 that's now valued at roughly $4 billion.

0:00 / 2:17 Is Wall St. stuck in political purgatory?

Archstone is among Lehman's largest real estate holdings, and the firm's estate is embroiled in a battle for control with investor Sam Zell. Lehman also holds a stake in southern California land developer SunCal.
Among the hedge funds that have been active buyers and could stand to profit are Elliott Management, King Street, Fir Tree, Och-Ziff, Avenue Capital, Paulson & Co. and Baupost Capital, according to court filings.
Lehman's former executives have repeatedly called the defunct bank the scapegoat of the financial crisis after it failed, while its competitors were bailed out by the U.S. taxpayers.
Whatever Lehman is or was, the tumultuous, ultimately fatally troubled firm has only a finite time left with billions to sell and miles to go before it sleeps.

Read More

Obama cuts refinance costs for some mortgages

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Borrowers with some federally insured mortgages will be able to refinance into lower interest rate loans more easily and cheaply under a plan unveiled Tuesday by the Obama administration.
At a news conference, President Obama announced that the Federal Housing Administration will cut upfront fees for refinanced loans it already insures.
The new fees are for borrowers whose FHA loans were issued before June 1, 2009. An estimated 2 to 3 million borrowers could take advantage of the savings, which could reduce mortgage payments for the typical FHA borrower by about a thousand dollars a year, according to the administration.
"It's like another tax cut in people's pockets," said President Obama.
Borrowers who refinance their existing FHA loans will pay an upfront insurance premium equal to 0.1%, the lowest allowable rate, of the mortgage amount -- $100 for a $100,000 loan -- plus an annual fee of 0.55%.
The new refinancing fees contrast sharply with the cost of obtaining a FHA loan, according to Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with the Washington Research Group. A borrower making a 3.5% down payment on a home purchase as of April 1 will pay a 1.75% upfront fee and a 1.25% annual fee. Those purchase fees were raised barely a week ago to improve the FHA's capital reserve.

Has Obama's housing policy failed?

Still, lowering refinancing fees "should be broadly positive for housing and the economy by reducing foreclosures and freeing up income for consumers to spend on other goods and services," Seiberg said.
The new policy will also make it easier for the banks to refinance loans because it directs the FHA not to count the loans toward the lender's "compare ratio." That calculates the performance of loans issued by the lenders and compares it to the performance of other lenders.
Some lenders have not wanted to refinance FHA loans because many of them were made during years of high default rates, according to Seiberg.
Knowing that the FHA will not hold refinanced loans against them should they fail to perform could make lenders more willing to refinance loans for borrowers at a higher credit risk, according to Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

0:00 / 1:35 Ohio's economy by the numbers

"They have not been accepting credit scores below a certain point," he said. "Now, they may."
The fee reduction is the latest in a long line of administration initiatives intended to jump-start the housing market and, by extension, the economy.
The latest move can be thought of as an extension of the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP. That program enables borrowers with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae (FNMA, Fortune 500) or Freddie Mac (FRE) to refinance even when they owe far more than their homes are worth. By reducing mortgage payments, both HARP and the new FHA fees free up money that could now be spent on other things like consumer goods.

Help for service members

In addition to the new refinancing fees, President Obama also announced steps to provide relief to service members who were wrongfully foreclosed on or suffered financial during the housing meltdown. As part of the plan, mortgage lenders and servicers will be required to review the case of every service member who was foreclosed on since 2006.
Any member of the military who wrongfully lost their home to foreclosure during that period will be repaid for their lost equity, plus interest. They will also receive a flat fee of $116,785.
Arrived at in negotiations with the five major servicers, that payout represents compensation for economic loss and emotional distress, said Tom Perez, U.S. assistant attorney general in the civil rights division. "I want to emphasize that it's a floor, not a ceiling and that overall compensation may be higher," he said.
According to Shaun Donovan, the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, there's no way to accurately forecast how many service members would be eligible for relief under this part of the settlement. However, he said a similar agreement with just one of the servicers, Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), yielded 157 cases in which compensation was paid out.
"I'm anticipating that there could be thousands of potential victims," he said
Service members who were denied the opportunity to refinance at the 6% interest rate required under the Relief Act will also be refunded anything they were charged over the 6% rate, plus interest.
In addition, military members who bought their homes between July 1, 2006 and December 31, 2008 and were forced to sell them at a loss due to a permanent change in station may be compensated for the loss in their home's value.

Reported by: cnn.com

Read More

The Super Tuesday Ohio economy

Unemployment rate: 7.9%

2010 GDP: $426 billion

Median household income: $46,093

Of the 10 Super Tuesday states, Ohio accounts for the most electoral votes.

Who wins them in the general election could rely heavily on candidates' views on manufacturing -- the cornerstone of the state's economy.

After slumping in the recession, the sector has recently seen some improvement.

But unemployment remains high across the state. Even manufacturing jobs aren't likely to get back to pre-recession levels. New technology and productivity increases have diminished the need for workers.

Read More

Obama, CEOs to talk about jobs

 
By Jennifer Liberto@CNNMoney


WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- Job creation was expected to be the topic at a closed-door meeting Tuesday night between President Obama and a lobbying group made up of CEOs whose ideas often clash with the administration's.
The Business Roundtable is a group made up of the top leaders of the largest U.S. companies. Chaired by W. James McNerney, Jr., of the Boeing Company (BA, Fortune 500), the group has opposed Obama initiatives ranging from clean air rules to health care reform to Wall Street reform.
Over the past year, Obama has increasingly turned to Big Business to talk about jobs. He regularly meets with a jobs panel chaired by Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric Co (GE, Fortune 500)., that includes leaders from the manufacturing and tech industries.
Tuesday's meeting will be Obama's third with the Business Roundtable and comes on the eve of the group's release of list of ideas to spur more job growth and a healthier economy.
"The meeting should produce a valuable and vigorous discussion about the U.S. economy and jobs," said Business Roundtable President John Engler in a statement.
A review of a year's worth of the group's reports on job creation reveals a glimpse of possible topic matter.
The group will likely press the president to reconsider regulations it considers unnecessary or costly. In the past, it has asked the administration to analyze the costs and benefits of major rules from all agencies, and to toss those believed to be too costly.

Health care reform isn't a job killer - yet

One example is the so-called Volcker rule, a part of the Wall Street reform measure. Named for former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, the rule aims to crack down on so-called proprietary trading, bets that big banks can make for their own accounts.
The Business Roundtable is among several business groups that oppose the Volcker rule, saying it has "far-reaching negative consequences that will impede our ability to raise capital and manage risk."
The lobbying group could also tell the president he can fast-track jobs by approving more leases for offshore oil and natural gas drilling.
And the CEOs might ask the president to get out of the way of Keystone XL pipeline project that would boost the flow of crude from the oil sands of Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Business Roundtable has called that project "key to U.S. job creation, economic growth and energy security," and opposes the administration's move to halt progress while the proposal is reviewed.
The CEOs also could talk to the president about the administration's plan to guide the debate on corporate income tax reform. While the group wants a lower rate for corporate income taxes, it doesn't like efforts to capture more tax dollars from companies' overseas operations.
"The White House calculation took into account only a small portion of taxes paid by worldwide American companies, and made other unstated assumptions that minimized the true tax burden faced by these companies," according to the group.
There are a few instances when the Business Roundtable has agreed with the Obama administration. Both the group and the president have been pushing for expanded trade opportunities for U.S. businesses.
Last September, the group also applauded the administration's controversial decision to back off a draft rule to toughen rules on air polluters.

Reported by: cnn.com

Read More

'Ouija' movie moves toward 2013 release

A concept that was once considered dead weight has been revived over at Universal Pictures: The studio is back at work on a movie centered around the Ouija board game, reports Deadline.

The project reportedly had an original budget of more than $100 million, which is said to have been slashed down to $5 million. McG was attached to direct the high-budget version, but the lower-cost concept doesn't have a director yet. Michael Bay still serves as one of the producers, and Universal has tapped Jason Blum to produce the project as well.
Blum, of Blumhouse Productions, is also behind the successful "Paranormal Activity" movies, which easily recoup their tight budgets at the box office.
Plot details are light, but considering it's centered on the Ouija board, we can only guess that it would involve the supernatural.

Reported by: cnn.com

Read More

Jennifer Lopez's stylist: What nip slip?

We remember Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz showing off their (clothed) backsides while presenting at the Oscars on Sunday, but to hear the Internet tell it, Lopez also showed us a bit more than that.

The actress/singer/"Idol" judge looked stunning in a form-fitting Zuhair Murad gown with a cleavage-baring neckline. But some have said that at one point, it looked like one of her cups was running over, giving viewers at home a glimpse of a nip slip.
And yet, according to Lopez's stylist Mariel Haenn, those who saw it must've been imagining things.

Haenn's tweeted that the 42-year-old's gown was custom-made to avoid slippage or spillage of any kind. "The dress fit perfectly to her every inch. There were cups built in ...and in NO chance that there were any, how do you say?... 'slips,'" Haenn wrote.
She added in a statement to People magazine, "While the dress did give the illusion of sheer-ness, joke's on everyone who wishes they saw something!"
That hasn't stopped someone from setting up a Twitter account for a particular part of Lopez's anatomy.

Reported by: cnn.com

Read More

Before she was Gaga: The unseen photos

By Breeanna Hare, CNN

(CNN) -- We've come to know her as Lady Gaga, but before the world tours, "The Fame" or even the dress made of meat, photographer Malgorzata Saniewska knew her simply as her restaurant co-worker, Stefani Germanotta.
In the summer of 2005, Saniewska, who goes by Maggie, happened to be tending bar at the same West Village restaurant where the 19-year-old soon-to-be star worked as a waitress.
Just 24 at the time, Saniewska had moved from her native Poland to the United States two years prior with dreams of becoming a photographer.
But to support herself, "I started working as a bartender," she recalled. "It was definitely a money thing. I did want to go to school, but I didn't do research on photography, my focus was to make better money."
Keeping an eye on her bank account is what drove Saniewska to study accounting, leaving photography to become an amateur pursuit for a while.
She went from taking landscape photos of New York City to setting up her own shoots, with Gaga being among some of her first ones.
"We were colleagues, we didn't hang out really heavily, but she's the nicest girl ever. ... She's down-to-earth," Saniewska said. "At that time, she gave me a CD of her first single, and I listened to it and I was really impressed. And she's a beautiful girl. Based on her looks and her personality I thought (a photo shoot) would be great fun."
CNN Photos: See Malgorzata Saniewska's exclusive and unseen photos of Lady Gaga
Back then, Gaga "played piano and sang. This 19-year-old girl, she was really talented. She didn't talk about it a lot, (but) she did say that she studied music. ... I cannot even explain to you what she sounds like with just a piano, then or now," Saniewska said. "I offered her the photo shoot, and she said yes right away."
Gaga had the perfect location in mind: Her parents' place on the Upper East Side. (CNN has reached out to Lady Gaga's rep for comment.)
The two young women hopped on a train and headed over there, and set to work creating what Saniewska says became Lady Gaga's first photo shoot, although Saniewska didn't know that at the time.
"The house was empty, it was just the two of us," Saniewska said. "I knew she was a singer, so our focus was her and her very first piano. We just hung out in her parents' living room, and the piano was right by the window."
"She's a good model, obviously," Saniewska added with a laugh.
Armed with just her first point-and-shoot camera, Saniewska let the intimate shoot unfold organically.
"We had no plan."
"We basically walked into her house, she did hair and makeup, picked out the clothes and we started," she recalled. The lighting was natural: "No strobe lights, nothing special, no tripods," she said. "It was hand-held."
Saniewska, who's never been formally trained, said she shot around 200 photos that day. After culling through the resulting images, choosing the photos with the best natural lighting, she presented Gaga with a CD of the pictures. The burgeoning singer was happy with them, and used some of the art for her own promotional materials.
Of course, there's no way Saniewska could have known that the young woman she photographed on a summer day in 2005 would become the international superstar she is today. As a matter of fact, Saniewska says that at first, when she saw her as Lady Gaga, she didn't recognize her, having been accustomed to her as a long-haired brunette waitress.
Even as Gaga's fame continued to grow, Saniewska kept those early photos to herself "out of respect," she said, particularly because she wasn't in touch with her.
And then, she just so happened to bump into her old colleague in 2010.
"I actually ran into her in the East Village, and she came up to me. She was already Lady Gaga, and we spoke a little, and she leaned on me, and she said in my ear, 'Did you know that this was my first photo shoot?' I had no idea," Saniewska said. "She was really excited. From that moment on I figured I could do something about it. And she's OK with it."
Saniewska hopes that those viewing the photos will get to see another side of Gaga, a peek at who the star was before the world knew her name.
But even with all the fame, to Saniewska, she's "still the same girl. The fact that we ran into each other and she came up to me - she didn't say 'Hi' and run off. She stood there for 15 minutes, just chatting. She remembered my name, she remembered who I was, and she had so much to say. She's still the same person to me."

Reported by cnn.com

Read More