Sunday, June 30, 2013

Mandela: A hard act to follow for South Africans

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? In November, just before Nelson Mandela's health began a long downward spiral, the leader of a project to build a children's hospital named after the former president briefed him on efforts to raise construction funds. Mandela, 94 years old and infirm, was exasperated by the delays. Then the reflexes of the world statesman took over.

"Well, get me a few business people. Sit them around my table here and I'll tell them why this is important," Mandela said, according to Sibongile Mkhabela, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital Trust. The fundraiser didn't happen, but the remark was a poignant hint of the Mandela of old, the charismatic leader who, as Mkhabela put it, "knew how to make people believe in things that were not there yet."

Today Mandela is critically ill in a Pretoria hospital, seemingly close to the end of his life. As the day approaches, whenever it comes, many South Africans are caught in an emotional reckoning. They celebrate this father figure, whose jail-time sacrifice and peacemaking role in the transition from apartheid to democracy resonated worldwide, but they face the hard road of trying to emulate his example and implement his legacy after he is gone.

"There's a part of Mandela in each of us," said Anthony Prangley, a lecturer at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, a University of Pretoria business school whose campus is in Johannesburg.

"It's important to keep that in mind because we can start to see him as someone who is not accessible, or infallible," Prangley said. "In doing so, we miss the potential to learn from his leadership."

Mandela's achievements were historic even though he admitted imperfection and sought to share credit with others. That humility left a deep impression on many who met him.

The anti-apartheid leader spent 27 years in jail, but was seemingly free of rancor on his release in 1990, steering South Africa through a delicate transition to all-race elections that propelled him to the presidency four years later. The outpouring of support for the ailing Mandela, who was taken to the hospital on June 8 for what the government said was a lung infection, attests to his ability to connect and inspire in his country, even if it is struggling to live up to his soaring vision, and around the world.

"If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages," President Obama said in Senegal before arriving in South Africa on Friday as part of an Africa tour. Obama is to meet with Mandela's relatives Saturday, though he has said he will not visit the hospital where Mandela is receiving treatment.

The United Nations has recognized July 18, Mandela's birthday, as an international day to honor themes of activism, democracy and responsibility embodied by the former leader. Organizers of events in his honor suggest participants spend 67 minutes engaged in acts of goodness on that day ? 67 corresponds to the number of years Mandela is said to have spent in public service.

"It's possible for our societies to have 'Mandelas' so long as we don't take away from ourselves the responsibilities to learn, to be better, to aspire to something bigger," said Mkhabela, the CEO. She said she worried when people put Mandela on "such a high pedestal," setting aside the need to follow his humanitarian values.

"This just sounds like another way of saying: 'We don't want to be responsible, we feel and fear in us there is a 'Mandela' that could be unleashed. It's too big a responsibility, too big a challenge,'" she said.

The business world has taken note of Mandela as a role model. He ranked fourth on a list of admired leaders, according to a global survey late last year of 1,330 chief executive officers in 68 countries. Winston Churchill, Steve Jobs and Mahatma Gandhi led the field in the survey, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The survey said many CEOs "chose leaders who were persistent in the face of adversity ? as well as transformational leaders and leaders who did the 'right thing.'"

Prangley, the business school lecturer, said a great leader doesn't just inspire and have many followers, but also reaches out to other constituencies. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., he said, became more effective by winning over white Americans, and Mahatma Gandhi sought to unite Muslims and Hindus, even though India was partitioned. President Obama energized crowds early on but now struggles to rally people when things sour, according to Prangley, who praised Mandela's political skill.

"He understands when to push and when to bring other people to the table," he said of Mandela's skill in balancing firmness and compromise.

Prangley said he met Mandela as a student volunteer in Mozambique in the late 1990s, recalling how the former president told him and his young colleagues that it was a "wizened" group of older leaders who had led the negotiations that ended apartheid.

"In South African society, it was the older generation who began to compromise and brought change," Prangley said. "It was a message to us, as young people at that time, to kind of learn from that experience."

Mandela, though, was hardly a stuffy patriarch. He had cross-generational appeal. He wore colorful, patterned shirts when president and was known for warmth and attention to personal detail despite a somewhat regal, even stiff bearing.

Those who have worked with Mandela, a philanthropist who joined the fight against the AIDS epidemic in South Africa and other humanitarian causes, often share what they learned with colorful anecdotes about the former president, also known by his clan name, Madiba. Achmat Dangor, the former head of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, a Johannesburg-based foundation, picked up tips about the stubborn art of fundraising.

"I've been on occasions with heads of state and certain great persons somewhere who made a pledge, and Madiba called me and said, 'You sit here until they give you something in writing, you don't leave,'" Dangor told a foundation audience in May. "'Thank you, Prime Minister. Your Excellency, thank you.' And yes, I didn't leave without a note. A million pounds came a couple of years later, but it came."

Mandela also stressed the importance of getting opposing sides to speak to each other, said Dangor, who described how he and a colleague once approached Mandela to discuss dialogue initiatives.

Dangor recalled: "He listened very carefully and then he said, 'Listen I want to tell you something. You know, when you get people together who agree with each other, and they're friends, that's not dialogue. That's a chat. Bring together those who disagree with each other.'"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mandela-hard-act-south-africans-092813717.html

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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Obama jabs Russia, China on failure to extradite Snowden

By Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal

DAKAR (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would not start "wheeling and dealing" with China and Russia over a U.S. request to extradite former American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Obama, who appeared concerned that the case would overshadow his three-country tour of Africa begun in Senegal, also dismissed suggestions that the United States might try to intercept Snowden if he were allowed to leave Moscow by air.

"No, I'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker," he told a news conference in Dakar, a note of disdain in his voice. Snowden turned 30 last week.

Obama said regular legal channels should suffice to handle the U.S. request that Snowden, who left Hong Kong for Moscow, be returned to the United States.

He said he had not yet spoken to China's President Xi Jinping or Russian President Vladimir Putin about the issue.

"I have not called President Xi personally or President Putin personally and the reason is ... number one, I shouldn't have to," Obama said sharply.

"Number two, we've got a whole lot of business that we do with China and Russia, and I'm not going to have one case of a suspect who we're trying to extradite suddenly being elevated to the point where I've got to start doing wheeling and dealing and trading on a whole host of other issues."

Snowden fled the United States to Hong Kong in May, a few weeks before publication in the Guardian and the Washington Post of details he provided about secret U.S. government surveillance of Internet and phone traffic.

The American, who faces espionage charges in the United States and has requested political asylum in Ecuador, has not been seen since his arrival in Moscow on Sunday. Russian officials said he was in a transit area at Sheremetyevo airport.

A Russian immigration source close to the matter said Snowden had not sought a Russian visa and there was no order from the Russian Foreign Ministry or Putin to grant him one.

CHARGES OF U.S. HYPOCRISY

Snowden's case has raised tensions between the United States and both China and Russia. On Thursday, Beijing accused Washington of hypocrisy over cyber security.

Obama's remarks in Senegal seemed calibrated to exert pressure without leading to lasting damage in ties with either country.

"The more the administration can play it down, the more latitude they'll have in the diplomatic arena to work out a deal for him (Snowden)," said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

Obama indicated that damage to U.S. interests was largely limited to revelations from Snowden's initial leak.

"I continue to be concerned about the other documents that he may have," Obama said. "That's part of the reason why we'd like to have Mr. Snowden in custody."

Still, Snowden's disclosures of widespread eavesdropping by the U.S. National Security Agency in China and Hong Kong have given Beijing considerable ammunition in an area that has been a major irritant between the countries.

China's defense ministry called the U.S. government surveillance program, known as Prism, "hypocritical behavior."

"This 'double standard' approach is not conducive to peace and security in cyber space," the state news agency Xinhua reported, quoting ministry spokesman Yang Yujun.

In Washington, the top U.S. military officer dismissed comparisons of Chinese and American snooping in cyber space.

"All nations on the face of the planet always conduct intelligence operations in all domains," Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told an audience at the Brookings Institution.

"China's particular niche in cyber has been theft and intellectual property." Dempsey said. "Their view is that there are no rules of the road in cyber, there's nothing, there's no laws they are breaking, there's no standards of behavior."

In Ecuador, the leftist government of President Rafael Correa said it was waiving preferential rights under a U.S. trade agreement to demonstrate what it saw as its principled stand on Snowden's asylum request.

Correa told reporters Snowden's situation was "complicated" because he has not been able to reach Ecuadorean territory to begin processing the asylum request.

"In order to do so, he must have permission of another country, which has not yet happened," Correa said.

In a deliberately provocative touch, Correa's government also offered a multimillion dollar donation for human rights training in the United States.

The U.S. State Department warned of "grave difficulties" for U.S.-Ecuador relations if the Andean country were to grant Snowden asylum, but gave no specifics.

"USEFUL" CONVERSATIONS

Obama said the United States expected all countries that were considering asylum requests for the former contractor to follow international law.

The White House said last week that Hong Kong's decision to let Snowden leave would hurt U.S.-China relations. Its rhetoric on Russia has been somewhat less harsh.

Putin has rejected U.S. calls to expel Snowden to the United States and said the American should choose his destination and leave the Moscow airport as soon as possible.

Obama acknowledged that the United States did not have an extradition treaty with Russia, but said such a treaty was not necessary to resolve all of the issues involved.

He characterized conversations between Washington and Moscow as "useful."

Washington is focused on how Snowden, a former systems administrator for the contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, gained access to National Security Agency secrets while working at a facility in Hawaii.

NSA Director Keith Alexander on Thursday offered a more detailed breakdown of 54 schemes by militants that he said were disrupted by phone and internet surveillance, even as the Guardian newspaper reported evidence of more extensive spying.

In a speech in Baltimore, Alexander said a list of cases turned over recently to the U.S. Congress included 42 that involved disrupted plots and 12 in which surveillance targets provided material support to terrorism.

The Guardian reported that the NSA for years collected masses of raw data on the email and Internet traffic of U.S. citizens and residents, citing a top-secret draft report on the program prepared by NSA's inspector general.

(Additional reporting by Brian Ellsworth and Alexandra Valencia in Quito, Lidia Kelly and Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Sui-Lee Wee in Beijing, Deborah Charles in Baltimore and Steve Holland, Laura MacInnis and Mark Hosenball in Washington; Writing by Jeff Mason and Christopher Wilson; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-jabs-russia-china-failure-extradite-snowden-073536769.html

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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Samsung Galaxy S4 with LTE-Advanced leaks out in red and blue

Samsung Galaxy S4 with LTEAdvanced leaks out in full

Variants -- Samsung's clearly a fan of them. Need solid evidence of that? Just look to the company's recent London event where a slew of Galaxy S4 products, like the Active, the Mini and the Zoom were officially introduced. But there's one more GS4 on the way and, as Samsung head JK Shin previously confirmed, it's going to be the 'world's first' to run on the ridiculously high-speed LTE-Advanced. Well, it appears that handset (purported to bear a Snapdragon 800) is close to final production, as Korean site Naver.com has allegedly obtained two glossy units offered in two gaudy hues: crimson red and cobalt blue. Though these could turn out to be masterful fakes, everything from the faux wood grain on the paper packaging, to the logo-ridden protective screen cover to the cross-hatched back emblazoned with the LTE-Advanced logo seem to be the real deal. When and where we'll actually see this GS4 LTE-A officially launched is another matter. But if you're in the mood for a very comprehensive photo tour of the two devices in question, hit up the source below.

[Thanks, Felipe]

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Source: Naver.com (Translated)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Hf5BBsfb27U/

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Monday, June 24, 2013

Acer Aspire P3 review: a nice enough tablet, but wait for the refresh

Acer Aspire P3 review: a nice enough tablet, but wait for the refresh

Back when Windows 8 first launched, the Acer Iconia W700 quickly became one of our favorite laptop / tablet hybrids. There were two reasons for that, really: the price was right, and the battery lasted longer than pretty much any other Win 8 device we'd tested. The thing is, it was more of a business device than something we'd recommend to the average consumer. After all, it came with a heavy, desk-bound docking station, with the carrying case and included keyboard as standalone pieces. That's quite a lot to carry if you ever feel like taking it on the road.

That's where the Acer Aspire P3 comes in. Don't worry, the W700 is still alive and kicking, but for people who've been looking for something more portable, this could be the one you want. Like the W700, the P3 starts at a reasonable price ($800) and has the guts of an Ivy Bridge laptop, including a Core i5 processor, Intel HD 4000 graphics, 4GB of RAM and a 120GB SSD. The difference is that rather than a clunky cradle, it comes with a carrying case that doubles as a keyboard; just prop the tablet up into a ready-made slot when you feel like watching movies or answering email. Yep, kind of like the Surface Pro, except there's no built-in kickstand and the keyboard is actually included. So is it a good deal at that price? Let's find out.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/ny-H1camXs8/

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Pelosi's defense of civilian surveillance programs draws boos from liberal fans in Calif. (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/314690115?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Okay, Yeah The Surface Of Venus Looks Really Hot

Okay, Yeah The Surface Of Venus Looks Really Hot

It's kind of hard to scope things out on Venus because the surface probes we send get obliterated pretty quickly by the heat. Pictures of Venus' surface do exist, though, and this one shows "large circular domes" that look pretty darn hot. The domes are thought to be magma erupting through vents, in a process that happens on Earth too, called volcanism. Get it? Volcanoes? Get it? Okay. Moving on.

The Magellan spacecraft circled Venus from 1990 to 1994 and used radar to map its surface. The picture above is computer generated based on those data. To get a sense of scale, the circular domes on Venus are estimated to be about 15.5 miles across, so we're not talking about some little magma bubble here. How long until Earth is just as inhospitable? [APOD]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/okay-yeah-the-surface-of-venus-looks-really-hot-548934139

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PFT: NFL names award after Deacon Jones

LeBronGetty Images

The Dolphins gritted their teeth and celebrated the success of the local NBA franchise that makes the local NFL franchise even less relevant locally.? And nationally.

There will be more cops at Bills games this year.? (Fans would prefer more points.)

The University of Florida connection isn?t working out for the Patriots.

Get to know Jets S Josh Bush.

Browns S T.J. Ward likes Ray Horton?s aggressive style; ?It?s an attack style, all downhill. We?re really getting after the guys. That?s what I?m most excited about,? Ward said, proving that the point can be conveyed without using terms like ?kill? or ?hurt? or ?inflict mild bruising.?

The Ravens last 2013 draft pick, CB Marc Anthony, hopes to win a job with ?physicality and versatility.?

Former Steelers K Jeff Reed did a little bragging recently about his ownership of two Super Bowl rings.

Bengals single-game tickets go on sale June 29; pre-registration was required for visits from the Steelers and the Packers.

Texans WR Andre Johnson and S Ed Reed made it to the teens on NFL Network?s Top 100 countdown.

Colts DL Ricky Jean Francois still gets advice from Donald Heaven, who played OT at Florida State when Jean Francois arrived in 2002.

Titans G Chance Warmack is trying to stay positive as he makes the transition from college to the NFL.

The enhancements to the Jaguars stadium will start after the 2013 season and are expected to be ready by the start of the 2014 season.

Chargers FB Le?Ron McClain is holding a free football camp for kids in Alabama on Saturday.

Ditto for Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles, who started his fourth annual free camp for 175 kids on Friday in Texas.

Whatever Broncos WR Wes Welker got paid this week to talk repeatedly about his hair plugs, it wasn?t nearly enough.

When news broke that actor James Gandolfini has passed, some fans thought Raiders assistant Tony Sparano had died.

Cowboys QB Tony Romo didn?t earn a spot on NFLN?s Top 100 list, after coming in at No. 91 in 2012 and No. 72 in 2011.

The Associated Press style book would seem to suggest that any publication adhering to it should not use the term Redskins.

A New Jersey accountant who allegedly scammed the state out of nearly $700,000 in false unemployment claims used the money to buy, among other things, Giants season tickets.

Kyle Shurmur, the son of Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, is 6-4 and slated to play quarterback for La Salle High School.

The Packers have reduced from nine night training-camp practices in 2012 to zero in 2013.

Retired Bears LB Brian Urlacher is playing a lot of golf; ?The first thing on my mind when I wake up isn?t working out anymore,? Urlacher said.? ?So that?s a good thing.?

Vikings CB Xavier Rhodes arrived at Florida State as a receiver, and when he was moved to defense he initially wanted to transfer.

LB Jon Morgan is trying to win a spot on the Lions roster as an undrafted free agent.

Saints WE Marques Colston is hosting a receivers camp on Saturday for kids 10 to 18 years old.

50 sacks may be a bit unrealistic, but Panthers LB Greg Hardy could be in for a big year.

A 150-year-old church in Atlanta wants $24.5 million to move from the footprint of the Change Purse; the city has offered $15.5 million.

The Buccaneers? ?Rookie Club? spent time this week with local kids in Tampa.

So how can players like 49ers WR Michael Crabtree recover so quickly from a torn Achilles tendon?

Cardinals running backs coach Stump Mitchell is helping rookie RB Stepfan Taylor catch up after missing the offseason program due to the ridiculous, outdated, and unfair rule that prevents first-year players from working until the students at the college the players no longer attend have taken their final exams.

Seahawks DE Michael Bennett told the Real Rob Report that he?s never seen a pace like the one at Seahawks practices.

35 first-year Rams stuck around for ?Rookie Week,? an up-close introduction to St. Louis.? (Which for most of them will be completely irrelevant by September.)

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/22/nfl-will-present-deacon-jones-award-to-sacks-leader/related/

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First set of District Sports Festival kicks off | Dominica News Online

dno sportsThe Sports Division will host the first set of the 2013 village-based District Sports Festivals on Sunday, June 23rd from 12 Noon at three venues on island.

The villages of the South East are expected to converge at the Fond Tomah Playing Field in Delices where competition is expected to take place in cricket, football, rounders, volleyball, basketball, netball and track.

Whilst at the Benjamin?s Park in Portsmouth, the communities in the North will participate in the Northern District Sports Festival.

The communities of the West will meet at the St. Joseph Playing Field to compete in the field events i.e. cricket, football, rounders and track; the court events will take place the following Sunday (30th June) at the St. Joseph hard court.

The District Sports Festival is part of the Sports Division?s community sports programme and is an initiative which seeks to introduce or reactive sports committees, encourage recreation for fun and laughter and to encourage cross generational physical activities.

It is hoped that these festivals will once more heighten the interest of sports participation at the community level which will result in greater national participation.

The top village in each district will meet in the grand final later in the year where the coveted award of ?Best Sporting Village of the Year? will be up for grabs.

The Sports Division encourages villagers to contact their sports committees or sports officers if they are interested in representing their communities in any of the sporting disciplines.

Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.

Source: http://dominicanewsonline.com/news/homepage/news/sports/first-set-of-district-sports-festival-kicks-off/

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

Hong Kong silent on Snowden's fate after U.S. files charges

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong authorities were silent on Saturday on the fate of a former U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor ahead of an expected extradition request by the United States where he has been charged with spying.

But a Hong Kong newspaper said he was under police protection.

Edward Snowden was charged with theft of U.S. government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person, according to the criminal complaint, dated June 14 and made public on Friday.

Two U.S. sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was preparing to seek Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong, which is part of China but has wide-ranging autonomy, including an independent judiciary.

Documents leaked by Snowden and revealed by him in Hong Kong showed that the NSA had access to vast amounts of Internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies such as Facebook and Google, under a government program known as Prism.

The Washington Post said the United States had asked Hong Kong to detain Snowden on a provisional arrest warrant.

Hong Kong Police Commissioner Andy Tsang declined to give details but said Hong Kong would deal with the case in accordance with the law.

"The laws that are enforced in Hong Kong are Hong Kong laws, not foreign laws," he told reporters.

The Apple Daily newspaper said police had provided Snowden with a safe house and protection. Police had checked his documents to make sure he hadn't overstayed but didn't talk to him on other matters or take any statement, the paper said, citing police sources.

The U.S. Consulate referred inquiries to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington.

The United States and Hong Kong signed an extradition treaty which came into effect in 1998, a year after Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule.

While espionage and theft of state secrets are not cited specifically, equivalent charges could be pressed against Snowden under Hong Kong's Official Secrets Ordinance, legal experts say.

Snowden, however, could claim political asylum. Under article six of the treaty, extradition should be refused for "an offence of a political character".

Legal sources in Hong Kong say Snowden has already approached prominent human rights lawyers in preparation for a protracted extradition battle.

If Hong Kong authorities don't charge him with an equivalent criminal act, authorities cannot arrest or take legal action. He was also theoretically free to leave the city, one legal expert said.

Simon Young, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said a formal extradition request would likely be made through diplomatic channels to Hong Kong's chief executive, who must decide whether or not to issue an "authority to proceed".

A magistrate would then issue a warrant for the arrest and then decide whether there was sufficient evidence to commit Snowden to trial.

While China has veto power over extradition proceedings if its "defense or foreign affairs would be significantly affected", this power has rarely been invoked by Beijing for previous cases involving non-Chinese nationals.

"If he requested asylum, then from a humanitarian standpoint, we should protect him," said 60-year-old resident Elli Fan near a street-side banner saying "Protect Snowden. Protect Freedom."

An Icelandic businessman linked to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said on Thursday he had readied a private plane in China to fly Snowden to Iceland if Iceland's government would grant asylum.

(Additional reporting by Grace Li and Venus Wu; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-silent-snowdens-fate-u-files-charges-041830621.html

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Carl's Jr. Jenny McCarthy Ad Features Salad With A Side Of Cleavage (VIDEO)

  • COUSINS

    Yes, they share the last name, but with McCarthy a fairly common surname it still came as a surprise when former Playboy Playmate <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/true_false_new_emmy_winner_melissa/264653#ixzz1YQVm3lpL" target="_hplink">Jenny tweeted</a> at the hilarious "Bridesmaids" star: "Congrats to my cousin melissa mccarthy on her Emmy win!!" Apparently the funny bone runs in this family: Jenny was previously with comedian Jim Carrey for five years. <br> (Getty)

  • COUSINS

    Tom Cruise and cousin William Mapother not only share a last name -- Cruise was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV -- but also even kind of look a like. The TV actor ("Lost," "The Mentalist") <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0544611/bio" target="_hplink">has said</a> about his famous "Mission Impossible" first cousin: "I never really worried about it. As I've amassed a body of work, the questions about Tom have gone away. I figured that if I did good work, I'd be seen for what I am." <br> (Getty)

  • AUNT AND NIECE

    Emma Roberts is the daughter of actor Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts.

  • MOTHER AND DAUGHTER

    Kate Hudson began calling Kurt Russell, "dad," soon after he began dating her mother, Goldie Hawn, in 1983.

  • BROTHERS

    If you squint your eyes, Dave Franco ("21 Jump Street") could almost pass for his more famous older brother James. With cleaner hair. <br> (Getty)

  • COUSINS

    By now, we all know that actress Kyra Sedgwick was the cousin once removed of Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol's muse and Factory girl who met a tragic early death at age 28. The Sedgwicks came from a long line of distinguished people, including Judge Theodore Sedgwick and Ellery Sedgwick, owner and editor of The Atlantic Monthly. <br> (Getty)

  • BROTHERS IN LAW

    Jake Gyllenhaal pals around with a number of his co-stars, but he's extra friendly with fellow actor Peter Sarsgaard, who married sister Maggie in May 2009. The Gyllenhaal siblings -- who got their big break starring in 2001's "Donnie Darko" together -- are themselves no stranger to keeping it all in the family: Father Stephen is a film director and mother Naomi is a film producer and screenwriter. <br> (Getty)

  • COUSINS

    And now in your dose of highbrow news: highly celebrated American composer Philip Glass is the first cousin once removed of highly celebrated American radio journalist Ira Glass. Philip has even composed a song or two for Ira's "This American Life" program. Meanwhile, both share a love for glasses and smart jackets. <br> (Getty)

  • COUSINS

    It's a mob mentality worthy of "The Godfather:" Director Francis Ford Coppola's only daughter, "Lost In Tranlation" director Sofia, is cousins with actors Jason Schwartzman and Nicolas Cage (n? Nicolas Coppola). Meanwhile, Sofia's older brother Roman is also a director; grandfather Carmine was a well-known composer who scored the soundtrack to Francis's films like "Apocalypse Now." <br> (Getty)

  • FATHER AND SON

    Fans of "True Blood" who feel like Alexander Skarsgard arrived with the sudden fright of his fanged character and glamoured the heck out of them may be surprised to know that father Stellan was already well-established in Hollywood. The elder Skarsgard played the tough-loving teacher in "Good Will Hunting" and one of Meryl Streep's courters in "Mamma Mia!". Most recently, father and son appeared together in fellow Scandinavian Lars Van Trier's "Meloncholia." <br> (Getty)

  • COUSINS

    Actors Rip Torn and Sissy Spacek are first cousins; the former helped the latter get her start into the film biz by helping her enroll in Strasberg's Actors Studio in New York. <br> (Getty)

  • SISTERS

    Elizabeth Olsen is the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

  • GODFATHER

    The Barrymores need no introduction in Hollywood, but among the famous faces Drew Barrymore, now 36, can count among her upbringing is director Steven Spielberg, who, along with Sophia Loren, was deigned her Godparent. Steven Spielberg later went on to cast seven-year-old Drew in 1982's "E.T." The two remained close, with Drew pointing to the famed director as a constant stabilizing force in her publicly traumatic childhood. "He's been a very important mentor. He was the first stable male figure in my life. The best attribute a parent can have is consistency," <a href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/interview-drew-barrymore?page=2" target="_hplink">she told <em>Reader's Digest </em></a>in 2009. <br> (Getty)

  • FATHER AND DAUGHTER

    You've seen Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria in last year's "Eclipse" or in her breakout role as Ivy in "The Village." Perhaps you didn't realize her father is Ron Howard.

  • STEP-SIBLINGS

    Let's not forget that Brody Jenner and Kim Kardashian are step-siblings.

  • BROTHER AND SISTER

    Joan Cusack and her brother, John.

  • BROTHER AND SISTER

    Ray J may be most famous today for his sex tape with Kim Kardashian, but the singer is also the younger brother of actress-singer Brandy Norwood.

  • BROTHER AND SISTER

    Yes, they're brother and sister: Warren Beatty was reportedly inspired to start acting after witnessing his older sister Shirley MacLaine's success in the biz. Now the brother and sister, who originally hail from Richmond, Virginia, are both famed Hollywood legends. Isn't that nice. <br> (Getty)

  • FATHER AND DAUGHTER

    Twenty-two-year-old fashion model Daisy Lowe reportedly had no idea Bush singer Gavin Rossdale was her father until 2004, after a paternity test revealed that the rocker (and then-Godfather) was her biological parent. Though Rossdale initially refused to take the paternity test, it was later revealed that he and Daisy's mother Pearl had had a one-night stand. In the summer of 2011, Daisy appeared on the front cover of <em>Playboy</em>, in which she said of her father: "My whole life I thought my father was someone different... But Gavin and Gwen [Stefani] are really good people, and I value so much the time we get together." <br> (Getty)

  • FATHER AND SONS

    Perhaps one of the best-known familial relations in the list, "Apocalypse Now" actor Martin Sheen's two sons Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez both went on to have successful careers in Hollywood, with one more vocally "winning" than the other. Estevez is the proper family surname; Martin adopted "Sheen" as his stage name, which Charlie then took on as well. The Hollywood connection doesn't stop there: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0261724/" target="_hplink">Martin's younger brother Joe Estevez</a> is also an actor. <br> (Getty)

  • BROTHERS

    Actors and brothers William Baldwin, Stephen Baldwin, Alec Baldwin and Daniel Baldwin are living proof that talent really can run in the family.

  • STEPFATHER

    She is known for her role as Jamie Stringer in "The Practice" and for her role as Dr. Arizona Robbins on the ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," but Jessica Capshaw is also the stepdaughter to director Steven Spielberg.

  • FATHER AND DAUGHTER

    Rashida, the daughter of music producer Quincy Jones, has made quite a name for herself in Hollywood.

  • BROTHERS

    Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson? Now <em>these</em> are some talented siblings!

  • Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/carls-jr-jenny-mccarthy_n_3479632.html

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    Insight: Losses loom for investors enmeshed in mortgage chaos

    By Michelle Conlin

    (Reuters) - Since the financial crash, banks have been accused of wrongfully foreclosing on homeowners because they failed to create and maintain proper mortgage paperwork. Now, there are signs that chaotic document management is harming investors in mortgage bonds, too.

    A review of loan documents, property records and the monthly reports made available to investors show that mortgage servicers are reporting individual houses are still in foreclosure long after they have been sold to new buyers or the underlying mortgages have been paid off.

    These delays enable banks and other mortgage servicers to continue to charge monthly fees to investors in these mortgage-backed securities, the banks' investor reports show. It means that investors are buying mortgage bonds that may have billions of dollars of undisclosed losses that will become apparent only at a later stage. It could also lead to a new round of litigation for banks just when some appeared to have been putting their mortgage problems behind them.

    The review, conducted by foreclosure investigator Lisa Epstein, found hundreds of instances across the United States where information about the status of individual home loans was incorrect. The information about the mortgages is sent from the mortgage servicer, which handles tasks such as collecting monthly mortgage payments and handling foreclosures, to the trustee of the mortgage bonds, which administers monthly reports and makes sure investors get paid.

    In 2009, Epstein helped uncover the robo signing scandal, in which she discovered that banks had hired low-level workers to pose as executives, signing hundreds of legal affidavits a day without verifying a single word, as is required by law. The reporting lag issues she identified in mortgage bonds involved many of the same mortgage servicers who engaged in robo signing.

    "This is all part and parcel of having servicers who are unable to keep the documentation straight," said Linda Allen, a banking professor at Baruch College, who specializes in mortgage servicing. She said Epstein's methodology was sound.

    Mortgage experts estimate these reporting delays could mean that billions of dollars in losses may still be hidden in these bonds. Mortgage servicers may have also been charging late fees, property inspection fees, legal fees and other penalties against these loans long after they have been paid off, inflating the losses, they said.

    "The losses are building up inside these deals, and this is going to happen all over the place," said William Frey, founder of Greenwich Financial Services, which specializes in securitization.

    Frey said his team analyzed about 500 mortgage-backed securities originated by every major bank and that he has yet to find a single bond where the accounting adds up as it should.

    In one case, Reuters found that Bank of America Corp had been collecting a monthly servicing fee of $50.73 from investors on a loan that had been paid off nearly two years ago, investor reports show.

    Bank of America filed a document at a local county office on July 22, 2011 showing that the $162,400 loan on a cream-colored duplex in Greenacres, Florida, owned by a drywall hanger named Roman Pino, had been satisfied and "cancelled." But investors in Pino's loan and more than 6,700 other similar mortgages that are bundled together in a subprime mortgage bond still have not been informed that the loan no longer exists, according to the last investor report in May.

    Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Grayson said reporting lags are not typical, and can occur because a sale or mortgage insurance proceeds may not be finalized. Loans can sometimes be subject to litigation, which could explain the ongoing charging of fees, he said.

    The bank declined to comment on the specifics of Pino's loan. According to Fitch Ratings, the loan did not have mortgage insurance.

    Bank of New York Mellon Corp, the trustee, said that in keeping with industry practice, it relies on the information provided by the mortgage servicer.

    Some of these latent losses are beginning to surface. Earlier this month, for example, investors learned of $1 billion in losses on dozens of subprime bonds, containing more than 75,000 home loans that were created during the housing boom. Many of the losses were not reported for a year or more.

    "For whatever reason, these losses were basically pending out there for a while, and the reporting mechanism finally caught up and hit the bonds in the trust," said Roger Ashworth, an analyst with mortgage advisory firm Amherst Securities.

    The bonds' trustee, Wells Fargo & Co, said that it relied upon the servicer, Ocwen Financial Corp, for the reclassification.

    Ocwen said it stands by its monthly reporting. It added that it has helped tens of thousands of struggling families save their homes from foreclosure and significantly lowered investor losses, benefiting investors in mortgage bonds.

    SIDE DEALS

    Latent losses could play a role in some of the settlements that investors have already reached with banks over other mortgage misrepresentations.

    For example, many of the mortgage bonds with reporting lags that Epstein identified are the same securities that are at issue in ongoing litigation between Bank of America and investors in those securities.

    Bank of America settled with 22 large investors, including two of the biggest - Pacific Investment Management Co and Blackrock Inc - agreeing to pay $8.5 billion to end legal liability for more than one million Countrywide Financial mortgages whose borrower histories and credit quality were allegedly misrepresented by the bank.

    Some other investors in the bonds, including American International Group Inc and Grand Rapids Police and Fire Retirement System, have objected to the settlement. They project the losses to be more than $100 billion.

    An AIG spokesman said no one had reviewed the individual loans to analyze the merits of the settlement, which was originally over what the bank had told investors about the quality of the loans.

    If opponents to the settlement prevail, the reporting lag issues could crop up in the discovery phase of the case.

    BlackRock and Bank of America declined to comment on the case. PIMCO did not respond to a request for comment.

    Estimates of latent losses in mortgage bonds vary. In a report on Monday, Fitch Ratings said that it had talked to major servicers and more such losses were possible, though it was unable to quantify the amount.

    In June last year, independent credit rating agency R&R Consulting analyzed $1.4 trillion worth of residential mortgage-backed securities that were not guaranteed by a government-sponsored entity like Fannie Mae.

    It found an estimated $300 billion in total expected future losses, meaning borrowers who were either in foreclosure, bankruptcy or 90 days delinquent. But of those, the firm says there are $175 billion that investors haven't learned about.

    "There is such a thing as gravity, and sooner or later you have to do something with these numbers," said R&R founder Ann Rutledge.

    (Reporting by Michelle Conlin in New York; Editing by Paritosh Bansal, Martin Howell and Leslie Gevirtz)

    Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-losses-loom-investors-enmeshed-mortgage-chaos-052549994.html

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    Mindscapes: Transported by seizures to a land of bliss

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