Fight over Globes broadcast returns to court (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? "And the right to broadcast the Golden Globe Awards goes to..."

A federal judge may complete that proclamation this week ? no ripping of a secret envelope required ? possibly altering the future of one of Hollywood's major award shows.

For months, attorneys for the show's organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and its longtime producers, dick clark productions, have argued over who can legally negotiate the broadcast rights for the award's gala.

While the 2012 Globes show is not in jeopardy, tens of millions of dollars are at stake along with bragging rights to a show that attracts millions of viewers each January at the height of Hollywood's awards season.

NBC has aired the show since 1998 and has a disputed deal with dick clark productions to air it through 2018.

The HFPA sued dick clark productions, also known as dcp, last November and is seeking to overturn the most recent NBC contract.

The production company, which is no longer owned by entertainment pioneer Dick Clark, argues that the deal is valid and that it has the right to produce and distribute the Globes for as long as the gala airs on NBC. It claims the HFPA has known for years about the arrangement and cites instances in which HFPA leaders have called it a "major irritant" but acknowledged that a "perpetuity clause" was in place.

At a hearing on Tuesday, both sides will continue to press U.S. District Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank to focus on a 1993 agreement that brought the show back to a major network for the first time in more than a decade. Scandal knocked the ceremony from airwaves in the early 1980s and it had been relegated to basic cable until dcp brokered what turned into an initial 10-year deal with NBC.

The arrangement served all parties well, restoring the Globes to a lucrative prime-time network broadcast and delivering more than 20 million viewers to NBC for several shows in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Attorneys for dcp argue the 1993 agreement included a clause allowing it to produce on NBC "in perpetuity" as a partial reward for getting the show back on a broadcast network. Since dcp and HFPA began their relationship in 1983, the groups have shared revenues from the broadcast 50-50.

The HFPA, which is comprised of about 80 foreign entertainment journalists, argues the perpetuity clause is invalid. Although the clause was included in a document signed by its then-president, broadcast contracts must be approved by the full HFPA membership, the association's attorneys argue in court filings.

They point to a transcript of the 1993 meeting in which dcp executives, including Clark himself, presented the NBC deal. Some HFPA members expressed concern for how long the group would be tied to the producers, but were told that it was only for the terms of the network's proposed deal, which could last anywhere between three to 10 years.

The HFPA president at the time has sided with dcp in the current fight, writing in a declaration that she understood the perpetuity clause was necessary to protect the integrity of the show and reward producers for restoring it to a network platform.

Her credibility has been questioned by HFPA attorneys, who note that she was later expelled from the group over ethical questions.

Attorneys for dcp in court filings repeatedly state that the HFPA's actions over the years show that it understood the company's rights to produce the show and negotiate broadcast rights.

They point to the fact that in 2001, when NBC extended its commitment to air the show until 2011, the HFPA did not require a new agreement with dcp but merely extended the terms of the 1993 arrangement.

The HFPA for its part claims it did not understand the impact of the perpetuity clause until a year later, and that it could not do anything about it until after the previous NBC contract expired earlier this year.

The HFPA states the clause as interpreted by dcp creates a situation where the company has a compelling interest to keep the show on NBC, whether the network is willing to pay full value for the broadcast or not.

David R. Ginsburg, executive director of the Entertainment and Media Law and Policy Program at the UCLA School of Law, said the judge will likely focus on what rights each side had at a particular moment in their relationship.

Ginsburg, who has not reviewed motions filed in advance of Tuesday's hearing, says if the session doesn't resolve the issue, it may spur HFPA and dcp to consider a settlement. "It seems to me both sides have an interest in preserving the value of the broadcast," he said.

The HFPA remains confident there's enough time for the courts to resolve the dispute in advance of the Jan. 15 Globes ceremony.

"By mid- to late-September, in plenty of time for a move to a new producer and network, there will be a decision on whether HFPA, which has nurtured the Globes since its debut 68 years ago, is free to take its program to the network most prepared to promote the Foreign Press' charitable mission," HFPA President Aida Takla-O'Reilly wrote in a statement.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110801/ap_en_mo/us_golden_globes_dispute

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Boehner rewrites his bill, conservatives climb on (AP)

WASHINGTON ? House Speaker John Boehner hastily rewrote his stalled debt-limit bill again Friday, and former conservative foes began climbing aboard. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid signaled he's ready to push ahead with his own version, and President Barack Obama declared "we're almost out of time" in a wrenching political standoff that has heightened fears of a market-rattling government default.

"The power to solve this is in our hands on a day when we've been reminded how fragile the economy already is," the president said from the White House as many U.S. stocks fell in response to a sour report on economic growth and widespread uncertainty over the Washington debt stalemate. "This is one burden we can lift ourselves. We can end it with a simple vote."

A simple vote was hard to come by, just a few days before Tuesday's debt-limit deadline.

On Capitol Hill, Boehner revised his measure and made inroads with reluctant rank-and-file conservatives who have argued that the deficit cuts it contained were insufficient in exchange for a debt limit hike. The leadership pushed toward a late Friday vote.

Rep. David Dreier of California said the revised measure would still raise the nation's debt limit by $900 billion ? essential to allow the government to keep paying its bills ? and cut spending by $917 billion. But a later increase in borrowing authority wouldn't take effect unless Congress sent a constitutional balanced budget amendment to the states for ratification.

That was a key demand of rebellious conservatives who withheld their votes from the legislation on Thursday night.

That balanced-budget amendment addition made Phil Gingery, R-Ga., a convert. "That's basically what many of us were holding out for," he said after GOP leaders made a fresh appeal to rank and file at a closed-door meeting.

Freshman Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said the change on the balanced-budget amendment "got a lot of additional Republican votes."

Even Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, a self-described "beat-up no" after days of arm-twisting, said he was leaning toward "yes."

The White House immediately dismissed the new version, with spokesman Jay Carney calling it "moot and irrelevant" and certain to fail in the Senate.

In a nod to the endgame, however, Carney added: "We do have to wait for that process to play out before we can get focused on legitimately solving this problem."

In the Senate, Reid pressed forward with his legislation, setting up a showdown vote for Sunday. On the Senate floor, Reid said glumly, "This is likely our last chance to save this nation from default."

The Nevada Democrat said he had invited Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to join him in negotiations.

A divided government is struggling to break the extreme Washington gridlock and head off a first-ever default that would leave the Treasury without the money necessary to pay all its bills. Administration officials say Tuesday is the deadline.

"There are plenty of ways out of this mess. But we are almost out of time," Obama said.

The biggest sticking point is the House bill's call for congressional votes to raise the debt ceiling, in two stages, before the 2012 elections. The president wants one vote before his bid for a second term. No matter how the endgame plays out, one House GOP veteran indicated that the party's internal fight had weakened the hand of its leaders.

"Everybody acknowledges that because of the dust-up yesterday we've lost some leverage," said Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio. "You can say it's remote, but there was a chance that the package yesterday, if it had been successfully voted out, would have been adopted by the Senate and signed by the president. I think everybody acknowledges that's not going to happen with this piece of legislation.

"I don't think anybody thinks that this bill is going to be passed as is by the Senate. It's going to come back to us, and we'll take a look at it," he said.

McConnell dismissed the Democratic effort on Reid's bill, arguing that it stands no chance in the GOP-controlled House, and he accused Obama of pushing the nation to the brink of an economic abyss.

"If the president hadn't decided to blow up the bipartisan solution that members of Congress worked so hard to produce last weekend, we'd be voting to end this crisis today," McConnell said on the Senate floor.

In his brief White House remarks, Obama made a fresh appeal to Americans to contact members of Congress.

The office of the Architect of the Capitol reported that the main phone circuit was near capacity. It said outside callers were occasionally getting busy signals as a result of the heavy volume.

Congressional phone lines and websites became overloaded earlier in the week after Obama asked people to contact their lawmakers about the stalemate.

Obama also asked his 9.4 million followers on Twitter to send tweets to Republican lawmakers "and urge them to support a bipartisan compromise to the debt crisis." Obama's Twitter feed planned to send out the Twitter handles of several lawmakers, starting with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby of Alabama.

"The time for putting party first is over. If you want to see a bipartisan (hash)compromise, let Congress know. Call. Email. Tweet," Obama wrote in a tweet, signed "-BO."

On Thursday, Boehner, R-Ohio, suffered a stinging setback when, for a second day, he had to postpone a vote on his proposal to extend the nation's borrowing authority while cutting federal spending by nearly $1 trillion.

"Obviously, we didn't have the votes," Dreier said after Boehner and the GOP leadership had spent hours trying to corral the support of rebellious conservatives.

If Republicans now can get Boehner's version through the House, a rapid and complex set of choices will determine whether and how a debt crisis can be averted. House Republicans will be under tremendous pressure to pass something, even if they have to make it so appealing to their right wing that the nation's independents and centrists will scorn it. As Thursday's events proved, nothing is guaranteed.

The main area of dispute between the two parties is how to encourage or guarantee big spending cuts in the future without rekindling a fiercely divisive debt-ceiling debate such as the one now raging.

Interviews with well-placed insiders suggest the following road map, assuming Boehner can get his bill out of the House:

The Democratic-controlled Senate would kill it quickly. The focus then would fall on the Senate's two leaders, Reid and McConnell. They must decide whether they can reach a compromise that can pass the Senate ? where a united GOP can kill bills with filibusters ? and then pass the House and be signed by Obama. The White House would be integral to such talks.

Republican officials say McConnell could hold a strong hand, despite the House's shaky performance. He could argue that the House finally passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling, while the Senate has done nothing but kill that bill. If Tuesday's deadline passes with no resolution, Republicans say, voters will blame Democrats.

Under this thinking, the Senate would pass a measure similar to the House bill, perhaps with minor changes to save face and give political cover to Democrats who vote for it. The House would quickly concur, with numerous Democrats and all but the most conservative Republicans voting aye. Obama would have no choice but to sign it.

Democrats say the opposite is true. Obama has persuasively argued in recent weeks that Republicans are unreasonably demanding, they say.

Democrats control the Senate and White House. If Republicans insist that a partisan, House-passed bill is the only vehicle, then public anger will fall on them, this thinking goes.

A $900 billion debt-limit hike would come first, coupled with $917 billion in spending cuts over 10 years. Under the Boehner revision, approval of a balanced-budget constitutional amendment would open a path to another $1.6 trillion in borrowing power, provided that Congress and the president have agreed to another round of spending cuts of that amount or more.

Obama has consistently rejected this condition. He says it would hurt the economy and touch off another ferocious political fight over the debt ceiling, which Congress previously raised with little fuss year after year. Global markets and investors would not be reassured by such a drawn-out, uncertain scenario, he says.

___

Associated Press writers David Espo, Alan Fram, Ken Thomas, Jim Kuhnhenn, Erica Werner and Ben Feller contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110729/ap_on_go_co/us_debt_showdown

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How To Start a Home Based Business in Hawaii | Hawaii's Future Today

Hawaii Work from Home Business & HI Home Based Opportunities Hawaii Home Based Business Opportunities for Sale provides aspiring ? Start Up Investment: $10000. Own the home-based, cruise travel franchise ranked #1. ? hawaii.franchisesolutions.com/home_based_businesses.cfm ? Cached ? Similar ? Hawai`i Business Express : Hawai`i Business Express Home Starting a Business in Hawai`i ? The easiest way to start a business! Answer each question only once. No more duplicate typing. ? hbe.ehawaii.gov/ ? Cached ? Similar How To Start A Home Based Business Hawaii ? Hawaii, how to start a ? Here you will find information and local resources in Hawaii that will assist with how to start a home based business. Get the information and expertise in ? articles.directorym.com/How_To_Start_A_Home_Based_Business_Hawaii-r960762-Hawaii.html ? Cached New Start Accounting, Bookkeeping & Tax Maui Hawaii ? Business ? New Start Accounting, Bookkeeping & Tax Maui Hawaii ? Maui?s #1 Rate ? 7 Tax-Saving Tips for Home-Based Business Maui Hawaii Filing taxes for your ? www.facebook.com/pages/New-Start?Hawaii/135158426553130 ? Cached Hawaii Home Based Business Opportunities Directory l Work from ? Hawaii online expo of work at home, home-based business opportunities, network marketing ? start a home business or start an online Internet business. ? www.ineedahomebasedbusiness.com/State?/hawaii_directory.htm ? Cached Hawaii Home Business Opportunities ? Start your business today ?

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 31st, 2011 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Hawaii Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.hawaiis-future-today.org/how-to-start-a-home-based-business-in-hawaii/

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Space Station Puts Out Welcome Mat for Private Spaceships

News | Space

Unmanned commercial spacecraft will soon begin making trips to the International Space Station

By Mike Wall and SPACE.com ?| July 29, 2011?|

ARRIVING SOON: An artist's illustration of SpaceX's Dragon space capsule in Earth orbit. Image: SpaceX

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. ? Despite the grounding of NASA's storied space shuttle fleet, American spaceships are expected to make three trips to the International Space Station in the coming months.

All of these visits, however, will be by private vehicles. The California-based company SpaceX is set to launch its Dragon capsule toward the station on Nov. 30 on its second and final orbital test flight, NASA officials announced last week. And if all goes well, the firm could launch another Dragon capsule on its first operational cargo-carrying mission three or four months later.

The Virginia-based company Orbital Sciences, for its part, is planning to send its Cygnus capsule racing toward the station in February 2012.

So, even though the shuttle program has been retired, the future may not be so bleak for American spaceflight, many in the private sector stress.

"I believe we're on the cusp of a golden age of industry-led innovation," Garrett Reisman, head of SpaceX's commercial crew development program, said today (July 28) at the New Space 2011 conference, which is being held here at NASA's Ames Research Center. [NASA's Space Shuttle Program In Pictures: A Tribute]

Not carrying astronauts yet
The three upcoming flights to the space station won't be carrying any astronauts. They're being made under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, which aims to encourage the development of private cargo-carrying craft to fill the gap left by the retirement of the shuttle fleet.

SpaceX holds a $1.6 billion NASA contract to make 12 supply flights to the orbiting lab. Last December, the company made its first orbital test flight with its Dragon capsule, which launched atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

The Nov. 30 mission will be the Dragon/Falcon system's second demonstration flight under the COTS program. While the first Dragon test flight orbited Earth twice and then splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, SpaceX wants this second one to dock with the space station.

And, the capsule will carry cargo on both legs of the journey, SpaceX officials said.

"If we're up there, we might as well take some stuff up and bring some stuff back down," Reisman told SPACE.com.

If all goes well with that flight, Reisman added, the next Dragon mission would likely not be a demo ? it would be a fully operational re-supply mission, the first of the 12 under SpaceX's contract. And it could happen as soon as March 2012.

Orbital Sciences, too
Orbital Sciences also has a cargo re-supply contract. NASA is paying Orbital $1.9 billion to make eight flights using the company's Cygnus capsule and Taurus 2 rocket, both of which are under development.

The firm hopes to send the Taurus 2 on its first test flight this December, SpaceNews reported recently. A full demo run, during which Cygnus docks with the space station, is planned for two months later.

Both SpaceX and Orbital Sciences are interested in carrying more than just cargo to the orbiting lab. The companies are developing craft in hopes of one day transporting NASA astronauts to the outpost. For now, NASA spaceflyers will be hitching rides on Russian-built Soyuz vehicles.

SpaceX plans to upgrade the Dragon by installing seats and a launch-abort system. Orbital is developing an entirely different vehicle, a space plane called Prometheus.

But they're not the only ones. A private orbital space race is taking shape, as a handful of other firms ?including Sierra Nevada Corp., Blue Origin, Excalibur Almaz and Boeing ? are working on their own crew-carrying vehicles. [Vote Now! The Best Spaceships of All Time]

Both Boeing and Sierra Nevada have said they plan to be making manned flights by 2015. Sierra Nevada, in fact, hopes to be fully operational by then.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=cc7e19589d24ab9fde7d1eb4ad7f4845

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Using Your Home Brew Kit Properly ? Thought Potato

Lots of time the urge to finally take the plunge into home brewing comes when you went to the brew pub and paid ten dollars for an imported beer of one that was brewed in their pub. And even if that beer is good, it?s easy to start to suspect that you could do as well making beer and that your beer would be perfectly fresh and would cost a lot less than ten dollars a glass to enjoy this flavor all the time. When that thought crossed your mind, the home brewer in you is born.

The community of beer lovers is very large as documented in the huge beer sales that stay consistent around the world. That is why it is almost a shame and a crime when beer is mass produced and bad beer is sold so widely. It?s a crime because it is so easy to make really good beer. If you have that desire to enjoy the finest of this ancient recipe and maybe crossing the line to want to BE a maker of great beer, you will find that getting started on this great hobby is far easier than you may have thought. And yes while you will have to learn a few things about the process of making beer, it will be more fun than any class you took in high school for sure because you are learning to make something you love and you get to drink your final exam!

Unlike school though, once you get down the basic process of home brewing, the variety of ?right answers? to how to make a great beer are diverse and fun to play with. You can try different grains, hops and yeast combinations. You can adjust when each ingredient is added and learn how to balance the bitter flavor with the hops flavor to give you a deep rich blend or a light beer and all using the same equipment and much the same ingredients. So with that enticement to the fun and endless variety you can find in a hobby of home brewing, it?s just a matter of getting started.

It?s very easy to fall under the influence of ?beer purists? who will advocate very expensive and complicated equipment and using exotic ingredients to make a beer of very high quality and taste. If you make it a practice to socialize at the home brewing retailer or at home brewing clubs or web sites, it?s easy to pick up that side of the home brewing community that is very particular and advanced in the craft of home brewing.

But it is important to remember that just starting out that you are not a home brewing purist yet! And its best not to try to be one because starting out, its best to let others help you get some very basic equipment so you can learn the craft of home brewing and develop your skills easily and without so much pressure. If you spend thousands on very elaborate and hard to operate equipment too soon, you will be frustrated and if the outcome is not just right, you will be disappointed. So cut yourself some slack and buy just the basics and just learn to make a very down to earth starter batch of beer. If it is drinkable at all after you step through the process a few times, you are doing great. And you have all the time in the world to learn your craft and grow until you can afford to be a ?beer purist? and be fussy and particular too.

So don?t be ashamed to buy a basic beer making kit at the beer retailer store or online to get you started. These kits come with all you need in equipment and supplies to step through making your first few batches of beer. It?s important you give yourself the time to use these starter kits to learn your basic skills. Then once you have the basics, it will be great fun to buy different types of grains, hops and yeasts and experiment to refine your skills. That is a natural way to learn and away to become along time beer making enthusiasts and enjoy this wonderful hobby for many years to come.

Source: http://thoughtpotato.com/2011/07/using-your-home-brew-kit-properly/

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Glee's Ryan Murphy: None of the Actors Were Fired -- Or Found Out They Were Fired on Twitter (omg!)

Ryan Murphy is now saying that the reason he said Glee actors Chris Colfer, Lea Michele and Cory Monteith would not be back for Season 4 was because he was actively working on a New York-set spin-off for their characters.

Everything you knew about Glee's future is wrong: Producers clarify Ryan Murphy's comments

In an interview with Deadline posted Thursday, Murphy says the actors in fact were not only onboard with the idea of a spin-off, they were also "involved in the process for three to four months to the point where we were even talking about cities and relocations..."

What about Colfer saying he didn't know that he'd essentially been fired off the show until he found out on Twitter? Murphy says it is "absolutely 100 percent not true. None of them were fired." Later in the interview, Murphy added, "When I say they're seniors and they're not coming back to the show, what I did not say is they're not coming back to the show because there will be another show."

Glee's Darren Criss talks Broadway, "unicorn dust" and graduation

"They all knew what was happening, they all had approved it, they all said they wanted to do [the spin-off]," he said. They did have different caveats, including not wanted to move across country. "I feel sensitive about that," Murphy said. "So then what happened was it blew up and a lot of articles were written about it. Some people were writing they're not on the show so that means they must be fired. Well, no. that was 100 percent incorrect."

Murphy now says plans for a spin-off are being tabled. "That's where we are today," he said. "Maybe we'll talk about that in April or May, but for now, let's just concentrate on making Season 3 the best that we can do... As of now, I can tell you I'm not working on [a spin-off.]"

Glee's Ryan Murphy: Who's graduating, Season 2 backlash and next year's lack of guest stars

In the meantime, Murphy says he's learned to "monitor what I say."

"Before, I didn't do that. My bad. Stupid."

Related Articles on TVGuide.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/http___omg_yahoo_com_news68370/42415802/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/glees-ryan-murphy-none-of-the-actors-were-fired-or-found-out-they-were-fired-on-twitter/68370

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Action Sports Optics Launches Online Eyewear Store | TransWorld ...

By Transworld
Fri, Jul 29 2011 3:11 pm | 45 views | 0 Comments

Snow Sports Industry Veteran Launches New Eyewear E-Commerce Site: ActionSportOptics.com

BURLINGTON, Vermont - July 26, 2011 - Today marks the official launch of the new specialty eyewear e-tailer, ActionSportOptics.com.
Headquartered in Northern Vermont, Action Sport Optics was founded by snow sports industry veteran, Dan Stanilonis, to fill a void in the current e-commerce landscape. It has the unique distinction of being one of the only websites that specializes in exclusively carrying sunglasses and goggles specifically geared toward the action sports and active lifestyle communities.

?I launched Action Sport Optics because after working in the snow sports industry for 15 years, I felt there was a need for an eyewear-focused website to serve as a one-stop-shop for action sports participants, or anyone who lives an active, outdoor lifestyle,? says Stanilonis. ?Whether you bike, snowboard, ski, surf or ride motocross, we strive to carry everything you need, and nothing you don?t.?

Taking a boutique approach to its product offering, Action Sport Optics has carefully curated a streamlined assortment of sunglasses and goggles from leading eyewear brands including Spy, Dragon, Anon, Arnette, Ashbury, Filtrate, Julbo, Native, Scott, and Tifosi. In the months ahead, additional brand partners will be added to the line-up with key styles offered from each.

?We?re backed by great brands, we pride ourselves on superior customer service, we offer free ground shipping on all US orders, and we?re extremely passionate about the lifestyle we represent,? continues Stanilonis. ?Eyewear is our vision, and we can?t wait to help you find exactly what you need!?

In addition to selling eyewear, ActionSportOptics.com also features a blog that chronicles the latest product, team and event happenings from its various brand partners. Later this year, the blog will also house video product reviews and news about the Action Sport Optics ambassador squad

For more information, please visit www.actionsportoptics.com or send an email to info@actionsportoptics.com.

Source: http://snowboarding.transworld.net/1000156124/news/action-sports-optics-launches-online-eyewear-store/

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