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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Responding for the first time to the firestorm of criticism over the lack of diversity in this year's Oscar nominations, film academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs says the all-white acting slate inspires her to accelerate the academy's push to be more inclusive. She also hopes the film industry as a whole will continue to strive for greater diversity. The first black president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences spoke out Friday night in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press about the Oscar nominations and the widespread criticism that followed.

LOS ANGELES – In November, the Hollywood Reporter quoted an anonymous industry insider predicting that the “lefty crowd isn’t going to gather around a Navy SEAL best known for killing people” when it comes Oscar time. The insider was talking about "American Sniper," which walked away with six Academy Award nominations on Thursday, including Best Picture. Which means the insider was wrong. “Big surprise of #Oscarnoms was Clint Eastwood’s ‘American Sniper,’” wrote the Wall Street Journal. “I was very surprised and pleasantly so,” said James Williamson, retired U.S. Special Forces colonel and co-founder of OPSEC, a non-profit organization that seeks...

“PARA USA regrets its decision to provide firearms for use in the film "Taken 3". While the film itself is entertaining, comments made by its Irish-born star during press junkets reflect a cultural and factual ignorance that undermines support of the Second Amendment and American liberties,” the company posted on its Facebook page. “We will no longer provide firearms for use in films starring Liam Neeson

Four in 10 U.S. college students graduate without the complex reasoning skills to manage white-collar work, according to the results of a test of nearly 32,000 students. The test, which was administered at 169 colleges and universities in 2013 and 2014 and released Thursday, reveals broad variation in the intellectual development of the nation’s students depending on the type and even location of the school they attend. ... many still graduate without the ability to read a scatterplot, construct a cohesive argument or identify a logical fallacy. The exam, known as the Collegiate Learning Assessment Plus, measures the intellectual gains...

Frequent fliers offer up a silent prayer each time they board a plane: Please, God, don't let me be seated next to a gregarious blowhard or a crying baby. Soon enough, they might want to add, or a pig. In November, a woman and her "emotional support pig" were thrown off a USAirways flight after the 70-pound ham became disruptive — relieving itself in the aisle and grunting while the woman tried to stow her carry-on. That was a first for most passengers, we suspect. But it's not unusual any more to find all sorts of emotional support livestock in...

Teen played doctor for last month at Florida outpatient facility

FTVLive told you yesterday that Fox News and Dish Network had ended their retrans dispute and FNC has returned to the Dish bird. As we predicted, the terms of the new deal weren’t disclosed. However, people familiar with the talks said Dish is paying a significant increase for Fox News, which is one of the most popular networks, not just among news channels but entertainment and sports services as well. According to research firm SNL Kagan, the average monthly fee for Fox News is currently about $1.00 per subscriber. Under terms of the new pact, the price Dish would pay...

RUSH: You want to hear even more absurdity? What is the focus of militant Islamism today? It's Yemeni Al-Qaeda, is it not, Mr. Snerdley? Al-Qaeda in Yemen is the new focus. They're the guys that supposedly blew up Charlie Hebdo and all that. So what's Obama doing? He's releasing Al-Qaeda from Yemen prisoners at Club Gitmo in the middle of all this. I'm watching Fox News today and of course they're trying to understand it because nobody can come to grips -- I'm listening to them ask questions of each other. "You know, is it possible that maybe, uh, you...

It was a moment frozen in time – an 1873 Winchester repeating rifle propped up against the trunk of a juniper tree exactly where its owner had left it over a hundred years ago. Eva Jensen, an archaeologist out scouring the hillsides of Nevada’s arid Snake Mountains for Native American artefacts, let out an involuntary cry of surprise when she stumbled across the find, and then fell into silence. “I recognised it instantly, but it takes your brain a little while to catch up,” she told The Telegraph. “The reality of it, I let out an exclamation and the...

In this three minute video by Emily Letts, she claims to show her actually abortion, and says she is proud of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4xiVUeecNQHowever, in this 10 minute response by prolifesocietyvideo, it is pointed out that in the original video, we never actually see the fetus, and we never actually hear the suction machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJgrGwrBklg

Dish Network and Fox News reached an agreement Thursday to put the news network back on the satellite-TV service, ending a three-week fight that had left 14 million subscribers unable to watch the channel. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. But The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the talks, said Dish is paying a "significant" increase for Fox News, which is one of the most popular networks, not just among news channels but entertainment and sports services as well. Dish will also distribute Fox Business Network to more of its subscribers, sources told the paper. The Fox News...

(Reuters) - The White House on Thursday said legislation was not necessary to settle so-called "net neutrality" rules because the Federal Communications Commission had the authority to write them. Republicans in Congress are trying to drum up support for a bill that would counter the FCC's upcoming new rules. The Obama administration's comments, while not entirely rebuffing the legislative effort, could make some Democrats wary of joining it. "In terms of legislation, we don’t believe it’s necessary given that the FCC has the authorities that it needs under Title II," a White House official told Reuters. "However, we always remain...

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. Got a hankering for pizza? We serve coffee, tea, conversation and music. How about a tall brew? No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a glass and start a conversation. You never know who you might meet in the Cafe. Glad you could join us. Enjoy your...

The failure of Obama or Biden to show up in Paris made clear that most of the president’s team can’t be trusted to conduct U.S national security policy and must be replaced—at once. Here’s why America’s failure to be represented at the Paris unity march was so profoundly disturbing. It wasn’t just because President Obama’s or Vice President Biden’s absence was a horrendous gaffe. More than this, it demonstrated beyond argument that the Obama team lacks the basic instincts and judgment necessary to conduct U.S. national security policy in the next two years. It’s simply too dangerous to let Mr....

Ypsilanti Township residents Dave and Sue Weber argue a county-run facility is no place to be showing what they consider offensive, right-wing political propaganda. They said they started going to the county's recreation center on Washtenaw Avenue last fall and were dismayed to see Fox News show up on four of the 12 television screens in the cardio area during election season. "In September, when we toured the facility before joining, we didn't notice Fox on at all," Dave Weber said. "But now October comes around, pre-election time, that's when it multiplied onto four screens, four out of the 12...

New York State Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, known for showing her claws against animal cruelty, is pouncing on a new topic: cat declawing. Rosenthal, who represents district 67, mainly covering Manhattan's Upper West Side, has penned a bill that would ban removing cats' claws unless necessary for medical reasons, the New York Daily News reports. The bill has not yet been introduced to the state Senate, but it has been backed by the Humane Society of New York. "Too often, people think that declawing is a simple surgery that removes a cat's nails—the equivalent of having your fingernails trimmed. Sadly, this...

The White House Monday refused to back away from its pre-Paris-attack criticism of the magazine Charlie Hebdo’s exercise of free speech, claiming it was meant as some kind of defense of our troops. The criticism came from former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, who on September 19, 2014, accused Charlie Hebdo of lacking “judgment.” That puts the White House among the many in the Je suis Charlie Hebdo crowd who failed to stand up for free speech until the magazine’s cartoonists died for it. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest Monday piously explained that Carney – who spoke in...

We Are Entering An Era Of Shattered Illusions Brandon Smith Activist Post The structure of history is held together by two essential and distinct kinds of links, two moments in time to which no one is immune: moments of epiphany, and moments of catastrophe. Sometimes, both elements intermingle at the birth of a singular epoch. Men often awaken to understanding in the midst of great crisis; and, invariably, great crises can erupt when men awaken. These are the moments when social gravity vanishes, when the kinetic glue of normalcy melts away, and we begin to see the true foundations of...

Crayola, the crayon company based in Pennsylvania, issued an apology yesterday after hackers gained access to their Facebook page and posted "off-color" comments. Instead of burnt sienna and cerulean blue, the page's 2.4 million followers saw cartoon breasts and sophomoric sex jokes. The crayon company tweeted out Sunday evening that was unaware it had been hacked and was "making every effort to stop the unauthorized posts."

As Windows 10 approaches, Microsoft will no longer offer free help and support for the ageing but still popular Windows 7. Microsoft is keen to move users onto Windows 8 instead -- to find out more, check out our how-tos, troubleshooting, news and reviews of Windows 8. Alternatively, you can wait for Windows 10 later this year. Windows 7 was released in 2009. It sold over 100 million copies in six months and remains hugely popular. More stable than predecessor Windows Vista and more familiar than its radically redesigned successor Windows 8, version 7 is still estimated to be running...