Oscars 2013: An 'Argo' night at Academy Awards

For the second straight year, the movie business fell for itself."Argo" — in which a Hollywood producer and makeup artist help...

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ISPs Now Monitoring for Copyright Infringement

The nation’s major internet service providers on Monday said they are beginning to roll out an initiative to disrupt internet access for online copyright scofflaws.The so-called “Copyright Alert System” is backed by the President Barack Obama administration and was pushed heavily by record labels and Hollywood studios.The plan, more than four years in the making, includes participation by...

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Quvenzhané Wallis to play title role in “Annie” movie

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nine-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis will play the title role in “Annie,” Sony’s Columbia Pictures announced on Sunday.“Annie” is due to hit theaters in 2014 during the winter holiday season, and is based on the stage play about an orphan’s adventures in finding her family and a better life while overcoming the schemes of orphanage mistress Miss Hannigan.President of...

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Personal Health: Too Many Pills in Pregnancy

The thalidomide disaster of the early 1960s left thousands of babies with deformed limbs because their mothers innocently took a sleeping pill thought to be safe during pregnancy,In its well-publicized wake, countless pregnant women avoided all medications, fearing that any drug they took could jeopardize their babies’ development.I was terrified in December 1968 when, during the first weeks of my...

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Herald Tribune to Be Renamed The International New York Times

The New York Times Company said on Monday that it was planning to rename The International Herald Tribune, its 125-year-old newspaper based in Paris, and would also unveil a new Web site for international audiences. Starting this fall, under the plan, the paper will be rechristened The International New York Times, reflecting the company’s intention to focus on its core New York Times...

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Oscars stage manager braces for his final cues to the stars

He delivered a forgotten harmonica to Stevie Wonder onstage at the Grammy Awards, supplied a shoulder to lean on for a post-hip-surgery...

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Wired Space Photo of the Day: Glowing Gas in Omega Nebula

This image is a colour composite of the Omega Nebula (M 17) made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2). The field of view is approximatelly 4.7 x 3.7 degrees. Image: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin. [high-resolution]Caption: ...

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Hollywood couple Diane Lane and Josh Brolin split after 8 years

(Reuters) – Hollywood couple Diane Lane and Josh Brolin are divorcing after more than eight years, their representatives said on Thursday.“I can confirm Diane Lane and Josh Brolin have decided to end their marriage,” said Lane’s spokeswoman, Kelly Bush.A source close to the couple termed the split as “amicable” and said it was a mutual decision.The divorce will be the second for both Lane and Brolin....

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The Texas Tribune: Advocates Seek Mental Health Changes, Including Power to Detain

Matt Rainwaters for Texas MonthlyThe Sherman grave of Andre Thomas’s victims. SHERMAN — A worried call from his daughter’s boyfriend sent Paul Boren rushing to her apartment on the morning of March 27, 2004. He drove the eight blocks to her apartment, peering into his neighbors’ yards, searching for Andre Thomas, Laura Boren’s estranged husband. Expanded coverage of Texas is produced by...

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Major Banks Aid in Payday Loans Banned by States

Major banks have quickly become behind-the-scenes allies of Internet-based payday lenders that offer short-term loans with interest rates sometimes exceeding 500 percent. With 15 states banning payday loans, a growing number of the lenders have set up online operations in more hospitable states or far-flung locales like Belize, Malta and the West Indies to more easily evade statewide caps...

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