Panel approves rules for Washington pot industry

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state has approved rules for its new legal marijuana industry.

After nearly a year of research, planning and public hearings, the three-member state Liquor Control Board adopted the rules Wednesday.

The regulations cover everything from the security and size of licensed marijuana gardens, to how many pot stores can open in cities across the state.

Washington and Colorado voted last year to legalize marijuana and allow its sale for recreational use at state-licensed stores. In Washington, supporters hope the sale of taxed pot to adults over 21 might bring the state tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.

The proposed rules allow up to 334 pot stores to open in Washington. The stores are expected to open by next summer.

Colorado approved its marijuana industry rules last month.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/panel-approves-rules-washington-pot-industry-175117472.html
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Torn: Film Review

The Bottom Line

This well-wrought, sensitive drama explores its incendiary topics with an uncommon subtlety.

Director

Jeremiah Birnbaum

Screenwriter

Michael Richter

Cast

Mahnoor Baloch, Dendrie Taylor, Faran Tahir, Sharon Washington, Patrick St. Esprit, John Heard

A potentially melodramatic plotline is handled with a refreshing subtlety in Jeremiah Birnbaum’s quietly effective drama about the aftermath of a deadly shopping mall explosion. Depicting the burgeoning friendship between the mothers of two teenagers killed in the blast, both of whom are eventually suspected of the crime, Torn approaches its in incendiary topical issues with intelligent modesty.

After ten people are killed in a blast initially described as a gas main explosion, among the grieving survivors are Muslim, Pakistani-born Maryam (Mahnoor Baloch) and American single mother Lea (Dendrie Taylor). United by their shared grief, the two women turn to each other for emotional support. But their relationship eventually turns hostile when an investigation led by a police detective (John Heard) and an FBI agent (Sharon Washington) reveals that each of their sons is a suspect. Maryam’s son Walter, whose father Ali (Faran Tahir) was mistakenly arrested after 9/11, turns out to have been attending a local mosque. And Lea’s son Walter was the victim of school bullying who vowed revenge on his tormentors, several of whom were either killed or injured in the incident.

Michael Richter’s screenplay weaves together its various themes and such subplots as Lea’s tentatively resuming a relationship with her long estranged ex-husband (Patrick St. Esprit) with intelligence and sensitivity, not to mention an uncommon succinctness (the film runs a scant 80 min). The relationships between the complex characters are well drawn, and the ironic ending manages to touchingly upend our expectations.

Director Birnbaum has drawn well-nuanced performances from the ensemble, especially the two female leads who render their characters’ actions, such as Lea’s undisguised hostility to the authorities investigating the case, thoroughly believable.  

Although it’s ultimately a bit too slight to make much of an impact, Torn effectively demonstrates that hot-button issues can be explored without resorting to excessive histrionics.

Opens Oct. 18 (Brainstorm Media/The Film Collective)

Production: Fog City Pictures, Objective 49, Precept Productions

Cast: Mahnoor Baloch, Dendrie Taylor, Faran Tahir, John Heard, Sharon Washington, Patrick St. Esprit

Director: Jeremiah Birnbaum

Screenwriter: Michael Richter

Producers: Michael Richter, James Burke, Jeremiah Birnbaum

Executive producer: Jawad Qureshi

Director of photography: Sam Chase

Editor: Bruce Cannon

Production designer: Aiyana Trotter

Costume designer: Tamara Chandler

Composers: David Reid, Derek Bermel

Not rated, 80 min. 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/reviews/film/~3/N5Dkbl07EKE/torn-film-review-648948
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Fox, Polian chide Irsay for criticizing Manning

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Indianapolis owner Jim Irsay backed down a bit after Broncos coach John Fox and former Colts general manager Bill Polian chided him for comments critical of Peyton Manning.

Fox used his weekly SiriusXM NFL Radio appearance Tuesday to criticize the Colts' owner for sounding ungrateful for all Manning did for his team and city, including winning a Super Bowl in 2007, and Polian used the same platform to say Irsay was wrong in both his facts and opinions.

After a series of tweets defending himself Tuesday night, Irsay took to Twitter on Wednesday to say he meant that if the Colts had given Manning better special teams and defense, they could have won more than one Super Bowl, instead of asking the quarterback to do too much.

He added that he found it hard to see how anyone could misinterpret his comments, but controversy sells, so he understands why people try to stir things up.

In a conference call with Denver media Wednesday, Colts coach Chuck Pagano said Irsay harbors no ill will toward Manning.

"I don't think there's anybody that Mr. Irsay respects and cares for more than Peyton," Pagano said. "What can't you say about Peyton? What he's done for this organization, what he's done for the city, our fans — what he's done for football — it's off the charts. And certainly all I know is that our owner has the utmost respect and love and passion for that guy and always will."

Irsay told USA Today in an interview Tuesday that the Colts turned to Andrew Luck two years ago and released Manning rather than pay him a $28 million roster bonus because they were looking for more playoff success.

"We've changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one of these," Irsay said, showing his Super Bowl ring. "(Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these. Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one.

"That leaves you frustrated. You make the playoffs 11 times, and you're out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You love to have the 'Star Wars' numbers from Peyton and Marvin (Harrison) and Reggie (Wayne). Mostly, you love this," Irsay added, showing his ring again, according to the newspaper.

Those comments were similar to the ones Irsay made in an interview with The Associated Press last summer, when the Colts owner said his only regrets about releasing Manning were that he wanted the star quarterback to throw his final pass as a Colt and he wished Manning had departed with more than one Super Bowl ring.

So, instead of relying on the high-charged offense Manning directed, Irsay said the team's future February celebrations would come more frequently if the Colts ran a more balanced offense and divided the budget more evenly between the offensive and defensive players.

Irsay's latest verbal barrage, coming as it did this week, created quite a buzz.

Fox normally isn't one to criticize anyone in public, but Irsay's comments clearly struck a nerve.

"I thought it was a bit of a cheap shot," Fox said on SiriusXM. "In my opinion, they were disappointing and inappropriate. You know, Peyton would never say anything because he's too classy to do that.

"They sounded a little ungrateful and unappreciative to me for a guy that's set a standard, won a Super Bowl, won division titles, won four MVP awards, and I'd be thankful for that one Super Bowl ring because a lot of people don't have one."

Polian fired back at his old boss, saying Irsay had it wrong.

"For one thing, I don't believe that Baltimore had two at the time that we were fired, all of us, Peyton, me and the rest of the staff, (coach) Jim Caldwell at the end of the '11 season," Polian said.

He said Irsay was "very upset" after the Colts lost to New Orleans in the 2010 Super Bowl, "and I think it's pretty telling that getting to the Super Bowl in his mind doesn't count. And for anyone who is in the game and who has to make that journey from training camp to the Super Bowl, you know that it's awfully difficult to get there.

"And as John Fox said ... if you have one, you count yourself lucky. I've had teams that have been to six Super Bowls and won one. I'm not ashamed of that record by any means, and I'm certainly not ashamed of what we did in Indianapolis."

Manning is 160-70 in the regular season — joining Brady as the only quarterbacks with 90 more wins than losses — but is just 9-11 in the playoffs with eight first-round exits.

The Broncos — who have won 19 of 23 games under Manning, but lost to Baltimore in the playoffs — visit the Colts on Sunday night in Manning's first return to Indianapolis since his teary-eyed goodbye news conference alongside Irsay in March 2012.

Manning's former coach, Tony Dungy, said on a conference call this week that he thinks Irsay wouldn't have let Manning go had he known Manning would bounce back as he has.

"I can almost guarantee you that if he knew that he was going to be healthy like this and playing this kind of football, in hindsight I don't think he would've done it," said Dungy, who's now an NBC football analyst. "But with everything the way it was at that time, with Andrew being there and being available, knowing the scouting report on Andrew and the percentages of Peyton coming back and playing well at that point, it was the right thing to do."

Irsay defended himself in a string of responses on Twitter on Tuesday night, when he quoted Manning as saying that both he and the owner wanted him to stay in Indianapolis but "circumstances forced our hand."

He finished with a joke, saying he hopes for old time's sake that Manning completes some passes to his old teammates such as safety Antoine Bethea.

Fox and Manning meet with the media following Wednesday afternoon's practice.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org

___

Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fox-polian-chide-irsay-criticizing-manning-163758329--spt.html
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Hours Ahead Of Debt Deadline, Senate Leaders Race To Reach Deal

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., walks to the Senate floor following lunch with fellow Democrats, at the Capitol on Tuesday.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., walks to the Senate floor following lunch with fellow Democrats, at the Capitol on Tuesday.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Senate leaders were expressing optimism about forging an eleventh-hour bipartisan agreement Wednesday — still hoping to avoid a default and restart the government after House Republicans failed to produce a plan of their own that could pass muster.

Updated At 10:55 a.m. ET. Report: Deal Reached On Senate Side

Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire tells The Associated Press that it's her understanding that Senate leaders have reached a deal and that a formal announcement was forthcoming.

"I understand they've come to an agreement but I'm going to let the leader announce that," Ayotte said.

Updated At 9:40 a.m. ET. Deal Reportedly 'Very Close'

Reuters, quoting a "senior Senate aide," says that Senate leaders are "very close" to announcing a deal on the debt limit extension and that the chamber would move "quickly" to pass it.

The news agency reports that the Senate leadership is "in talks with House leaders on ways to win fast passage" of a deal in both chambers.

A senior Republican U.S. Senate aide tells NPR's Tamara Keith "we're still working on things. Should know more later this morning."

Here we pick up our earlier post:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) were set to pick up the pieces following a fractious and fruitless night in the House that did little more than run down the clock.

"Given tonight's events, the Leaders have decided to work toward a solution that would reopen the government and prevent default," McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said in a statement. "They are optimistic an agreement can be reached."

Their effort to forge a deal acceptable to both parties to restart the government and renew its authority to borrow was given fresh urgency on Tuesday by a warning issued by Fitch Ratings, the third-largest credit rating agency, which said the debacle in Washington meant it was placing the country's long-term credit rating under review for a potential downgrade.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has said that the government's ability to pay its bills cannot be guaranteed after midnight Wednesday, but the exact moment when that occurs might be days or even weeks later.

If you haven't been following every twist and turn, here are the latest events from each chamber:

In The House:

On Tuesday evening, House Republicans tried and failed to produce their own plan for ending the stalemate. In the end it wasn't Democrats who scuttled their efforts, but divisions among GOP lawmakers.

In the early evening, the House had crafted a plan to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling in exchange for some changes in the Affordable Care Act, which has been a key stumbling block throughout the weeks of negotiations. But when Heritage Action for America, a lobby group affiliated with the conservative Heritage Foundation weighed in against the plan, what little resolve that might have existed quickly evaporated.

As Politico writes of House Speaker John Boehner:

"[Battered] from three years of intra-party battles, [he] was caught between at least three different GOP factions as he tried to craft a compromise agreement: Republicans who didn't want to slash government health care contributions for Capitol Hill aides, members who thought repealing the medical device tax was a giveaway to corporate America and conservatives, who thought Republican leaders were too soft on Obamacare.

"Boehner was unable to craft a deal that would satisfy all of the groups, forcing him to shelve his plan and show the world — again — just how hard it is for him to rule the raucous House Republican Conference.

"No amount of political gymnastics would help him reach the crucial 217 vote-level to send a bill to the Senate. GOP aides said that Boehner was — at a minimum — 20 to 30 votes short of the target."

Meanwhile, In The Senate:

Amid the disarray in the House, the Senate "quickly moved to pick up the pieces," as The Washington Post writes. Senators re-started talks of their own and were thought to be close to a deal before they adjourned just after 10 p.m.

Presumably the Senate plan would be close to a proposal outlined Tuesday that would fund the government through Jan. 15 and raise the ceiling until Feb. 7 in exchange for "substantive" discussions on entitlements and other Republican budget priorities.

The White House has hinted that it would agree to such a deal.

Even so, Politico, quoting unnamed sources, says that "the deal is essentially done."

"Reid and McConnell are expected to brief their respective caucuses Wednesday, hours before the country could fail to pay its bills for the first time in history. Cooperation will be needed from members of both parties in order to avoid default as well as to end the first government shutdown in 17 years. And a Senate plan will need to clear the House."

And passing the House is still the biggest question.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/16/235263755/hours-ahead-of-debt-ceiling-congress-scrambles-for-a-deal?ft=1&f=1014
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Fuselage panel falls from Boeing 787 Dreamliner in flight

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co said a body panel fell off of a 787 Dreamliner operated by Air India while the plane was in flight on Saturday, a new problem for the high-tech jet that has suffered a string of mishaps since its introduction two years ago.

Boeing said the loss of the fuselage panel posed no safety risk to passengers. It was not immediately known where the panel landed.

The jet was carrying 148 people, including crew, on a flight from Delhi to Bangalore, The Times of India newspaper reported. The pilots did not realize the eight-by-four-foot panel was missing until after the flight landed, the newspaper said, adding that India's aviation authorities are investigating.

Boeing said the missing panel fell from the underside of the plane on the right side. A photo on The Times of India website showed a large opening with components and aircraft structure visible inside.

"It was the mid-underwing-to-body fairing located on the belly of the airplane on the right side," Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said. The part "provides a more aerodynamic surface in flight."

He said Boeing is working to understand what caused the panel to fall and declined to say whether the plane was made at Boeing's South Carolina factory. A number of Air India jets have come from that assembly line.

The Times of India said the panel was replaced with one taken from a just-delivered 787 Dreamliner that was not yet ready for service. That plane is now awaiting a spare part, the paper said.

Problems that have afflicted the 787 include battery overheating that prompted regulators to ground the entire fleet in January. Flights resumed in April. Despite the problems, Boeing's stock has stayed near record levels. It closed Tuesday at $118.18, down $1.28.

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fuselage-panel-falls-boeing-787-dreamliner-flight-030152002--finance.html
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Sony Alpha 7 and 7R: the full-frame mirrorless ILC is finally here!

Photo junkies, brace yourselves for some very big news. Sony has finally announced its much-anticipated (and leaked) mirrorless camera, debuting not one, but two feature-packed models. The $1,700 Alpha 7, which is positioned as a step-up cam for APS-C interchangeable-lens camera owners, includes a ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/R8TqgfJW34c/
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The Stooges In Winter: Moe, Larry And Curly Drawn Together

The Three Stooges in their younger years.

Columbia Pictures/AP

The Three Stooges in their younger years.

Columbia Pictures/AP

When Kurt Vonnegut dedicated his novel Slapstick to Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, he pinpointed the way an ideal team can transcend chemistry. Like Vonnegut's Wilbur and Eliza, the twins who became geniuses only in each other's presence, Laurel and Hardy united to become two halves of a single being. They bickered, they kicked each other's backsides, and were always mired in "another fine mess," but there was always the sense that they could not survive apart.

Much the same could be said of the Three Stooges, a comedy team with the flawless internal logic of a fine-tuned clock. There is Moe, the leader (by temperament if not acclamation), a tough-minded bruiser who gets things done and brings some semblance of organization. There is Curly, Moe's polar opposite — cheerful, energetic, optimistic, and totally incapable of seeing what is not in front of him (in A Plumbing We Will Go, he tries to fix a leak by attaching one pipe after another until he is trapped in a cage). And there is Larry, the middleman personified – he has no distinctive personality, but he's essential in the same way as ski poles.

If there were no Moe, the group would collapse into chaos (notice how Curly and Larry almost never talk to each other?). If there were no Larry, their films would be about a mean guy beating up a nice guy (Curly and Larry outnumber Moe, and could overpower him if they wanted to). And if there were no Curly ... well, I guess there would be Shemp, if you're into that sort of thing, but nobody wants to see just Moe and Larry. Why do these men stay together, despite the fact they don't seem to particularly like each other? Because apart, they could not function in the world.

Cartoon Stooges, as seen in the mid-'60s.

Madacy

Cartoon Stooges, as seen in the mid-'60s.

Madacy

Curly was long gone by the time of The New Three Stooges, a 1965-66 cartoon show new to DVD from Madacy, but if viewed with generosity, it offers some insight into the Stooges in winter.

The Stooges had enjoyed a career renaissance when their vintage shorts were syndicated to television in 1958, but with most of their audience now children, the team had eliminated malicious violence from their act — no more eye pokes, just light slapping. With portly vaudevillian "Curly Joe" DeRita filling the "third Stooge" slot (which suffered a mortality rate comparable to Spinal Tap drummers), the aging team offered a kindler, gentler brand of slapstick in personal appearances and films.

Each episode opens and closes with a live-action segment with the comedians engaged in some wheezy tomfoolery or other — they're bakers, they're painters, they're digging for treasure, etc. Production values are nonexistent: Each episode is filmed in a public park or no-frills soundstage (warehouse?), and the slapstick plays out in long, punishingly static medium-shots. Like the boys' 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures, these set pieces have little context — no need to know why the Stooges are at an airport or a barbershop, just that they're there.

In a freeze-frame from one of the live-action wraparounds, the Stooges are still at it, sort of.

Madacy

In a freeze-frame from one of the live-action wraparounds, the Stooges are still at it, sort of.

Madacy

Even if the Stooges hadn't downplayed violence, such measures might have been necessary: At 68 and 63, Moe and Larry look a little the worse for wear (Moe's hideous dye-job doesn't help matters). They are slower and saggier, less vicious but still ornery. Moe has evolved into an almost benevolent curmudgeon, and as for "Curly Joe," while surely one of the least-funny men who ever lived, he does offer a credible simulation of Jerome "Curly" Howard as an exhausted 56-year-old. Collectively, they have the same combination of coziness and prickliness as an old married couple.

The 156 cartoons are cheap and forgettable, and the 40 live-action wraparounds that repeat in order to surround them all are not very funny (and the sight of the boys cavorting in skin-tight swimsuits is not for the faint of heart). But for Stooge completists, they offer a strange sort of comfort. In the autumn of their years, the Stooges are still at it, once again starting some new business together, once again throwing pies in their weary faces, and still irretrievably locked in each other's orbit.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2013/10/15/234665181/the-stooges-in-winter-moe-larry-and-curly-drawn-together?ft=1&f=1045
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