The Connection : It's 'A Good Day to Die Hard' for long running series

Photo Credit: Courtesy Photo

Cody Durham, Sports Editor
February 28, 2013
Filed under Features / Arts & Entertainment, Top Stories

Much like Bruce Willis? acting career, the ?Die Hard? movie series just keeps coming back.

?A Good Day to Die Hard? is the fifth installment of a series that began in 1988 and is directed by John Moore, who is most known for the 2001 film ?Behind Enemy Lines.?

I?ve never seen any of the ?Die Hard? movies and after watching this one, I?m glad I haven?t.

Willis stars as John McClane, a cop with a rugged edge that?s not afraid to do some dirty work. In an attempt to find his son Jack, played by Jai Courtney, John ventures into Moscow, Russia.

When John runs into his son, he soon realizes that Jack is a spy for the CIA and is on a covert mission. Much like any father, John attempts to help his son and the action begins.

Unlike most action-adventure movies, this is where the movie takes a turn for the worst.

Every single action scene is filmed with that shaky camera junk, the one that?s supposed to make you feel like you?re in the action but ends up just leaving you with a headache.

Much like any other cheesy action movie, every bad guy is a surprisingly terrible shot and the good guys seamlessly outrun the bullets fired by even the biggest of guns.

The majority of Willis? dialogue throughout the film consists of lame one-liners that only the most?die hard of?fans would laugh at. During almost every gunfight in the movie Willis yells out, ?Hey, I?m on vacation!?

To make matters worse, Moore tries to play up this father-son bonding throughout the movie, but by the time the credits roll,you have no feelings towards either character and are left slightly nauseous.

However, Moore does provide viewers with a twist that many won?t see coming that livens the film up a bit.

The only problem is that Moore follows this twist up with a climax that is incredibly hard to believe. I didn?t?know if I was watching Bruce Willis or Iron Man.

Despite the completely inane plot line, ?A Good Day to Die Hard? does provide some pretty cool special effects and sounds for the viewers.

While those are sure to please kids and adults alike, this film is rated R and is filled with foul language and graphic violence. So if you have a love affair with Mr. Willis, make sure to leave your kids at home.

Unless you are a longtime fan of the series or the ageless wonder that is Bruce Willis, this film is not worth the $10.50 you?ll pay at the door. Take my advice: wait for it to show up on your Netflix queue.

Tags: A Good Day to Die Hard, action movie, Bruce Willis, CIA, Cody Durham, Connection Spring 2013, CRC, Die Hard, Die Hard series, Features / Arts & Entertainment, gunfights, Jai Courtney, John McClane, John Moore, movie review, Netflix, online, rated R, Spring 2013, The Connection

Source: http://www.thecrcconnection.com/features-arts-entertainment/2013/02/28/its-a-good-day-to-die-hard-for-long-running-series/

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Putin submits election law condemned by opponents

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin has submitted legislation to change the way the Russian parliament is elected, a move he says will advance democracy but critics say is aimed at bolstering his United Russia party.

The bill calls for half of the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, to be filled by voters choosing individual candidates in districts. Currently all seats are filled by voting for parties.

The legislation is expected to pass. The United Russia party, loyal to Putin, has a majority in parliament despite losing seats in the December 2011 election that set off the biggest protests of his 13-year rule.

Putin, who returned to the presidency for a six-year term last May and could run for re-election in 2018, pointed to the legislation as part of efforts to improve democracy in his state of the nation speech in December.

But opponents say the bill is aimed at ensuring United Russia wins as many seats as possible. The party is much less popular than Putin and had its reputation damaged by allegations of fraud in the 2011 election.

The next Duma election is to be held late in 2016.

Kremlin critics say the party-list system has become dangerous for United Russia, which won less than 50 percent of the vote in 2011.

They say the party and the Kremlin could use the levers of power they hold nationwide to win seats, through methods ranging from pressuring state employees to vote and backing wealthy businessmen with the cash to mount effective campaigns.

"Practically everything in this law is aimed at preserving the monopoly of the 'party of power'," the leader of liberal opposition party Yabloko, Sergei Mitrokhin, said in a comment posted on the party's website.

Sergei Udaltsov, an opposition leader who is under house arrest on charges of plotting unrest that he says are part of a Kremlin crackdown, criticized the bill on Twitter for its lack of a provision allowing the creation of electoral blocs, which would increase the ability of Kremlin opponents to win seats.

Igor Lebedev, a Duma deputy from Vladimir Zhirinovsky's LDPR party, called the bill "a step back" and told the daily Vedomosti he believed United Russia would seek to boost its Duma presence by naming popular figures such as athletes and actors as candidates in district races.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/putin-submits-election-law-condemned-opponents-105357226.html

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Cancer risks higher in worst hit Fukushima area: WHO

GENEVA (Reuters) - People in the area worst affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident two years ago have a higher risk of developing certain cancers, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday.

A 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, killed nearly 19,000 people and devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, triggering meltdowns, spewing radiation and forcing about 160,000 people to flee their homes.

"A breakdown of data, based on age, gender and proximity to the plant, does show a higher cancer risk for those located in the most contaminated parts," Dr. Maria Neira, WHO director for public health and environment, said in a statement.

In the most contaminated area, the WHO estimated that there was a 70 percent higher risk of females exposed as infants developing thyroid cancer over their lifetime. The thyroid is the most exposed organ as radioactive iodine concentrates there and children are deemed especially vulnerable.

The report concluded that for the general population inside Japan, the predicted health risks were low, but that one-third of emergency workers were estimated to have increased risk.

But there was no discernible increase in health risks expected outside Japan, the WHO in a 200-page report, which was based on a comprehensive assessment by international experts.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Jon Boyle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cancer-risks-higher-worst-hit-fukushima-area-093400519--finance.html

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Video: Prince Harry visits his charity in Lesotho

>>> coming out, prince harry is headed back to britain following his first appearance following his tour of duty to afghanistan. the prince traveling to south africa to raise money for his charity. michelle kosinski is in johannesburg this morning. good morning to you.

>> reporter: hi, matt. the kingdom lasoto prince harry visited is one of the poorest places on the planet. life expectancy of around 41. if you haven't heard about this, don't feel bad. that's one of the reasons why prince harry has chosen it, to try to help where he can. in showing up and shaking a few hands would never be prince harry 's style. shaking a stick or his shoulders, that's more like it. he made the most of every minute . at a school for the blind, the kids taught him braille. the school for the deaf, next, where he may have learned a sign or two. the prince even donned a royal purple teddy bear apron, a traditional print. it's always laughs when he's around. the prince here founded a charity which means forget me not in 2006 . he spent a summer working here as a teenager and couldn't forget the need he saw. he also wanted to remember his mother, the brave work diana did in africa and the prince's mother. they plan to build a large center here for children with hiv.

>> my mother would be proud, too. maybe with blueprints and sketches already mapped out. and don't want to put the swing in the wrong place.

>> reporter: together, these two have already impacted children suffering through poverty, disease, loss of their parents. harry stayed involved even during his tour of duty in afghanistan. he has often said he loves children. it shows. and now gets to reach out again with hands and smiles. people are sometimes surprised to hear prince harry 's charity only has five employees in the uk another 15 in losoto. they want to expand to other african countries and quadruple the amount they raise each year currently $3 million. not bad for the 28-year-old prince. matt.

>> all right. miche michelle kosinski in johannesburg this morning. coming

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50987084/

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Pour, shake and stir: How gold particles, DNA and water have the potential to shape the future of medicine

Feb. 28, 2013 ? A diagnostic 'cocktail,' containing a single drop of blood, a dribble of water and a dose of DNA powder with gold particles, could one day lead to the treatment of the world's leading diseases.

This homegrown brew is being developed by IBBME PhD student Kyryl Zagorovsky and Professor Warren Chan (IBBME), a Canada Research Chair in Nanobiotechnology, and a recent winner of the NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship.

"There's been a lot of emphasis in developing simple diagnostics," said Professor Chan. "The question is, how do you make it simple enough, portable enough?"

Professor Chan's lab studies nanoparticles -- in particular, the use of gold particles in sizes so small that they are measured in the nanoscale. He and his group are working on custom-designing nanoparticles to target and illuminate cancer cells and tumours, with the potential of one day being able to deliver drugs to cancer cells.

Zagorovsky's rapid-diagnostic biosensor will allow technicians to test for multiple diseases at one time with one small sample, and with high accuracy and sensitivity. The biosensor relies upon gold particles in much the same vein as your average pregnancy test. With a pregnancy test, gold particles turn the test window red because the particles are linked with an antigen that detects a certain hormone in the urine of a pregnant woman.

"Gold is the best medium," explained Professor Chan, "because it's easy to see. It emits a very intense colour."

Currently, scientists can target a particular disease by linking gold particles with DNA strands. When a sample containing the disease gene (e.g., Malaria) is present, it clumps the gold particles, turning the sample blue.

Rather than clumping the particles together, Zagorovsky immerses the gold particles in a DNA-based enzyme solution (DNA-zyme) that, when the disease gene is introduced, 'snip' the DNA from the gold particles, turning the sample red.

"It's like a pair of scissors," said Zagorovsky. "The target gene activates the scissors that cut the DNA links holding gold particles together."

The advantage is that far less of the gene needs to be present for the solution to show noticeable colour changes, amplifying detection. A single DNA-zyme can clip up to 600 'links' between the target genes.

Just a single drop from a biological sample such as saliva or blood can potentially be tested in parallel, so that multiple diseases can be tested in one sitting.

But the team has also demonstrated that can transform the testing solution into a powder, making it light and far easier to ship than solutions, which degrade over time. Powder can be stored for years at a time, and offers hope that the technology can be developed into efficient, cheap, over-the-counter tests for diseases such as HIV and malaria for developing countries, where access to portable diagnostics is a necessity.

"We've now put all the pieces together," said Professor Chan.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Kyryl Zagorovsky, Warren C. W. Chan. A Plasmonic DNAzyme Strategy for Point-of-Care Genetic Detection of Infectious Pathogens. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2013; DOI: 10.1002/anie.201208715

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/PDJliaqGgPU/130228171529.htm

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Tom Engelhardt: My Homeland, 'Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of...

Cross-posted with TomDispatch.com

Once upon a time, "homeland" was a word of little significance in the American context. What American before 9/11 would have called the United States his or her "homeland" rather than "country"? Who sang "My homeland, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty"? Between my birth in 1944, as World War II was drawing to a close, and September 11, 2001, I doubt I ever heard the word in reference to the U.S.

There was a reason: "homeland" had a certain ring to it and anyone would have known at once just what that ring, that resonance, was. Not to put too fine a point on it, we're talking about the ring of evil. It sounded like the sort of word the Nazis or maybe Stalin would have used as the terrible totalitarians of the previous century mobilized their people for horrific wars and heinous crimes.

It's true that, in the run-up to September 11, somewhere in the corridors of Washington, there were right-wingers already pushing to homeland-ize this country. The word, along with the idea of creating a future Office of Homeland Security, was then gestating like the monster baby in the movie Alien, awaiting its moment to burst forth.

Today, there's nothing alien about that most un-American of terms. It has slipped so smoothly into our lives that "Homeland" is the name of a popular TV show, and college students looking for a good livelihood can now get a BA or an MA coast to coast in... yep, homeland security. ("You can build a career helping to protect our nation by earning your Bachelor of Science Degree in Homeland and Corporate Security at St. John's University.") And if you happen to be into securing the homeland, you can even join the "corporate and homeland security club" on campus. After college, given the money pouring into the "field," the sky's the limit.

Perhaps Booz Allen will hire you to consult for firms on -- you guessed it -- homeland security. ("Booz Allen is able to serve the Department of Homeland Security and our other clients because we make their mission our mission. We therefore understand what is needed to react quickly to rapidly changing events.") Or perhaps you'll be taken on by the Homeland Security Research Corporation in Washington to provide "premium market, technology, and industry expertise that enables our global clients to gain critical insight into the business opportunities that exist within the Homeland Security & Homeland Defense market. Government clients include the US, UK, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Canada, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Finland, and Singapore. US Congress, DHS, US Army, US Navy, DOD, DOT, GAO, NATO, and the EU are among others. HSRC serves over 600 private sector clients, including all major defense contractors and many Fortune 500 companies."

Or what about the Chertoff Group, headed by Michael Chertoff, the former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, or the Ashcroft Group, headed by former Attorney General John Ashcroft, or for that matter Good Harbor Security Management, led by former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard Clarke.

And that only scratches the surface. By 2006, only three years after the Department of Homeland Security had been set up, the New York Times was already reporting that "at least 90 officials" who worked there or at the White House office that preceded it had zipped through the revolving door into the private sector and were "executives, consultants, or lobbyists for companies that collectively do billions of dollars' worth of domestic security business."

What makes all of this remarkable is how quietly, how easily, how securely that most alien of words and the organization that goes with it have entered American life (and changed it). Which is why, thanks to Mattea Kramer and Chris Hellman from the invaluable National Priorities Project, TomDispatch.com is doing something rare these days: putting a spotlight on that modern cash cow and giant boondoggle lurking in the shadows of our world, the Department of Homeland Security.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-engelhardt/homeland-defense_b_2782172.html

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Tax, wage ID theft tops FTC's complaints list

Herb Weisbaum , NBC News contributor ? ? ? 6 hrs.

The Federal Trade Commission received a record number of complaints last year ? more than 2 million ? and for the 13th year in a row, identity theft tops the list.

According to the 2012 annual report released on Tuesday, 18 percent of all consumer complaints were related to identity theft.

The new numbers show a huge rise in the percentage of identity theft fraud cases related to taxes and wages. The IRS recently acknowledged the serious nature of this problem and how it?s trying to fight back.

ConsumerMan: IRS identity theft crackdown nets 109 arrests

The FTC says there are three basic types of ID theft related to taxes and wages:

• The most common is when the scammer ? using your Social Security number ? applies for an income tax refund in your name. If the crook gets your refund before you file your return, it can hold up the process for months.
  
• ID thieves sometimes misuse Social Security numbers to create bogus dependents to boost their fraudulent refund. Again, this delays legitimate refunds.
  
• They also use stolen SSNs to get a job. Victims don?t find out about this until they get a notice from the IRS that says they?re under-reporting their income.
  

?The FTC report, when combined with the recently released Javelin Research survey ? that reported the number of identity theft victims reached over 12.6 million in 2012 ? is yet another confirmation of the inevitability of victimization,? said Adam Levin, chairman of Identity Theft 911.

?Human error, misplaced trust, individual over-sharing of information and countless data breaches impacting all segments of the business community and all levels of government have contributed to the depressing reality that it is literally impossible to prevent identity theft.?

Here is the complete list of the FTC?s Top 10 Complaint Categories for 2012:

1. Identity theft: 369,132 complaints ( 18 percent)
   
2. Debt collection: 199,721 complaints (10 percent)
   
3. Banks and lenders: 132,340 complaints (6 percent)
   
4. Shop-at-home and catalog sales: 115,184 complaints (6 percent)
   
5. Prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries: 98,479 complaints (5 percent)
   
6. Impostor scams: 82,896 complaints (4 percent)
   
7. Internet services: 81,438 complaints (4 percent)
   
8. Auto-related complaints: 78,062 complaints (4 percent)
   
9. Telephone and mobile services: 76,783 complaints (4 percent)
   
10. Credit cards: 51,550 complaints (3 percent)
    

?This report illustrates that we still have a huge problem with fraud in this country,? said John Breyault, director of Fraud.org, run by the National Consumers League. ?It?s more important than ever that people educate themselves and learn how to spot the warning signs of fraud.?

It?s also important to report suspected scams and let the authorities know if you?ve been victimized. They may not be able to help you specifically, but you might help them catch the bad guys.

?Law enforcement agencies nationwide will use this information to help stop those who try to scam U.S. consumers,? said Charles Harwood, acting director of the FTC?s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

You can file a complaint with the FTC online.

More Information:

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitteror visit The ConsumerMan website.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/tax-wage-id-theft-tops-ftcs-list-most-complaints-1C8569858

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