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'Friday Night Lights' actor, set to break out in 'John Carter,' 'Battleship,' should have been featured more prominently.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Taylor Kitsch in "John Carter"
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures

Millions of people around the world were introduced to Taylor Kitsch Sunday night. The Canadian actor found himself at the center of two of the Super Bowl's biggest movie ads for his first two starring roles, in "John Carter" and "Battleship," but the trailers may not have been the first impression Kitsch was hoping for.

Kitsch made a name for himself starring as the misunderstood bad boy Tim Riggins on the beloved but criminally under-watched NBC series "Friday Night Lights." Riggins grew dear to the show's viewers because of the charm and likability Kitsch brought to the character, despite a tough exterior. Throughout the show's run, it was never a stretch to imagine the actor making the crossover to big-budget action movies with his charisma as hard evidence of his bankability.

But for his Super Bowl debuts, the studios behind "John Carter" and "Battleship" took the focus off of their star and instead cut special-effects shots together, leaving Kitsch as little more than background noise.

The "John Carter" trailer that aired during the game handled its time the most curiously. Beginning with a shot of Kitsch from the film, the footage grew smaller, eventually becoming part of a large collection of footage that formed letters spelling out the title of the film. By the time most of the video appeared on the screen, it was too small to make any sense of it.

What many people may not have known was that an extended version of the commercial, one with full-sized footage from the film, appeared online shortly after. That trailer showed off Kitsch during action sequences instead of zooming away from him.

The ad for "Battleship" approached promoting a big-budget sci-fi movie in a more traditional way, albeit one that also put Kitsch in the background. The spot played more like a commercial for the other series of movies based on Hasbro toys, "Transformers," and the scattered nature of it might have left people wondering whether the film stars Kitsch, Liam Neeson or Rihanna.

Sure, these are just commercials, but if 2012 is going to be the year that Taylor Kitsch makes the crossover from TV heartthrob to viable action star, studios ought to realize who they're working with and put the man front and center.

Check out everything we've got on "John Carter" and "Battleship."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678584/super-bowl-battleship-john-carter-taylor-kitsch.jhtml

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The Internet ? The Worlds Finest Telephone For Success

Companies of companies the two large and small can achieve prosperous improvements in their operations if they start to inquire themselves regularly, ?I have just been handed a powerful new tool. It basically lets me free communicate with anyone on this planet. How can I best put it to use to my benefit?? To focus, business owners need to first ask themselves two questions: As a business owner, what feel I trying to achieve? Marry your answers to the various communications capabilities of the World Wide Web; you may inevitably create several powerful and highly beneficial new initiatives. In exploring strategies for success in the developing natural environment, it is essential to recognize an undeniable fact that is often overlooked: The Internet is actually fundamentally a new marketing and sales communications vehicle. As a consequence, most of its value occurs because it permits cost-effective marketing and sales communications down the street or on the worldwide basisthat were not achievable before its emergence. Why is this so important? Since many people have a very different view of the World Wide Web. They will suggest that the Web can be an entertainment medium something which includes more in common with the tv screen than the telephone. This kind of focus is easy to understand; the typical person is more interested in the new offerings on the Web that can entertain your ex than the less exciting details of enhanced sales and marketing communications capabilities. In addition, World wide web use is the first activity in over forty years that has been clearly reported as something that brings about people to spend less time watching television. Its for that reason natural to think of becoming a substitute for this method. Benefits of Internet Telephone systems to Your Business: 1) Access Completely under Customer Control. With the internet, visitorspotential customers come to Websites at their ease, making them far more responsive to what companies must say because the clients arent being intruded on (as happens together with telemarketing). 2) One-to-Many Communications Carried out Seamlessly. The Internet provides one-to-many communications systems with no losing the privateness or interaction possible by phone. A single publishing at a Web site actually reaches as many people as visit the site tomorrow . 3) Reduced Effort, Occasion, and Cost. The Web makes things easy and affordable. Not all businesses are currently bringing in included profit via the World wide web yet; nonetheless, ever see needs to be working on this in order to be competitive right now. The Web makes it possible for businesses both large and small to develop new communications procedures that save time and funds while enabling quicker responses to client needs. Many industries count on widely distributed area sales forces which could consist of independent brokers or company personnel. In todays fast-moving business natural environment, providing these frontline military with the most up-to-the-minute information as well as the best possible tools along with support is critical to be able to success, and by while using Web, companies can perform so at cheaper cost. 2) Availability Completely under Customer Handle. With the Internet, visitorspotential customerscome to Websites at their comfort, making them far more open to what companies must say because the buyers arent being intruded after (as happens together with telemarketing). 3) One-to-Many Communications Done Seamlessly The Internet offers one-to-many marketing communications systems without dropping the privacy or interaction possible by phone. A single posting at the Web site reaches as many people as visit the site that day. 4) Diminished Effort, Time, and value. The Web makes things easy and affordable. The Web makes it possible to communicate regularly having a large volume of customers at virtually no expense. Businesses can generally profit by disseminating data; yet up to now, there has not been a new cost-effective, satisfactory way of timely customer notification. Not only is direct email costly, but the time of delivery is actually erratic and an mind-boggling amount of it is never actually opened. The telephone is actually timely, but details disseminated by mobile phone is also costly along with runs the risk of alienating customers who dont wish to be bothered by solicitor. Enter the Internet. The World Wide Web gives companies a low-cost strategy to communicate with existing clients and to reach out to potential ones with a timeliness which includes never before existed. The brand-new capabilities created by the Internet far exceed what is accomplished with the cell phone. Consider how a well-designed World wide web customer-communications system can work: 1.) Requests are confirmed by e-mail first immediately after they are positioned, and again if theyre shipped out. The actual shipping confirmation discover includes an internal following number to help consumers locate the package deal if it fails to turn up on a timely foundation. 2.) Customers can sign up for e-mail notifications of various varieties. By filling out a web based form, customers could request to be advised about newly offered products that are likely to be of curiosity to them. 3.) ?Missing? customers may be inexpensively lured back again: If a frequent buyer has not made a upgrade on some time, the electronic digital retailer can deliver a $5 or $10 digital coupon to encourage a return purchase. These types of ongoing efforts to create loyalty can be triggered by well-designed automated databases, combined with virtually free e-mail, to create an inexpensive, probably high-return, and customer devotion program. This suggests a new central strategy for any organization today: Gather e-mail addresses from customers (and permission to contact all of them using these addresses), in case you dont yet come with an interactive Web site. Watch from a major producer to a regional lower price store to the plumbing service will find that well-designed e-mail messages can be a low-cost, highly effective method of building profitable revenues. In Strategy Several, I discuss the way a local pest-control business might benefit tremendously from an e-mail-based initiative. The Significance about round the clock availability Like a good listing and 800 amounts, the Internet makes your business accessible to customers around the world twenty-four hours a day. Nonetheless, the Web is better than earths greatest catalog.? Heres exactly why: Additional visuals as well as much more written detail. Catalogs face an inherent issue: Paper and many are costly. As a result, particulars other views of a product or service as well as more published descriptionoften have to be left out. Consequently while the 800-number operator can understand to customers your special washing guidelines, if the product is provided on the Internet, the consumer can see the special cleansing instructions for him- or even herself, scroll through a more lengthy merchandise description, and in all likelihood, see more than one view of an item. Expanded offerings. Today catalogues typically list merely a portion of a companys offerings, simply because a lot more listings mean expansion of printing and posting costs. The Web obliterates this limitation. Remember too, that anything that can be attained online instead of by phone is more cost effective. The five-minute call to get a $50 item, for around $1 per minute, means that the call is a significant amount of the cost structure, plus a five-minute inquirywith no purchase attached creates a financial loss in add-on to time missing by personnel who might have been making a selling to someone else. This particular contrasts with use of the Net, whereto the extent that communications cost existsthey are usually trivial, and shoppers bear the cost of business contact by paying their particular access service. The Net has now led to a fresh definition of what clients have come to expect: Inside emerging era, companies are almost required to present twenty-four-hour Internet communications, in order that the consumer can shop from home whenever he or she wants to. Sites which prosper will be more when compared with order-taking vehicles; they will supply a creative, educational encounter that builds know-how about their products and services and engenders sales and also ongoing customer commitment. Whether your business specializes in Porche high-class cars or temporary employment services, the Web offers you the opportunity to locate people who are looking for what your company sells. 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05. February 2012 by frankan
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Source: http://www.calvertsrolloff.biz/2012/02/the-internet-the-worlds-greatest-telephone-for-success/

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The recording was forgotten, and so, too, was the odd twist of history that brought together Malcolm X and a bespectacled Ivy Leaguer fated to become one of America?s top diplomats.

The audiotape of Malcolm X?s 1961 address in Providence might never have surfaced at all if 22-year-old Brown University student Malcolm Burnley hadn?t stumbled across a reference to it in an old student newspaper. He found the recording of the little-remembered visit gathering dust in the university archives.

?No one had listened to this in 50 years,? Burnley told The Associated Press. ?There aren?t many recordings of him before 1962. And this is a unique speech - it?s not like others he had given before.?

In the May 11, 1961, speech delivered to a mostly white audience of students and some residents, Malcolm X combines blistering humor and reason to argue that blacks should not look to integrate into white society but instead must forge their own identities and culture.

At the time, Malcolm X, 35, was a loyal supporter of the black separatist movement Nation of Islam. He would be assassinated four years later after leaving the group and crafting his own more global, spiritual ideology.

The legacy of slavery and racism, he told the crowd of 800, ?has made the 20 million black people in this country a dead people. Dead economically, dead mentally, dead spiritually. Dead morally and otherwise. Integration will not bring a man back from the grave.?

The rediscovery of the speech could be the whole story. But Burnley found the young students in the crowd that night proved to be just as fascinating.

Malcolm X was prompted to come to Brown by an article about the growing Black Muslim movement published in the Brown Daily Herald. The article by Katharine Pierce, a young student at Pembroke College, then the women?s college at Brown, was first written for a religious studies class. It caught the eye of the student paper?s editor, Richard Holbrooke.

Holbrooke would become a leading American diplomat, serving as U.S. Ambassador to Germany soon after that nation?s reunification, ambassador to the United Nations and President Obama?s special adviser on Pakistan and Afghanistan before his death in 2010 at age 69.

But in 1961 Holbrooke was 20, and eager to use the student newspaper to examine race relations - an unusual interest on an Ivy League campus with only a handful of black students.

Pierce?s article ran in the newspaper?s magazine and made her the first woman whose name was featured on the newspaper?s masthead.

Somehow, the article made its way to Malcolm X. His staff and Holbrooke worked out details of the visit weeks in advance. Campus officials were wary: Malcolm X had been banned from the University of California-Berkeley and Queens College in New York.

Tickets - 50 cents - for the Brown speech sold quickly. About 800 people filled the venue, the 19th-century, Romanesque Sayles Hall, meant to hold about 500.

Pierce introduced Malcolm X and recalls him vividly.

?He came surrounded by a security detail,? she recalls. ?You got the sense - this is an important person. He was handsome, absolutely charismatic. I was just bewildered that my class paper could have led to something like this.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0212_72467_html/44426846/SIG=11m7cb1vf/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72467.html

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MUNICH ? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday issued a new warning to Egypt that the failure to resolve a bitter dispute over the status of non-governmental pro-democracy groups may lead to the loss of American aid to the country.

Clinton met Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr at an international security conference in Munich and repeated that message, which had already been transmitted to officials in Cairo. The U.S. is due to give Egypt $1.3 billion in military assistance and $250 million in economic aid in 2012.

"We are very clear that there are problems that arise from this situation that can impact all the rest of our relationship with Egypt," Clinton told reporters. "We do not want that. We have worked very hard this past year to put in place financial assistance and other support for the economic and political reforms that are occurring in Egypt."

"We will have to closely review these matters as it comes for us to certify whether any of these funds from our government can be made available under these circumstances," she said.

Under U.S. law, Clinton must certify to Congress that Egypt is meeting certain requirements, including enacting democratic and rule of law reforms, in order for the assistance to be released.

U.S.-Egyptian tensions have been high since raids on the organizations, including some funded by the American government, began late last year. They rose further after Egypt refused to allow some American workers to leave the country. Three of those workers are now holed up in the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, fearing for their safety.

Egypt's investigation into foreign-funded organizations burst into in January when heavily armed security forces raided 17 offices belonging to 10 pro-democracy and human rights groups. U.S. and U.N. officials blasted the raids, which Egyptian officials defended as part of a legitimate investigation into the groups' work and finances.

In late January, Egypt barred at least six Americans and four Europeans who worked for U.S.-based organizations from leaving the country. They included Sam LaHood, the head of the Egypt office of the Washington-based International Republican Institute and the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the only Republican in President Barack Obama's Cabinet.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120204/ap_on_re_eu/eu_us_egypt

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An Egyptian protestor is seen through heat waves from a fire as he raises his national flag during clashes with security forces near the interior ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. A volunteer doctor says police and protesters angry over a deadly soccer riot have clashed for the second day in the Egyptian capital, and that one man died in the latest violence. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

CORRECTS DAY OF WEEK TO FRIDAY - Egyptian protestors help a wounded man during clashes with security forces near the interior ministry in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. A volunteer doctor says police and protesters angry over a deadly soccer riot have clashed for the second day in the Egyptian capital, and that one man died in the latest violence.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Egyptian protestors stand in front of riot police to stop others from throwing stones during clashes near the Interior Ministry in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. A volunteer doctor says police and protesters angry over a deadly soccer riot have clashed for the second day in the Egyptian capital, and that one man died in the latest violence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Egyptian riot police throw stones at protestors during clashes near the Interior Ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. A volunteer doctor says police and protesters angry over a deadly soccer riot have clashed for the second day in the Egyptian capital, and that one man died in the latest violence. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Egyptian protestors run from tear gas fired by security forces during clashes near the Interior Ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. A volunteer doctor says police and protesters angry over a deadly soccer riot have clashed for the second day in the Egyptian capital, and that one man died in the latest violence. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

CAIRO (AP) ? Protesters filled the streets and clashed for a second day Friday with police who fired tear gas and birdshot in Cairo, as a deadly soccer riot focused rising public anger over lawlessness and collapsing security a year after Egypt's uprising.

Six people have been killed and more than 1,500 injured in the latest bloodshed that followed a violent melee and stampede after a soccer game Wednesday in the Mediterranean city of Port Said in which 74 people died.

Egyptians streamed out of Friday prayers in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and several Nile Delta cities, criticizing police and calling on the military rulers led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to step down.

On Cairo's Tahrir Square ? the heart of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak a year ago ? protesters raised banners and pictures of those killed in Port Said and chanted, "The people want to execute the marshal."

The police force, which for decades was associated with torture and corruption in the Mubarak regime, is now being criticized in the soccer stadium deaths ? whether from a lack of control or, as some alleged, on purpose.

For many Egyptians, the security vacuum is not just a sign of incompetence but part of the larger overall failure by the military council to steer the country through its turbulent transitional period. They also see selectivity in policing the streets.

Leading democracy advocate Mohamed ElBaradei said delays in reforming the security apparatus is itself "a crime against the nation," adding that the current violence is the "price we pay for stumbling in the transitional period."

The clashes in Cairo began Thursday as the bodies of the dead soccer fans were returned to the capital for burial, and the violence escalated. Protesters converged on the headquarters of the Interior Ministry, which oversees police, throwing stones.

Police responded with tear gas and birdshot, and protesters donned helmets and gas masks to battle their way through streets thick with smoke from tear gas and burning tires.

"I came because I'm trying to do anything to feel that I took part in getting people's rights and voicing all that's inside me," said 20-year-old Ahmed Emad, whose two friends were killed in Port Said. "If I sit at home, I will explode after all I've seen."

The death toll from Friday's violence rose to six. That figure included a security officer in Cairo, according to the official MENA news agency.

One protester in Cairo was killed after being hit by birdshot at close range, a volunteer doctor said on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal.

Four protesters died in Suez after police opened fire on a crowd of about 3,000 demonstrators in front of police headquarters, according to local health officials. A third protester in Suez was in critical condition with a wound to the neck.

The Port Said soccer riot began when fans of the home team, Al-Masry, stormed the field after their club defeated Al-Ahly, one of Cairo's top teams. Police in black uniforms and riot gear were seen in television video broadcast nationwide standing by and largely doing nothing amid the chaos.

The bloodshed ? the worst in the soccer world in 15 years ? enraged protesters who were already frustrated with the slow pace of reform by the military leaders.

A network of zealous Al-Ahly soccer fans known as Ultras, who were prominent police foes during the uprising, accused the security forces of deliberately allowing the Al-Masry supporters to attack.

Some lawmakers suggested that the military allowed the attack to happen to show the need for a reinstatement of the recently abolished emergency laws, in which the police enjoyed nearly unlimited power.

For their part, police are resentful of the abuse they suffered during the uprising and they also fear being criticized or even prosecuted if they use excessive force, something that was tolerated and encouraged under Mubarak.

Activist Nour Nour said Interior Ministry officials "failed in providing security but have been successful in protecting what they want to protect."

The ruling generals, for their part, have accused a "third party" and "foreign hands" of being behind acts of violence.

Tantawi said incidents like the soccer violence "happen anywhere in the world. We will not let those behind it go. ... This will not affect Egypt and its security."

The police failure to prevent the soccer riot was the bloodiest example of a series of security lapses as crime has surged since the uprising.

Two American tourists and their tour guide were abducted at gunpoint Friday and held for several hours by Bedouin tribesmen in a brazen daylight attack along a busy highway in the Sinai desert, dealing another blow to Egypt's already battered tourism industry.

Maj. Gen. Mohammed Naguib, the head of security for southern Sinai, said the three were taken from a minivan while traveling from St. Catherine's Monastery to the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

They were released hours later after promises by security officials to look into their demands, which include the release of a number of fellow tribesmen arrested this week on drug trafficking and robbery charges.

Bedouins have long complained of discrimination and random arrests by the government, and the Sinai was restive even under Mubarak, but the kidnappings of the Americans and other recent high-profile attacks signaled an escalation.

Elsewhere on the Sinai Peninsula, four masked gunmen stopped the vehicle of two Italian workers for a food factory in the city of Suez, taking their car, more than 10,000 euros ($13,000) and their laptops, said company director Mohammed Antar. The Italians were not harmed.

On Monday, there was a series of major thefts in Cairo, including armed robberies at two banks and a mail office.

Adel Shokry, the secretary general of the south Sinai Hotel Association, said the general security situation in the country is "pitiful."

"I think there is plenty of lawlessness. The security agencies are not working as efficiently as they had before. They must review their positions," he said. "I think the army must step in to fill in this security vacuum."

___

Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb in Cairo and Ashraf Sweilam in El-Arish contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-02-03-ML-Egypt/id-eb8edddea45a4e55a0ed315bee09248e

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The Dow Chemical Co. is feeling the impact of the slowing European economy, and seeing some weakness in North America as well.

And the nation's largest chemical maker doesn't expect to see much improvement in overall demand until the second quarter. That's when it believes stronger economies in the United States and emerging countries will offset continued weakness in Europe, which is embroiled in a crippling debt crisis.

Dow said Thursday that it posted a loss of 2 cents per share in the fourth quarter as a one-time charge resulted in higher taxes at its Brazilian operations.

Excluding charges, Dow earned 25 cents per share. But that fell short of analysts' expectations.

Price hikes helped revenue increase 2 percent to $14.1 billion. But overall volume was down 3 percent, or flat excluding businesses that Dow has sold off. The company said demand slipped as customers in North America, Europe and other regions worked through existing inventory instead of replenishing their stockpiles.

Volumes declined in Western Europe and the United States which, combined, make up about 70 percent of the company's overall sales. That was offset by stronger sales in China, the Asia Pacific region and Latin America.

Andrew N. Liveris, chairman and CEO, said they saw global economic "deterioration" in the period, with "considerable weakness" in Western Europe. Europe, which is embroiled in a debt crisis, accounts for a quarter of the company's sales.

Dow Chemical's performance can offer insight into the strength of the global economy because it sells such a wide range of products used in everything from televisions and toys to automobiles and agriculture producers.

The Midland, Mich., company's quarterly loss totaled $20 million. That compares with a year-ago profit of $426 million, or 37 cents per share.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected a profit, excluding items, of 31 cents per share on revenue of $14.18 billion.

Sales in the company's largest segment, performance plastics, fell 6 percent to $3.7 billion. That unit makes plastics for use in everything from artificial turf to diapers and food packaging.

Revenue was flat or improved in all other segments, with the biggest jump ? 14 percent ? in feedstocks, or the raw materials used in some industrial production and energy products.

For the year, the company earned $2.4 billion, or $2.05 per share, up 22 percent from its 2010 profit of $1.97 billion, or $1.72 per share. Revenue rose 12 percent to $59.99 billion.

Dow said that while it expects its business to strengthen in the U.S., it's less optimistic about conditions in Europe. The company believes higher volumes in North America, China and the Asia Pacific region will make up for the weakness in Europe.

"We do not anticipate material improvements in market conditions for the first quarter of the year, but do project economic recovery will gain momentum as we move through the second quarter and the remainder of the year," Liveris said in a statement.

Liveris told analysts during a conference call that management expects growth to come from within the company and not through new acquisitions.

Dow's performance was similar to that of other specialty chemical manufacturers, which saw softer fourth-quarter demand. Most expect the first quarter to be weak, with better volumes and results beginning in the second quarter.

Argus Research analyst Bill Selesky said the "wild card" is Europe, where talks continue to drag on about how to resolve debt issues in countries like Greece, Spain and Italy, and jump-start economic growth.

Shares of Dow fell 40 cents Thursday to close at $33.54.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120202/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_dow_chemical

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?Square? doesn?t necessarily mean ?dull,? although to audiences weaned on the one-gory-death-per-15-minutes model of the postmillennial slasher film may find this melancholy ghost story laughably action-free. But there?s something to admire in The Woman in Black?s stouthearted commitment to the time-honored trappings of Gothic spookiness. In order to enjoy this film, the viewer needs to enjoy some scary-movie tropes that, for sophisticated viewers of the genre, may be too clich? to own up to. For example, how do you feel about a child?s nursery full of Victorian-era windup toys that suddenly, for no apparent reason, start jingling out their innocent, eerie tunes in a dark, empty mansion in the English countryside? If that sounds too corny and played-out to evoke even a faint shudder, The Woman in Black may not be for you. If, on the other hand, you?re not above acknowledging the trans-historical creepiness of a good dusty windup-doll shelf (Come on! It includes one of those hyper-realistic monkeys playing the cymbals!), this pokey, modestly budgeted thriller isn?t without its shivery delights.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=11e6291e42d9cf529da7d40725c43e69

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Alannah Shevenell, 9, speaks to a reporter at her home in Hollis, Maine, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. Alannah returned home Wednesday afternoon, three months after receiving six new organs in a groundbreaking operation. Doctors at Children?s Hospital Boston replaced Alannah Shevenell?s stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas and a portion of her esophagus in October. It?s believed to be the first-ever transplant of an esophagus and the largest number of organs transplanted at one time in New England. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Alannah Shevenell, 9, and her grandmother, Debi Skolas, speak to a reporter at their home in Hollis, Maine, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. Alannah returned home Wednesday afternoon, three months after receiving six new organs in a groundbreaking operation. Doctors at Children?s Hospital Boston replaced Alannah Shevenell?s stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas and a portion of her esophagus in October. It?s believed to be the first-ever transplant of an esophagus and the largest number of organs transplanted at one time in New England. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Alannah Shevenell, 9, rides on a sled with her grandfather, Jamie Skolas, at their home in Hollis, Maine, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. Alannah returned home Wednesday afternoon, three months after receiving six new organs in a groundbreaking operation. Hospital officials say it was the first known esophageal transplant in the world and the largest number of organs transplanted into a person at one time in New England. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

HOLLIS, Maine (AP) ? A 9-year-old Maine girl is home from a Boston hospital healthy, active and with high hopes ? and a new stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas, and part of an esophagus to replace the ones that were being choked by a huge tumor.

It's believed to be the first-ever transplant of an esophagus and the largest number of organs transplanted at one time in New England.

Spunky and bright-eyed as she scampered around her family's farmhouse outside Portland, Alannah Shevenell said Thursday that she's glad to be feeling well again and able to go sledding, make a snowman, work on her scrapbooks and give her grandmother a little good-humored sass.

The best part, though? "Being home," she said. "Just being home."

It was 2008 when Alannah, then 5, began running a fever and losing weight while her belly swelled. Doctors discovered the tumor that year and twice attempted to remove it, as it made its way like octopus legs from organ to organ. But it was difficult to access what turned out to be a rare form of sarcoma, said Debi Skolas, Alannah's grandmother, and chemotherapy didn't do the trick, either.

All the time, the growth ? known as an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor ? continued to grow in her abdomen, causing pain, making it hard to eat and swelling her up with fluid. Surgery was the last resort to save her life, and Alannah spent more than a year on a waiting list for the organs, said Dr. Heung Bae Kim, the lead surgeon on the procedure at Children's Hospital Boston.

The family was told there was a 50 percent chance Alannah wouldn't survive the procedure. But without it, she had no chance whatsoever.

Things were more tense than celebratory in October when doctors prepared to remove the growth and the organs in one fell swoop and replace them with organs transplanted in one tangled piece from another child of similar size.

The hardest part was taking out her organs and the tumor, Kim said, calling it a difficult operation with lots of blood loss.

"It's probably one of the most extensive tumor removals ever done," the surgeon said.

Dr. Allan Kirk, professor of surgery at Emory University in Atlanta and the editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Transplantation, said no other esophageal transplant has been reported in medical literature.

After the surgery, Alannah spent three more months at the hospital, with her grandmother sleeping every night in a lounge chair by her bed. She battled infections and complications from the surgery before finally being given the OK to leave.

She arrived back home Wednesday in the 192-year-old house on a country road where she lives with her grandmother and grandfather, Jamie Skolas, in Hollis, a town of 4,500 residents about 20 miles west of Portland.

But just because she's home doesn't mean she's out of the woods. Alannah has to take nine medications each day, some two, three or four times. Her grandparents have to precisely measure what goes in and comes out of her body, and check her blood sugar.

She has an ostomy pouch and feeding tube attached to her for nutrition as she slowly gets used to eating again. Scars from her surgeries look like a roadmap on her stomach. A tutor comes to the home 20 hours a week for her schooling.

Her immune system is so weak that she can't go to places with large numbers of other people, such as school, church or a mall. She can't eat raw vegetables or fruits unless they have thick skins because of concerns over germs, and she'll never be able to swim in a lake because of the bacteria. The Skolases installed ultraviolet lights in their heating ducts to kill mold, mildew and bacteria that might sicken Alannah.

Alannah is aware of her limitations and what she's been through. "Don't even ask," she says when the subject of the medical costs, which have been covered by MaineCare ? Maine's version of Medicaid ? come up.

She's talkative and enjoys bantering with her grandparents.

"Grammy, you're not always right," she said to end a conversation.

The Skolases, who took Alannah in several years ago but declined to discuss the whereabouts of her parents, have made sacrifices for her through the years. Their hand-crafted-furniture business has suffered, with Debi devoting her time to care for Alannah, and the couple has dipped into retirement savings to make ends meet.

Friends have organized a fundraiser to help raise money to offset the costs.

More than anything, though, the family is thankful for the girl's second chance at life and to the family that went through the pain of losing a child and before deciding to donate the organs to help Alannah.

"That was a courageous decision," Debi Skolas said. "I still cry when I think about it."

___

Associated Press writer Bridget Brown in Boston contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-02-02-Multiple%20Organ%20Transplant/id-5485c79bbe754dce91676810095f4d09

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croleykeesha41

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) ? Hollywood director James Cameron is planning to move onto a New Zealand farm.

Cameron has successfully applied to buy 1,067 hectares (2,636 acres) of farmland in New Zealand. In an application filed with the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office, Cameron says he and his family "intend to reside indefinitely in New Zealand and are acquiring the property to reside on and operate as a working farm."

Cameron, a Canadian, directed two of Hollywood's most successful films, "Titanic" and "Avatar." He could not be immediately contacted by The Associated Press Thursday, but it's believed he will move to New Zealand this year to film the sequel to "Avatar."

The rural properties are about a 90-minute drive from Wellington, home to Weta Digital, which won an Oscar for its visual effects work on the first "Avatar" movie.

(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow. Correct acres/hectares conversions.)

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-02-01-AS-New-Zealand-James-Cameron/id-f9139f33685a4d37983c9a9d68d4a2f6

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croleykeesha41

It was never intended as such, but The Rolling Stones' song Under My Thumb could easily pass as the anthem of overbearing parents across the globe. Now, T-Mobile is tossing its paranoid constituents a bone with an updated version of its FamilyWhere lineup. First onto the platform is FamilyWhere Check In, a free app that lets kids manually send their location to family members, which is delivered as a web link within a text message. The carrier's more robust application, known as FamilyWhere Locate, is a $10/mo subscription service that automatically provides location tracking for up to ten devices. Here, doting parents (and untrusting spouses) can keep tabs on their family via a web browser or the FamilyWhere app, and may choose to have regular location updates delivered via SMS or email. Now all you have to do is slap DriveSmart onto your kids' phones, and they're certain to resent you forever.

Continue reading T-Mobile updates FamilyWhere location tracking service for worrisome parents

T-Mobile updates FamilyWhere location tracking service for worrisome parents originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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