Push to ban gay marriage flagging in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? Ever since gay couples began flocking to Iowa to marry three years ago, conservative Republicans have been looking forward to amassing enough political power to put an end to it. But now that the opportunity is finally approaching, their goal may be slipping out of reach.

Conservative lawmakers are watching public opinion move away from them on the gay marriage issue, and now fear that voters might not approve a ban even if the GOP can put one on the ballot by winning control of the Legislature in the November elections.

The shifting views come as a bitter disappointment for the state's prominent Christian conservative community which has long bridled at Iowa's status as a gay rights haven in the heartland ? the only place outside the Northeast where gays can marry.

"People are getting comfortable with it and that's a shame to tell you the truth," said Susan Geddes, an Iowa Republican and social conservative organizer who worked for Mike Huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign in the state.

Even Republicans seem to be more accepting, said Julie Summa marketing director for The Family Leader, a social conservative advocacy group. She and other evangelical leaders attribute the change to libertarian Republicans, like supporters Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who oppose restrictions on personal freedoms.

The issue is less prominent now in conservative campaigns, they said.

Iowa became the third of six states to legalize gay marriage after the state Supreme Court struck down the state ban in 2009. Since then about 4,500 gay couples have wed here.

Republicans can move to end gay marriage if they win two more seats in the state Senate this year, a goal that could be within reach. That would give them full control of the statehouse and the power to begin preparing a public referendum on the issue.

But the legislative process would take at least two years, and public interest in the cause is already declining. A Des Moines Register poll in February showed 56 percent of Iowans opposed an amendment banning gay marriage, up slightly from a year earlier. The results tracked with the trend in national opinion on the issue.

Geddes, who is managing a handful of GOP statehouse campaigns, said internal polls in conservative Iowa districts show that fewer than 10 percent of Republican voters now consider overturning gay marriage a high priority.

GOP Senate leaders no longer list the issue high on their agenda, although they have promised to propose a ban if they control the legislature. A handful of Republican leaders, such as former county Linn County chairwoman Kathy Potts of Cedar Rapids, recently have announced support for gay marriage.

"If it weren't for the loud voices of a few in our party, I do believe more Republicans would stand up in support" of gay marriage, said Potts, a social conservative who backed Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential bid.

The atmosphere is much changed from 2010, when conservative advocacy groups mounted a major media campaign against gay marriage and won removal of three justices who had voted to strike down the state ban.

Chuck Laudner, who ran the campaign to dump the judges, said the anti-gay marriage cause has "lost a little of its zip." The political landscape now is dominated by the economy and other issues, he said.

Elsewhere in the nation, gay marriage questions will appear on the November ballot in four states -- Maine voters will consider legalizing it, while those in Maryland, Minnesota and Washington will vote on banning it. North Carolina voters approved a ban earlier this year. President Barack Obama announced his support for gay marriage in May.

The National Organization for Marriage, which spent more than $500,000 in Iowa in the 2010 elections, is planning to spend at least as much this year to help Republicans win in the state.

The outcome of closely contested races for several Democratic-held seats is expected to determine whether the GOP wins control of the Senate. Republicans won control of the House and the governorship in 2010.

Summa said she hopes Christian conservatives will rally for the cause. "I think people still care about the issue," she said.

Iowa gay rights advocates say they are encouraged by the fact that a ballot measure would come no earlier than 2015, considering it must pass both houses of the Legislature in consecutive two-year general assemblies.

Meanwhile, public acceptance should continue to grow, said Des Moines lawyer Sharon Malhiero, a leading Iowa gay rights activist. "It's not a big deal, three years past. The world hasn't collapsed," she said, adding, "But we're not taking anything for granted."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/push-ban-gay-marriage-flagging-iowa-202615959.html

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Netflix shares rise 14 pct to extend recent rally

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Netflix shares surged by more than 14 percent Thursday as investors bet the growing popularity of the company's Internet video service will translate into higher profits.

THE SPARK: The gains extended a rally that began Tuesday after Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney released an upbeat report on Netflix's future. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings then reinforced the good vibes by revealing that Netflix subscribers collectively watched more than 1 billion hours of video streamed over high-speed Internet connections in June.

That's a new monthly record for Netflix and may validate a decision to increase spending on licensing rights during the past two years to expand its Internet video library as it phases out DVDs. The 1 billion-hour milestone indicated Netflix's 26.5 million steaming subscribers worldwide are now watching an average of about 38 hours per month, up from 28 hours per month late last year.

The increasing usage of the video service suggests Netflix Inc. might have an easier time retaining existing customers.

THE BIG PICTURE: Netflix is still trying to recover from its decision last year to sell its streaming and DVD plans separately, a move that raised its prices by as much as 60 percent for U.S. subscribers that still wanted both formats. The change triggered mass customer cancellations and ignited an investor sell-off that caused Netflix's stock price to plunge by more than 75 percent.

The company, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., is also trying to regain its footing financially. The spending spree on Internet video rights will likely saddle Netflix with an annual loss this year ? the first time that has happened in a decade.

THE ANALYSIS: The latest streaming data suggests Netflix's video service would rank as the seventh-most watched network among all broadcast- and cable-TV channels, according to BTIG Financial analyst Rich Greenfield. That's up from the 15th-most watched network in October, based on Greenfield's calculations.

As its service becomes more deeply immersed in more homes, Netflix may be able to attract even more subscribers.

But Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter is worried TV and movie studios will increasingly see Netflix's commercial-free service as a threat to their lucrative sources of revenue from advertising and cable-TV fees.

If it appears Netflix is causing viewers to spend less time watching cable-TV channels and advertising-supported programming, Pachter suspects content providers will demand even higher licensing fees from Netflix to help make up the difference. That could force Netflix to accept lower profit margins and risk alienating subscribers with another price increase. Netflix currently charges $8 per month for its streaming service.

SHARE ACTION: Netlfix's stock gained $10.24 to $82.28 in afternoon trading. The shares have ranged from $60.70 to $304.79 during the past year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-07-05-US-Netflix-Mover/id-e7937ed247674cfe883006e6fc65b1ca

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Myanmar poised for cabinet shake-up, MPs say

NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - Myanmar President Thein Sein plans to reshuffle his cabinet and appoint a new vice-president to reduce the influence of anti-reform ministers and accelerate changes in the former pariah state, several lawmakers said.

The imminent reshuffle could sideline some hardliners by reducing their responsibilities in the 37-member cabinet or give them new roles, said the lawmakers.

"He needs to make the cabinet more vibrant and effective and he has to remove some conservatives who are reluctant to accept his reforms," said one lawmaker, who declined to be identified.

The first to go was first Vice-President Tin Aung Myint Oo, a former four-star general considered a leader of hardline remnants of the military junta that ruled for half a century and was close to its paramount leader, former dictator Than Shwe.

The joint upper and lower houses on Wednesday endorsed Tin Aung Myint Oo's resignation and house speaker Khin Aung Myint said the military delegates in both chambers would have until July 10 to choose his successor.

He was one of two vice-presidents chosen by lawmakers and submitted his resignation on May 3. Thein Sein did not accept it and instead gave him leave for two months, say lawmakers and several government officials. That has stoked speculation about his role, including rumors of his deteriorating health.

The pace of change in Myanmar, already dramatic, looks set to accelerate after Thein Sein, a former general, announced on June 19 a second wave of reforms that aim to triple the size of the economy in five years and modernize a backward state where a third of the population live below the poverty line.

Sources with knowledge of the reshuffle discussions expect two ministers to be axed when seven ministries are merged into three portfolios: agriculture, transport and electric power.

Two prominent ministers are likely to be reassigned to become more central to the reforms, with Rail Transportation Minister Aung Min - Thein Sein's top peace negotiator - becoming a president's office minister and Industry Minister Soe Thein, head of the country's Investment Commission, given the National Planning and Economic Development portfolio.

He would replace Tin Naing Thein, who would become Finance Minister in place of former general Hla Tun.

Tin Aung Myint Oo's resignation as vice-president coincided with the opposition National League for Democracy party (NLD) ? vilified for years by the former military government ? filling several rows of seats in parliament, marking their transition from activists to lawmakers - minus their most famous dissident.

SUU KYI CRITICISED

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi came in for criticism for not showing up for the start of parliament and delaying until Monday when she will sit in the chamber. She cited exhaustion following her 17-day European tour that ended on Saturday.

"We have to recognize she is exhausted but we feel she should have prepared to come here," said Khine Maung Yi of a rival opposition party, the National Democratic Force (NDF).

NLD lawmaker Susu Lwin said she was disappointed by the lack of debate in parliament. "The way it is conducted is very tense. It would be better if it was less formal and we didn't have to submit questions in advance," she said in an interview.

The successor to Tin Aung Myint Oo will be chosen by armed forces delegates and is therefore almost certain to be another military man. The top contender is election commission chairman Tin Aye, a retired lieutenant-general well respected in the army and known as a moderate, who graduated from the elite Defense Services Academy in the same class as Thein Sein.

Thein Sein faces pressure from allies to strengthen his cabinet's ability to carry out reforms, particularly with resistance from conservatives likely to stiffen in coming months as the government attempts to open up an economy that has long benefited an elite with strong ties to the military.

Foreign investors have descended on Myanmar, but most appear to be window shopping, awaiting legislation including a foreign investment law that would protect their assets and clarify rules for foreign companies operating in the country.

Tin Naing Thein, national planning and economic development minister, said in an interview on Wednesday he expected the investment law to be approved by parliament and endorsed by the president by the end of this month.

Some Myanmar business leaders are concerned the proposed investment law could hand too much influence to multinationals when domestic firms are still coping with the transition from state controls and cannot compete with international brands following this year's suspension of U.S. and European sanctions.

The government must also counter public pressure for faster change. Protests have erupted in recent months over chronic power outages, textile wages and farm land reform. Long-simmering tension in northwestern Rakhine state between mostly stateless Rohingya Muslims and majority Buddhists has flared into violence that killed at least 80 people.

Being seen as moving too slowly on reforms could be devastating for Thein Sein's ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the next general election in 2015. Suu Kyi's NLD won by-elections in a landslide in April, sending an ominous signal to the military-backed USDP.

"BIG ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT"

Although the government insists there will be no backsliding on reforms, some freedoms are being at least partially rolled back. State censorship returned during the weeks of unrest in Rakhine state, and a much-vaunted media law has faced delays. Journalists covering this parliamentary session also faced tighter restrictions compared with the opening in February.

At that time, reporters could arrive early at the marble-floored complex with its soaring ceilings and freely interview members of parliament as they arrived. On Wednesday, journalists were kept waiting more than an hour in a bus outside the complex until the members had taken their seats.

But lower house speaker Shwe Mann highlighted the media's importance in his opening remarks to parliament. "It is essential for the lawmakers to listen to media's criticisms and the opinions," he said.

Shwe Mann, once a powerful figure in the former military junta, also urged parliamentarians to set aside their differences ? from religion to ethnicity ? to work for democracy and reconciliation, a comment that carries resonance given fighting with autonomy-seeking rebels in Kachin state and in the wake of a nationalist backlash against Rohingya Muslims.

The NDF's Khine Maung Yi praised the reforms but suggested far more needed to be done. "Compared to the past it is more acceptable but there is big room for improvement," he said.

(Editing by Martin Petty and Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-myanmar-poised-cabinet-shake-lawmakers-024440549.html

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Lil Twist Headed 'Exactly Where Lil Wayne Is'

Justin Bieber's buddy and Young Money signee exudes charm beyond his years during his First Date with MTV News.
By Rya Backer

Lil Twist and MTV News' Rya Backer
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1688982/lil-twist-young-money-lil-wayne.jhtml

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Apocalypse, not so fast

Ancient Maya reference to 2012 involved politics, not prophecy

Web edition : 3:18 pm

Although hieroglyphs previously found at an ancient Maya site may or may not mention December 21, 2012, as the end of time, don?t cancel any New Year?s Eve plans. Scientists working at another Maya city have uncovered a second reference to the same 2012 date, and the writing on the wall ? make that the staircase ? concerns political turmoil back then, not apocalypse now.

Anthropologists who discovered and deciphered the 2012 reference among hieroglyphs carved on 22 staircase steps at Guatemala?s La Corona site announced their find June 28 in Guatemala City.

?This text talks about ancient political history rather than prophecy,? says excavation codirector Marcello Canuto of Tulane University in New Orleans. ?In times of crisis, the ancient Maya used their calendar to promote continuity and stability rather than to predict apocalypse.?

Two centuries of political history plays out in the 1,300-year-old inscription, says anthropologist David Stuart of the University of Texas at Austin, who is in charge of deciphering the carved text.

On one staircase block, Stuart recognized a commemoration of a 696 visit to La Corona by the powerful ruler of Calakmul, a Maya site in what?s now southern Mexico. Long thought to have been killed or captured in a 695 battle lost to a rival kingdom, the Calakmul king apparently weathered that defeat and visited his allies at La Corona to convince them that he remained a strong ruler, Stuart suggests.

In the commemoration, the Calakmul king refers to himself with a title signifying that he presided over and celebrated the end of a key Maya calendar cycle in 692. To attribute special status to his weakened reign, Stuart says, the king also connects himself to a future date when the next calendar cycle would conclude ? December 21, 2012.

To a Maya king stung by a major military setback, ?the reference to 2012 might even have provided a comforting sense of inevitability? in his continued rule, remarks anthropologist Stephen Houston of Brown University in Providence, R.I.

Researchers located La Corona 15 years ago, after decades of looted sculptures from the Maya city turning up on the antiquities black market. Canuto and anthropologist Tom?s Barrientos of Universidad del Valle de Guatemala have led work at La Corona since 2007.

In May and June, the investigators decided to excavate at a building that looters had damaged nearly 40 years ago. Thieves had discarded staircase stones bearing carved writing in front of the structure. Digging produced additional discarded hieroglyphic stones and an intact step consisting of 12 carved stones.

At least 264 hieroglyphs appeared on the La Corona staircase, making it one of the longest known ancient Maya texts.

Linking the 2012 reference at La Corona to a nearby king?s political maneuvering, ?while imaginative, is cogent and reasonable,? comments anthropologist David Freidel of Washington University in St. Louis.

And if Canuto and Stuart?s proposal turns out to be wrong ? well, it?s not the end of the world.
Found in: Archaeology and Humans

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/341976/title/Apocalypse,_not_so_fast

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Talking With Our Hands: The Significance of Gestures

Hailing a cab or waving hello? Gestures are defined by culture and context. | CC. Image by Willy Volk. Click on image for license and information.

This post originally appeared on Anthropology in Practice on December 6th, 2010.

New Yorkers are hand talkers. We often use gestures to add emphasis to our conversations; from pointing to direct tourists, or waving to demonstrate our exasperation with traffic, drivers, or pedestrians, or trying to interject?because New Yorkers don?t interrupt!?we gesticulate. We?re not the only people to do this, of course?gestures are an integral part of language.

Arbib, Liebal, and Pika (2008) believe that gestures, via pantomime and protosigns, may have played a large role in the emergence of vocalization (protospeech) leading to the development of protolanguage (1054). Their hypothesis is based on the structure of the brain, specifically a mirroring of structures in the brain: near Broca?s area, a region of the brain said to be involved in language production, is a region ?activated for both grasping and observation of grasping? (1053). The proximity of a grasping region to a language region is intriguing. Individuals who have suffered damage to Broca?s area have difficulties with language production. They can often understand others perfectly, but they have difficulty responding in all but the simplest of ways. Arbib and colleagues suggest that because damage to Broca?s area also impedes the emergence of signed languages as well, the region should be understood in relation to multimodal language processes and not just vocalization. They believe this creates a strong case for understanding the place of gestures in the evolution of language.

Gestures are common to many species of monkeys and apes, however, usage seems to vary between captive and wild groups. For example:

• Siamangs have demonstrated at least 20 different tactile and visual gestures in captive groups (1).

• Approximately 10 different gestures have been reported for wild orangutans and 30 have been described for captive groups.

• Captive gorillas use at least 30 different tactile, visual, and auditory gestures?but little is known about their gestures in the wild.

• Chimpanzees also have a large repertoire of gestures in captivity, with about a dozen having been recorded in the wild.

These numbers refer to entire populations. Within the group, an individual?s use of gestures depends on age, sex, and rank. There are also group-specific gestures, such as:

?Offer arm with food pieces? in orangutans, ?arm shake? in gorillas, and ?punch? in bonobos are examples reported from captive groups, while ?leaf clipping? and ?grooming hand clasp? are described as group-specific gestures in wild chimpanzees (1057).

Small, stable groups tend to have less intra-group variability than large, socially complex groups. Larger groups tend to have greater variability between members, requiring greater variety and variability in communicative means.

The higher number of observed gestures in captive groups also hints at an ability to learn (2). Basic forms of gestures and communication seem to be genetically preprogrammed (e.g., ?chest beat? has been reported for gorillas that had never seen other gorillas). A process called ontogenetic ritualization may explain how gestures are learned??a communicative signal is created by two individuals shaping each other?s behaviors in repeated instances of an interaction over time,? allowing behaviors to become signals (Arbib, Liebal, and Pika 2008: 1058). The example the authors provide is the ?arm rise?: a stylized gesture that chimpanzees use to signal that they are about to hit each other and initiate rough-and-tumble play (3). Gestures are also used referentially, indicating that they can be intentionally deployed to manipulate or direct the actions of others. Captive chimpanzees, for example, use the ?directed scratch?: a loud and/or exaggerated scratching motion to indicate where the grooming partner should focus attention (1057).

This discussion supports the criteria by which gestures are judged to be language:

whether they are used intentionally or are side effects of emotional states

whether they are flexible

whether they have an inherent meaning or whether the meaning is conveyed by social context

whether they are inherited or learned

whether they are used referentially

These criteria allow us to compare gestural communication between apes and humans. Referential gestures (or triadic gestures) begin to appear in prelinguistic children at around the age of 12 months. But even before this stage, children may demonstrate dyadic gestures, which direct attention to the actor. Chimpanzee infants begin to employ gestures around the age of 9 to 12.5 months, however, with few exceptions the majority of gestures used are dyadic. Attempts to teach apes to speak have not been very successful. Kanzi, a bonobo who spent the early years of his life observing his mother while she used a computerized keyboard, remains a rare success story. He learned many of the symbols (lexigrams) that his mother had not likely through exposure, which is similar to the way in which children learn to speak. They pick up on patterns from the behaviors of adults around them. His ability to understand English compares to a 2-year-old human child: He is able to combine two or three lexigrams or a lexigram and gesture, and order items (Arbib, Liebal, and Pika 2008: 1060).

His success aside, apes generally acquire symbols at a much slower rate when compared to human children. And despite being able to combine signs, the authors report that apes have not demonstrated the ability to employ syntax, which is key to language. The authors believe that gestures may have facilitated the transformation of imitation into communication, arguing that

the increased use of the hands in apes compared with body postures and facial expression in monkeys might be due to a shift from facial expressions (under less voluntary control) to more manual gestures (under voluntary control) over the course of evolution. Therefore, manual gestures may have played a role in the common ancestor of apes and humans as well (Arbib, Liebal, and Pika 2008: 1061).

Manual gestures would have enhanced our ability to communicate, and possibly had an effect on vocalization as well (e.g., inflections that accompany certain motions) that would have added nuances to communication. Crossing ones fingers, for example, drives home the fervency of hope for some people. A raised index finger can convey the triumph of victory. And a shrug can signal despondency, uncertainty, or hesitation. Gestures mean something because we define them, so they reflect our nuances. This happens on all levels from the larger social order to the individual with personal motions that are a part of our personality. In this way, the smallest motion can have meaning as long as we agree on it.

Notes:
(1) Gestures can be arranged into three categories, depending on the way in which they are received and interpreted: auditory gestures use non-vocal sounds (e.g., clapping or using external objects to make noise), tactile gestures include physical contact with the recipient, and visual gestures are signs that have no physical contact (Arbib, Liebal, and Pika 2008: 1056).

(2) The authors correctly caution against overgeneralizing patterns observed in captive versus wild apes and monkeys, but studies suggest that the catalog of gestures is comparable between wild and captive groups with captive individuals seemingly using gestures with more frequency (Arbib, Liebal, and Pika 2008: 1058).

(3) Hitting is a normal part of play. The gesture signifies that the subsequent action should be regarded as play and not aggression, and sets the tone for an appropriate response.

Cited:
Arbib, M., Liebal, K., & Pika, S. (2008). Primate Vocalization, Gesture, and the Evolution of Human Language Current Anthropology, 49 (6), 1053-1076 DOI: 10.1086/593015

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=cbf8aa0456630f2276e4d001f45941af

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Video: Jindal compares health care to?Mardi Gras?

Anderson Cooper comes out as gay

Journalist Anderson Cooper came out as gay on Monday after keeping his sexuality private for years. "The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be," Cooper wrote in an email that he allowed friend Andrew Sullivan to publish at The Daily Beast website.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/48050692#48050692

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