Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Jane Fonda to play Nancy Reagan in movie



In the midst of recruiting an all-star ensemble for his long-gestating passion project "The Butler," director Lee Daniels has tapped Jane Fonda to play Nancy Reagan.

Based on a Washington Post report by Wil Haygood, pic follows Eugene Allen, the White House butler whose career started with Harry Truman in 1952 and ended in 1986 with Ronald Reagan.




http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2012/03/jane-fonda-to-play-nancy-reagan-in-movie-118768.html

Spike Lee re-tweets wrong address for George Zimmerman

...the woman living at the tweeted address is not involved with the incident in any way and is now in danger from vigilantes seeking revenge.

Kerry Picket reporting at the Washington Times:

Filmmaker Spike Lee made waves on Twitter last week when he re-tweeted to his 200,000 followers (h/t Twitchy) what was thought to be George Zimmerman's home address in Sanford, Florida. Mr. Zimmerman told Sanford police last month that he fatally shot 17 year old Trayvon Martin in self-defense.

However, the Edgewater Circle address Mr. Lee re-tweeted out is not part of the gated Retreat at Twin Lakes where the shooting took place and where Mr. Zimmerman lives. The area is not even a gated community.

In fact, I took a drive to that Edgewater Circle address that so many on Twitter re-tweeted and cursed, and I discovered through a neighbor, named Tim, who lives across the street from the address, that not only does George Zimmerman not live at the lakeside house but a woman by the name of Elaine does.




http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2012/mar/27/picket-spike-lee-re-tweets-incorrect-address-trayv/

Home prices may have hit bottom; improvement expected.




Home prices fell to new lows in January, but the rate of decline appears to be easing, offering the latest sign that an elusive bottom in prices could be in sight.

Prices dropped by 0.8% for the three-month period ending in January, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index that tracks 20 metro areas. While that dropped the index back to levels not seen since the end of 2002, the monthly decline improved from a drop of 1.1% in December and 1.3% in November.


Home prices tend to weaken during the winter months, when sales activity slows and the share of "distressed" home sales, such as foreclosures, rises. After adjusting for seasonal factors, home prices were flat in January compared to December.

Compared to one year ago, home prices fell by 3.8% in January. That also represented an improvement over the 4.1% year-over-year decline for December.

Monday's report "adds to other evidence that the housing market is on the mend," said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist for Capital Economics. "We expect that 2012 will go down in history as the year that the most severe house price crash on record ended."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303404704577307300388803654.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Good to hear good news

Hope of fresh treatment for seven cancers after single antibody is found to shrink tumours from all of them

The Y-shaped human antibody works by unmasking the cancer cells to the body's disease-fighting white cells

The tests on human tumours transplanted into mice gave dramatic results showing the cancer either shrank or disappeared - leading the researchers at Stanford University to plan human trials within two years.

Dramatic rescue

Panama fisherman, 18, survives 26 days adrift in Pacific on raw fish and rainwater but two friends perish

Adrian-Vasquez-preview

Adrian Vasquez was found drifting alone in a 10-foot fishing boat near Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, more than 600 miles from where the trio had set out. The teenage hotel worker, from Panama in Central America, had joined his friend on the fishing trip to earn some extra cash. Pictured, the survivor's incredible journey.