End of 007? Bond takes a bullet in latest Skyfall trailers

THE title is still confusing but at least we now have a plot for Skyfall.

In between the shots of Bond running, jumping, swaggering, kissing and adjusting his cufflinks, the latest full length trailers offer up the following plot points:

- MI6 screws up and loses a drive that unbelievably contains the identity of every agent embedded in terrorist organisations around the world.

- The screw-up somehow involves YouTube and M's past sins.

- James Bond dies, shot on M's orders by an agent played by Naomie Harris.

- James Bond comes back from the dead after a tequila bender in a seedy bar.

- Javier Bardem is blonde, evil and p***ed off.

- Ralph Fiennes is a balding government spook, and let's face it, knowing his track record, is also a bad guy.

- "Mommy was very bad" is best said in a thick Spanish accent.

The trailer also gives us the first look at the new Q, played by the geeky-looking Brit actor Ben Whishaw. He gives Bond a gun only he can fire, which is likely to be important at some point in the film, probably when the villain is looking to off Bond.

Skyfall is released in November.

A variation on the trailer above offers fans more.

Libyan election hints at blow to Islamists

Libya's first nationwide elections in nearly five decades brought hints Sunday of an Arab Spring precedent: Western-leaning parties making strides over Islamist rivals hoping to follow the same paths to power as in neighbors Egypt and Tunisia.

While final results from Saturday's parliamentary election could still be days away under a two-tier selection system, unofficial and partial counts from Libya's biggest cities suggested liberal factions were leading the Muslim Brotherhood and allies in a possible first major setback to their political surge following last year's uprisings.

If the Libyan trend holds — which is still far from certain — it would challenge the narrative of rising Islamist power since the fall of Western-allied regimes from Tunis to Cairo. It also could display the different political dynamics in Libya, where tribal loyalties run deep and groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood at times cooperated with the rule of Moammar Gadhafi.

"Anyone with past ties with old regime is hated, even despised," said Fathi al-Fadhali, a pro-Islamist Libyan political analyst who lived in exile for 30 years. "Any political names associated with the regime are immediately politically burnt by that association."

Ultimately, the 200-seat parliament will face the task of forming a government — which could become tests of strength for Islamists and secular forces over questions such as women's rights, the extent of traditional Islamic law and relations with the U.S. and other Western nations that helped bring down Gadhafi.

U.S. President Barack Obama congratulated Libyans on the vote, calling it "another milestone on their extraordinary transition to democracy." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the people of Libya and the candidates who "contested the election in a peaceful, democratic spirit," according to his spokesman.

Now, the ballots have to be portioned out according to two categories: Eighty seats are set aside for party lists, and the remaining 120 for individual independent candidates.

In the first group, a liberal alliance led the former rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril appeared to hold more than half the seats in the capital Tripoli and the revolution stronghold of Benghazi, according to several party representatives. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

In western Libya, where Jibril's tribe, the Warfalla, is prominent, his party also was on the top in the early counting, the political officials said. In Libya's third-largest city, Misrata — which was besieged by Gadhafi forces for weeks — an upstart faction of local politicians appeared to hold the lead in another possible blow to Islamists.

Faisal Krekshi, secretary general of Jibril's Alliance of National Forces, said the results were based on reports by party representatives at ballot counting centers across the vast desert nation of 6 million people. Even officials from rival Islamist parties — the Muslim Brotherhood's Justice and Construction Party and the Islamist Al-Watan — described Jibril's alliance as the biggest winner in the race for the 80 party seats.

But even if true, that is still a long way from victory.

The bulk of the parliament — 120 seats — will be decided by the results from the head-to-head races among thousands of candidates, making it nearly impossible to predict.

Shortly before the voting, Libya's Grand Mufti issued a religious edict prohibiting Libyans from voting for secularists. Meanwhile, independent candidates are seen as possible wildcards and could punish both the Muslim Brotherhood and Jibril's factions for having former ties to the Gadhafi regime.

"We are all waiting and we have nothing to suggest that one party is ahead of others," election commission chief Nouri al-Abar told reporters. He also refused to set a date for announcing complete results. Some observers believe it could take nearly a week.

Speaking to reporters, Jibril vowed to "commit ourselves to what the commission will announce officially" and urged for all political factions to work toward "national consensus."

Unlike Egypt — where the Muslim Brotherhood was seen as an alternative to Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian rule — its brethren in Libya must confront a reputation as compromisers with Gadhafi. A former rebel commander, Fadllah Haroun, called it "their black past."

Gadhafi's powerful son, Seif al-Islam, forged deals with the Muslim Brotherhood and allies in efforts to pave the way for his eventual rule. He released more than 150 Islamist political prisoners starting in 2003 and offered others positions in his various media outlets and foundations.

Because of such ties, the Muslim Brotherhood boycotted the first Libyan opposition conference in London in 2005 that called for overthrowing Gadhafi's regime at a time Libya was mending its relations with the West.

Abdel-Latif Karmous, deputy leader of the Libyan Brotherhood who was among the prisoners released by Gadhafi's son, acknowledged that the group faces perceptions as regime allies. "We didn't immerse ourselves in the regime ... We only kept channels open to achieve political mobilization," said Karmous, a professor at Tripoli University.

Since Gadhafi's fall, the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya also has faced questions about its close ties to the wealthy Gulf state of Qatar, which funneled weapons and funds to the anti-Gadhafi forces. Some critics accuse Qatar's rulers of trying to exert influence through Libya's Brotherhood as a bridge between Egypt and Tunisia.

In December, influential Egyptian cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar, flew to Libya aboard a Qatari royal jet and was given a feast by a senior Brotherhood leader, Bashir al-Kebti.

Later, al-Qaradawi and Tunisian Brotherhood leader Rashid al-Ghannoushi traveled to Tripoli to attend a National Reconciliation conference. But members of the rebel-led National Transition Council withdrew in protest "because they only saw it as a promotion and propaganda for the Brotherhood," said Fathi Baja, head of political committee in the NTC.

"Qatar for the Brotherhood is like a shrine," he added. "Twenty-four hour visits, around the clock, members coming and going to Qatar."

Libya also is awash with rival Islamist groups, including the ultraconservative Salafis and jihadists inspired by al-Qaida, which could bring future power plays regardless of the election results.

Fathi Bin Essa, a prominent political analyst, described the elections as only a "rehearsal" to show "who has the real power in the street."

The run-up to the voting, too, showed the political complexities of trying to accommodate all sides in Libya.

Jibril's liberal alliance of about 40 groups emphasized the need for a "civil democratic" state, but said that Islamic Sharia law should guide legislation. Jibril also made a point to appear with Muslim clerics in campaign photos even though he is prohibited from running under rules barring NTC members from the ballot.

But a religious edict by Libya's Grand Mufti, Sheik Sadek al-Ghariani, accused the liberal factions of using Islam to try to court conservative Libyans.

"I advise you to choose the one who will rule by God's religion and God's Sharia," according to an audio clip posted by Libyan activists.

Independent candidate and Benghazi city council member Faraj Negm said "the Libyan street doesn't accept anyone to blackmail them."

"We are one Muslim nation that doesn't pretend to be politically savvy," Nagm said, "but we learn and we don't want anyone to dictate things on us."

War crimes trial adjourned as Mladic is hospitalized

(Reuters) - Former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic is expected to stay in hospital for a second day of tests after being taken ill during his war crimes trial on Thursday, his lawyer said.

Mladic, 70, is accused of genocide over the siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and the 1995 killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, Europe's worst massacre since World War Two.

He was rushed to hospital on Thursday morning after he was taken ill in court. He asked the judge for a break, and then slumped with his head in his hands early on the fourth day of his war crimes trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), based in The Hague.

Already in poor health when arrested in Serbia last year after 16 years on the run, Mladic has several times said he is too ill to stand trial. He complains that he suffers from the effects of a stroke, has problems with his teeth and has been admitted to hospital with pneumonia.

Prosecutors and relatives of victims fear he could die without facing justice, as did former Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic, who died in a Dutch prison cell in 2006 while on trial before the ICTY.

Tribunal spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic told Reuters: "He (Mladic) complained he was feeling unwell during the hearing, so the hearing was adjourned."

Branko Lukic, Mladic's lawyer, told Reuters the trial was unlikely to continue on Friday.

"He really looked unwell," Lukic told Reuters. "It was a huge surprise for all of us because he'd been looking in pretty good shape."

Lukic said later Mladic's condition had improved, but he would stay in hospital for further tests on Friday.

"He's better than he was this morning, when he couldn't recognize people around him or move his right arm and leg," Lukic said.

A Reuters witness said Mladic asked for a break shortly after Thursday's session opened. He then put his head in his hands, and the judge called for medical staff and adjourned the hearing.

A member of Mladic's defense team had accompanied him to hospital, Lukic said.

Earlier this year, the opening of the trial had to be postponed after it emerged the prosecution had failed to disclose thousands of pages of evidence to the defense.

Why zombies, robots, clowns freak us out

SAN DIEGO (CNN) — What do zombies and androids have in common? They’re almost human, but not quite. That disconnect is creepy, in a way that scientists are searching to understand.

The uncanny valley is the idea that as a robot’s appearance becomes more and more humanlike, we don’t always respond to it more positively. Rather, there’s a point on the scale between robot and human where we are repulsed. If it’s mechanical but not entirely human, a robot seems disturbing.

Why would that be? It would make sense that as human likeness increases in a robot, so would our comfort with it. But on a graph showing that relationship, there’s a “valley” where this familiarity dips down into creepiness, and then comes back up again with more human characteristics.

You may have experienced feeling this while watching animated movies that incorporate humanlike forms. It’s also the reason that you might get freaked out by clowns or by photos people with extreme plastic surgeries that don’t look quite real anymore. Our brains come to an impasse when we see something that resembles a member of our species but just doesn’t make the cut.

Some animators sidestep the issue: in the movie “Wall-E,” for example, the main character has eyes but is not very humanlike otherwise, he is clearly a robot. His friend, Eva, looks like a white shape with eyes. Both express emotions clearly but don’t try to mimic the human shape or form. And HAL from “2001: A Space Odyssey” is just a red camera eye, but it too conveys feelings.

But when you get more humanlike, things get weird. Some reviewers were put off by the characters in the film “Polar Express,” for instance.

Then there are the Na’vi in “Avatar,” who have many physical human characteristics in addition to morphed features and tails. But they are also blue, creating a sense of “otherness” that may have made them less distasteful to viewers — in other words, they were sufficiently un-human.

Ayse Saygin, professor at the University of California, San Diego, is using cutting-edge brain science to understand this strange quirk of human nature. Although the idea of the uncanny valley has been observed, there has not been much rigorous scientific experimental work on it, partly because it’s hard to get at the heart of the matter objectively.

“Even if we don’t actually define it in words, we may be able to find signals for it in the brain,” Saygin said.

Saygin and colleagues published a study last year using functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI), looking at what’s happening in the brain that might explain the uncanny valley phenomenon. They hypothesized that, at least in part, the effect might result from a violation of the brain’s predictions. When we anticipate one thing but see another, we get an error, and that error makes us shy away from the thing we’re viewing.

The researchers showed 20 participants some video clips of three “actors” moving in the same ways: a human, an android modeled after the human, and a stripped-down robot (the same android without its humanlike form). Although this is a small sample of people, it is typical for neuroimaging studies, which are expensive and time-intensive.

Something interesting emerged in the results: “The network that normally processes your body movements is more active when you view an android,” compared with when you look at a stripped-down robot or a human, Saygin explains.

This could be because the brain has to combine conflicting information, she said.

“Your brain’s gonna be like, ‘Hey, wait a minute, you told me this was a human, and now this area told me that this is not moving like a human. So, I have to really compute that,’ ” she said. “That’s what we think the uncanny valley might be partially caused by, and we have seen some brain activity that looks like that.”

The uncanny valley phenomenon was put forth in an article in “Energy” in 1970 by Japanese robotics expert Masahiro Mori. But before that, Ernst Jentsch wrote about “the uncanny” in a 1906 essay, and Sigmund Freud followed up 13 years later.

Yet the idea is largely based on anecdotes, and researchers such as Karl MacDorman, associate professor of human-computer interaction at Indiana University, are working on experiments to hone in on possible explanations. MacDorman briefly worked with Saygin on animations in Japan.

In his view, the uncanny valley effect has to do with a mismatch in features of a single animation or robot, with some parts appearing much more humanlike than others. For instance, when a very human-looking head is placed on an obviously mechanical body, that can be creepy. So can a human face with robotic eyes.

“When there are elements that are both human or nonhuman, this mismatch can produce eerie sensation in the brain,” MacDorman said. “It’s when different parts of the brain are coming to different conclusions at the same time.”

There are other factors that may play in, however.

The uncanny valley effect could have to do with uncertainty about whether a robotic character is truly alive or dead, and even play into our deep-seated fears of death. Alternatively, it may be part of cognitive dissonance, which happens when a person’s beliefs are not in line with their behaviors — for instance, a smoker who berates other smokers.

From an evolutionary perspective, humans have developed an aversion to sickness, and a creepy-looking almost-human might tap into our internal system that warns us against sources of disease. In relation, we evolved to choose mates who are healthy, and weird robots may set off the same warning bells that told our ancestors to stay away from unfit sexual partners.

MacDorman’s current focus is on the uncanny valley with respect to empathy: that is, is the uncanny valley phenomenon related to a person’s difficulty in identifying with particular animated or robotic characters in films? Does it relate to the impression that these characters are somehow “soulless,” and in what ways?

Saygin’s ongoing studies make use of electroencephalography, or EEG, which measures electrical activity along the scalp. While fMRI tells where in the brain activity occurs, EEG is better for looking at when — that is, when in viewing agents with different degrees of humanness do people’s brain patterns change. EEG is also much more portable and less expensive. Rather a big scanner, it involves a cap worn on a person’s head.

Researchers may be able to understand the EEG patterns associated with the uncanny valley effect, and people’s comfort with various robotic forms. Eventually, this information could be used to help robot developers or animators who don’t want their creations to scare people.

“Instead of asking somebody, ‘Do you like this robot?’ we could get that information a lot more directly, and faster perhaps, if we can develop these technologies,” she said.

Lured by Patent Protection, OxyContin Maker Tests Pain Drug in Kids

The maker of the powerful pain drug OxyContin is beginning to test the medicine in children, hoping to secure an extra six months of protection for the drug's patent, which is set to expire in 2013.

The move is controversial, in light of problems with addiction to OxyContin, which belongs to the family of drugs called opioids that also includes morphine and heroin. But several pain specialists say the move is an important step in giving a more accurate picture of the drug's effect on children, considering that many doctors already prescribe the drug off-label for children.

OxyContin's manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, emphasized that the company is not trying to make a kid's version of the drug, nor is it hoping to seek the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval for pediatric use of OxyContin. The goal, said company spokesman James Heins, is to give more information on how the drug acts in the bodies of children who may need it for the overwhelming pain of conditions such as cancer, sickle cell anemia, severe burns and other trauma.

"Doctors are already prescribing it in limited cases for kids, but they don't have the benefit of any clinical studies showing how these drugs work in kids. Right now, all they have to go on is data from adult patients," Heins said.

The trials are already underway across the country, and Purdue hopes to enroll 154 children from ages 6 to 16 who would take the drug for four weeks. When the trial is complete, the company will send the results to the FDA. Whatever the outcomes of the study, Purdue will get an extra six months of patent protection for their trouble. OxyContin earned Purdue $2.8 billion in 2011.

The trial may seem to be centered in financial gain, and experts said the company is likely moved in large part by financial incentives. But Dr. Joseph Tobin, professor and chair of anesthesiology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said if drug companies are not given financial incentives to test drugs in pediatric populations, the studies would not get done at all.

"Children have become therapeutic orphans in the development or testing of new drugs. The expense and the risk are high, but the profit margin to be obtained is small compared with other diseases," Tobin said. "I think it's essential that this type of process goes forward so we can get better information on the safest uses of drugs in children."

In 2002, the government attempted to give drug companies incentives to test their medicines in kids with the Better Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, a law that allows an additional six months of patent protection for on-patent drugs. The patent that would be extended for Purdue would be the one covering OxyContin's formulation, which was modified in 2010 to make it harder for people to misuse and abuse the drug.

One of the drug's patents that will expire in 2013 is the one covering OxyContin's controlled release mechanism, which allows one pill to steadily dole out the medication over an extended period of time.

That mechanism is also what makes OxyContin different from other pain drugs, such as morphine and meperidine, or Demerol. It makes the drug more effective at treating pain, but it also makes it a highly attractive target for people addicted to opioids.

"The reason OxyContin has been such a social problem is that it locks up a large amount of drug in a small pill," said Dr. Elliot Krane, director of the pediatric pain management program at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University.

Obama Plan to Extend Bush Tax Cuts for Middle Class Is Dead on Arrival

Everyone knows the president’s middle-income tax proposal will never make it through the

House—and that’s just fine with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Patricia Murphy on

why now is the perfect time for the tax debate.
Two hours before President Obama stood in the East Room of the White House to call for an

extension of the Bush tax cuts for middle-income Americans, House Speaker John Boehner

fired off a statement panning the idea and declaring Obama “asleep at the switch” of the

American economy.
Boehner’s prebuttal confirmed what everybody in Washington, including the president,

already knew—that Obama’s pitch for half a loaf of Bush tax-cut extensions is going

absolutely nowhere on Capitol Hill as long as the GOP runs the House. Indeed, that was the

point of the whole exercise on both sides of the aisle: to remind voters of what is at

stake in the November elections.

For Americans watching from outside the Beltway, proposing an idea that everyone knows is

doomed might seem like a colossal waste of time at best and an example of Washington

gridlock run amok at worst. But for Democrats and Republicans in the nation’s capital, the

president’s go-nowhere proposal is just the opposite—a chance to have exactly the right

debate at exactly the right time.

The tax debate “is more important now than before because voters are starting to pay

attention,” says Ron Bonjean, a Washington consultant and former adviser for the

Republican House and Senate leadership.

Bonjean said upcoming votes on the Bush tax cuts can and likely will be used against

Democrats in campaign commercials and on the trail leading up to the November elections.

Republican candidates, he said, have nothing to lose if they frame their no-new-taxes

position as fighting for small businesses that could get hit by the higher tax rates under

Obama’s proposal.

    “Republicans are so clearly on the wrong side of every single poll. They are so

transparently only interested in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.”

“There is no downside to them to support extending the tax cuts,” Bonjean said.

Democrats, on the other hand, could have a tougher hand to play: “Saying, ‘The economy is

bad, so let’s raise taxes’ in the last few months of the campaign, that’s not a message

that’s going to work.”

Not surprisingly, Democrats in the White House and on Capitol Hill see the tax battle very

differently. But they are just as eager as Republicans to have the fight in front of

voters.

“Republicans have failed to put forward a plan to create jobs or end the outsourcing of

American jobs and continue to waste valuable time on bills to nowhere,” Democratic leader

Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “We must work together to extend tax cuts for the middle

class, put people to work, and grow our economy.”

A Democratic leadership aide put it more bluntly: “This is an easy debate for us.

Republicans are so clearly on the wrong side of every single poll. They are so

transparently only interested in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.”

A number of polls, including Gallup’s most recent survey on the tax issue, supports

Democrats’ confidence in pushing their position to extend the tax cuts only up to

$250,000. In the Gallup poll, 62 percent of respondents said upper-income Americans are

“not paying their fair share,” while just 25 percent said the top earners are “taxed

about right.”

Gallup editors noted that that Republicans’ efforts to extend the tax cuts for all

Americans could be especially dangerous if they are seen fighting for wealthy Americans at

the expense of the middle class, a risk that GOP aides say they are well aware of. They say

privately that that distinction is the driving force behind their message that Republicans

are fighting for small businesses that would get hit under the Obama proposal, not for the

billionaires in the same position.

In his remarks Monday, Obama said he will sign a tax-cut bill as soon as Congress sends it

to him. But House and Senate leaders have no plans to negotiate a real agreement before

Election Day on Nov. 6. Instead, both parties will vote on separate proposals that the

other side says it will quickly reject.

Republican aides told The Daily Beast that the House will vote in a one-year extension of

all of the Bush tax cuts before the end of the month, along with instructions for Congress

to reform the entire tax code. Democratic Senate aides say the Senate also will vote to

extend the Bush tax cuts before August, but will only consider the president’s proposal to

extend the cuts for incomes of $250,000 and below.

In the meantime, all of the Bush tax cuts, for all Americans, are scheduled to expire on

Jan. 1, 2013, along with the temporary 2-point cut to the payroll tax, which will expire on

the same day. Combined, the tax increases would be a multitrillion-dollar hit to Americans

’ incomes, but at the moment, no one in Washington is talking about that.

Disney Reinvents the Sandwich—Again

The Walt Disney Co. scored headlines from Charlotte to Canberra on June 4 when it banned junk food ads on its TV shows for kids. At the company’s theme park division, however, belly-busting fare, such as churro bites with chocolate dipping sauce and cream-cheese-stuffed pretzels, are still very much on the menu.

One new dish at the company’s California Adventure park in Anaheim, Calif., is the “chili cone queso,” a cone-shaped bread bowl filled with chili, cheese, and tortilla chips that can be eaten while standing in line for the next ride. It also comes in bacon-scrambled egg and chicken salsa verde versions.

“Disney has a difficult balancing act,” says A.J. Wolfe, executive editor and owner of the Disney Food Blog, which isn’t affiliated with the company. “They’re under pressure to provide nutritional food. On the other hand, they have guests who say: ‘I don’t want to eat healthy on vacation. I want to eat what I want to eat.”’

Gary Maggetti, general manager of food and beverage at California Adventure, says the chili cones are part of an effort by the world’s largest theme park operator to create dining options as special as its rides. Consumers, he says, are looking for “signature items that create unique food memories.” The parks offer healthier fare as well, he says. “It’s really all about choice.”

The chili cones made their debut at Cars Land, part of a $1.1 billion remodel of California Adventure that Disney unveiled June 15. The attraction, which includes rides, restaurants, and stores, is based on Pixar’s Cars films, which feature a motel with rooms in the form of traffic safety cones.

Designers played with the traffic cone theme, creating cone-shaped drink and popcorn containers. Food service staff point guests toward the “cone-diments” cart and ask if that “cone-pleated” their order. Visitors are already sharing park strategies, such as stopping first to pick up a Fast Pass—which saves time on long lines—for the Radiator Springs Racers ride, before grabbing a breakfast cone.

Eagle-eyed readers of the Disney Food Blog noted that the $6.99 item bears a striking resemblance to the Handwich, a now defunct 1980s Disney food experiment that aimed to reinvent the sandwich in conical form. Maggetti said the resemblance is coincidental.

Disney declined to release nutritional information for the chili cones. The parks now give fruit and milk as standard sides for kids’ dishes, Maggetti says, and offer salads and other low-calorie options.

“Indulgent items, clearly we have them,” he says. “We also have a lot of vegetarian, healthier items.”