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Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/15/gamesgrabr-launches-equity-funding-campaign-to-be-pinterest-for-games/Two years ago, Michael Fassbender spent months campaigning for an Oscar nomination he wouldn't receive for his role as a sex addict in Steve McQueen's Shame. Even though he has an Oscar-friendly role this year as an evil plantation owner in McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, he won't be hitting the campaign trail again, the actor tells GQ.
"You know, I get it. Everybody's got to do their job. So you try and help and facilitate as best you can. But I won't put myself through that kind of situation again," he tells the magazine in its November cover story. "It's just a grind. And I'm not a politician. I'm an actor."
PHOTOS: Outtakes From Michael Fassbender's THR Cover Shoot
He has a convenient excuse for his absence on the campaign trail, explaining that he'll be on set, first filming his production company's first feature in New Zealand and then shooting Macbeth with Marion Cotillard.
"I'm going to be busy working," Fassbender tells GQ. "I just don't really have time."
Fassbender's remarks aren't quite as extreme as those made to Interview magazine last year by Joaquin Phoenix, another potential nominee this year for his work in Her.
STORY: '12 Years a Slave' Cast Talks Tapping Into Brutal True Story
Phoenix said the awards circuit is "total, utter bullshit, and I don't want to be a part of it."
"I don't believe in it," he added. "It's a carrot, but it's the worst-tasting carrot I've ever tasted in my whole life. I don't want this carrot. It's totally subjective. Pitting people against each other ... it's the stupidest thing in the whole world."
Phoenix also had a bad experience campaigning for an award, for his 2005 portrayal of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. Although he earned an Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe for best actor, he didn't take home the Oscar.
Despite his complaining last year, Phoenix still received a best actor Oscar nomination for his work in The Master.
12 Years a Slave hits theaters in the U.S. on Friday.
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel had a lot to deal with on Saturday night, including an early injury scare, a feisty Mississippi defense and a few uncharacteristic mistakes.
By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Johnny Football was back to his usual self.
Manziel threw for 346 yards and ran for two touchdowns while rallying No. 9 Texas A&M past Ole Miss for a 41-38 victory.
Josh Lambo made a 33-yard field goal as time expired to give the Aggies (5-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) the thrilling victory in front of a packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Texas A&M trailed 38-31 midway through the fourth quarter, but Manziel engineered a 75-yard drive that he finished with a tying 6-yard touchdown run with 3:07 remaining.
No one was surprised Manziel saved his best for last.
"I've never been around such a gamer," Texas A&M receiver Travis Labhart said. "We were confident. I never doubted."
After A&M's defense held, Manziel led the Aggies to the winning field goal. He had runs of 12 and 13 yards on the winning drive.
All that was left was for Lambo to drill the game winner, and he made it easily.
"I really wasn't that nervous and had a lot of confidence, no matter the distance," Lambo said. "It was my best kick of the night."
It was a strong effort for Ole Miss (3-3, 1-3), which rallied from a 21-10 deficit in the third quarter thanks to two unlikely touchdown passes by backup quarterback Barry Brunetti.
The Rebels' starting quarterback wasn't too bad either — Bo Wallace completed 22 of 36 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns. Laquon Treadwell caught eight passes for 77 yards and two TDs.
But the Ole Miss offense stalled with a chance to win late in the fourth quarter.
"It was in our hands to do it and we didn't make the plays," coach Hugh Freeze said. "We gave it back to (Manziel) and he did it."
Manziel made his usual array of spectacular plays, but also a few costly mistakes, including an interception in the end zone during the third quarter and a fumble early in the fourth.
He completed 31 of 39 passes. Even though Texas A&M trailed in the fourth quarter, there was no panic.
"Johnny and I looked at each other and started laughing (after Ole Miss went ahead 38-31)," Labhart said. "Not because Ole Miss is bad, but because we knew we were going to have to score again. We were confident."
Labhart caught eight passes for 97 yards. Trey Williams rushed for 50 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
It was an entertaining back-and-forth game featuring two of the league's young offensive coaching minds — Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin and Freeze.
The teams combined for 41 points in the fourth quarter — 21 for Ole Miss and 20 for Texas A&M. Texas A&M had 587 total yards while Ole Miss had 462.
It was the second straight year Texas A&M played at Ole Miss and it was another classic. The Aggies won 30-27 in 2012.
"Unless the SEC messes the schedule up, we don't want to come back here again," Sumlin said with a grin. "I hope the conference won't fine me for that."
Ole Miss linebacker Serderius Bryant was carted off on a stretcher during the fourth quarter after a big hit. Freeze said postgame that Bryant was "knocked out" on the play and it was hard to tell the extent of the injury, but hoped it wasn't serious.
Texas A&M got a scare in the first quarter when Manziel rolled out to his left and tumbled to the turf after throwing a pass, clutching his left knee.
The sophomore stayed on the ground for a few minutes before walking off the field with some help from Texas A&M's trainers. Though it initially looked like it could be a significant injury, he was up almost immediately on the sideline, jogging and stretching, and returned on the next drive.
It wasn't long before Manziel was running again, with a nimble, shifty 24-yard dash that allowed the Aggies to convert on a 3rd and 14. But even with Manziel's big plays, Texas A&M's offense never clicked at its usual pace.
The Aggies got an 18-yard touchdown run by Trey Williams late in the first quarter and led 14-10 at halftime. Ole Miss scored its lone touchdown of the first half on a 70-yard pass from Wallace to a wide-open Vincent Sanders, who ran untouched to the end zone.
Texas A&M pushed ahead 21-10 in the third quarter on Manziel's 5-yard touchdown run, but couldn't shake the Rebels. Brunetti responded with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Treadwell.
Brunetti is the Rebels' backup quarterback and usually only enters the game on obvious running plays. But he caught the Texas A&M defense by surprise on the pass to Treadwell, finding the true freshman wide open in the middle of the Aggies' secondary.
Brunetti's second touchdown pass was a 9-yarder to Evan Engram that tied it at 24 early in the fourth quarter. They were Brunetti's first two touchdown passes of the season.
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Follow David Brandt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP
The Arizona Republic has found a large cohort of elderly and retired people who claim to have been abused by TSA staff at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport. The passengers claim that they were required to remove their prostheses (particularly prosthetic breasts worn by cancer survivors), and that their objections were met with threats and hostility.
One woman wrote that an agent ordered a pat down of her prosthetic breast and refused to conduct the search in private, before a flight in May 2012.
"She made me pull it out in front of the world. When I got upset I was told to shut up. I have never been so humiliated in my life," the woman wrote. "The TSA has overstepped their bounds and ruined my vacation."
Two weeks earlier, another passenger wrote that TSA agents twice patted down her breast in as many weeks.
"Since this has occurred at two different checkpoints on two different dates, TSA clearly must have a procedure in place (that) requires that women with breast prosthesis to be singled out and treated in this cruel and humiliating manner," the woman wrote.
There is no record that the TSA responded to the second woman. When it does, it's usually a form letter.
Phoenix airport screening draws angry complaints [Sean Holstege/The Arizona Republic]
Washington (AFP) - Senate leaders are nearing completion on a deal to stave off a debt default and avert a self-inflicted political calamity that would shred US credibility and rock the global economy.
Signs of hope emerged on Monday, three days before a deadline to raise the US government's borrowing limit and as a partial government shutdown was on the cusp of entering its third week.
After several failed attempts to end the impasse, veteran political prize fighters Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and his Republican opposite number Mitch McConnell conducted low-key talks aimed at saving the day.
"I'm very optimistic we will reach an agreement that's reasonable in nature this week to reopen the government, pay the nation's bills and begin long-term negotiations to put our country on sound fiscal footing," Reid said.
At the conclusion of a session in the Senate, he said that "we are not there yet, but tremendous progress" has been made, in words that eased tension on the markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.42 percent higher at 15,301.26 while the broader S&P 500 rose 0.41 percent to 1,710.14.
"Everyone just needs to be patient. We hope... that tomorrow will be a bright day," Reid said.
McConnell added: "I share his optimism that we are going to get a result that will be acceptable to both sides."
Their comments were the strongest sign yet that Republicans and Democrats, in the Senate at least -- want to end the damaging political crisis that has dented the country's international standing.
Should the Democratic-led chamber coalesce on a deal, the focus would then shift to whether Republican House Speaker John Boehner can secure sufficient support from his restive conservative coalition in the House to send it to Obama's desk?
With progress apparent, and White House sources saying the feeling there mirrored the optimism in the Senate, Obama canceled a meeting he had called with Reid, McConnell, Boehner and Democratic House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.
An official said the talks were put off to "allow leaders in the Senate time to continue making important progress towards a solution that raises the debt limit and reopens the government."
The Senate Republicans were to convene Tuesday at 1500 GMT to review the plan.
The sudden optimism contrasted with Obama's terse tone of a few hours earlier, when he lambasted Republicans and warned of the consequences if a deal was not soon reached.
"If Republicans aren't willing to set aside their partisan concerns in order to do what's right for the country, we stand a good chance of defaulting and defaulting could have a potentially... devastating affect on our economy," Obama said.
If Congress does not raise the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling by Thursday, the US government will begin to run out of money and could start defaulting on its obligations.
But it was clear Monday that Reid and McConnell were coming together on a framework agreement.
The Politico news organization reported that the initiative would reopen and fund government through January 15 and raise the debt ceiling until February 7.
It would also launch formal long-term budget talks between Democrats and Republicans that would need to conclude by December 13.
Republicans had sought a delay of the medical device tax which helps fund the president's health care reforms, but Democratic leadership resisted and it is unlikely to be part of the deal.
The two sides instead are considering delaying another "Obamacare"-related tax known as the re-insurance tax.
"The general framework is there, there might be some accoutrements that are still being fleshed out," Republican Senator Bob Corker told reporters.
Around the world, however, signs of alarm were mounting.
China and Japan -- which between them hold more than $2.4 trillion of US debt -- have urged Washington to get its house in order.
"The United States is the largest economy in the world and we hope that it can show its responsibility," China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing, taking the chance to caution Washington.
Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer warned of dire consequences if there was no solution.
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told the International Monetary Fund last week that Washington understood its reputation as a safe harbor was at risk.
Amid the optimism, however, there could be further Republican resistance to the new plan, first in the Senate and then on the approach that will be adopted by Boehner in the House.
He faces stiff resistance from Tea Party-backed conservatives who oppose almost any deal that does not include anti-Obamacare provisions or which fails to rein in federal spending.
Number two House Republican Eric Cantor said leadership has "not made any decision" yet on selling the potential deal to the rank-and-file.
"We will meet with our members in the morning and determine the best path forward," he said.
An influx of nitrogen-based pollution is acting as an unwanted fertilizer and is disrupting the ecology of dozens of national parks, according to new research.
Of the 45 U.S. parks the research team studied, 38 were blanketed with high levels of nitrogen-based air pollution from power plants, car exhaust and industrial agriculture, according to the study, which was published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
The resulting nitrogen overload could disrupt the nutrient cycling in the soil, fuel algal blooms and change water acidity levels in the country's national parks, the research suggests. [Top 10 Most Visited National Parks]
Nitrogen disruption
Though about 78 percent of the Earth's atmosphere is made up of nitrogen, most of that nitrogen is bound to itself in a relatively inert form.
However, combustion, power generation and industrial agriculture all add highly reactive forms of nitrogen — either ammonia or nitrogen oxides into the environment. Because those forms can be readily absorbed into the soil and taken up by plants, they can alter plants' growth patterns and disrupt whole ecosystems.
To see how all this nitrogen affected the country's wild places, Raluca Ellis, an atmospheric and applied sciences professor at Harvard University, and colleagues combined data on nitrogen emissions with a continental simulation to describe how the nitrogen would be deposited.
The team found 24 out of 45 parks were well above the critical nitrogen-load threshold that could disrupt ecosystems, and another 14 were just above that threshold. Most of that came from nitrogen oxides in air pollution.
What the future holds
The team then used several predictions of future emissions based on assumptions of technological and socioeconomic changes to see how the situation might change by 2050.
Though nitrogen oxide emissions are expected to fall by between 40 and 85 percent by 2050, overall nitrogen levels won't change much, because ammonia emissions will likely rise by 19 to 50 percent.
"The increase in the U.S. is mainly due to increases in fertilizer use and livestock driven by a growing population and thus higher food demand," the authors wrote in the paper.
By that estimate, 17 to 25 parks will be overloaded with nitrogen by 2050. Even if fuel-based emissions were completely eliminated, 14 national parks will exceed the critical nitrogen levels at that time.
The findings suggest that policies to reduce nitrogen pollution should take into account agriculture-related uses, the authors note. The Environmental Protection Agency is considering tough new rules that would further decrease nitrogen oxide emissions.
"However, our results suggest that the benefit of these actions will be limited without a parallel plan to decrease [ammonia] emissions," the authors write.
Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter and Google+. Follow LiveScience @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.
Alice Munro, "master of the contemporary short story," has won the Nobel Prize in Literature," the Royal Swedish Academy announced Thursday morning. In 2009, she won the Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime work.
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