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Texas AG blasts court's redistricting maps (AP)
AUSTIN, Texas ? Texas' attorney general sharply criticized a federal court Friday over its proposed maps for state House and Senate districts in the 2012 election, saying the judges overstepped their bounds.
The San Antonio-based federal court released the proposed redistricting maps late Thursday and gave those involved in the case until noon Friday to comment. Minority groups have filed a legal challenge to the Republican-drawn maps, saying they are discriminatory. The court's maps are intended to be an interim solution until the case is resolved after the 2012 elections.
Maps for the House and Senate released Thursday restore many of the minority districts ? where Democrats hold the seats ? to their previous shapes. Republican lawmakers have denied their maps were intended to minimize minority representation, and say they merely reflect the GOP majority in Texas.
In his filing, Attorney General Gregg Abbot said the court went too far in redrawing the Legislature's maps.
"A court's job is to apply the law, not to make policy," Abbott wrote in his objection to the proposed House map. "A federal court lacks the constitutional authority to interfere with the expressed will of the state Legislature unless it is compelled to remedy a specific identifiable violation of law."
Abbott argued that there is no violation of law. Included in his court filing were letters and emails from 18 Republican lawmakers and two Democrats objecting to portions of the court-drawn House map.
The objections by the Republican attorney general and lawmakers followed praise by many Democrats on Thursday night. But two Democrats, Representatives Senfronia Thompson and Harold Dutton, objected to the court's version of their House Districts 141 and 142 in Harris County
"The traditional communities of interest, which have existed since 1972, are destroyed under the court's plan," Dutton said. Thompson said her district was fundamentally changed by removing a key neighborhood from it.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, also denounced the court's state Senate maps. As the leader of the Senate, he supervised the creation of the district map for that chamber.
"The Senate's map was not hastily crafted, but was the product of careful balancing and intense negotiation by the senators," Dewhurst said in a letter Friday. "The court's proposed interim map completely disregards the careful work of the members of the Senate."
Since 1965, Texas has been subject to the Voting Rights Act, which requires states with a history of racial discrimination to first gain approval from the Department of Justice or a federal court before instituting new political districts. A federal court in Washington rejected Abbott's request to give approval to the legislative and congressional maps drawn by the Legislature, and the Department of Justice has called the method for drafting the maps seriously flawed.
The courts have played a role in drafting every legislative or congressional redistricting map in Texas since 1970.
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Official says Wagner not a suspect in Wood death (omg!)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Actor Robert Wagner is not a suspect in the 30-year-old drowning of his actress wife, Natalie Wood, and there is nothing to indicate a crime, even though the investigation has been re-opened, a sheriff's detective said Friday.
"Her death was an accident, an accidental drowning," said Sheriff's Lt. John Corina.
Officials would not say why they were taking another look at the case, although the captain of the boat where the couple had stayed blamed Wagner for Wood's death.
Natalie Wood's sister, Lana Wood, told CNN's Piers Morgan in an interview Friday that she doesn't believe her sister fell off the boat.
Lana Wood told Morgan that she has spoken several times with the boat's captain Dennis Davern and he has told her that Wagner was involved in her plunge into the sea on Nov. 29, 1981. But Lana Wood said she does not believe that whatever happened was deliberate.
"I don't think she fell, I don't know if she was pushed, I don't know whether there was an altercation and it happened accidentally but she shouldn't have died and that does stay with me and hurt," Lana Wood said.
"I would prefer to always believe that RJ (Wagner) would never do anything to hurt Natalie and that he loved her dearly, which he did, and I don't believe that whatever went on was deliberate. I've always cared about him. I always will care about him," she said.
Lana Wood wrote in a biography on her sister after her death, "What happened is that Natalie drank too much that night."
There have always been questions about Wood's death on Nov. 29, 1981, with renewed attention on the case as the anniversary neared. The case's re-opening and a public call for information are the first hint that the official account may need revision.
Within hours of the announcement, Corina said, several people emerged offering their recollections of what happened in the waters off Southern California's Santa Catalina Island.
But he quickly noted that nothing the agency has received so far has prompted it to change the view that there was no foul play.
Davern, said Friday on NBC's "Today" show that he lied to investigators about events on the yacht Splendour when he was interviewed after Wood's death.
Davern accused Wagner of having a fight with Wood before she went missing and delaying the search for her after she disappeared.
Wagner's family released a statement through a spokesman that said they trusted detectives to evaluate any new information and determine whether it came from "a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death."
It did not mention Davern by name, and noted that detectives hadn't contacted Wagner or his family.
On the show, Davern mentioned a book he co-wrote last year on Wood's death, but refused to say precisely why he blamed Wagner for the three-time Oscar nominee's death. Davern also denied that he was seeking to profit from interest in the case.
Vanity Fair and the television program "48 Hours Mystery" have teamed up and are including Wood's case for a television special airing this weekend.
Corina said his agency would talk to Davern at some point and other witnesses would likely be interviewed. He downplayed the role Davern's book or the anniversary would play on the investigation.
"We're not concerned with the anniversary date," Corina said. "It may have jarred some other people's memories."
Wood, who was 43 when she died, received three Academy Award nominations, for "Rebel Without a Cause," ''Splendor in the Grass" and "Love with the Proper Stranger." She appeared in numerous other Hollywood classics, including "West Side Story."
Wood and Wagner were married twice, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972. Her death during the Thanksgiving weekend in 1981 has long sparked tabloid speculation that foul play was involved.
Wood, Wagner and actor Christopher Walken and Davern spent time on Thanksgiving weekend 1981 both on Catalina Island and drinking on the yacht.
Wagner has dismissed any suggestion that the actress' death was anything more than an accident. In a 2008 autobiography, he recounted drinking with Wood and Walken at a restaurant and on the boat.
Wood went to the master cabin during an argument between the two men, Wagner said. The last time Wagner saw his wife, she was fixing her hair at a bathroom vanity and she shut the door, he wrote.
Despite various theories about what led Wood to the water, which she feared, he said, it was impossible to know what happened.
"Nobody knows," he wrote. "There are only two possibilities; either she was trying to get away from the argument, or she was trying to tie the dinghy. But the bottom line is that nobody knows exactly what happened."
Coroner's officials said at the time that she was "possibly attempting to board the dinghy and had fallen into the water, striking her face."
Wood was found wearing a flannel nightgown, socks and a red down jacket, and Davern identified her body for authorities, according to an autopsy report. Her body had superficial bruises, according to the report, but those were considered consistent with drowning.
Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said the agency hadn't been asked to do any additional investigation into Wood's case.
Wagner, star of the television series "Hart to Hart," wrote in his book that he blamed himself for his wife's death.
"Did I blame myself? If I had been there, I could have done something," he wrote. "But I wasn't there. I didn't see her."
___
Associated Press writer Alicia Rancilio contributed to this report.
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Head-mounted AR trainer is another Star Trek prop come to life (video)
Those of you familiar with the Dominion headsets from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine will probably guess exactly what this wearable AR system does from the picture alone. Japan's institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology is putting the finishing touches on a device to help newbies through complex and dangerous jobs. A head-mounted GoPro Hero 2 HD relays a picture back to an expert, who directs the action while wearing colored gloves. Using color separation, just the hand movements are sent back to the user, processed by a Toughbook in a backpack and overlaid onto the Shimadzu Data Glass HUD. There's nothing special about the tech, but that's what makes it so likely we'll see this making the leap to reality -- more so, because all of the components are off-the-shelf. The only issue is with the unit's software calibration, which takes far too long, but AIST hopes to remedy this over time. Just be careful if you see a backseat driver with blue gloves -- they could make your life miserable.
Continue reading Head-mounted AR trainer is another Star Trek prop come to life (video)
Head-mounted AR trainer is another Star Trek prop come to life (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tyler Perry defends casting Kardashian in new film (AP)
ATLANTA ? Filmmaker Tyler Perry is defending his controversial decision to cast reality television star Kim Kardashian in an upcoming film about marriage.
Perry announced that Kardashian will have a role in "The Marriage Counselor" shortly before she ended her 72-day marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries, creating a buzz on social media sites.
Perry says he wanted a younger cast, which Kardashian rounds out, to help attract younger viewers. In a statement on his website, Perry says he thinks "it would be a very responsible of her to be a part of this film" and good for young people who see her as a role model to "see her in a film that is about what happens in life when you make the wrong choices."
Perry asked for his fans' understanding.
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Emotional Elimination Night As Contender Spars With Simon Cowell On 'The X Factor' (omg!)
One contender nearly took the vote out of the judges' hands on Thursday's "The X Factor," when, after being placed in the bottom 2, the artist nearly didn't perform for the panel's saving vote.
(SPOILER: This story contains the results of Thursday's "X Factor" elimination).
PLAY IT NOW: Simon Cowell Rates ?The X Factor? Top 10
Astro and Stacy Francis were the contenders left to battle it out for a spot on next week's show, but while Stacy got on with singing her song - "Amazing Grace" - in hopes of carrying on, when it came to the 14-year-old rapper, he was hurt by landing in the bottom 2 and threw his hands up to performing.
"I really don't want to perform. I feel like it's unnecessary, but I'm gonna leave it up to -- (turns to L.A. Reid), you're my mentor. Do you think I should perform?" Astro asked.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Scenes From ?The X Factor?: Season 1 ? The Auditions
"You've come a long, long way," L.A. said.
Astro then asked the crowd too if he should rap a final number, which drew cheers, and so the high-schooler did, spitting out rhymes over the Jackson 5 classic, "Never Can Say Goodbye."
Astro's self-penned lyrics referenced his time in the competition and he spit out kind words about each of the judges, but he seemed to lose some of his focus during the chorus. By contrast, Stacy's version of "Amazing Grace" was full of intonation issues.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Verdict Is In! Judges Of Reality Television
When it came time for the judges' vote, L.A. and Paula Abdul voted to eliminate Stacy, while Nicole Scherzinger voted to boot Astro, leaving, once again, the final verdict to Simon Cowell, a decision that led to another emotional moment when the Brit chastised the young man in front of a boisterous audience.
"I don't like your attitude right now, so just do me a favor, stop folding your arms, look at me and think about your mum watching this show, because you are showing disrespect to your mum, you're showing disrespect to the audience at home," Simon said.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Nicole Scherzinger: This Pussycat Doll?s Got ?The X Factor?!
Astro tried to keep up his attitude, but as the two spoke, Astro seemed to reveal how hurt he was by having to rap for his place in next week's competition.
"No disrespect to you or this show, but I just feel like, if you're gonna put me in the bottom 2, I don't want to perform for people who don't want me here," Astro said, calling the judge a respectful, "sir" when he addressed him.
It was at that point that the crowd began booing loudly at the young man, and show host, Steve Jones, in a brotherly way, quickly put his arm around Astro and whispered something in his ear.
"Part of doing this is being a grownup," Simon said. "Astro, if you're in this position again, are you gonna take the same attitude where you're not gonna come out and sing?"
"I apologize," Astro said, his tough shell fading as he wiped a tear off his cheek.
Simon then cast the deciding vote sending Stacy home.
"I had an amazing journey," Stacy said. "I wasn't always happy with my song choices, I don't believe that I did great last night. I go with that and I have to suck up my pride and take responsibility for the performance that I gave. This journey has been really great and honestly, I can't believe I'm going home, but somebody has to go home. I just want to thank Simon Cowell for giving me a chance because I'm 42 years old and he allowed me to sing for the world week to week."
"The X Factor" returns on Wednesday on FOX at 8/7C.
Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Report: Lisbon court won't send fugitive to US (AP)
LISBON, Portugal ? A Lisbon court has denied a U.S. request for the extradition of captured American fugitive George Wright, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported Thursday.
The U.S. wants Wright returned to serve the rest of his 15- to 30-year jail sentence for a 1962 killing in New Jersey. Wright was captured in Portugal in September after more than four decades on the run.
Lusa did not provide a source for its report Thursday nor did it provide details of the ruling. Neither court officials nor Wright's lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
Wright is under house arrest at his home near Lisbon, wearing an electronic tag that monitors his movements. Wright spent seven years in a U.S. prison for a 1962 murder in New Jersey before escaping in 1970, and was on the run for 41 years until his arrest. Wright had initially been held in a Lisbon jail since he was caught.
His lawyer Manuel Luis Ferreira previously told The AP he would argue Wright is now a Portuguese citizen and should be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence in Portugal, where his wife and two grown children live.
Wright was captured in the seaside village where he has lived since 1993 after authorities matched his fingerprint on a Portuguese identity card to one in the U.S.
Wright got Portuguese citizenship through marriage in 1991 after Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony in West Africa, gave him the new name of "Jose Luis Jorge dos Santos" and made him a citizen.
The identity from Guinea-Bissau was granted after the country gave Wright political asylum in the 1980s, and that was accepted by Portugal when it granted him citizenship, according to his lawyer.
Wright broke out of Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, New Jersey, on Aug. 19, 1970.
In 1972, Wright ? dressed as a priest and using an alias ? hijacked a Delta flight from Detroit to Miami along with others, police say.
After releasing the plane's 86 other passengers for a $1 million ransom, the hijackers forced the plane to fly to Boston, then to Algeria, where the hijackers sought asylum.
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