A Minute With: Guillermo del Toro on “Rise of the Guardians”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is known for putting a dark twist on super heroes and children’s fantasy, but in “Rise of the Guardians” the producer brings together holiday heroes for a festive adventure.

“Rise of the Guardians,” which will be in theaters on Friday, is based on award-winning author William Joyce’s “The Guardians of Childhood” books. In the film, traditional characters such as Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Sandman and Jack Frost join forces to save earth’s children from the evil Pitch Black and his band of Nightmares.

In the movie that stars Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher and Hugh Jackman, del Toro, 48, steps back into the executive producer role after directing dark fantasy “Pan’s Labyrinth” and the “Hellboy” superhero franchise.

He spoke to Reuters about putting his own stamp on beloved holiday heroes, and why children’s films are important to him.

Q: In “Rise of the Guardians,” Santa has tattoos, the Easter Bunny is Australian and the Tooth Fairy is half-human, half bird. Not the way most of us grew up imagining them, is it?

A: “We didn’t want the characters to have the affections that are given to them in certain cultures. We didn’t want to go with the safe Easter Bunny that is now a marketing tool … We wanted them to represent the world and to geographically make sense. Where would a burrower live, the Outback? The original incarnation of Santa is almost that of a hunter and wild man. It comes from the Nordic and Eastern European notions so we thought it would be great to make him Slavic.”

Q: The film is about addressing fear, which is always a challenging lesson for parents to teach their children. Why make this the central theme?

A: “In order to address fear, parents always end up tiptoeing around the subject. Shielding our kids is not the way to go, but you also don’t want to send them out unprepared without a healthy sense of self. I thought the movie was a great analogy to many things. It’s a great metaphor for kids to interpret the world.”

Q: What attracts you to the children’s genre?

A: “Some of my favorite authors in literature are guys that are great portrayers of childhood, but not necessarily childish – Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Roald Dahl. And my movies like ‘Hellboy‘ and ‘Hellboy 2′ are about misfits coming together. Same with my Spanish movie ‘The Devil’s Backbone.’ So this movie is thematically very much within what I like to do.

“I think that for good or for bad, we spend the rest of our lives dealing with our first 13 years of life, trying to remedy or be lifted by whatever tools we were given when we were kids. Those first years are when we, as adults, sculpt the character of our kids … In reality, life puts kids in our lives for us to learn from them. There is no braver soul in the world than a kid.”

Q: Which “Guardian” do you identify with the most?

A: “I identify with North (Santa Claus). I have the greatest blessing in my life, which is the capacity to remain a child in the way I like to see the world. Like every artist, I have turmoil and I suffer. But ultimately I am able to find magic in the world. When North declares those principles, when he says ‘I feel it in my belly,’ it’s very much something I identify completely with.”

Q: Can we expect to see more of this band of heroes in future films?

A: “Obviously the possibility of telling another tale is completely dependent on the studio. But Bill Joyce has written many books on the characters and we are on board to create more and more adventures for them. We’ve been talking about some storylines. I am eager to tell everyone the story of North.”

Q: You recently finished shooting sci-fi adventure “Pacific Rim,” due in theaters in 2013, which is your first directing venture since 2008′s “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.” Why the break?

A: “I went to New Zealand to direct ‘The Hobbit’ and I was there for two years. I co-wrote the script, and at the end of the process there was a moment of decision where I really wanted to pursue something else and not keep waiting (‘The Hobbit’ production was delayed due to movie studio MGM’s financial troubles).

“Then I spent over a year trying to get a movie called ‘Mountains of Madness’ off the ground. That didn’t happen. Next it took another two years to get ‘Pacific Rim’ to the screen. But in the meantime, I co-wrote three novels, produced three movies and wrote a TV series. It’s been a very busy five years.”

(Reporting by Zorianna Kit, editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Jeffrey Benkoe)

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US abortions fall 5 pct, biggest drop in a decade

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. abortions fell 5 percent during the recession and its aftermath in the biggest one-year decrease in at least a decade, perhaps because women are more careful to use birth control when times are tough, researchers say.

The decline, detailed on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, came in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available. Both the number of abortions and the abortion rate dropped by the same percentage.

Some experts theorize that some women believed they couldn’t afford to get pregnant.

“They stick to straight and narrow … and they are more careful about birth control,” said Elizabeth Ananat, a Duke University assistant professor of public policy and economics who has researched abortions.

While many states have aggressively restricted access to abortion, most of those laws were adopted in the past two years and are not believed to have played a role in the decline.

Abortions have been dropping slightly over much of the past decade. But before this latest report, they seemed to have pretty much leveled off.

Nearly all states report abortion numbers to the federal government, but it’s voluntary. A few states — including California, which has the largest population and largest number of abortion providers — don’t send in data. While experts estimate there are more than 1 million abortions nationwide each year, the CDC counted about 785,000 in 2009 because of incomplete reporting.

To come up with reliable year-to-year comparisons, the CDC used the numbers from 43 states and two cities — those that have been sending in data consistently for at least 10 years. The researchers found that abortions per 1,000 women of child-bearing age fell from about 16 in 2008 to roughly 15 in 2009. That translates to nearly 38,000 fewer abortions in one year.

Mississippi had the lowest abortion rate, at 4 per 1,000 women of child-bearing age. The state also had only a couple of abortion providers and has the nation’s highest teen birth rate. New York, second to California in number of abortion providers, had the highest abortion rate, roughly eight times Mississippi’s.

Nationally since 2000, the number of reported abortions has dropped overall by about 6 percent and the abortion rate has fallen 7 percent.

By all accounts, contraception is playing a role in lowering the numbers.

Some experts cite a government study released earlier this year suggesting that about 60 percent of teenage girls who have sex use the most effective kinds of contraception, including the pill and patch. That’s up from the mid-1990s, when fewer than half were using the best kinds.

Experts also pointed to the growing use of IUDs, or intrauterine devices, T-shaped plastic sperm-killers that a doctor inserts into the uterus. A study released earlier this year by the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization that does research on reproductive health, showed that IUD use among sexually active women on birth control rose from less than 3 percent in 2002 to more than 8 percent in 2009.

IUDs essentially prevent “user error,” said Rachel Jones, a Guttmacher researcher.

Ananat said another factor may be the growing use of the morning-after pill, a form of emergency contraception that has been increasingly easier to get. It came onto the market in 1999 and in 2006 was approved for non-prescription sale to women 18 and older. In 2009 that was lowered to 17.

Underlying all this may be the economy, which was in recession from December 2007 until June 2009. Even well afterward, polls showed most Americans remained worried about anemic hiring, a depressed housing market and other problems.

You might think a bad economy would lead to more abortions by women who are struggling. However, John Santelli, a Columbia University professor of population and family health, said: “The economy seems to be having a fundamental effect on pregnancies, not abortions.”

More findings from the CDC:

— The majority of abortions are performed by the eighth week of pregnancy, when the fetus is about the size of a lima bean.

— White women had the lowest abortion rate, at about 8.5 per 1,000 women of child-bearing age; the rate for black women was about four times that. The rate for Hispanic women was about 19 per 1,000.

— About 85 percent of those who got abortions were unmarried.

— The CDC identified 12 abortion-related deaths in 2009.

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What Does a $225 Turkey Taste Like?

While the average cost of Thanksgiving dinner for 10 crept up to $ 50 this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, some consumers are willing to fork out much more. At Ayrshire Farm in Middleburg, Va., the price of a 25-pound organic turkey: $ 225. That’s more expensive than an iPhone 5 (well, on contract). The farm also sells cooked 16- to 20-pound birds for $ 250.

According to Dave Stephens, the farm’s meat processing plant manager, the taste (and for some, the peace of mind) that comes with eating a certified organic, “humane” bird is worth every dollar. ”Because they are allowed to socialize and forage, and run around looking for leaves and bugs and stuff, they actually develop a darker dark meat and are a little more substantial in texture,” he says.

Ayrshire’s 25-pound birds are Holland Whites, with a white-meat-to-dark-meat ratio of about 60/40, Stephens estimates. These are larger than average heritage birds, which normally do not grow to more than 20 pounds. The organic turkeys mate naturally, are not fed hormones, and are allowed to roam freely. Heritage turkeys sold through Heritage Foods USA cost about $ 8 per pound as well.

This year Ayrshire Farm raised about 800 of these 25-pounders, and the vast majority of them are sold for Thanksgiving. Tuesday morning, the farm gave one as a gift to Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell.

Some may blanch at the thought of paying $ 25 to $ 50 for their turkey, but these upscale birds are actually cheaper than some other options. Chef Daniel Boulud’s catering company Feast & Fetes, for example, will prepare and serve a turkey dinner with appetizers and dessert at your house for about $ 140 per person. Wine, unfortunately, isn’t included.

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Nintendo’s Wii U: First Impressions

GamePad

The Wii U GamePad has a 6.2-inch touchscreen.

Click here to view this gallery.

[More from Mashable: Meet the Super Fan Who Waited in Line for a Month for a Wii U [VIDEO]]

Nintendo‘s newest console has only been available for one day, but that’s still enough time for early-bird consumers to get their hands on the Wii U, and test out its features and games.

We spent the last 24 hours playing with the Wii U, and have organized our early thoughts on the system. Read on if you’re on the fence about buying one.

[More from Mashable: Toys ‘R’ Us Says Wii U Pre-Order Shipments May Be Delayed]

Out of the Box

Setting up the Wii U is easy, but installing the software is more of a process. Nintendo issued a day-one patch to activate features such as MiiVerse, the company’s social features; this means users will spend between one to three hours (depending on connection speed) downloading and installing a patch that bricks their system. Not a great way to greet consumers excited to play your games. But there’s a chance that servers won’t be as busy in the coming weeks, so download times may improve. Each game I inserted had its own patch too, which users have to install on the second playthrough.

After getting through the patch, user still face an involved setup. They have to create their Mii avatar before they start playing, and create a Nintendo Network ID for network play. Users must also set up the GamePad’s universal remote functionality, which is thankfully the easiest part of the process. They only have to pick their TV manufacturer (the Wii U knows what to do next). The GamePad controls volume, input source and channels.

Look and Feel

The GamePad is the Wii U’s main portal, so users need it to access all the relevant menus (the console shows a different menu from the television); here, users can launch applications by touch. The default view includes apps such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video Services and YouTube; but only Netflix is available now, which seems a bit like false advertising. Loading other options, such as the Nintendo eShop, requires pressing the Home button on the controller, which is unintuitive at first. But soon, the button quickly becomes a handy way to navigate to other parts of the Wii U, like the upcoming Nintendo TVii.

The most troublesome thing about the console is that everything moved slowly; launching games and apps took a long time. I felt like I spent awhile looking at a spinning blue circle.

Wii U games definitely take advantage of the console’s ability to support high-definition graphics. Cartoony games, such as Scribblenauts Unlimited or Nintendo Land look beautiful. For games such as ZombiU, which are supposed to appear more realistic, users might be disappointed. This system is supposed to be the next-generation of gaming consoles — meant to outshine the Xbox 360 — but I can’t say it achieves that.

The GamePad

Pre-launch, Nintendo has spent much of its time crowing about the features of the GamePad, a hybrid touch screen and controller that’s central to the Wii U. The first thing I noticed is its large size; but after spending a few hours with the GamePad, I’ve concluded that it won’t weigh you down like an iPad, yet is substantial enough that it doesn’t feel like a toy (though the glossy finish makes it look like one.)

Unfortunately, the GamePad takes some getting used to as an actual controller, especially for games that require more than simple controls or the gyroscope. My biggest complaint is that Nintendo bucked all gaming-controller tradition by swapping the position of the right analog stick and the four letter buttons. Anyone who has played any other modern console (including Nintendo’s own GameCube) knows instinctively that the analog stick goes below the buttons; but Nintendo flipped them on both the GamePad and the Pro Controller. If the company is only targeting non-gamers, they won’t notice; but this will be a difficult change for many others. Despite this drawback, the buttons, and especially triggers, feel good.

The GamePad is mostly dominated by the 6.2-inch touch screen with a passable resolution: 854 x 480. The most appealing feature of the Wii U — that users can play games or watch movies entirely on the GamePad — may be spoiled for some looking for HD crispness. Still, I watched a whole episode of Portlandia from Netflix on the GamePad, and also spent time playing New Super Mario Bros. U with the television off. Being able to isolate your gameplay to a smaller screen is very novel, and one of my favorite parts of the system.

Games

Nintendo’s Wii U has a better launch lineup coming out, compared to other consoles — but only a few titles stick out. Almost everyone I talked to in line at the Nintendo World store during the Wii U launch wanted New Super Mario Bros. U or ZombiU, both of which are fun titles. Nintendo Land, which is a pack-in if users purchase the Deluxe model, is going to be a huge hit at parties; from what I’ve seen so far, it has some engrossing minigames. I haven’t cracked open Scribblenauts Unlimited yet, but in demos it looks like a very promising title that would go well with a touch screen.

Some non-exclusive titles on other consoles are also appealing. I’m looking forward to digging in to Epic Mickey 2 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2. While the system had 24 launch titles, many more are expected to debut in the coming months.

I plan to spend Thanksgiving week exploring the Wii U, and will write a more detailed report on whether it’s the right console for gamers, families or casual users.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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“Twilight” sendoff starts with huge $341 million worldwide

(Reuters) – The “Twilight” vampire saga‘s final chapter debuted with a massive $ 341 million in global movie ticket sales as devoted fans bid farewell to blood-sucking spouses Bella and Edward and one of Hollywood‘s biggest franchises.

“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ earned an estimated $ 141 million in the United States and Canada over the weekend, falling slightly short of a record for the supernatural romance series about a human-vampire-werewolf love triangle.

The total, which includes sales from late night Thursday through Sunday, ranked as the eight biggest domestic film debut of all time. Late-night Thursday screenings comprised $ 30.4 million of the $ 141 million total.

Fan fever for the fifth “Twilight” movie raged high around the world. “Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ rang up sales of $ 199.6 million from Thursday to Sunday at theaters in 61 countries for a worldwide total of $ 341 million, distributor Summit Entertainment said on Sunday.

The earlier “Twilight” films pulled in a combined $ 2.5 billion at global box offices over a four-year run. The success lifted tiny studio Summit Entertainment into Hollywood‘s big leagues and paved the way for its $ 412 million acquisition in January by Lions Gate Entertainment.

“New Moon” scored the biggest debut of the series, grossing $ 142.8 million over its first three days in 2009.

The movies based on a series of best-selling young adult books by Stephenie Meyer ignited a pop culture infatuation with blood-sucking vampires and werewolves. The films star Kristen Stewart as human-turned-vampire Bella Swan, Robert Pattinson as her vampire love Edward Cullen, and Taylor Lautner as werewolf Jacob Black, who competes for Bella’s affection.

Summit spent $ 120 million to produce “Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” which concludes the tale with newly turned vampire Bella and husband Edward in a high-stakes battle to protect their half-human, half-vampire daughter from an ancient vampire clan. The couple enlist the extended Cullen family in their fight.

Fans of the series, mostly teen girls nicknamed “Twi-hards,” embraced the final film, which includes a surprise twist that was not in the final book. Audiences polled by CinemaScore awarded the movie an “A” grade, with an “A+” from filmgoers under age 25, according to Summit. Critics were less supportive. Fifty-one percent of reviews collected on the Rotten Tomatoes website were positive.

Summit Entertainment‘s president of domestic distribution Richie Fay said though the vast majority of the audience was female, he expected more male viewers than for previous “Twilight” films.

“The male audience has increased a good bit, and the ratings among males are higher I think in part to the action in the film,” he said.

Author Meyer has not ruled out the possibility of more stories in the vampire-werewolf universe but said she has closed the chapter on the Cullens.

Hollywood is eager to fill the void after the success of “Twilight” highlighted the power of young adult stories on the big screen. Studios are bringing at least four new films based on popular young adult novels to theaters next year as well as the sequel to the newest teen movie sensation, “The Hunger Games.

The “Twilight” excitement eclipsed all other movies over the weekend. Last week’s winner, James Bond movie “Skyfall” finished in second place with $ 41.5 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theaters.

“Skyfall” is now the highest-grossing Bond movie to date with a global total of over $ 669 million, surpassing the $ 599 million taken in by “Casino Royale” in 2006.

“Skyfall” also propelled distributer Sony Pictures Entertainment to a record year, pushing its worldwide box office total over the $ 4 billion mark.

Historical drama “Lincoln” expanded from a limited opening a week ago and landed in third place with $ 21 million. The movie stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th president near the end of his life as he battles to ban slavery and end the Civil War. The movie is directed by Steven Spielberg and has earned critical praise and awards-season buzz.

In fourth place, Walt Disney Co animated movie “Wreck-It Ralph,” about a videogame character who destroys everything in his path, pulled in $ 18.3 million. Denzel Washington drama “Flight” earned $ 8.6 million and the No. 5 spot.

Elsewhere, romantic comedy “Silver Linings Playbook” brought in $ 458,000 at 16 locations, or an average of $ 28,625 per theater. The film stars Bradley Cooper as a bipolar former teacher just released from a mental institution and Jennifer Lawrence as a young widow he encounters as he tries to put his life back together.

“Silver Linings” won over critics who say it may earn a spot in the Oscar race. The Weinstein Co, the private company that released the movie, will expand the film nationwide beginning on Wednesday, November 21.

Sony Corp’s movie studio distributed “Skyfall.” “Lincoln” was produced by Dreamworks and released by Walt Disney Co. “Flight” was distributed by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Jackie Frank)

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PIRG warns of toy dangers but finds fewer of them

WASHINGTON (AP) — Toys are safer than ever before, consumer advocates say, but parents should remain vigilant in keeping their little ones away from powerful magnets and small items that can easily cause choking.

“The main trend that we saw this year was that we didn’t find as many toxic toys as we thought we would,” said Nasima Hossain, a public health advocate for U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

PIRG examined more than 200 toys on store shelves at major retailers and dollar stores and tested about three dozen toys for lead and chemicals called phthalates, which are used to make plastic products softer but have been linked to reproductive defects and other health problems. A 2008 product safety law ushered in new standards for children’s products, including strict limits on lead and phthalates allowed in toys.

Of the toys tested, only one — a Morphobot action figure — turned up lead levels that exceeded the new stricter federal limit on how much metal can be in the toy. For phthalates, the toys all met the federal standard for what’s allowed, though a Dora the Explorer backpack had levels that would trigger disclosure under Washington state and California law, the report said.

Small toys that could choke children and loud toys that could possibly lead to hearing loss were the primary concern of this year’s report.

A Dora the Explorer guitar and a set of colorful toy car keys for infants were cited for being excessively loud. Play food sets of everything from little strawberries to miniature sausage as well as small dragster cars that had tiny rubber traction bands on the wheels that could come loose were all listed as small enough to cause a child to choke.

The group also highlighted renewed concerns about magnets, especially the high-powered magnets in executive desktop toys for adults or a finger-play magnet toy for kids called Snake Eggs that PIRG found at a dollar store.

PIRG cited government estimates of 1,700 emergency room visits between 2009 and 2011 involving the ingestion of high-powered magnets. Most cases involved children between 4 and 12 years old. Older children have accidentally ingested the balls while trying to mimic tongue piercings. The magnets, such as the ones in the popular Buckyball desktop toys, can cling together if swallowed, pinch internal tissue and lead to serious injuries.

The Toy Industry Association’s Stacy Leistner says his group agrees that strong magnets are a risk for children and shouldn’t be available to them.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission this summer sued New York-based Maxfield and Oberton, the maker of the Buckyball desktop toys, to stop their sale. The finger-fidget toys are designed for adults, but CPSC said it was seeing too many injuries involving children.

Maxfield has maintained the toys are for adults, marketed to adults and carry clear warning labels — but it announced last month that it would stop making the Buckyball series. CPSC is considering a ban on high-powered magnet sets.

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Argentina’s Fernandez faces her first general strike

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Opposition trade unions protesting Argentina‘s economic policies brought public transportation and grains exports to a halt on Tuesday in the first general strike since President Cristina Fernandez took office five years ago.

Demonstrators burned tires to block roads and vandalized a handful of the businesses that opened despite the 24-hour work stoppage called by bus drivers, train conductors and port, airline and bank workers. They rallied in places including Plaza de Mayo in front of the presidential palace in Buenos Aires.

The general strike – the first to hit Argentina in a decade – follows broad protests held on November 8 over high crime, soaring inflation and the government‘s policy response.

Farmers also joined the protest led by Hugo Moyano, a gruff former truck driver once closely linked to Fernandez but now a leading opposition figure. He wants lower taxes for workers whose purchasing power has been drained by galloping inflation.

“The complaints are justified,” Martha Valazza, a 72-year-old retiree, said in the all-but-abandoned Retiro train station in Buenos Aires. “The worker must act to improve his own situation.”

Fernandez’s popularity has tumbled since she easily won re-election last year. Inflation is running at about 25 percent despite a sputtering economy, according to private economists. The government publishes much lower inflation data long dismissed by the markets as inaccurate.

“The strike is a consequence of slow economic growth and high inflation, which the government does not recognize and therefore does not reflect through adjustments in the sliding income tax scale,” said Ignacio Labaqui, who analyzes Argentina for emerging markets consultancy Medley Global Advisors.

The International Monetary Fund has given Argentina roughly until the end of the year to improve its murky inflation reporting or risk sanctions.

The strike increases the stakes in the political battle between the president and Moyano. Ties between the two soured after the death in late 2010 of Nestor Kirchner, Fernandez’s husband and predecessor as president.

Moyano’s CGT labor federation split earlier this year, with his allies re-electing him as leader in a vote rejected by rival union bosses aligned with Fernandez. The fracture in the umbrella group risks deepening labor unrest as inflation stokes wage demands.

‘LOSING CONTROL’

“This general strike raises the possibility that she is losing control of the street and it puts the unions that are allied with her in an uncomfortable position,” Labaqui said.

Fernandez, meanwhile, is moving to shore up her base. Her allies in Congress last month lowered Argentina’s voting age to 16 from 18, a change that could help the politically ailing president court the youth vote ahead of 2013 mid-term elections.

Argentina is the world’s top exporter of soy oil, needed to make biofuels, and soymeal used to feed cattle as far away as China, where the emerging middle class is clamoring for beef steak. The South American country is also the second-biggest corn exporter after the United States.

“This (strike) was necessary, unfortunately,” said Eduardo Buzzi, who heads the Argentine Agrarian Federation, which represents small-scale farms. “There is no way to dialogue. … This is the most anti-farm government Argentina has ever had.”

The agricultural sector has long quarreled with Fernandez over the 35 percent export tax her government puts on soybean exports and curbs it places on corn and wheat shipments.

Telephone calls went unanswered at the main grains port of Rosario. The usually noisy, truck-jammed entrance to the port of Buenos Aires was still, with activity expected to resume on Wednesday. The local stock and bonds market was also unusually quiet.

Just up the street from the presidential palace, tourist attraction Cafe Tortoni closed its doors after being vandalized.

“It’s painful,” a cafe employee told state television. “This is like a second home to us.”

(Additional reporting by Guido Nejamkis, Writing and additional reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Bill Trott and Will Dunham)

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Who Are the ‘Anti-Israel’ Press Behind Rupert Murdoch’s Twitter Attack?

Rupert Murdoch can apologize (as he sort of did) about his “Jewish-owned press” tweet, but he still can’t take it back. And because that tweet is out there, the big question now—after “Why is he still on there?” and “Wow, that’s really offensive, right?”—is which press, exactly, he was referring to. Here’s the tweet that Murdoch sent out on Saturday night: 

Why Is Jewish owned press so consistently anti- Israel in every crisis?

— Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch) November 18, 2012

After an avalanche of Twitter blowback, Murdoch soon faux-apologized…

“,Jewish owned press” have been sternly criticised, suggesting link to Jewish reporters.Don’t see this, but apologise unreservedly.

— Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch) November 18, 2012

…”don’t see this” being Murdochian for faux-apology.

RELATED: Rupert Murdoch Brightens Every Newsroom He Enters

As the initial round of shock wears off (The Daily Beast’s Peter Beinart eloquently wrote about how stupid and offensive this tweet was), journalists and editors are now actually trying to make some kind of sense of which outlet or outlets Murdoch may have gotten all drunk-uncle-at-Thanksgiving over. So, with the help of journalists on the case, here’s our best attempt at “Murdoch Whispering“: 

RELATED: How U.K. Tabloids Are Getting Around Prince Harry’s Nudity Warning

He Is Talking About The New York Times Foreign Policy’s Blake Hounshell put it succinctly: 

FWIW Murdoch was probably referring to the NYT with that weird tweet.

— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) November 18, 2012

And it was shared be Buzzfeed’s Ben Smith:

Wolff also assumes, as I did, that Murdoch’s Jewish-owned press meant the Times guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/…

— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) November 19, 2012

The reason Smith, Hounshell, and The Guardian‘s Michael Wolff all think it’s a Times-centered attack isn’t just because of an anti-Semitic slam against the Sulzbergers (more on this in a tiny bit) but because of Murdoch’s various “wars” and his rivalry with The New York Times. Back in 2010, as Vanity Fair pointed out, Murdoch was warring with executive editor Bill Keller, and he was seen tweeting dissing the well-liked Times‘s public editor, Margaret Sullivan, not too long ago: 

Amusing fuss over NYT public editor.We see all two million daily subscribers as our very public editors.

— Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch) November 8, 2012

So maybe this tweet was another pot shot, albeit with more anti-Semitic tone. But as Wolff points out, being Jewish-owned doesn’t even apply to The Times anymore, which kinda makes it even more anti-Semitic if he was just going by the Sulzberger surname:

To describe the Times this way is both quizzical, and we can assume, pointed. Because, as it happens, the Times isn’t, per se, “Jewish”. True, the Sulzbergers, who control the company, were once a prominent Jewish family. But the Times’ chairman and publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, is half-Jewish (on his father’s side) and was raised as an Episcopalian. Murdoch knows this full well. So what he is saying is something more like “Jewish-tainted press”, which, all in all, seems more, not less, antisemitic.

He Was Talking About CNN and the AP If you go to the New York Times report on the whole thing that might be referring to The Times, they point to CNN and the AP. “In an earlier message he had said, “CNN and AP bias to point of embarrassment,” writes The Times‘s Amy Chozick.

RELATED: New York Times Devours Gothamist

He Was Channeling Wendi’s Broken English and Trolling His ‘Minders’ “Curiously, Murdoch’s wife Wendi often uses the word ‘Jewish’in an atonal context – ‘You Jewish, right? I know you Jewish!’– that makes Murdoch’s minders jump.  He may even become more retrograde to bedevil his minders.” wrote Wolff. Based on a life experience which includes very blunt Asian relatives and a large extended family, there is a definite possibility that Wendi might not know how harsh  ”You Jewish, right?” comes off. It’s hard to say the same for Rupert.

RELATED: The Vatican Gets Trendy: Puts Newspaper Online, Plans a Paywall

He Wasn’t Talking About Mother Jones‘s Adam Weinstein: 

*I* don’t own any media. You laid me off in 2008. RT @rupertmurdoch: Why Is Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis?

— Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) November 18, 2012

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“Last Resort,” “666 Park Avenue” Dropped by ABC

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – ABC’s freshman submarine drama “Last Resort” has been sunk, and the network has shuttered “666 Park Avenue” while it’s at it.

The network has declined to pick up its freshman drama “Last Resort,” which starred Ande Braugher as a submarine commander whose crew is declared rogue enemies after he ignores a suspicious order.

Likewise, freshman drama “666 Park Avenue,” which starred Terry O’Quinn and Vanessa Williams, will also not go forward. That drama centered around a young couple who manage a New York City apartment building that’s plagued by supernatural occurrences.

Though the network says it will air the remaining episodes of both series, they have not been picked up for additional episodes.

“Last Resort,” which aired Thursdays at 8 p.m., dipped to a 1.3 rating/4 share in the advertiser-cherished 18-49 demographic, tying the lowest performance in the series’ short existence.

“666 Park Avenue,” which aired Sundays at 10 p.m., drew a 1.3/3 for its final airing, which also tied a series low.

Earlier Friday, CBS canceled its freshman comedy “Partners.”

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Why Sanofi’s Zaltrap Deal Won t Help Patients

Nurse administers chemotherapy to patient. Credit: National Cancer Institute.

I got excited when I read the New York Times story Nov. 9 (“Sanofi Halves Price of Cancer Drug Zaltrap After Sloan-Kettering Rejection)”. Zaltrap is an intravenous infusion colon cancer drug for metastatic colorectal cancer that is resistant to or has progressed with platinum-based chemotherapy. With a list price of $ 11,000 per patient per month, Zaltrap is about double the cost of Genentech’s Avastin. Sloan Kettering doctors rejected Zaltrap, claiming it offered no added value over Avastin, because it works no better than Avastin, and costs twice as much. Doctors from Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, one the United States flagship cancer hospitals, published an op-ed in the NYTimes Oct. 14, titled “In Cancer Care, Cost Matters,” arguing that hospitals need to put their foot down when drugs are outrageously expensive with no added value. They wrote: “Soaring spending has presented the medical community with a new obligation. When choosing treatments for a patient, we have to consider the financial strains they may cause alongside the benefits they might deliver.” The importance of getting bang for your buck, or value in healthcare, has been a huge point in health policy circles in the United States. In fact, politicians of all stripes are quick to point to health outcomes data that show that despite the United States spending in the top tier of all nations for healthcare, health outcomes are far lower. What Sanofi announced in its response Nov. 8 to Sloan-Kettering, one could have easily thought that it was a victory for patients. However, the New York Times headline stating “Sanofi halves price…” is misleading. Sadly, the Zaltrap half-off deal is not a list price reduction at all. It is just a business discount plan for hospitals and oncologists. As Lisa Jane Hubbell, who uses high-cost disease modifying drugs for a noncancerous, chronic condition told me: “It won’t help patients, will it? Our copay will be based on full price, the docs will pocket the extra from insurance companies. It doesn’t really help anyone who is in need of help paying for healthcare.” Another woman with stage IV breast cancer says that she has been deemed ineligible for any discount for her high-priced cancer drugs because she is insured. In general, drug discount plans go to the uninsured. She emailed me: “The drug I took for five years was re-patented three times while I was on it, as I recall. It was orders of magnitude more expensive than the old standby tamoxifen for only a slight advantage in efficacy.” As The Times points out, Medicare patients are unlikely to see a lower price for Zaltrap for a long while until the discount is incorporated into Medicare payment calculations for Part B, which covers physician-administered drugs. In addition, oncologists have long marked up drugs that they administer for insurers and patients. Fortunately, Sloan-Kettering doctors are on the patients’ side and question whether Sanofi’s discount will make Zaltrap more affordable for patients. Peter Bach, MD, told me: “I don’t know if they’re going through steps to ensure reimbursement goes down to follow price or not. I’m hoping that is in their plans. If not, then yes, the windfall goes to providers, and our concern is the costs passed on to patients.” Leonard Saltzman, MD, the op-ed coauthor, and gastroenterology oncologist, from Sloan Kettering also called Sanofi to task for missing the boat in making Zaltrap affordable for patients. But pharmaceutical price fixing is nothing new, according to Frederic Kaye, MD, professor of hematology and oncology at the University of South Florida in Gainesville, Florida. “I saw this happen for the first time in the late 1980s when a veterinary pill levamisole, which cost pennies for the treatment of heartworm, underwent a 100 times price escalation when it was used for treating colon cancer. There was outrage at the time over lack of regulations for price fixing, but you see almost 25 years later, it is the same.” Sanofi’s drug discount plan is clearly a business imperative. If one of the US flagship cancer treatment centers says that they will not use Zaltrap, others could follow. But the refusal to lower Zaltrap’s list price is worrisome because patient copays are based on price. More importantly, if the Sanofi plan becomes the pharmaceutical industry’s modus operandi to the era of value-based healthcare, patients will still remain out in the cold, without any added relief for the high cost of drugs. Value-based healthcare will be something for facilities and hospitals and leave patients out in the cold. These days, you have to critically review the hoopla about “patient-centered health care” and the allegedly positive partnerships shaping healthcare. Were patients included when it really mattered in drafting this drug discount program? We need to maintain a high level of skepticism about deals made strictly between drug companies and hospitals, or arrangements made between industry and physicians, or industry and health plans. It’s been said before and it must be said again: “Nothing about me [the patient] that pertains to me should be done without me at the table.”  

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