Katie Holmes 'Dead Accounts' Broadway Opening Night

ET caught up with a radiant-looking Katie Holmes Thursday night at the big Broadway opening of her new play Dead Accounts, in which the 33-year-old plays Lorna, a single woman trying to put her life together while living with her aging parents in Cincinnati.

"You know, it feels really exciting. So many friends and family were here supporting and that means so much," Katie said about the highly anticipated night. "And this cast is so wonderful. It's just a real pleasure to be part of this."

Video: Katie Holmes on Her New Broadway Role

Katie tells ET she can particularly relate to her character Lorna because of their shared Midwestern roots (Katie grew up in Toledo, Ohio).

"What I love about this play [is] I think [playwright Theresa Rebeck] did a wonderful job in creating this world of characters that are very real," she said. "I play Lorna who is from Cincinnati and is living at home still, and you know, it's really fun. Being from the Midwest -- the jokes I get."

A number of famous faces came out to see Katie's performance, including Brooke Shields, Nathan Lane and Twisted Sister rocker Dee Snider.

"To me this is Katie's coming-out party," said Dee, who was a fan favorite on Celebrity Apprentice this year. "I mean, I'm very impressed with the way she's handled herself post-divorce and coming to New York was a great thing. ... I'm here to welcome her."

Video: Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson Reconnect Post-Divorce

Dee was even more blunt when speaking about Katie's highly publicized divorce from Tom Cruise.

"I mean, she's been so smart -- really. She's demystified the whole thing," he said. "She's been under guard -- under lock and key for years now -- and she just said, 'You know what, I'm pulling the plug on that and bringing my daughter to New York and am just gonna live my life,' and that's smart."

Check out the video to hear Katie's holiday plans, and hear Dee get even more candid regarding Lindsay Lohan's latest legal drama.

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Pressuring GOP, Obama takes his fiscal plan to Pa.

REUTERS

President Obama gestures next to Michael Araten, right, President of Rodon, and Joel Glickman, Vice Chairman, at the Rodon Group, a manufacturer of toys in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, Friday.

HATFIELD, Pa. — President Obama argued Friday that allowing taxes to rise for the middle class would amount to a "lump of coal" for Christmas," while Republican House Speaker John Boehner declared that negotiations to surmount a looming fiscal cliff are going "almost nowhere."

Obama took his case to an audience in a Philadelphia suburb, saying that this move would present a "Scrooge Christmas" for millions of wage-earners. Speaking at a toy factory, the president said Republicans should extend existing Bush-era tax rates for households earning $250,000 or less, while allowing increases to kick in for the wealthy.

On Capitol Hill, Boehner argued that Obama's latest offer — to raise revenue by $1.6 trillion over the next decade — would be a "crippling blow" to an economy that is still struggling to find its footing. The Ohio Republican told reporters he would continue working with Obama to avoid hundreds of billions in tax increases and spending cuts that will take effect beginning in January if Washington doesn't act to stop it, but gave a gloomy assessment of the talks so far.

"There's a stalemate. Let's not kid ourselves," Boehner said. "Right now, we're almost nowhere."

Obama's speech came a day after his administration proposed $1.6 trillion in new taxes over 10 years, new spending for the unemployed and struggling homeowners and savings of about $400 billion in entitlement programs like Medicare. The proposal amounts to requests that were already d in Obama's Fiscal 2013 budget plan. Republicans rejected the offer as unreasonable.

Obama said he believed both parties "can and will work together" to reach an agreement to get its long-term deficit under control "in a way that's balanced and is fair."

"In Washington, nothing's easy so there is going to be some prolonged negotiations and all of us are going to have to get out of our comfort zones to make that happen," he said. "I'm willing to do that. I' hopeful that enough members of Congress in both parties are willing to do that as well."

White House officials hoped Friday's trip would build momentum for the president's case, even as Republicans describe the outing as an irritant and an obstacle to fruitful talks. The road trip was part of a dual White House strategy of having the president's team meet with members of Congress while Obama travels the country to pressure Congress to act.

Republicans have said they are open to new tax revenue but not higher rates.

Obama spoke at the Rodon Group manufacturing facility, showcasing the company as an example of a business that depends on middle-class consumers during the holiday season. The company manufactures parts for K'NEX Brands, a construction toy company whose products include Tinkertoy, K'NEX Building Sets and Angry Birds Building Sets.

The president joked that he's keeping his own "naughty and nice list" for members of Congress — and only some would get a K'NEX set for Christmas.

Administration officials said the offer, presented to Hill Republicans by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, constituted much of what Obama has previously suggested in budget proposals.

One new feature in the Geithner plan is a call for increasing the nation's debt limit without the need for congressional approval. Under last year's debt ceiling deal, Obama simply had to notify Congress that he was raising the debt ceiling, a move that could be blocked only if both houses of Congress approved resolutions of disapproval that Obama could veto. The administration wants a permanent extension of the debt ceiling with a similar legislative arrangement and with no offsetting spending cuts, as demanded by Republicans.

"Unfortunately, many Democrats continue to rule out sensible spending cuts that must be part of any significant agreement that will reduce our deficit," Boehner said after meeting with Geithner Thursday.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday that the proposal for $1.6 trillion in tax revenue was presented in context of a "balanced approach" to deficit reduction throughout the campaign.

"This is the way that we can ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little bit more to deal with our deficit challenges," Earnest said aboard Air Force One as Obama flew to Pennsylvania.

"This was what the president has campaigned on for a long time and that was what president pushed for in context of the discussions with House Republicans," Earnest said.

Earnest said the proposal laid out by Geithner should not come as a surprise to anyone. Referring to comments by House Republican staffers who expressed surprise at Geithner's proposal, Earnest said, "This morning I was surprised they were surprised."

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Opera’s Second Act

Laura Horton’s grandmother always dreamed of becoming an opera singer.

Today, Horton’s 10-year-old daughter, McCall, is living her great-grandmother’s deferred dream.

“My grandmother was a professional singer and she wanted to be in the opera,” said Laura Horton, an attorney who lives with her family in Coral Gables. “Though she passed away this year, when I hear the opera, I feel like I hear my grandmother’s voice. It’s very meaningful to me that my daughter is taking over her footsteps.”

McCall is one of 20 choristers ages 8 to 12 who are performing with the Florida Grand Opera in its production of Puccini’s La Bohème at the Adrienne Arsht Center and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The children are members of the Miami Children’s Chorus (MCC), based in Coral Gables and conducted by music director Timothy Sharp.

The chorus and opera have had a partnership for nearly 30 years, said Alejandra Serna, a spokesperson for the opera.

“Rehearsals with the children's chorus has been excellent and I have been very impressed with them,’’ said Ramon Tebar, conductor for La Bohème and music director of FGO.

The children are featured during Act II, which features lovers Mimì and Rodolfo and their friends at a Parisian café, amid street vendors, street urchins and crowds.

“Act II of La Bohème is always difficult,” Tebar said. “The music is very fast and they have to move and run on stage during the whole act while singing. It can prove difficult for the adult choristers, but for the children it's as easy as eating ice cream. It's a joy making music with them.’’

The children have become captivated by the art form.

“Whenever I talk about the opera at school no one really knows about it,” said Zelda Rosenberg, 9, a fourth grader at David Fairchild Elementary in Coral Gables. “Whenever I talk about it they really don’t take interest in it. They’re more into rock bands and sports.”

The children also are exposed to foreign languages. La Bohème is performed in Italian; subtitles are shown in English and Spanish.

“I get to sing in Italian, and that’s not something you get to do every day,” said Alejandra Vivanco, 11, who had one line to sing in the production.

“I’m excited and nervous, but mostly excited,” said Alejandra, a student at Jorge Mas Canosa Middle School, immediately before the Nov. 17th opening night performance at the Arsht.

Though she only had one line to sing, she practiced and practiced to perfect her part.

“At first I was not doing it so well, so I had to keep working until I got it right,” she said. “But, now I am confident about myself and I’ve been told that I’m doing it better.”

She has been a member of the Miami Children’s Chorus for three years; this is her first opera.

McCall, a fourth grader at Coral Gables Preparatory Academy, joined the Chorus in August and has fallen in love with the opera.

“I like the way the adults and the kids combine the singing,” she said. “Also, I like being on stage.”

For MCC business manager Viviana Liviero, the experience with FGO has been just as memorable. Though Liviero is now employed with MCC, she remembers when she would watch her own daughter perform at the opera.

“I was in the other side and then in the office,” Liviero said. “She was lucky to be chosen twice. This is just a phenomenal opportunity for the children.”

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Dear President Obama: My White House petition requires your magical powers

By Chris Wilson

Since President Barack Obama won reelection, the White House website for citizen petitions has received secession requests from all 50 states. In the case of Texas, more than 100,000 people have endured the inconvenience of entering their name and email address in order to support the state’s bid for autonomy. Apparently, in a sign of Americans’ growing distaste for physical activity, 2012 is the year when people stopped threatening to move to a foreign country if their candidate lost the presidency. Instead, they want foreign countries to move to them.

The forum-happy Internet activism crowd has never had a realistic sense of what happens when you to plug government directly into the Ethernet port. This is what happens: In addition to petitions for secession, you get ones calling for Bigfoot to be recognized as an endangered species, naturopathic medicine to be covered by Obamacare, and funding for a Death Star beginning in 2016.

The petition website, called We the People, is not very useful as a guide to what Americans really care about. But it is useful as a guide to how people think of what the government can do, down to the specific words the authors use in the petitions.

Of the 300 most recent petitions, only three request that the government “protect” something—states rights, email privacy, the planet—while seven request that it “recognize” something—same-sex marriage, hate groups, and so forth. Dozens ask that Obama “grant” or “allow” a certain privilege, while only a few suggest he “ban” an action or “prevent” an outcome.

The interactive below arranges the petitions into a tree structure by the principal verb in the title. When you click a blue dot, the tree expands to show all the petitions that begin with that verb. You can mouse over those branches to see the original wording of the petition and search for any word you like by typing a phrase into the box at the top.

 

Bigfoot aside, most of the petitions on the site are earnest. This does not mean they are all sane. About 37,000 people have signed a petition suggesting that it be illegal to offend the prophets of major religions. Another petition demands recognition that Israel is responsible for 9/11—that one with only some 600 signatories.

But many present very good ideas. There’s one for reforming the Electoral College and another that suggests all scientific papers based on taxpayer-funded research should be freely accessible online.

If there is one binding force behind the petitions, it is that most of them request that Obama intercede in matters that he has no authority over or rightful business meddling with, regardless of where one comes down on the subject of big government. While the site is technically designed to lobby the government, most petitions appear personally directed at Obama.

Even the petitions to secede are written in a tone of distinct obeisance: “Peacefully grant the state of Connecticut to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own new government.” Oregon’s petition is particularly careful to specify that there are no hard feelings: “Allow Oregon to vote on and leave the union peacefully and remain an ally to the nation.”

Secession always seemed to me to be something that, by definition, you did without asking permission. (Mutual breakups are as rare in history as they are in love.) But for all the rampant anti-government sentiment in America, many people still believe the president is an omnipotent force who can pass laws on a dime, ban unsavory behavior, manipulate foreign countries with precision, expel citizens at will and otherwise bend the world to his fancy.

This does not mean people love the government. We know they do not. But they still want it to fix their problems with as little trouble as possible.

---

There are some great open-source tools, like Python’s Natural Language Toolkit, that can automatically identify verbs and objects in sentences with fairly high accuracy. But a lot of human intervention is still required to clean up the results. I posted the code for retrieving the petitions from the White House website on my Github page, and the White House offers the full code for the petitions website on its Github page. Questions or comments? Email me at [email protected]
Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Chris Colfer Glee Interview Land of Stories 2 Details

Earlier this year, I had the great pleasure of catching a screening of Struck By Lighting; the brave, funny, inspiring and touching film Chris Colfer wrote and starred in. Now, he's revisting the character of Carson Phillips in Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal, a novel that serves as the perfection companion piece to the film.

On the small screen, Colfer recently lost his perfect companion (affectionately nicknamed Klaine by their fans) when Blaine admitted to cheating on Kurt out of fear their long distance relationship was driving them apart. But the characters, and actors, recently reunited in NYC to film scenes for Glee's Christmas episode, which is where ETonline caught up with Colfer to talk about the future of Klaine, learn how Lighting struck twice and what's next for his critically acclaimed fantasy series, The Land of Stories.

ETonline: How has your trip to New York been?

Chris Colfer: It's been a whirlwind, but amazing. We got to film at the ice skating rink in Bryant Park, which was just incredible. It was one of the best filming experiences I've ever had. For one, we were on ice skates for 11 hours, in the heart of the city, surrounded by the Empire State Building and the Chrysler building. It was gorgeous.

RELATED - Chris Colfer Opens Up About Klaine's Break-Up

ETonline: Are you a good skater?

Colfer: You know, I have only skated once before in my life so I was really, really cautious the first hour. I got progressively much, much better as the night goes on. Now, I'm ready for The Olympics.

ETonline: They say the key to skating is perfecting the fall.

Colfer: If there's one thing I know how to do, it's fall. But every time I would fall, I would try to strike a pose to make people know I was all right ... which the paparazzi always managed to catch [laughs].

RELATED - The Evolution of Amber Riley

ETonline: What can you tell me about the scenes you and Darren Criss were filming?

Colfer: It's the Christmas episode and that whole scene is a long awaited conclusion to the character's troubles and their relationship. I don't want to say if they get back together or not, but as of right now, they've decided to be very good friends. They're too close and mean too much to one another to ever let anything ruin their relationship.

ETonline: Before we get the Christmas episode, Kurt will take another stab at getting into NYADA. Is he dissatisfied at Vogue or is he jealous of what Rachel gets to do?

Colfer: I think a little bit of both. There's always the question of, "What If?" He never wants to feel like he missed out on an opportunity, and while everything is going great with Vogue so far, he just wants to make sure he's pursuing all his options.

ETonline: Kurt working for Vogue.com has allowed you to work with Sarah Jessica Parker, and tonight you duet on Let's Have a Kiki. Did you ever imagine something like that?

Colfer: What if I said yes? [laughs] I am a huge fan of The Scissor Sisters and Sarah Jessica Parker, but never thought I would be celebrating my fandom of both in the same situation. I kind of lucked out on this one.

RELATED - Jane Lynch Talks Sue's Softening

ETonline: Your NY trip has also been in support of Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal. Is it a straight novelization of the film, or something else?

Colfer: Carson is killed by a bolt of lightning in the first scene of the movie and everything is told in flashbacks with his narration from beyond the grave. The book is the journal he kept during the last few months of his life. The book is a little bit more intimate. The best compliment I've been getting is that the book and the movie work well as a pair. What you don't get from the movie, you get from the book, and vice versa.

ETonline: A lot of writers who adapt their own works for other platforms will talk about the joys of using that opportunity to right wrongs, or add in things they wish they could have the first time. Did that happen here?

Colfer: Yes! There are going to be so many deleted scenes on the DVD – there was so much from the funeral that we cut because it actually played too sad with them in there. I mean, it's already sad, but with all this funeral stuff, you just wanted to kill yourself because it was so depressing. We wanted the movie to end on an upbeat note, but there's a line that Allison Janney's character has when she's talking about lightning. She says that after her son died, she was reading that lighting is a negative charge between the friction that the clouds carry in the sky and she'd like to think that her son was so positive, that the moment he died, he attracted the bolt right out of the sky. I thought it was so powerful and tragic and sad, so I was able to incorporate that line into the book.

ETonline: With this journal off your plate, has that opened up room for you to focus on Land of Stories 2?

Colfer: Yeah, it absolutely has. I am my own worst enemy, I guess, because whenever I'm writing one thing, I can't stop thinking about the next thing I'm going to write, so I'm very excited to be working on the sequel. Actually, I have my computer open right now and I'm tightening up chapter 10.

RELATED - Chris Colfer's Crazy New Project

ETonline: Anything you can tease about the next book?

Colfer: The sequel takes place two years after the first book, so the twins are 14, and they have not been back to the Land of Stories, or seen their grandmother, in two years and they don't know why. They desperately want to go back into the fairytale world and see their grandmother, and they can't figure out what is preventing that. Hopefully, knock on wood, [the book will come out] in late summer/early fall of 2013 – sooner rather than later. I know a lot of readers are anxious for the next chapter, which I'm excited about.

ETonline: Once that's off your plate, is there another project waiting in the wings of your imagination?

Colfer: Always! I'm always thinking about my next script is or what the next film I'm going to pursue is. The most fun for me is creating worlds and creating characters -- I just have the best time writing.

Glee airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Fox, and to pick up Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal, click here!

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Activist busted for spray-painting anti-jihad subway poster promises to take case to trial

The Egyptian-born activist arrested for blasting pink spray paint on what she saw as an offensive Times Square subway poster -- because it called the jihadist enemies of Israel "savages" -- is promising to take the case to trial.

Mona Eltahawy, 45, came to Manhattan Criminal Court for a routine appearance on her misdemeanor graffiti case today and declined Manhattan prosecutors' no-jail offer, which would have allowed her to plead guilty to a simple disorderly conduct violation.

Under the rejected deal, Eltahawy would have had to pay $248 restitution to the MTA, for alleged damage to their property, along with $794 restitution to a passerby who'd tried to stop the defacement, getting blasted herself in the process.

Steven Hirsch

Mona Eltahawy with her lawyer Stanley Cohen outside court today

The bulk of the $794 would have compensated the passerby for damage to her Gucci eyeglasses, Eltahawy's lawyer, Stanley Cohen, explained after court.

"I acted out of principle and I did what I believe is right," Eltahawy said as she left the courtroom, calling the posters "racist," when asked why she wants to take the case to trial.

The ads were paid for by the pro-Israel American Freedom Defense Initiative and read in part, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel, defeat jihad."

"She's a person of principal who's committed to truth and justice and peace, and stands by her powerful statement [of spray-painting the poster] which actually defused the situation," her lawyer told reporters.

"If not for her pink paint protest, the posters could otherwise have "triggered a much more explosive response," he said. "People saw someone stood up and spray painted this ugly, racist sign and said 'khalas,'" the lawyer said, using the Arabic word for "enough."

She's due back in court Feb. 2.

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Powerball dreamers include Miami Heat’s LeBron and Haslem

He may have it all, but LeBron James knows how to dream.

He says he’s buying Powerball tickets for Wednesday night’s $550 million drawing. James makes more than $17 million a year in salary without having to worry about hitting the numbers. But still ...

“Damn right I am,” he said when asked if he’s buying tickets. “And I’m going to make sure to take care of you if I win.”

Udonis Haslem, while not quite in James’ income bracket — he makes a mere $3.7 mil a year — typically plunks down $200 for lottery tickets. He once won $150.

“Basically it was enough to buy more tickets,” he said Wednesday at Miami Heat practice.

Chris Bosh says he’s taking a pass — “but my wife on the other hand...”

For the rest of us, scrounging for enough dollar bills to buy a few tickets, it’s a big day. Dreamers are crowding mini-marts and grocery stores for a chance at becoming a multi-millionaire, just like the Heat stars.

The chances of winning?

One in 175 million.

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Actors' Body Transformations For Roles

Jared Leto

After a major weight gain in the 2007 film Chapter 27, Jared Leto slimmed down drastically in 2012 for his role as a transsexual named Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, the same movie Matthew McConaughey dropped weight for. "I waxed my entire body, including my eyebrows. I've lost a lot of weight because I'm playing a young person with AIDS," he told ETonline at the IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards. "It's been challenging but really inspiring too." Leto revealed his weight loss in a Terry Richardson photo shoot.

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Ex-cop gets 15 years in prison for selling NYPD guns to drug ring

William Farrington

Nicholas Mina in court today.

A former New York City police officer is going to prison. He admitted to stealing guns from police lockers and selling them to drug dealers to pay for his addiction to the painkiller oxycodone.

The Manhattan district attorney's office said Wednesday that Nicholas Mina was sentenced to 15½ years in prison.

Authorities said Mina sold four stolen NYPD-issued guns to a drug ring. He made a plea deal in October.

Mina, his suspected dealer, and three accomplices were arrested in July.

He was an officer nearly five years and worked in Manhattan's East Village neighborhood.

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Gift ideas for the techie on your list

The holidays are coming fast, and if you’re like me, you’ve probably gotten very little of your gift shopping done.

Here are suggestions for a variety of gifts for the techie and the not-so-techie people on your list.

Some of these items can be found in stores and some are only available online, but you should be able to order them in time for Christmas or Hanukkah.

IOMEGA EZ MEDIA & BACKUP CENTER

What is it? A hard drive that lives on your home network so you can share files, store all your photos and music and back up your home computers. Works on Macintosh, Windows and Linux computers.

The EZ Media & Backup Center is available in 1-, 2- and 3-terabyte capacities. It is simple to set up. It lives next to your home router and plugs into the network via Ethernet.

Major features include a built-in iTunes server so your music is available to all connected computers, Time Machine support for easy Macintosh backups and Iomega’s Personal Cloud to access your data from any Internet connection.

It can also stream your video files to your TV if you’ve got a compatible streaming box or an Internet-connected TV.

Software for backing up Windows PCs is also included.

Who’s it for? Any family that wants central storage for their digital lives. This is a great home for your digital photo, music or video library.

What does it cost? One terabyte for $169.99, two terabytes for $209.99, three terabytes for $279.99.

Where can you get it? Online at www.iomega.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Apple store, Fry’s.

NETATMO URBAN WEATHER STATION

What is it? A wireless indoor/outdoor weather station that displays through an application on your Apple or Android mobile device.

There are two parts, one that lives in your house and one you place outside.

The indoor component plugs into the wall and monitors the temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, carbon dioxide level and even the sound level in decibels.

The outdoor module is battery-powered and measures temperature and humidity.

Once you connect the Netatmo to your home Wi-Fi network, you can download the free app and see your weather stats from anywhere.

Setup was easy enough, and you can set the app to notify you when carbon dioxide rises to levels that you should be warned about — which is great.

Who’s it for? Weather geeks and people who like to know what the temperature is without having to fire up a browser.

What does it cost? $179

Where can you get it? www.netatmo.com

3M LED ADVANCED LIGHT

What is it? 3M’s first foray into the home light bulb market is with the LED Advanced Light, which uses light-emitting diodes (LED) to produce 800 lumens (the light of a 60-watt bulb).

The Advanced Light has a life span of 25 years and costs just $1.63 per year if it’s turned on for three hours per day.

The bulb lights instantly and is dimmable.

It’s a little intimidating to start buying light bulbs that might outlive me, but my wallet approves.

Who’s it for? Anyone who wants to save money or wants a bulb that might not have to be changed until 2035.

What does it cost? $25

Where can you get it? Select Wal-Mart stores. For more information, go to www.3mlighting.com/LED.

STEM IZON 2.0 WI-FI VIDEO MONITOR

What is it? A small, wireless video camera that you can monitor remotely with an iOS device.

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