Andrew Lloyd Webber: Olympics will hit theaters (AP)

LONDON ? Andrew Lloyd Webber says London's Olympic Games will force most of the capital's theaters to close for the summer.

Lloyd Webber said Friday the games will make it "very tough" for shows in London's West End and predicted that three major musicals would not play over the games.

The composer told BBC radio that the biggest hits ? such as his own "The Phantom of the Opera" ? would play over the games but that others would struggle to draw crowds.

He says advance bookings for West End shows were running at only 10 percent of their normal level.

Lloyd Weber's Really Useful Group owns seven London theaters. Others in the industry have predicted a slump in demand over the summer.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_en_ot/oly_london_andrew_lloyd_webber

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Eastern Libya poll indicates political Islam will closely follow democracy

If Libya manages to forge a political system where majority views are taken into account it's clear that political Islam is set to play a major political role.

A new poll of eastern Libyan public opinion released last week indicates that political Islam is set to play a major role in the country's future if institutions emerge that take into accout the will of the general public.

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The poll sponsored by the International Republican Institute (a US-government funded non-profit) found a high degree of optimism about the future, concerns about the security situation in the country, and?conservative (and somewhat contradictory)?attitudes when it comes to?faith and politics.

In Eastern Libya, 83 percent said freedom of the press was "important," and 71 percent said it was important to have laws giving equal rights to "religious and tribal groups," which would seem to indicate concern for protecting minority rights. But 94 percent agreed with the proposition that "people should be prohibited from offending" religions and 85 percent agreed that "religion should be part of government" (68 percent of those "strongly agreed.") Asked about whether a "secular" state was a good idea, 69 percent of Libyans dissaproved against 14 percent that approved.

None of this means that a Saudi Arabian style regime is in the offing. Many Arab's take the word "secular" to mean something like "Godless," so the notion of secularism is offensive. But there's a long continuum from there to religious rule.?But over time, it would be natural for groups like the Libyan version of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has emerged as the dominant power in Egypt's ongoing parliamentary elections, to develop a major voice in politics (Qaddafi suppressed?Islamist political activism as ruthlessly as he did all other challenges to his rule). ?

The poll was carried?out in mid-October,?as Muammar Qaddafi's hometown and last bastion, Sirte, was falling to the rebellion, which?probably?pushed results in a positive direction. Not only did optimism surge at the time of Qaddafi's death, which effectively ended the civil war, but eastern Libya was less touched by the ravages of war than Western towns like Tripoli, Sirte, and Misrata.

But the numbers are still striking. In Eastern Libya, 84?percent of respondents said they were positive about the?future and that the National Transitional Council (NTC), the unelected group that's promised to guide Libya to democracy, were doing a good job. Meeting these high expectations may be a challenge though.??

Asked what government priorities should be, 97 percent said it was "very important" for the? government to provide food and housing for?the poor and 72 percent said it was "very important" for the government to "play a central role in the economy and business sector."?The context for?that second answer is that Libya's oil wealth has made the government the country's largest employer, by far. Though they may have hated Qaddafi, Libyans agreed with him that it's the state's responsibilty to deliver jobs and economic growth,. You can expect whatever government emerges to play a dominate role in the economy, at least in the medium term.

Follow Dan Murphy on Twitter.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/k-x5ivRiGKM/Eastern-Libya-poll-indicates-political-Islam-will-closely-follow-democracy

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Revealed: Nazi spy was UK's first double-agent

LONDON?? A British engineer regarded for decades as a Nazi spy was really Britain's first double-agent who helped the Allies defeat Germany, according to a recently released book.

The authors of "Snow: The Double Life of a World War II Spy," also reveal that spy Arthur Owens is the father of Hollywood actress Patricia Owens, who starred in "The Fly" in 1958 and "Sayonara" with Marlon Brando in 1957.

Arthur Owens was a Welsh nationalist, according to the book by espionage writer Nigel West (pen name of Rupert Allason) and Welsh author and film producer Madoc Roberts, The Telegraph of London reported.

The Germans recruited Arthur Owens, a failed inventor who needed money, to spy when he was on a 1935 business trip to Belgium.

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Under the code name Johnny O'Brien, Owens gave the Nazis vital information about Britain's military buildup ahead of World War II.

Later, the book claims, he agreed to become a double agent for MI5, the British spy agency.

Re-dubbed Snow, Owens paved the way for a string of successful double agents and helped deliver scores of German spies to the British, the book says.

The book, which has a Facebook page, describes Owens' cover as so deep that neither side was ever wholly confident of his loyalties, the Telegraph said. In 1941, Owens' MI5 handlers ordered him interred in Dartmoor prison, where he gained the confidence of German inmates and fed information back to his spymasters.

"Arthur Owens was the foundation of the double-cross system which proved so vital in helping the Allies in so many areas," West told the Telegraph. "His contribution has never fully been appreciated, but it is hard to overstate how important his role was."

Roberts called Owens' character complex.

"His contribution to the war effort is undeniable, but what is less certain is what his motivations were," Roberts told the Telegraph. "Ultimately he was probably out for himself. But even if his intentions were not entirely honorable, without him the entire course of the war may have been different."

As for his daughter, Patricia Owens never fully acknowledged who her father was, the Telegraph said, because she feared backlash from people who considered her father a traitor.

Owens' contributions were officially revealed when documents were declassified in the 1970s, the Telegraph said, but few people took notice.

After the war, Arthur Owens lived in anonymity in Canada and later Ireland, the Telegraph said.

? 2011 msnbc.com Reprints

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45800520/ns/world_news-europe/

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Scientists scan damaged audio discs, resurrect fresh beats

Digitizing your analog archives? Vinyl to CD / MP3 / iPod turntables might do well enough for your old 45s, but the folks at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory prefer to listen to their old beats by taking pictures of them. More specifically, restoration specialists are using a system called IRENE/3D to snap high resolution images of damaged media. The cracked discs -- often made of wax on brass or composition board -- are then repaired digitally, letting researchers play the digitized discs with an emulated stylus. So far, the team has recovered a handful of 125 year old recordings from a team in Alexander Graham Bell's Volta laboratory. The all digital system gives researchers a hands-off way to recover audio from relic recordings without running the risk of damaging them in the process -- and no, they probably won't let you use it to listen to that beat up copy of the White Album you've had in your closet since eighth grade. Hit the source link to hear what they've recovered.

Continue reading Scientists scan damaged audio discs, resurrect fresh beats

Scientists scan damaged audio discs, resurrect fresh beats originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 02:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/fFiE0dP9jWU/

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AP interviews of NFL players about concussions

The Associated Press recently interviewed 44 NFL players? at least one from each of the league's 32 teams? to gauge whether concussion safety and attitudes about head injuries have changed in the past two years.

Of those who participated in the Dec. 14-22 interviews, 33 are starters, 11 are reserves; 25 play on offense, 19 play on defense; all have been in the league at least three seasons.

The questions and answers, along with the number of respondents:

Specifically with regard to concussions, is playing in the NFL safer, more dangerous or the same as it was in 2009, when the issue first began to get a lot of attention?

? Safer: 28

? Same: 13

? More Dangerous: 2

? Not sure: 1

If you get what you think could be a concussion, do you think you would hide it and try to stay in the game or immediately pull yourself out?

? Hide It: 23

? Immediately Leave: 21

Is that a change from 2009?

? Yes: 7

? No: 26

? No Answer: 11

Can more be done to protect players from head injuries?

? Yes: 18

? No: 24

? No Answer: 2

Should the NFL have independent neurologists at games to examine players and determine whether they should be held out because of concussions?

? Yes: 31

? No: 10

? No Answer: 3

Source: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2011-12-25/ap-interviews-of-nfl-players-about-concussions

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Networked Politics ? Blog Archive ? Trip Insurance coverage ...

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 at 3:50 am and is filed under Blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Source: http://www.networked-politics.info/?p=25347

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Japan declares Fukushima stable

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Japan declares Fukushima stable
Japan's prime minister says the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant has finally been stabilised, nine months after the earthquake and tsunami.

Source: BBC News
Posted on: Friday, Dec 16, 2011, 8:26am
Views: 1

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116097/Japan_declares_Fukushima_stable

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