President Obama hails Senate health bill support

• US President Barack Obama has welcomed the passage of his healthcare bill through the Senate, saying it paves the way for "real" reform.
• The bill, which passed with 60 to 39 votes, aims to cover 31 million uninsured Americans.
• This will be the most important piece of social legislation since Social Security passed in the 1930s," he said.
• It must still be reconciled with similar legislation passed by the House of Representatives.
  Mr Obama said: "We are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health insurance reform that will bring additional security and stability to the American people."
• He described the measures as "the toughest measures ever taken to hold the insurance industry accountable".
• Among various reforms, Mr Obama said the insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage with a pre-existing condition nor end coverage when a person becomes ill.
  "With today's vote, we are now incredibly close to making health insurance reform a reality in this country," the president said.
• But he said it would be a challenge to "finish the job" of reform.
• For the sake of our citizens, our economy and our future, let's make 2010 the year we finally reform healthcare in the United States of America."
• The process of reconciling the two bills is expected to begin in January and will require further tough negotiations.
• Once that has been done - and the process could still be derailed by last-minute changes of heart among senators - Mr Obama will be able to sign the measure into law.
• The bill's passage in an early morning vote on Christmas Eve follows months of political wrangling and 24 days of debate in the Senate chamber.
• Opposition Republicans say the legislation is expensive, authoritarian and a threat to civil liberties, and accuse the Democrats of rushing it through.
• Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said the bill's difficult history highlighted its failings.
• The most obvious problem with the bill before us is that it doesn't do what it was supposed to do. The one test for any bill was whether it would lower costs. This bill fails that test.
• It's also clear that even many of the people on this side who are going to support this bill don't like it - otherwise Democratic leaders wouldn't have had such a tough time rounding up the votes."
• The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that efficiency savings made as a result of the Senate healthcare reform bill will cut the federal deficit by $132bn (£83bn) over 10 years, but critics say the predicted savings may never materialise.
• As a nation, the US spent some $2.2tn (£1.36tn) on healthcare in 2007. That amounts to 16.2% of GDP, nearly twice the average of other rich, industrialised countries.
• As costs have spiralled, millions of Americans have found themselves unable to afford health insurance and the cost to the government of providing care for the poor and elderly has risen hugely.

Mad Max - most profitable film

• The Sums: George Miller's dystopian road flick isn't one that immediately springs to mind when debating most profitable films, but it actually loitered around the Guinness Book for a good long while.
• Bringing in over $100m worldwide is - well, certainly WAS - a hugely impressive feat back in the day. Even more so when making it cost just $400k, Australian. That's probably about what James Cameron has earmarked for in-trailer slipper allowance on one of his shoots.
• Why So Profitable? With its defiantly niche steampunk overtones, Antipodean roots and only a pre-fame Mel Gibson silhouetted on the 3-colour poster, it's hard to argue that it wasn't simply down to the film being, y'know, awesome. This one's a relatively rare case of a B-movie going global on merit alone. Hurrah.
• Who Got Rich? George Miller raised the money for Mad Max by working as an Emergency Room Doctor. He raised the money for Mad Max 2 by asking Warner Brothers.
• Though the film had a limited run in the United States and earned only $8 million there, it did very well elsewhere around the world and went on to earn $100 million worldwide.Since it was independently financed with a reported budget of just $400,000 AUD.
• It was a major financial success. For thirty years, the movie held a record in Guinness Book of Records as the highest profit-to-cost ratio of a motion picture, conceding the record only in 2009 to Paranormal Activity. The film was awarded three Australian Film Institute Awards in 1979 (for editing, sound, and musical score).
• Both New Zealand and Sweden initially banned the film.
• George Miller was a medical doctor in Victoria, Australia, working in a hospital emergency room, where he saw many injuries and deaths of the types depicted in the movie. While in residency at a Melbourne hospital, he met amateur film maker Byron Kennedy at a summer film school in 1971. The duo produced the short film Violence in the Cinema, Part 1, which was screened at a number of film festivals and won several awards. Eight years later, the duo created Mad Max, with the assistance of first time screenwriter James McCausland (who appears in the film as the bearded man in an apron in front of the diner).
• Miller believed that audiences would find his violent story to be more believable if set in a bleak, dystopic future. The film was shot over a period of twelve weeks in Australia, between December 1978 and February 1979, in and around Melbourne. Many of the car-chase scenes for the original Mad Max were filmed near the town of Lara, just north of Geelong. The movie was shot with a widescreen anamorphic lens, the first Australian film to use one.

Obama's first state dinner blends pageantry with politics

• Washington - President Obama toasted a growing U.S. friendship with India at the first state dinner of his administration Tuesday, an evening of regal pageantry and symbolic politics in a tent on the White House South Lawn.
• To the future that beckons all of us," Obama said with glass raised toward his guest of honor, visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Let us answer its call. And let our two great nations realize all the triumphs and achievements that await us."
• A tradition dating back to 1874, state dinners are the most treasured and formal honor a U.S. president can offer a foreign dignitary, and the most coveted invitation in Washington.
• The Tuesday night dinner showed Obama's intention to signal strong ties with the world's largest democracy and go his own way in navigating the pomp and tradition of White House customs.
• Traditionally, a new administration's first invitation goes to the leader of neighboring Canada or Mexico, though recent presidents also haven't followed that precedent.
• The event planned by first lady Michelle Obama emphasized eco-friendly themes such as White House-grown herbs and lettuce served to guests and sustainably harvested magnolia branches - from species native to both India and the United States - in arrangements adorning the tent where more than 300 guests wearing tuxedos and gowns were wined, dined and entertained.
• A White House document said common themes of state and official visits are "forging friendships, exchanging knowledge and building bridges that last for years."
• In a toast that followed Obama's, Singh praised his host's leadership and prompted applause by citing the charm of the U.S. first lady.
• Obama's election was "an inspiration to all those who cherish the values of diversity, democracy and equal opportunity," Singh said, adding that India "warmly applauded" the Nobel Peace Prize awarded Obama this year for "the healing touch you have provided and the power of your idealism and your vision."
• We need to find new pathways of international cooperation that respond more effectively to the grave challenges caused by the growing interdependence of nations," Singh said. "As two leading democracies, India and the United States must play a leading role in building a shared destiny for all humankind.
• Obama, in a black tuxedo, and the first lady, in a dazzling cream gown with silver accents, greeted Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur, as they arrived, shaking hands on the White House steps and posing for pictures before leading their guests inside.
• Guests in tuxedos and evening gowns streamed into the White House for the historic social event, passing a line of journalists. In one humorous mishap, the cummerbund of Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, fell off as he and his wife walked in.
• The guest list included political allies, a few opponents, celebrities and members of the Indian diplomatic community.
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the list, but not her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Democratic colleagues of the president including other Cabinet ministers, several senators and top aides made the list, including Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts (but not his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and White House Budget Director Peter Orszag.
• A couple of Republicans also made it, notably Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
• Celebrities included Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, actors Alfre Woodard and Blair Underwood, CBS News anchor Katie Couric and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman.
• However, one name rumored to be included, but not appearing on the list, was Oprah Winfrey.

Michael Jackson’s Dr Death

THE doctor suspected of being responsible for Michael Jackson's death has returned to work

• The superstar's family are furious that Conrad Murray has reopened the clinic where he was working before becoming Jackson's full-time physician.
• A family source revealed yesterday: "Five months have passed and there are still no charges despite all the evidence showing Murray is responsible for Michael's death.
• Now he is being allowed to return to practising medicine. It's a disgrace."
  Murray, 56, has returned to work in Houston, Texas, as his legal bills mount up.
• The medic is suspected of giving 50-year-old Jacko a lethal dose of powerful anaesthetic propofol at his Los Angeles home on June 25.
• Murray said the singer was reliant on it to sleep.
• Propofol is normally only used to put patients under before operations.
• Court documents show Murray had five bottles of the drug sent from a Las Vegas company to Los Angeles the month before Jackson's death.
  Police admit there will be no charges until next year - if at all.
• Jackson's angry family claim cops have ignored a dossier they have compiled that they insist could help lead to Murray's prosecution.
• The source added: "The family are very unhappy with the LAPD and the pace of the investigation.
• They have provided a list of people who were around Michael and Murray in his final days and could help prosecute the doctor, but most of them still have not been contacted."

Michael Jackson's Glove Goes For £210,000 At Auction

Michael Jackson's famous white glove has been sold for £210,000 at a memorabilia auction, far exceeding pre-sale estimates.

• The Jackson memorabilia was the highlight of an auction of hundreds of music items.
  Darren Julien, CEO of Julien's Auctions, called the glove "the Holy Grail of Michael Jackson".
  
• With added commission, the final price was around £250,000. The item had been given a pre-sale estimate of around £30,000.


• The buyer was Hong Kong businessman Fossman Ma.


• The black jacket that Jackson wore during the 1989 Bad tour was sold for £136,000, more than 20 times its estimate.


• Other lots in the auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York's Times Square included a car driven by Jackson, David Bowie's guitar and memorabilia from the Beatles.


• I never got to see Michael, and now that he's gone this is the closest I could get," said Jazmynn Moore, 19, a student from Manhattan.


• The rhinestone-studded, modified golf glove was worn by Jackson when he first performed the moonwalk at the Motown 25th Anniversary concert in 1983.


• Most of the 80 Jackson lots were items that came from friends and family to whom Jackson had given them, the auctioneer said.


• Jackson was something of a collector himself, having paid around £1m for the Gone With the Wind best picture Oscar, one of the highest prices ever paid for memorabilia at auction.


• The auction house had valued the Jackson collection at $80,000 to $100,000. But Julien said such pre-auction estimates were intentionally conservative to help generate interest.


• Many of Jackson's items sold for 10 or even 20 times the estimates.


• Julien's had been preparing for a huge auction of Jackson memorabilia in April that was cancelled after an agreement with Jackson, who had filed a lawsuit demanding the return of certain items.


• During the promotion for that sale, Julien's had amassed a large database of Jackson collectors from Asia to the Americas, and many of the winning Internet bidders were from Japan or Hong Kong.

Boyle upset at Slumdog Millionaire stars

Boyle upset at Slumdog stars

• A meeting between director Danny Boyle and two 'Slumdog' stars' families in India has ended very badly.
• Danny Boyle has been left frustrated by the cash demands from the parents of the child stars of Slumdog Millionaire.
• The Oscar winning director and Slumdog Millionaire producer, Christian Colson, pledged to set up a trust fund for the education of two of the film's child stars - Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail - and also allocated £31,000 for new houses after their makeshift homes were torn down by the Mumbai government.
• However, Boyle is reported to be stunned by fresh demands from the children's parents.
• They claim the funds aren't enough to sustain the lifestyle they have become accustomed to following the success of the film, and a spokesperson for the family asked the Hindustan Time: "Where is the swimming pools and the bungalow?"
• Boyle flew to India recently to setlle the dispute but was left frustrated after their meeting.
• A spokesman for the trust set up for the child actors, Noshir Dadrawala, said, "We believe that the children are being badly advised. There are properties available located in nearby suburbs.
• We have made many attempts to settle this but now Danny has said that if they don't agree by January, then the money will be given to other charities.

Audi unveils robot co-driver or You may know it as Knight Rider

KNIGHT RIDER?

• A futuristic robot passenger designed to alleviate the stress of driving has been unveiled by Audi.
• Meet Aida, the brainchild of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), being developed with Audi possibly soon to appear in an A4 near you. Aida, an acronym of Affective Intelligent Driving Agent, is an in-car robot able to 'learn' things about you and your driving thanks to sensors inside and outside the car.
• The idea is that Aida will, within a week or two, become a driving companion, learning where home is, where work is, where you like to shop, what you like to do and, bizarrely, what sort of mood you're in. As Professor Cynthia Breazeal, director of the Personal Robots Group at MIT, puts it: "AIDA [will] read the driver's mood from facial expression and other cues and respond in a socially appropriate and informative way."
• Mounted on the dashboard, Aida (whose eyes look suspiciously like a row of Audi daytime running lights) will appear sympathetic if you look sad, or jolly if you look happy. Like a good satnav system, Aida will also suggest alternative routes when there are traffic problems, can also tell you where to get fuel when you're running low and how to drive in the most fuel efficient way relevant to the driving conditions at the time.
• It's currently a research project, but as a working model has already been built there's no reason why we won't see it on an Audi options list in the near future.