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Rich Hollywood Movie Producers Love Subsidies (That Would Pay For Teachers, Firefighters, And Police Officers)

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Photo Credit: Dreamworks At the Democratic National Convention last year, actress Eva Longoria called for higher taxes on America’s rich. Her take: “The Eva Longoria who worked at Wendy’s flipping burgers—she needed a tax break. But the Eva Longoria who works on movie sets does not.”

Actually, nowadays an Eva Longoria who flipped burgers would probably qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit and get a check from the government rather than pay taxes. It’s the movie set where she works these days that may well be getting the tax break.

With campaign season over, you’re not likely to hear stars bringing up taxes at this weekend’s Academy Awards show. But the tax man ought to come out and take a bow anyway. Of the nine “Best Picture” nominees in 2012, for example, five were filmed on location in states where the production company received financial incentives, including “The Help” (in Mississippi) and “Moneyball” (in California). Virginia gave $3.5 million to this year’s Oscar-nominated “Lincoln.”

Such state incentives are widespread, and often substantial, but they don’t do much to attract jobs. About $1.5 billion in tax credits and exemptions, grants, waived fees and other financial inducements went to the film industry in 2010, according to data analyzed by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Politicians like to offer this largess because they get photo-ops with celebrities, but the economic payoff is minuscule. George Mason University’s Adam Thierer has called this “a growing cronyism fiasco” and noted that the number of states involved skyrocketed to 45 in 2009 from five in 2002.

In its 2012 study “State Film Studies: Not Much Bang For Too Many Bucks,” the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that film-related jobs tend to go to out-of-staters who jet in, then leave. “The revenue generated by economic activity induced by film subsidies,” the study notes, “falls far short of the subsidies’ direct costs to the state. To balance its budget, the state must therefore cut spending or raise revenues elsewhere, dampening the subsidies’ positive economic impact.”

Read more from this story HERE.

In Cold Blood: Cold Case Files Taint Truman Capote Classic

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Photo Credit: Steve Schapiro/CorbisTruman Capote’s masterwork of murder, “In Cold Blood,” cemented two reputations when first published almost five decades ago: his own, as a literary innovator, and detective Alvin Dewey Jr.’s as the most famous Kansas lawman since Wyatt Earp. But new evidence undermines Mr. Capote’s claim that his best seller was an “immaculately factual” recounting of the bloody slaughter of the Clutter family in their Kansas farmhouse.

It also calls into question the image of Mr. Dewey as the brilliant, haunted hero. A long-forgotten cache of Kansas Bureau of Investigation documents from the investigation into the deaths suggests that the events described in two crucial chapters of the 1966 book differ significantly from what actually happened.

Separately, a contract reviewed and authenticated by The Wall Street Journal shows that Mr. Capote in 1965 required Columbia Pictures to offer Mr. Dewey’s wife a job as a consultant to the film version of his book for a fee far greater than the U.S. median family income that year.

The details are to be found in papers from the Clutter case that a now-deceased KBI agent, Harold Nye, carried home with him years ago. Those documents, reviewed in August by the Journal, are the subject of litigation between the adult son of Mr. Nye, who hopes to publish or sell them, and the KBI, which claims to own the material.

Today, the KBI declines to explain the five-day delay in visiting the suspect’s farmhouse or to answer other questions delivered via email as well as by hand to a receptionist at its Topeka headquarters. Over the decades, literary sleuths have turned up numerous journalistic sins in “In Cold Blood,” ranging from minor inaccuracies to outright fabrication. The latest revelations, though, are particularly damaging because they undermine one of the longest-standing defenses of the book: that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation hailed the book as true. Mr. Dewey many times called the book accurate.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gun-Toting Hollywood Movie Stars

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore Hollywood might be a liberal town, but there are plenty of celebrities who own guns — and they’re not afraid to use them.

An E! Online report quotes gun owner Angelina Jolie talking about her willingness to protect her family: “If anybody comes into my home and tries to hurt my kids, I’ve no problem shooting them.”

She isn’t alone. Whoopi Goldberg of “The View” and James Earl Jones are both NRA members. Even Donald Trump — who spoke exclusively to The Times in November on the issue — and “The Avengers” star Jeremy Renner admit to owning firearms.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hollywood Kills Tea Partiers, Christians in Movie ‘God Bless America’

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A new movie called “God Bless America” takes aim – literally – at Christians, conservatives and Tea Party activists.

According to the film’s description:
“Frank (Joel Murray) has had enough of the downward spiral of American culture, which he sees as overrun with cruelty, stupidity and intolerance. Divorced, recently fired, and possibly terminally ill, Frank truly has nothing left to live for. But instead of taking his own life, he buys a gun and decides to take out his frustration on the cruelest, stupidest, most intolerant people he can imagine—starting with some particularly odious reality television stars. Frank finds an unusual accomplice in a high-school student named Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr), who shares his sense of rage and disenfranchisement, and together they embark on a nation-wide assault on our country’s dumbest, most irritating celebrities.

Written and directed by taboo-busting filmmaker and comedian Bobcat Goldthwait (Shakes the Clown, Sleeping Dogs Lie, World’s Greatest Dad), GOD BLESS AMERICA a truly dark and very funny comedy for anyone who’s had enough of the dumbing down of our society.”

“Taking out the trash, one jerk at a time,” reads the tag line at magnetreleasing.com. Got that? According to Hollywood, Christians and conservatives are “trash” that must be “taken out.”

A dark comedy, indeed – because it seems that murdering conservatives apparently is what’s considered funny in Hollywood these days.

See Trailer:

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Barack Hussein Obama, “Our Lord and Savior”

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Appearing on Sunday night’s Soul Train awards in Las Vegas, Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx called Barack Obama “our lord and savior.”

“It’s like church over here. It’s like church in here. First of all, give an honor to God and our lord and savior Barack Obama. Barack Obama,” he said.

Since the 2008 election, several have attempted to deify Barack Obama.

ABC’s Jake Tapper noticed the messianic tone of Obama’s first presidential campaign and wrote: “It’s as if Tom Daschle descended from on high saying, ‘Be not afraid; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of Chicago a Savior, who is Barack the Democrat.'”

In November 2010, Newsweek declared him “god of all things” on its cover, and first lady Michele Obama once declared of her husband: “This President has brought us out of the dark and into the light.” Read more from this story HERE.

Gene Hackman Slaps Homeless Man in New Mexico

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Photo credit: trisherovertonOscar winner Gene Hackman admitted to slapping a homeless man across the face Tuesday afternoon, saying the guy approached him and his wife, Betsy, in a menacing manner and called Betsy a derogatory name, Santa Fe, N.M., police confirm to E! News.

Sgt. Andrea Dobyns told E! that the man on the receiving end of the slap called authorities at around 1:30 p.m. to report that he had been beaten up by Hackman.

Officers who responded were able to talk to both the caller and Hackman, who was still in the area after eating at a nearby restaurant.

The “Unforgiven” star told police that the man approached him and Betsy in a very aggressive manner, called his wife a nasty name and otherwise made them fear for their safety.

The man got into his face, according to Hackman, and he hit him, “more like a slap than a punch,” Dobyns said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Romney Supporters Coming Out of Their Hollywood Closets: Today, Scott Baio & Piers Morgan

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By Erin O’Sullivan. Chalk one up for Mitt Romney – he’s got former “Happy Days” star Scott Baio’s vote.

The actor, now starring in Nick at Nite’s new comedy, “See Dad Run,” stopped by Access Hollywood Live on Friday where he explained why he supports the Republican Presidential nominee.

“I believe in Governor Romney for a lot of different reasons. I’ve met him many times and he’s a straight up guy, he’s a good guy, great family man [and] his kids are fantastic,” Scott told Kit Hoover and Billy Bush. “I think we need to be fixed in this country.”

Scott said being a Republican in typically-left-leaning Hollywood can be intimidating and he feels for actress Stacey Dash, who recently faced a barrage of mean-spirited comments after revealing she’s voting for Romney.

“I don’t think anybody should bash anybody for what they believe. I have my beliefs, you have yours,” he said. “Just leave her alone, let her say what she wants to say. Freedom of speech.” Read more from this story HERE.

Piers Morgan Calls Romney the Least Principled Politician He’s Met, but He’s Endorsing Him

By Piers Morgan. An extraordinary political earthquake struck America this week. Mitt Romney, widely assumed to be the ‘best of a weak bunch’ of Republican candidates, suddenly overtook Barack Obama in election polls.

Remarkably for someone with a reputation as Mr Dullard, it was his brilliant performance on October 3 at the first of three presidential debates, where he scored the biggest win ever over an oddly downcast Obama, that propelled him into the favourite’s chair.

Should Romney now win on November 6, America will not only have replaced its first black President with its first Mormon President.

It will also have elected the squeakiest-clean man ever to run for the presidency in any country in the world.

Imagine for a moment an interview with a British politician that went as follows:
Q:  Have you ever drunk alcohol?
A:  No.
Q:  Have you ever taken drugs?
A:  No.
Q:  Have you ever had an affair?
A:  No.
Q:  Have you ever smoked a cigarette?
A:  No.
Q:  Do you ever use swear words?
A:  No.

Read more from this story HERE.

Matt Damon’s Anti-Fracking Movie Financed by Oil-Rich Arab Nation (+video)

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By Lachlan Markay. A new film starring Matt Damon presents American oil and natural gas producers as money-grubbing villains purportedly poisoning rural American towns. It is therefore of particular note that it is financed in part by the royal family of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.

The creators of Promised Land have gone to absurd lengths to vilify oil and gas companies, as Scribe’s Michael Sandoval noted Wednesday. Since recent events have demonstrated the relative environmental soundness of hydraulic fracturing – a technique for extracting oil and gas from shale formations – Promised Land’s script has been altered to make doom-saying environmentalists the tools of oil companies attempting to discredit legitimate “fracking” concerns.

While left-leaning Hollywood often targets supposed environmental evildoers, Promised Land was also produced “in association with” Image Media Abu Dhabi, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media, according to the preview’s list of credits. A spokesperson with DDA Public Relations, which runs PR for Participant Media, the company that developed the film fund backing Promised Land, confirmed that AD Media is a financier. The company is wholly owned by the government of the UAE.

The UAE, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has a stake in the future of the American fossil fuel industry. Hydraulic fracturing has increased the United States’ domestic supply of crude oil and natural gas in areas such as the Bakken shale formation and has the potential to increase domestic production much more in the foreseeable future. That means more oil on the market, and hence lower prices for a globally traded commodity.

Fracking is boosting the country’s natural gas supply as well. While the market for American natural gas is primarily domestic, the Energy Department recently approved Cheniere Energy’s plan to export about 2.2 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas per day from Louisiana. The Department is considering LNG export applications from seven other companies. Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s the trailer of Damon’s movie:

Hollywood: Mainstreaming Incest

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Back in 1986, Justice Antonin Scalia was excoriated as a hate-monger and extreme doomsayer when he wrote the dissent on Lawrence et al. v. Texas, a case which basically overturned sodomy laws on the grounds sexual behavior could not be legislated by appealing to traditional morality. Scalia wrote:

State laws against bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication, bestiality, and obscenity are likewise sustainable only in light of Bowers’ validation of laws based on moral choices. Every single one of these laws is called into question by today’s decision; the Court makes no effort to cabin the scope of its decision to exclude them from its holding[…]The impossibility of distinguishing homosexuality from other traditional ‘morals’ offenses is precisely why Bowers rejected the rational-basis challenge. ‘The law,’ it said, ‘is constantly based on notions of morality, and if all laws representing essentially moral choices are to be invalidated under the Due Process Clause, the courts will be very busy indeed[.] […] What a massive disruption of the current social order, therefore, the overruling of Bowers entails.

The justice was a prophet.

As it has turned out, incest is now being viewed approvingly by some in Hollywood. Director Nick Cassavetes is producing the film Yellow, the plot line of which depicts a brother and sister falling in love with one another. Cassavetes has given new meaning to the term “brotherly love” by declaring incest OK:

I have no experience with incest. … We had heard a few stories where brothers and sisters were completely, absolutely in love with one another. You know what? This whole movie is about judgment, and lack of it, and doing what you want. Who gives a sh-t if people judge you? I’m not saying this is an absolute but in a way, if you’re not having kids – who gives a damn? Love who you want. Isn’t that what we say? Gay marriage – love who you want? If it’s your brother or sister it’s super-weird, but if you look at it, you’re not hurting anybody except every single person who freaks out because you’re in love with one another.

Right.

If Justice Scalia could look into the future, maybe we also can imagine the future, taking a look at what the gradual acceptance of incest and other currently forbidden sexual practices might look like.

Cassavetes’ film will be hailed as “groundbreaking.” It will be followed up by another film featuring the tragic circumstances of two people who didn’t know they were brother and sister, similar to the situation Oedipus Rex faced when he unknowingly married his mother and had children by her. The film will show graphically explicit sex scenes between brother and sister, in order that the audiences get used to seeing incestuous relationships as sensually thrilling. The brother and sister will later find out their relationship is forbidden but decide to continue anyway, as they are so in love with one another. The film will end with them staying together for the sake of the children. It will win the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama: Hollywood is the November 2012 “tie-breaker”

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Photo credit: shredded77

President Barack Obama on Monday told gathering of wealthy donors – many from Hollywood — “you guys are the tie-breaker” in the upcoming presidential election. “You and the American people,” he added.

Obama made the comment at a fundraiser in upscale Westport, Conn., just hours after he accused Romney of being “Robin Hood in reverse” at another fundraiser in Stamford, Conn. Dubbing the former Massachusetts governor “Romney Hood,” Obama said Romney wants to take from the middle class and give to the rich.

The Westport fund-raiser was held in the home of movie producer Harvey Weinstein. Actress Anne Hathaway was seated closest to Obama at his table. Screenwriter and producer Aaron Sorkin, whose NBC show “West Wing” was about a Democratic president, was also in attendance as well as talk show host Jerry Springer and actress Joanne Woodward, according to the White House press pool reporter.

Obama paid tribute to the stars in the audience.

“I want to thank Anne Hathaway for taking the time to host us. She’s spectacular,” Obama said, according to the official White House transcript. “And I did get a chance to see Batman and she was the best thing in it. That’s just my personal opinion. Aaron Sorkin — who writes the way every Democrat in Washington wished they spoke. Aaron, thank you.”

Read more from this story HERE.