Bradley Cooper on Awards Success of 'Silver Linings Playbook'

Oscar Sunday is fast approaching and gold statuettes are on the horizon for the film industry's finest. As Bradley Cooper and his Silver Linings Playbook cohorts got together before the big show, he reflected on the film's remarkable critical acclaim that may soon result in Oscars.

After being nominated for four Golden Globes and four SAG Awards, which resulted in two awards that both went to Jennifer Lawrence for her lead role, Silver Linings is up for a total of eight awards at the nearing Academy Awards.

PICS: Look Who's Presenting at The Oscars!

"We're overwhelmed and incredibly grateful," said Bradley Cooper, who has been nominated at all the major awards show for the film. "You never know what's going to happen. I mean, we knew when we were making the movie that it felt special every day and that we were getting something that felt very authentic."

Cooper went on to humbly distance himself from the success of the film by crediting the relationship between director and screenplay writer David O. Russell and his son, who faces mental deficiencies.

VIDEO: Olivia Munn & More Reveal Oscar Favorites

"These two guys, there was a story that they wanted to tell and then Jennifer and I were privileged enough to tell it," he said.

The gathering was sponsored by Vanity Fair, Barneys New York, and The Weinstein Company in support of The Glenholme School, which is devoted to young people who struggle with various forms of mental disorders.

Based on his own experiences with his son, who attends the school, Russell was inspired to adapt Matthew Quick's 2008 novel The Silver Linings Playbook to the big screen. The response to the film has been substantial not only from critics but from a variety of public figures.

VIDEO: Is Anne Hathaway Ready for the Oscars?

"Many people can learn from it. I've had so many people come up to me since we made the film," Russell said. "I've had so many families come forward. Movie stars, professional athletes, regular people saying, 'Thank you for the film.' The Vice President of the United States [has said], 'This film has opened up the dialogue about people facing these challenges.'"

Is Silver Linings Playbook on your Oscars ballot?

Read More..

Donor controversy taking toll on Sen. Menendez's popularity: poll

TRENTON, NJ — A new poll shows a donor controversy is taking a toll on Sen. Robert Menendez's popularity.

The Quinnipiac University poll out Thursday shows the Democrat's job approval rating at a five-year low of 36 percent, compared with 41 percent who disapprove of his performance.

It also shows 44 percent think Menendez isn't honest and trustworthy, compared with 28 percent who believe he has those qualities.

Menendez was recently named chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee. But his ties to a Florida eye doctor and political donor have been referred to a Senate ethics panel.

Menendez reimbursed the doctor $58,000 for flights to the Dominican Republican aboard his private plane.

The poll of 1,1,49 registered voters was taken Feb. 13-17 and has an error margin of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Read More..

Caribbean cell phone company asks South Florida relatives to buy minutes for family back home

An Irish billionaire’s telecommunications company, which has revolutionized cell phone usage in some of the world’s poorest countries, is bringing it’s latest marketing pitch to South Florida.

Digicel is tapping into South Florida’s close ties to Haiti and Jamaica in a campaign that asks families stateside to send minutes home.

Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien has staked a claim in the telecommunication industry by building his cell phone company in developing countries in the Caribbean and South America The South Florida Digicel campaign includes bus bench ads, billboards and television spots. The message is simple: “Send minutes home.”

Customers stateside can pay to send airtime minutes to family and friends’ pre-paid cell phones in the Caribbean. The concept is not new, but Digicel is seeking to broaden it’s reach.

It is a nod to South Florida’s ties to the Caribbean and the financial influence of the region’s diaspora. Families in Haiti and Jamaica rely heavily on remittances from abroad.

Haiti received $2.1 billion in remittances in 2011, which represents more than one quarter of the national income, according to the Inter-American Development Bank . In 2011, Jamaica received nearly $2 billion in remittances.

“We understand the value of the diaspora,” said Valerie Estimé, CEO of Digicel’s diaspora division. “They are our lifeline.”

Typically the company relies on ethnic media outlets like radio programs and niche publications for advertising, but there was a gap in reaching second- and third- generation Caribbean Americans, who are more plugged in to mainstream media, said Andreina Gonzalez, head of marketing in Digicel’s diaspora division.

“There was an opportunity to step up and go a little further,” Gonzalez said.

The campaign comes at a time when the company is facing some public relations backlash in Haiti and Jamaica. Customers from both islands have taken to social media to decry shoddy connections and poor customer service.

In Haiti, the problems were so acute that Digicel released an apology letter to its customers in December. When the company tried to integrate Voilà, a competitor Digicel acquired, into its network, the integration caused system failures.

“Quite simply, we did not deliver what we promised and we did not communicate effectively with customers through the problem times,” Damian Blackburn, Digicel’s Haiti CEO wrote in the apology.. “We apologize for letting our customers down and want to thank them for their patience and understanding.”

In South Florida, the marketing pitch is family-centered and draws on the diaspora’s need to stay connected. Digicel representatives say airtime minutes are as valuable as the cash remittances families send to the Caribbean.

The advertising features members of a culturally ambiguous animated family smiling and talking on cell phones.

The ads that appear in Little Haiti, North Miami and North Miami Beach are largely targeting the Haitian community. In South Broward, the focus shifts to the Jamaican population.

A similar campaign has also been launched in New York.

Prices range for $7 to $60 to add minutes to a relative’s Digicel account. Transactions can be made online or at participating stores in South Florida.

“You’re able to make a very big difference with a very small amount of your disposable income,” said Estimé. “We know how important it is to be able to get in touch with a mother, a sister or a brother.”

The company recognizes that some of its older customer base prefer the retail model, while younger and more savvy consumers would rather send pay for minutes directly from their computers or cell phones.

“It was really impressive to see Digicel online,” said Geralda Pierre, a Miami Gardens resident who sends minute to Haiti. “It’s so convenient to add minutes for my dad in Haiti who is sick. It makes it easier for me to get in touch with him.”

For now, Digicel says it will continue to mix the old and new. The Creole-language advertisements on Haitian radio and Island TV, a Creole language cable network, are here to stay.

“We are bringing first world convenience in some cases to third world countries,” Estimé said. “Digicel has in a way improved the lives of our loved ones back home.”

Follow @nadegegreen on Twitter

Read More..

Election reform, bridge repairs top Miami-Dade Commission agenda

Miami-Dade commissioners are expected Wednesday to urge the state legislature to allow Election Day voters to drop off their absentee ballots at their local precincts, and ask the mayor to identify funding to repair and upgrade the county’s 203 bridges.

Returning absentee ballots to local precincts was one of 13 recommendations in a report by an Election Advisory Group that needs local and state approval to become law. Now, absentee ballots can only be returned to election headquarters in Doral.

The advisory group, created after the embarrassing November presidential election saw people waiting in lines for up to six hours, also wants to change the name of absentee ballots to “Vote by Mail.”

Other recommended voting changes include expanding early voting days from eight to 14, including the last Sunday before an election; expanding the number of permissible voting sites; limiting ballot language on constitutional amendments to 75 words; and expanding the number of days elections supervisors are allowed to total and check votes from 15 to 20.

Commissioners are also expected Wednesday to urge Mayor Carlos Gimenez to identify funding sources to repair the county’s bridges. The county estimates that over the next two decades it will need as much as $450 million for repairs. The issue came to light in early January when the county was forced to close down the west-bound half of Bear Cut Bridge leading to Key Biscayne, after structural flaws were found.

Read More..

Witness heard 'non-stop shouting' from Pistorius home before fatal shooting

REUTERS

Oscar Pistorius stands in the dock during a break in court proceedings at the Pretoria Magistrates court in South Africa today.

PRETORIA, South Africa — A witness heard "non-stop shouting" coming from the home of Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius shortly before his girlfriend was shot dead, the lead detective in the murder investigation said on Wednesday.

Warrant officer Hilton Botha, a detective with 24 years on the force, also told the Pretoria magistrates court that Pistorius' girlfriend, model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp, was hit by three bullets, in the head, elbow and hip.

Pistorius, a double amputee known as the "Blade Runner," broke down in tears as Botha presented his testimony.

BLADE RUNNER'S HARROWING TALE OF HOW HE DID IT

PROSTHETIC STRAP-ONS KEY TO 'MURDER' RAP

ANGUISH, OUTRAGE AT REEVA FUNERAL

The shooting has stunned South Africa and the millions around the world who saw the track glory of the athlete, who had no lower legs, as an inspiring tale of triumph over adversity.

Steenkamp was in a locked toilet adjoining Pistorius' bathroom when she was shot in the early hours of Thursday last week. Botha said the angle at which the shots were fired through the door suggested the shooter had aimed specifically to hit somebody on the toilet.

Botha, who arrived at the scene at 4:15 local time to find Steenkamp dead at the bottom of the stairs, also said police had found unlicensed .38 ammunition in Pistorius' house in an upmarket gated compound north of Pretoria.

In an additional revelation Wednesday, police said they found two boxes of testosterone and needles in the Pistorius' bedroom.

Police Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha claimed in Pistorius' bail hearing in a South African court that testosterone was found. Pistorius has been charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Botha said police made the discovery in the double-amputee runner and multiple Paralympic champion's upscale Pretoria house but offered no further details or explanation. State prosecutor Gerrie Nel also had to correct Botha when he initially called the substance "steroids."

Pistorius' lawyer, Barry Roux, said on questioning the detective, who was described as a 16-year police veteran, that it was not a banned substance and that police were trying to give the discovery a "negative connotation."

"It is an herbal remedy," Roux said. "It is not a steroid and it is not a banned substance."

Police "take every piece of evidence and try to extract the most possibly negative connotation and present it to the court," senior defense lawyer Roux said. The debate over the substance added another dramatic twist to a case that has already gripped the world's attention since Steenkamp's killing at Pistorius' home last Thursday.

It was not immediately clear what the substance was.

Prosecutor Nel also said that police were not saying that Pistorius was using the substance, only that it was discovered along with the needles in his bedroom.

Pistorius said Tuesday in a written affidavit and read in court by Roux that he mistakenly killed model Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day when he fired shots into a locked toilet door thinking she was a dangerous intruder.

The prosecution claims Pistorius intended to kill the 29-year-old Steenkamp after they had a fight.

International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence told The Associated Press soon after the substance claims that Pistorius — the world's most famous disabled athlete — was drug tested twice in London last year by the IPC, on Aug. 25 and Sept. 8. Both test results were negative, Spence said.

The Aug. 25 test was an out-of-competition test, and the Sept. 8 one in-competition, a day before the end of the London Paralympics.

With AP, Reuters

Read More..

Remote employees require care to feel like part of the team

Working from home, hundreds of miles away from your boss, may sound like a perk, but that’s not always the case.

Ken Condren remembers the moment when he experienced the frustration his remote employees face. He was working from home, participating in a conference call and heard a side conversation going on, but had no idea what was being said. “I felt so out of the loop,” Condren recalls.

Today, businesses want the talent they want – and are more willing to hire or retain someone to fill a job even if they live or move thousands of miles away. Yet even with a great number of employees working remotely, nobody wants to be that guy who doesn’t get the inside joke during a conference call.

When the success of a team depends on the people, and all the people are scattered, it’s the manager who must make sure relationships stay vital and productivity high. Getting the most out of remote workers takes a manager who knows how to motivate and communicate from a distance. “Virtual workers still need a personal connection,” says strategic business futurist Joyce Goia, president of The Herman Group. “They want camaraderie and to feel like they are part of a team.”

More managers are using technologies such as videoconferencing, instant messenger and other collaborative software to help make remote workers feel like they are “there” in the office. Not being able to speak face-to-face can quickly be solved with Skype, Face Time or simple VoIP systems.

Condren, vice president of technology at C3/CustomerContactChan-

nels in Plantation, uses Microsoft Lync to connect virtually with a team spread across geographies and time zones. Employees see a green light on their screen when a colleague is available, signaling it’s a good time to video chat or instant message. Instead of meeting in physical conference rooms, team members get together in a virtual work room where they can hold side conversations during conference calls or meet in advance to prepare for the call. “You lose the visibility of waving hands during an in person meeting, but we can build that with virtual workspaces.”

Beyond that, Condren says he holds weekly video conference calls with his staff to help his remote workers become better team players. He also sets aside 45 minutes to an hour each week to check in with his remote workers. “It’s a little extra effort to make sure they are giving me the updates that happen casually in the office.”

Condren says adapting to a virtual workforce has allowed him to hire talent in any geographic market with the skill set he wants. And he has been able to hire them at competitive salaries.

In the current economy, such flexibility can be critical for a company looking to attract top talent. CareerBuilder’s Jennifer Grasz says the recession has created a less transient workforce, making it difficult for workers to sell their homes and relocate. “Employers are turning to remote work opportunities to navigate the skills deficit.”

Even from a distance, managers say there are ways to hone in on remote workers who are having problems. Billie Williamson managed virtual teams as a partner for Ernst & Young and would focus on the tone of someone’s voice during a group conference call. She would even listen for silences. “Silence can mean consent, or it can mean the person you’re not hearing disagrees or is disengaged.” If she sensed a team member was lacking engagement, she would follow up immediately.

Read More..

North Miami police investigating fatal hit-and-run

Police were investigating a fatal hit-and-run in North Miami Monday night that left an elderly man dead.

The accident occurred around 7 p.m. when the victim was apparently crossing at the intersection of North Miami Avenue and Northwest 123rd Street and was struck and killed, said police spokesman Maj. Neal Cuevas.

The driver failed to stop. Police said there appeared to be no witnesses to the accident.

The body of the black male was discovered in the middle of North Miami Avenue, Cuevas said.

Police said the fleeing driver only left behind a hubcap and pieces of shattered glass.

The victim’s name has not been released awaiting notification of next of kin.

Earlier Monday, the Florida Highway Patrol sponsored a Hit-and-Run Awareness event. They revealed that last year there were 20,000 hit-and-run accidents in Miami-Dade and Broward.

Read More..

ET Interviews the Witches of Oz The Great and Powerful

Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams transform into the naughty and nice witches of Oz The Great and Powerful, in theaters March 8, and the tantalizing threesome are opening up to ET about the fantasy roles!

Pics: New Bewitching 'Oz the Great & Powerful' Posters

Oz also stars James Franco as Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus magician and flimflam man with dubious ethics. Hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he first thinks he’s hit the jackpot -- until he meets three witches, Theodora (Kunis), Evanora (Weisz) and Glinda (Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting.

Video: Making the Wonderful World of 'Oz'

Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil and put his own magical talents to the test to transform himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, but a better man as well.

Read More..

Kate reveals royal baby bump

EPA

Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, arrives at Hope House Tuesday.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, debuted her baby bump today for the first time since being hospitalized for severe morning sickness in December.

The Duchess, wearing a grey print wrap dress that demurely revealed the future king or queen and black heels, visited Hope House in London today.

Meanwhile, an Italian magazine that published topless photos of Prince William's wife last year is reportedly printing new pictures of the pregnant duchess on a beach holiday in the Caribbean, provoking condemnation from royal officials.

St. James's Palace expressed disappointment Tuesday that the pictures may be published, saying it would amount to a "clear breach of the couple's right to privacy." It did not say whether officials would be prepared to take legal action against the gossip magazine.

The magazine, Chi, is said to be planning to publish the pictures Wednesday. The photos reportedly show Prince William's wife wearing a bikini and strolling on a beach with William on the island of Mustique.

Last September, the magazine — owned by former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi — published a 26-page special featuring topless photos of the duchess while she and William vacationed in the south of France.

AFP/Getty Images

The royal couple took legal action to halt the use of those intimate photos, but had only limited success. Although a French court ordered gossip magazine Closer to stop further publication of the pictures, they went on to be published in Chi, other publications across Europe, and on the Internet.

The royal couple was also in the news Tuesday after one of Britain's most celebrated authors launched a withering attack on the duchess, branding her a "shop-window mannequin" with a plastic smile whose only role in life is to breed.

In an unusually scathing public attack on a British royal, Hilary Mantel said the princess had no personality, a "perfect plastic smile" and appears to have been designed by a committee.

The writer's comments about the pregnant 31-year-old wife of second-in-line to the British throne Prince William sharply divided public opinion. Newspapers condemned Mantel's words as "venomous", "cruel" and "staggeringly rude", while supporters said it was a thoughtful analysis of the role of royal women over the centuries.

"I saw Kate becoming a jointed doll on which certain rags are hung," Mantel said in a lecture at the British Museum in London earlier this month in which she spoke about her changing views about the princess.

WireImage

The crowd wait to see the princess as she visits the Hope House, an Action on Addiction women's treatment center in London.

"She was a shop-window mannequin, with no personality of her own, entirely defined by what she wore. These days she is a mother-to-be, and draped in another set of threadbare attributions."

Mantel, who last year became the first Briton to twice win the coveted Man Booker prize for fiction, referred to the princess's severe morning sickness during the early stage of her pregnancy and said her role was to provide an heir.

"Once she gets over being sick, the press will find that she is radiant. They will find that this young woman's life until now was nothing, her only point and purpose being to give birth," Mantel said in the lecture organized by the London Review of Books on Feb. 4. The literary magazine reprinted the lecture on its Web site this week.

Mantel, 60, is best known for her historical novel "Wolf Hall", about the rise of blacksmith's son Thomas Cromwell to the pinnacle of power in King Henry VIII's court. Her follow-up "Bring Up the Bodies" recounted Anne Boleyn's fall from grace.

In her lecture, Mantel said the Duchess of Cambridge was "selected for her role ... because she was irreproachable", contrasting her with the "emotional incontinence" of William's late mother, Princess Diana.

"As painfully thin as anyone could wish, without quirks, without oddities, without the risk of the emergence of character. She appears precision-made, machine-made, so different from Diana," Mantel said.

The author's agent was not immediately available for comment. A St James's Palace spokeswoman had no comment.

Reaction on Twitter suggested Mantel had split public opinion. Royal commentator Robert Jobson said the "venomous attack" was "unfair and publicity-seeking". Others agreed with Mantel, saying she had elegantly articulated what many people had long thought about the royals.

The lecture looked at the "fascination with royalty" and the "regal body", examining the lives of royal women and the importance of providing an heir. Mantel compared that to the fuss made about pandas mating in captivity.

"Our current royal family doesn't have the difficulties in breeding that pandas do, but pandas and royal persons alike are expensive to conserve and ill-adapted to any modern environment," Mantel said. "But aren't they interesting? Aren't they nice to look at?

With AP and Reuters

Read More..

Open English expands across Latin America

Back in 2008, Open English, a company run from Miami that uses online courses to teach English in Latin America, had just a handful of students in Venezuela and three employees. Today the company has more than 50,000 students in 22 Latin American countries and some 2,000 employees.

To fund this meteoric expansion, the founders of Open English — Venezuelans Andrés Moreno and Wilmer Sarmiento and Moreno’s American wife, Nicolette — began with $700. Over the last six years, the partners have raised more than $55 million, mostly from private investment and venture capital firms.

Their formula for success? The founders rejected traditional English teaching methods in physical classrooms and developed a system that allows students to tune into live classes every hour of the day from their computers at home, in the office or at school, and learn from native English-speaking teachers who may be based anywhere. Courses stress practical conversations online and the company guarantees fluency after a one-year course, offering six additional months free if students fail to become fluent.

“We wanted to change the way people learn English,” said Andrés Moreno, the 30-year-old co-founder and CEO, who halted his training as a mechanical engineer and worked full-time at developing the company with his partners. “And we want students to achieve fluency. Traditionally, students have to drive to an English academy, waste time in traffic, and try to learn from a teacher who is not an native English speaker in a class with 20 students.”

Using the Internet, Open English offers classes usually with two or three students and a teacher, interactive videos, other learning aids and personal attention from coaches who phone students regularly to see how they are progressing.

Courses cost an average of $750 per year and students can opt for monthly payments. This is about one-fifth to one-third of what traditional schools charge for small classes or individual instructors, Andrés noted.

“We work at building confidence with our students and encourage them to practice speaking English as much as possible during classes,” said Nicolette Moreno, co-founder and chief product officer, who met Andrés in Venezuela while she was working there on a service project. “Students are taught to actively participate in conversations like a job interview, traveling and talking on a conference call,” said Nicolette, who previously lived in Los Angles, worked with non-profits to create environmentally friendly products and fight poverty in emerging markets, and was head equity trader at an asset management firm. “Students need to speak English in our classes, even though it is sometimes difficult. They learn through immersion.”

Open English has successfully tapped into an enormous, underserved market. Millions of people in Latin America want to learn English to advance in their jobs, work at multinational companies, travel or work overseas and understand the popular music, movies and TV shows they constantly hear in English. Many of them take English courses at public and private schools and learn little if any useful conversational English. While students at private schools for the upper middle class and wealthy often learn foreign languages extremely well from native English-speaking teachers, most people can’t afford these schools or courses designed for one or two students.

Read More..