5 favorite Robert Downey Jr. performances (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? I'm just gonna put it out there: I'm not a fan of Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes" movies. I wasn't fond of the first one from 2009 and the follow-up opening this weekend, "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," is even worse.

But I am a huge fan of Robert Downey Jr., who stars as the intrepid detective. So I decided to turn a negative into a positive and use this opportunity to celebrate this hugely gifted actor's best work. Here are my five favorite performances of his; it was hard to narrow the list down, and the results may shock you:

? "Iron Man" (2008): The original "Iron Man," that is, not the inferior sequel. Downey might have seemed like an unusual choice at the time to play a comic-book superhero but it's difficult to imagine any other actor in the role; he's so quick-witted and he makes such inspired decisions with dialogue that, at times, might have seemed corny otherwise. Throughout his eclectic career, he's always been capable of both great charisma and vulnerability, and both are beautifully on display in what was (at this point) the biggest movie of his life. He turns Tony Stark into a riveting personality, both in his initial arrogance and through his process of struggle, self-discovery and reinvention. And the fact that Downey is a man who's lived a life, suffered some hardships and battled some personal demons of his own provides Stark with both substance and relatability.

? "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" (2005): Writer-director Shane Black's rat-a-tat neo-noir is a perfect fit for Downey's deadpan verbal prowess. As Harry, a thief-turned-actor who's up for a part as a detective, Downey bounces beautifully off Val Kilmer as the private eye who trains him for his screen test. This is an ideal role for Downey: a damaged figure whose dark sense of humor keeps him together. Harry, as our narrator ? "My name is Harry Lockhart, I'll be your narrator," he congenially announces at the film's start ? is fully aware of the conventions of the hard-boiled detective tale he inhabits, and he's aware that we're aware of them, too. And he has such a good time playing with them, it's impossible not get swept up in the movie's manic energy.

? "Tropic Thunder" (2008): He's the dude playin' the dude disguised as another dude ? and in the process, he earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Downey demonstrated huge amounts of chutzpah and managed the tricky feat of finding just the right tone as Kirk Lazarus, a super-serious Australian Method actor who's so dedicated to his craft, he undergoes skin-pigmentation surgery to play a black soldier in a Vietnam War drama. This might have seemed tasteless and potentially offensive, but Downey is intelligent enough to bring nuanced bravado and even some surprising sympathy to the role. (He also delivers the film's funniest and most insightful speech about the strategy it takes to play mentally impaired characters.) And considering Downey's propensity for digging deep for his own roles ? including his Oscar-nominated work in "Chaplin"_ it's a sly in-joke to have him poke fun at himself.

? "Zodiac" (2007): David Fincher's sprawling serial killer drama is intense, dense and detailed in its obsession with procedure. That's why Downey's presence here is so crucial. He significantly lightens things up and brings a much-needed sense of comic relief ? albeit with dark humor ? as self-destructive San Francisco Chronicle crime reporter Paul Avery, who covered the Zodiac killings in the 1970s. Fincher is a master of creating a deeply creepy mood, but as the bearded, chain-smoking, hard-drinking Avery, Downey has enough confidence and personality to shatter it ? or at least make some serious dents in it ? again and again. This is especially true in the contrast he creates in his scenes with Jake Gyllenhaal as the paper's eager-beaver editorial cartoonist who insists on staying on the case after everyone else has given up.

? "Two Girls and a Guy" (1997): I might have put "Wonder Boys" or "Less Than Zero" in this spot, but I've always really liked this movie. It has the compact immediacy of a play on film, with the majority of the action taking place in just a few rooms in Downey's Manhattan apartment. That's where the two women he's been dating simultaneously ? unbeknownst to each other ? confront him over a long, tense and funny afternoon. Downey's so charming, though, you can easily imagine why both Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner would want to date him ? and why they're both willing to stick around and hash things out once they've discovered each other. Downey bobs and weaves, coddles and cajoles, but also shows a softer side, and writer-director James Toback's film is full of power plays and surprises.

___

Think of any other examples? Share them with AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire through Twitter: http://twitter.com/christylemire.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_en_mo/us_film_five_most

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Sleep Through Your Alarm in This Week's Open Thread [Open Thread]

Sleep Through Your Alarm in This Week's Open ThreadWe may have slept through our proverbial open thread alarm this morning, but better late than never, right? Come on in and chat with us in this weeks (slightly belated) open thread.

Same drill as always, open-threaders: You can chat and ask questions with your fellow readers all week long at the #openthread hashtag page, but our weekly open thread post is your opportunity to reach the most people. Ask questions, offer advice, discuss productivity tips, or just chat about whatever's on your mind. You'll need a commenter account to participate, then you're ready to roll.

An extra reminder: If you're not quite satisfied with the interaction in the weekly open thread or in #tips, remember that you can also share your expertise every day on our Expert Pages. Photo by Bev Sykes.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/RVlQbcid2RM/sleep-through-your-alarm-in-this-weeks-open-thread

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Stock futures little changed after powerful rally (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stock index futures were little changed on Thursday after the S&P 500 posted its best gains since August in a powerful rally in the previous session.

Equities surged Wednesday after major central banks in a joint action agreed to make cheaper dollar loans for struggling European banks to prevent the euro zone debt crisis from worsening. The Dow posted its best day since March 2009, and both the Dow and S&P rose more than 4 percent.

S&P 500 futures dipped 1.3 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 3 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.5 point.

"The indexes enjoyed one of their best days in recent memory yesterday. The moves were strong enough to break above all of the resistance levels we began with yesterday morning," said Bryan McCormick, analyst at optionMonster.com in Chicago.

"Previous resistance levels are now support and back to where they were closer to the peak in October."

Potentially curbing sentiment, China's factory sector shrank in November in the face of weakening demand both at home and abroad. The data may feed worries the global economy was sputtering.

European stocks were also trading near flat after posting strong gains in the previous session as the market awaited more details from policymakers about plans to help end the debt crisis.

Spain will be in focus ahead of a bond auction, with analysts warning the sale could go like the one by Italy on Tuesday that drew reasonable demand but saw yields leap.

Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) shares were up 5 percent at $16.50 in premarket trade after Reuters reported Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) and Bain Capital along with Asian partners were preparing a bid in a deal valued at about $25 billion.

Kroger Co (KR.N), the largest U.S. supermarket chain, will announce quarterly results.

AT&T Inc (T.N) and T-Mobile USA's parent Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGn.DE) may form a joint venture to pool the wireless operators' network assets if AT&T's proposal to buy T-Mobile USA fails, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A day after a set of encouraging economic data, the market will focus on the Labor Department's latest report on the jobs market, with the release at 8:30 a.m. EST of weekly jobless claims. Economists forecast a total of 390,000 new filings, compared with 393,000 in the prior week.

The Institute for Supply Management releases its November manufacturing index at 10 a.m. EST. Economists expect a reading of 51.5 versus 50.8 in October.

The Commerce Department reports on October construction spending at 10 a.m. Economists forecast an increase of 0.3 percent, compared with a 0.2 percent rise in September.

The Federal Reserve releases weekly money stock, liquid assets and debt measures and the weekly report on factors affecting reserves of depository institutions and the condition statement of the Federal Reserve banks at 4:30 p.m. EST.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Funding crunch puts progress on AIDS at risk (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? The international community has made extraordinary progress in the past decade in the fight against AIDS, but a funding crisis is putting those gains at risk, the United Nations health agencies said on Wednesday.

A World Health Organization-led report said the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS and now infects about 34 million people around the world has proven a "formidable challenge" for scientists and public health experts.

"But the tide is turning," it added. "The tools to achieve an AIDS-free generation are in our hands."

Yet a severe funding crisis at the world's largest backer of the fight against AIDS and a decline in international donor money to battle the disease is dampening optimism in the HIV/AIDS community about an eventual end to the pandemic.

Annual funding for HIV/AIDS programs fell to $15 billion in 2010 from $15.9 billion in 2009, well below the estimated $22-24 billion the U.N. agencies say is needed by 2015 to pay for a comprehensive, effective global response.

The public-private Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the world's largest financial backer of HIV treatment and prevention programs, said last week it was cancelling new grants for countries battling these diseases and would make no new funding available until 2014.

In an interview with Reuters in London as the U.N agencies report was released, Gottfried Hirnschall, the WHO's director for HIV/AIDS said great progress in bringing down the number of new HIV infections and dramatically increasing access to life-saving AIDS drugs made this a critical time in the battle.

Scientific studies in the past year have also shown that getting timely AIDS drug treatment to those with HIV can significantly cut the number of people who become newly infected with the virus.

"This is a really exciting year, because we're seeing downward trends in those areas where we want to see downward trends - in new infections and in mortality - and we're seeing upward trends where we'd like to see them, primarily in (treatment) coverage rates," Hirnschall said

Latest figures in Wednesday's report and from a UNAIDS global study last week show the number of new HIV infections fell to 2.7 million in 2010, down from 3.1 million in 2001, while the number of people getting life-saving AIDS drugs rose to 6.65 million in 2010 from just 400,000 in 2003.

Hirnschall said the data suggested the WHO's goal - to have zero new infections, zero deaths and zero stigma associated with HIV - "could in the not too distant future become a reality."

But the big risk lies in the funding, he said.

"We already have a $7 billion shortfall for this year and what's even more alarming is that we also had almost a billion dollars less this year than we did last."

With many large international donor countries struggling with recession and debt crises, Hirnschall said it was crucial for countries affected by HIV/AIDS to do all they can to fund their own programs and make limited resources go further.

Wednesday's report, released ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1 by the WHO, the United Nations AIDS program UNAIDS and the United Nations children's fund UNICEF, said treatment, prevention and outreach programs are becoming more efficient, with health clinics integrating services and local communities finding more effective ways to get medicines to HIV patients.

"Nevertheless, financial pressures ... are threatening the impressive progress to date," it said, adding that declining funding was a "deeply troubling trend."

Hirnschall said donors should recognize that stepping up investment now will save lives, and more money in the long run.

"The risk is that we carry on as we are for the next 20 years and the whole epidemic will just linger on and on. Or we could load up front and make a big investment now, and then the numbers will really start to come down and it will pay off."

"The question is, is the world ready to do that?"

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/aids/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111130/hl_nm/us_aids_unitednations

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Engadget's Cyber Monday 2011 roundup

Didn't feel like brawling for two-dollar waffle makers at Wally World this past Black Friday? Don't fret, because Cyber Monday is just a few hours away -- there are literally only a few clicks between you and some awesome online deals. Best of all, you don't even need leave your abode or bear lines in the cold. Just like we did for BF, we've spotted some deals in advance and thrown 'em just past the break -- sure, it's only Sunday, but don't tell that to the retailers whose sales are currently ongoing! Unless you want to miss out on some chances to save on the gadgets you've been pining for, join us past the break for our full rundown. And as usual, if you spot anything we've missed, be sure to let us know in the comments. Ready. Set. Save!

(pssst: Don't forget to keep checking back, as we'll be constantly updating this post with even more deals as we come across them!)

Continue reading Engadget's Cyber Monday 2011 roundup

Engadget's Cyber Monday 2011 roundup originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/engadgets-cyber-monday-2011-roundup/

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Wisconsin governor campaigning early to keep job (AP)

MADISON, Wis. ? Embattled Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker may not face a recall vote until next summer, but he's already campaigning to keep his job in the face of a major challenge by organized labor and the Democratic Party.

With petitions for a recall election now circulating, Walker is running television advertising defending his record during his first 11 months in office. Soon, Republican volunteers will begin going door to door, making phone calls and writing letters to the editor arguing that his most controversial initiative, which stripped public employee unions of most of their bargaining rights, was justified by the state's fiscal problems.

The Walker recall effort, which will be one of the most fiercely contested races in the 2012 national campaign, will serve as a gauge of the public's support for confrontational measures used by new Republican governors to balance state budgets. In only two weeks, petitioners here are on pace to gather more than enough signatures to put Walker on the ballot against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

Walker's backers are trying to take lessons from the only two successful gubernatorial recalls in U.S. history ? against California Gov. Gray Davis in 2003 and North Dakota Gov. Lynn Frazier in 1921.

Those governors were too slow to fight back, said David Schecter, a political scientist at California State University, Fresno, who has studied recall campaigns. Their races were mostly lost before the signatures were submitted.

"There's this momentum that builds and once it builds it's very difficult for things to reverse," Schecter said. "The signature stage is really the election before the election. In that stage, voters are letting their choices be known."

Walker will try to stop the recall election, or delay it for months, by challenging the validity of signatures that must be turned in by Jan. 17. Recall supporters must gather 540,000 names of registered voters. State elections board workers will manually review all the signatures for obvious mistakes or missing information. Republican Party officials said they also will scour the petitions but would not elaborate on their methods.

The effort to recall Walker echoes the other successful gubernatorial recalls, which were well financed and conducted when the electorate was frustrated. The campaign is expected to cost far more than the $44 million spent on nine recall efforts targeting Wisconsin state senators this summer.

The Republican Party is bolstering its grass roots organization across the state, said the party's executive director Stephan Thompson. He said he is preparing for an election even though the GOP will fight to prevent one.

"I have little doubt the Democrats are going to be able to get the signatures," Thompson said. Recall organizers reported collecting 105,000 signatures in just four days.

The night before the petitions began circulating, Walker launched a television ad with a school board member praising his collective bargaining law. Walker also argues that other budget-balancing moves, like cutting public education funding and Medicaid, were necessary to deal with a $3.6 billion shortfall.

Walker emphasizes that he balanced the budget without laying off public workers or raising sales or income taxes. Also, property taxes are scheduled to drop on average statewide.

But unemployment is stagnant and Walker is far from fulfilling his central campaign promise to add 250,000 jobs over four years.

"The No. 1 issue has been and will continue to be jobs and the economy," Republican strategist Mark Graul said. "The governor is going to need to make a persuasive message as to why he's the best candidate to get Wisconsin's economy pointed in the right direction."

The national conservative group Americans for Prosperity has teamed up with a similar local group to run an ad in support of Walker.

Recall organizers believe if the election is a referendum on Walker, they will win. One poll conducted in the days before the petition drive began found 58 percent of respondents in favor of recalling Walker. His disapproval rating was also at 58 percent. Walker won election last November with 52 percent of the vote.

In their recall campaign, Democrats will argue that Walker deceived voters by not talking about his collective bargaining plan when he ran for office. They will argue that the measure and other budget-balancing moves, like the cuts to public education, were unnecessary and tore the state apart.

"The burden is on him here," Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said. To keep the focus on Walker, Democrats don't plan on putting forward a candidate to challenge him until well into 2012, Tate said.

The earliest a Walker recall election could be held is March 27. But most expect it to be later, given the expected petition challenges and lawsuits. Lawsuits were filed on both sides alleging wrongdoing in the petition process in the nine state Senate recall elections. The elections were allowed to proceed and two GOP incumbents lost.

Along with the effort to recall Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, petitions are being circulated targeting four more Republican state senators. Democrats need to win one seat to take over majority control of the Senate, but Republicans also control the Assembly.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_el_gu/us_wisconsin_governor_recall

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George Michael Scraps Entire Tour As He Battles Pneumonia

Germany: 20 police injured during nuke protest

German police say 20 policemen have been injured during clashes with protesters ahead of the arrival of a shipment of nuclear waste in northern Germany.

Police say some 300 protesters threw stones and fireworks at security officers near the town of Dannenberg Saturday.

It followed a clash on Friday night when police used water cannons and batons to keep some 200 protesters in check. The officers were injured during the clash.

The protests occurred near the railway tracks used by a train this weekend to transport the nuclear waste shipment reprocessed in France to a storage site near the town of Gorleben.

Some 20,000 officers are on hand in the region to secure the shipment.

Officials have yet to resolve where such waste should be stored permanently. Activists say Gorleben is unsafe.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45443901/ns/us_news-environment/

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Save Water by Converting Your Toilet to Dual Flush with This $20 Retrofit Kit [Video]

Save Water by Converting Your Toilet to Dual Flush with This $20 Retrofit Kit Last year we covered the basics behind converting your toilet to a dual flush but since then an easier and cheaper option has hit the market. Using the HydroRight Drop-In Dual Flush Converter ($18.80 at Amazon) you can convert just about any toilet to dual flush in about five minutes using no tools.

The video from the manufacturer above uses an eight year-old kid to emphasize how easy to install the kit. All you really need to do is turn off the water using the valve behind the tank, remove the flapper and toilet handle, replace those with the new ones from the HydroRight kit, and turn the water back on.

The manufacturer claims that most users will recoup the cost of the retrofit kit within two months of water bills and that within a year you'll save enough water to fill a swimming pool.

If you're looking to make your home more efficient the retrofit kit seems to be a safe bet; the small cost offers a nearly immediate return-of-investment.

HydroRight

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/PQFE3njfpUM/save-water-by-converting-your-toilet-to-dual-flush-with-this-20-retrofit-kit

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