Obama's State of the Union: Jobs, re-election time (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Vilified by the Republicans who want his job, President Barack Obama will stand before the nation Tuesday night determined to frame the election-year debate on his terms, using his State of the Union address to outline a lasting economic recovery that will "work for everyone, not just a wealthy few."

As his most powerful chance to make a case for a second term, the prime-time speech carries enormous political stakes for the Democratic incumbent who presides over a country divided about his performance and pessimistic about the nation's direction. He will try to offer a stark contrast with his opponents by offering a vision of fairness and opportunity for everyone.

In a preview Saturday, Obama said in a video to supporters that the speech will be an economic blueprint built around manufacturing, energy, education and American values.

He is expected to announce ideas to make college more affordable and to address the housing crisis still hampering the economy three years into his term, people familiar with the speech said. Obama will also propose fresh ideas to ensure that the wealthy pay more in taxes, reiterating what he considers a matter of basic fairness, the officials said.

His policy proposals will be less important than what Obama hopes they all add up to: a narrative of renewed American security with him at the center, leading the fight.

"We can go in two directions," Obama said in the campaign video. "One is toward less opportunity and less fairness. Or we can fight for where I think we need to go: building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few."

That line of argument is intended to tap directly into concerns of voters who think America has become a nation of income inequality, with rules rigged to help the rich. The degree to which Obama or his eventual Republican opponent can better connect with millions of hurting Americans is expected to determine November's presidential election.

Obama released his video hours ahead of the South Carolina primary, where Republican candidates fought in the latest fierce contest to become his general election rival.

The White House knows Obama is about to get his own stage to outline a re-election vision, but carefully. The speech is supposed to an American moment, not a campaign event.

Obama didn't mention national security or foreign policy in his preview, and he is not expected to break ground on either one in his speech.

He will focus on the economy and is expected to promote unfinished parts of his jobs plan, including the extension of a payroll tax cut that is soon to expire.

Whatever Obama proposes is likely to face long odds in a deeply divided Congress.

More people than not disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy, and he is showing real vulnerability among the independent voters who could swing the election. Yet he will step into the moment just as the economy is showing life. The unemployment rate is still at a troubling 8.5 percent, but at its lowest rate in nearly three years. Consumer confidence is up.

By giving a sneak peek to millions of supporters on his email list, Obama played to his Democratic base and sought to generate an even larger audience for Tuesday's address. He is unlikely to getter a bigger stage all year.

More people watched last year's State of the Union than tuned in to see Obama accept the Democratic presidential nomination in Denver in 2008.

The foundation of Obama's speech is the one he gave in Kansas last month, when he declared that the middle class was at a make-or-break moment and he railed against "you're on your own" economics of the Republican Party. His theme then was about a government that ensures people get a fair shot to succeed.

The State of the Union will be the details to back that up.

But even so, the speech will still be a framework ? part governing, part inspiration.

The details will be rolled out in full over the next several weeks, as part of Obama's next budget proposal and during his travels, which will allow him more media coverage.

On national security, Obama will ask the nation to reflect with him on a momentous year of change, including the end of the war in Iraq, the killing of al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and the Arab Spring protests, with people clamoring for freedom. He is expected to note the troubles posed by Iran and Syria without offering new positions about them.

Despite low expectations for legislation this year, Obama will offer short-term ideas that would require action from Congress. For now, the main looming to-do item is an extension of a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, both due to expire by March.

His travel schedule following his speech, to politically important regions, offers clues to the policies he was expected to unveil.

Both Phoenix and Las Vegas have been hard hit by foreclosures. Denver is where Obama outlined ways of helping college students deal with school loan debt. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Detroit are home to a number of manufacturers. And Michigan was a major beneficiary of the president's decision to intervene to rescue the American auto industry.

Republican leaders in Congress say Obama has made the chances of cooperation even dimmer just over the last several days. He enraged Republicans by installing a consumer watchdog chief by going around the Senate, which had blocked him, and then rejected a major oil pipeline project the GOP has embraced.

Obama is likely, once again, to offer ways in which a broken Washington must work together. Yet that theme seems but a dream given the gridlock he has been unable to change.

The address remains an old-fashioned moment of national attention; 43 million people watched it on TV last year. The White House website will offer a live stream of the speech, promising extra wrinkles for people who watch it there, and then invite people to send in questions to administration officials through social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

Obama's campaign is also organizing and promoting parties around the nation for people to watch the speech.

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AP deputy director of polling Jennifer Agiesta and Associated Press writer Ken Thomas contributed to this report.

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Online:

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov

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Follow Ben Feller at http://twitter.com/BenFellerDC

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_state_of_the_union

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Rap group 2 Live Crew to reunite, tour this summer (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? The rap group that inspired controversy in the early 1990s with songs like "Me So Horny" is reuniting and hitting the road.

Luther Campbell says 2 Live Crew is back together and will tour this summer.

The rapper and producer made the announcement Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival, where he is promoting his appearance in the short film "The Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke."

Campbell describes the film as "an art piece" that he did to help young filmmakers who were inspired by his hip-hop work.

Campbell says he "just can't wait to just start practicing" with his old crew. But don't expect them to be "As Nasty As They Wanna Be."

Campbell says the group will "perform the songs and everybody's going to be excited."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_en_ot/us_film_sundance2_live_crew

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The nations weather (AP)

Weather Underground Forecast for Friday, January 20, 2012.

More wet weather is anticipated over the Northwestern US on Friday as a strong winter storms lingers over the region. A deep low pressure system off the coast of the Pacific Northwest continues pushing abundant moisture onshore. At the same time, multiple waves of low pressure move through the region, triggering more snow showers across the Pacific Northwest, northern California, Northern Rockies, and Great Basin. Snowfall accumulation will range from 5 to 10 inches across the northern Sierras, while 2 to 6 inches of new snow are anticipated in the Great Basin and Northern Rockies. A warm front over the Oregon and Washington coast will allow for rain showers to persist. Expect another 1 to 2 inches of new rain across these areas. The system will push rain showers into central California, with rainfall totals ranging from 0.50 to 1.0 inches. Strong winds will accompany this system, with gusts between 25 and 35 mph, over 40 mph at higher elevations.

Meanwhile to the east, a trough of low pressure will move through the Midwest, creating a swath of snow and freezing rain from the Mid-Mississippi River Valley through the Ohio River Valley. Snowfall accumulations may exceed 6 inches across the Chicago metropolitan area, while 1 to 3 inches of snow are likely from southern Minnesota through Ohio.

In the Southeast, a warm and moist airmass will move onshore from the Gulf of Mexico. This will produce scattered showers and thunderstorms from eastern Texas through the Lower Mississippi River Valley and into the Tennessee Valley. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday have ranged from a morning low of -25 degrees at Orr, Minn. to a high of 82 degrees at Brady, Texas

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_us/us_weatherpage_weather

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Economy improves but recovery hurdles persist (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to an almost four-year low last week, and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic expanded moderately, suggesting the economy carried some momentum into the new year.

But the pace of growth probably will slow. Analysts cautioned the drop in jobless claims likely was exaggerated by seasonal factors, and the slow pace of new orders in the factory report along with a drop in new home building and permits in December showed that obstacles to a strong recovery remain.

Still, the employment and factory data added to a rash of stronger-than-expected economic signals, with growth in the fourth quarter forecast at an annual pace of about 3 percent - a step up from the prior quarter's 1.8 percent rate.

"It's not a robust picture, but it's certainly an improving picture and one that you hope sets up some improvement over the longer term in consumption," said Brian Levitt, an economist at OppenheimerFunds in New York.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 50,000 to a seasonally adjusted 352,000 last week, the lowest level since April 2008, the Labor Department said.

The week also marked the largest drop in applications since September 2005 and took claims within spitting distance of the 350,000 mark that economists say would signal strong job growth.

The claims data covered the period when surveys are conducted for the government's January payrolls report, and claims dropped by 14,000 between the December and January survey periods.

But claims tend to be volatile around this time of year. The four-week moving average of claims, considered to be a better measure of labor market trends, fell 3,500 to 379,000 last week. It has held below 400,000 for 10 straight weeks.

"The initial indications for the jobs report in January are encouraging and suggest that we will see another 200,000-plus reading on private payrolls for the month," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 200,000 in December, with the unemployment rate dropping to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent.

Separately, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank reported its business activity index rose to 7.3 from 6.8 in December. A reading above zero indicates expansion in the mid-Atlantic region's manufacturing sector.

But new orders and shipments slowed, taking some shine off the report. In addition, unfilled orders and delivery time fell, indicating factory activity in the region could slow in the months ahead.

The region's employment picture improved, however, with factories adding more workers and extending hours for existing employees.

The data and strong demand at European bond auctions, which helped to ease some concerns about Europe's debt crisis, propelled U.S. stocks higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose for a third straight day.

U.S. Treasury debt lost some of its safe-haven appeal, sending prices tumbling. The dollar fell to a two-week low against the euro.

HOUSING MIXED

Other data showed housing starts fell 4.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000 units in December. The decline came from the volatile multi-family segment, which plunged 20.4 percent.

Starts of single family houses - which account for a larger share of new home construction - rose 4.4 percent, adding to views that the housing market decline has bottomed and home construction will contribute to economic growth this year.

Permits for future home construction eased slightly.

"There are too many distressed homes on the market in the largest home building areas for starts to rise sharply," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. "Still, a recovery is under way and means housing will be adding to growth going forward."

The continued stream of relatively better economic data could further temper expectations among some economists that the Federal Reserve could launch a fresh round of bond buying to spur the recovery.

The Fed meets next week and no policy action is expected, although the central bank may signal it will keep overnight rates pressed to zero for longer than had previously been expected.

With inflation showing little signs of life, unemployment too high and Europe's debt troubles still a threat to the economy, analysts say a further Fed easing cannot be ruled out.

INFLATION STILL MUTED

The Consumer Price Index was unchanged in December for a second straight month. Core CPI, which excludes more volatile food and energy costs, inched up 0.1 percent after rising 0.2 percent in November.

"If inflation continues to moderate, it definitely opens the door for additional quantitative easing by the Fed," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester Pennsylvania.

The Fed has already bought $2.3 trillion worth of bonds to keep borrowing costs low and stimulate the economy.

In December, overall inflation was held back by gasoline prices, which fell for a third month in a row. Food prices rose modestly. Overall consumer prices rose 3 percent last year after increasing 3.4 percent in November from a year earlier.

Core consumer prices last month were dampened by new motor vehicle costs, which fell for a third straight month, while used cars and truck prices dropped for the fourth successive month.

Clothing prices slipped, indicating discounting by retailers to attract holiday shoppers. But housing costs held up, reflecting the rising demand for rental apartments as the weak housing market pushes Americans away from home ownership.

In the 12 months to December, core CPI increased 2.2 percent after rising by the same margin in November. That follows a record low of 0.6 percent in October.

The Fed would like to see core inflation at 2 percent or a little less, although the price measure its follows most closely tends to run below the core CPI.

(Additional reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/bs_nm/us_usa_economy

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'Idol's' ratings plunge: Beginning of the end?

At first glance, the numbers look bad: "American Idol's" season premiere was down nearly 5 million viewers from last year's, the biggest season-to-season drop in franchise history.

At second glance, the numbers don't look bad at all: "AI" was Wednesday's dominant show, averaging 21.6 million, per estimates, and scoring a still-huge, if diminished, 7.4 demo rating among 18-to-49-year-olds.

RELATED: So, which singing show makes the most stars?

So, which is it? Is "Idol" over ? or not?

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Let's examine both sides of the argument, starting with ...

'Idol's' back with same winning formula

IT'S OVER
1. "America's Got Talent," "The Voice" and "The X Factor" Have Sapped Its Power: Or tapped out its audience. How many vocal runs can an ear stand? How many talent competitions can a viewer sit down for? "Idol's" success hasn't began imitation, it's begat a lot of imitation, and fatigue is setting in.

2. Nothing Lasts Forever: It happened to "The Cosby Show." It happened to "CSI." It would've happened to "Seinfeld," too, if "Seinfeld" had tried to push its luck into a second decade. No long-running show is No. 1 forever. Numbers-wise, "Idol" has been doing the slow fade since, no lie, Sanjaya Malakar was voted off midway through season six, back in 2007.

Report: Lythgoe vows to pay Seacrest's salary

IT'S NOT OVER
1. It's Not Where You Start, It's Where You Finish: Last year, "Idol" posted its smallest-ever debut (not including season one), and suffered, at the time, its biggest-ever season-to-season drop. But by the time Scotty McCreery was being doused with confetti, the franchise was enjoying its biggest finale in years.

2. It's Not Bragging When It's True: As "Idol's" powers-that-be told TV critics this month, its show is the one show that regularly produces stars who regularly sell music. That's the real X factor, and "AI" has it.

Early 'Idol' favorite has lengthy arrest record

3. It's Not Over 'Til It's Over: Until another show actually beats "American Idol," it's still No. 1. And make no mistake: "Idol" was No. 1 last night. Unless tonight's episode tops it, it'll probably be the week's No. 1 (non-football) show. The bottom line: It's not over; it's No. 1.

PHOTOS: After American Idol--Where Are They Now?

? 2012 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46060360/ns/today-entertainment/

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Pockets of Internet go dark to protest piracy bills (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Some members of the U.S. Congress switched sides to oppose antipiracy legislation as protests blanketed the Internet on Wednesday, turning Wikipedia dark and putting black slashes on Google and other sites as if they had been censored.

Content providers who favor the anti-piracy measures, such as Hollywood and the music industry, were scrambling to win back public opinion and official support.

Wikipedia, the world's free online encyclopedia, shut down for a day. Google and others used the black censorship bars to draw attention to what had until recently been an obscure and technical legislative proposal to curb access to overseas websites that traffic in stolen content or counterfeit goods.

Many of the sites participating in the blackout urged their users to contact their legislators on the issue, a plea that brought quick results.

Several sponsors of the legislation, including Senators Marco Rubio, Roy Blunt and John Boozman, said they were withdrawing their support, and blamed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for not heeding criticisms of the Senate version of the bill.

Meanwhile, friends of the bills stepped up their efforts.

Creative America, a studio- and union-supported group that fights piracy, launched a television advertising campaign that it said would air in the districts of key legislators. In Times Square, it turned on a digital pro-SOPA and PIPA billboard for the day - in space provided by News Corp, which owns Fox Studios.

The group also said it is sending a team of 20 organizers to big events around the country, including the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, to try to get voters to see the situation their way.

The legislation, known as PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House of Representatives, has been a priority for entertainment companies, publishers, pharmaceutical companies and other industry groups who say it is critical to curbing online piracy, which they believe costs them billions of dollars a year.

But Internet players argue the bills would undermine innovation and free speech rights and would compromise the functioning of the Internet.

In switching their positions, Blunt called the legislation "deeply flawed" while Rubio and Boozman cited "unintended consequences" that could stem from the proposed law. All said they still supported taking action against online piracy.

Other lawmakers, such as Senator Kristen Gillibrand, said they supported changes to the legislation.

The blackout affected thousands of sites and served as the culmination of several efforts online to fight the legislation. In recent days, for example, many Twittter users placed black "Stop SOPA" bands on the bottom of their profile pictures.

Even sites that didn't black out their sites, which would have cost them a day's worth of advertising revenue and angered some consumers, made their opposition to the bills plain.

"We can't let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the Internet's development," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.

Zynga issued a blog post complaining that "the overly broad provisions we've seen in the pending SOPA and PIPA bills could be used to target legitimate U.S. sites and chill innovation at a time when it is needed most."

While the Facebook and Zynga sites functioned as normal, others looked jarringly different.

Wikipedia mounted a 24-hour protest starting at midnight by converting their English page to a shadowy black background and warning readers that "the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet."

It included a link to help Internet users contact their representatives.

Craigslist, the free Internet classifieds site, also went black in protest, while Google's home search page included a black bar slapped over its logo and asked readers: "Tell Congress: Please don't censor the web!"

Smaller sites, such as Reddit.com and BoingBoing.net, were also dark, while icanhascheezburger.com placed a banner over its site alerting users to the situation and inviting them to click on a link for more information.

"It's a way of engaging the public in something that had been a very much behind closed doors, kind of business as usual in Washington thing," said Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation, a lobbying watchdog group. "It's a way to get the public aware and alerted to it, and somewhat on their side."

A lunchtime protest in San Francisco drew about 100 protesters, including Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and rapper M.C. Hammer, who called the proposed legislation "barbaric."

But content providers said the protests were long on hype and short on substance, and that reaching voters one-on-one and in person would prove more effective. "We see this as a long battle," said Mike Nugent, executive director of Creative America. He has been sending outreach staff to events like local festivals and movie screenings to get them to call their legislators and enlist their support.

MOMENTUM COOLS

The bills were seemingly on track for approval by Congress, but sentiment has shifted in recent weeks and an implicit veto threat from the White House over the weekend cast doubt on whether the legislation would pass.

Republican Representative Tom Price, head of the House Republican Policy Committee, said in a hallway interview, "I don't think it is going anywhere."

"There is real confusion about it, number one, but number two, there are real concerns about whether or not it would shut down the ability of entrepreneurs, new businesses and the like to utilize the Internet for their purposes," Price said.

When asked about the anti-piracy legislation at a news conference on Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner said lawmakers will continue to try to find support for it, but that it's not there now.

"It's pretty clear to many of us that there is a lack of consensus at this point," Boehner said.

The protest drew some criticism ahead of its launch.

"This publicity stunt does a disservice to its users by promoting fear instead of facts," Lamar Smith, Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a sponsor of SOPA, said in a statement on Tuesday. "Perhaps during the blackout, Internet users can look elsewhere for an accurate definition of online piracy."

Former Senator Chris Dodd, who now chairs the Motion Picture Association of America, labeled the blackout a "gimmick" and called for its supporters to "stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy."

The blackout harkens back to some similar movements on the Internet in recent years, particularly a 2007 protest over online radio royalties. Then, services like Pandora turned off their music for a day. Two years later, the music services and record labels reached an agreement over the payments.

(Reporting by Sarah McBride in San Francisco and Diane Bartz in Washington D.C.; Additional reporting by Jasmin Melvin, Malathi Nayak, Alistair Barr and Thomas Ferraro; Editing by Maureen Bavdek, Tim Dobbyn, Gary Hill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/media_nm/us_internet_protest

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Nanni Moretti to head jury at Cannes Film Fest (AP)

PARIS ? Organizers of the Cannes Film Festival have chosen satirical Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti to head the jury at this year's festival.

The veteran actor and director of 2001 Palme d'Or winner "The Son's Room" will head the jury for the May 16-27 festival on the French Riviera.

Festival organizers said Friday that Moretti's films "are the incarnation of all the best in cinema over the past thirty years."

Moretti, 58, directed and acted in last year's Palme contender "Habemus Papam" ? Latin for "We Have a Pope" ? a surprisingly gentle comedy about a cardinal who suffers stage fright when he is chosen as the next pontiff.

Robert De Niro headed last year's nine-member jury, which chose Terrence Malick's drama "The Tree of Life" for the festival's top honor.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_en_mo/eu_cannes_film_festival

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