A difficult start for new San Francisco sheriff

This image provided by the San Francisco Police Department Jan. 13, 2012 shows the booking mugshot of San Francisco's newly sworn-in sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. Mirkarimi faces one count each of domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness, related to a New Year's Eve incident with his wife, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said. (AP Photo/San Francisco Police Department)

This image provided by the San Francisco Police Department Jan. 13, 2012 shows the booking mugshot of San Francisco's newly sworn-in sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. Mirkarimi faces one count each of domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness, related to a New Year's Eve incident with his wife, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said. (AP Photo/San Francisco Police Department)

San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, right, and his wife Eliana Lopez walk away after speaking to reporters at City Hall in San Francisco, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. A prosecutor says he has charged San Francisco's newly sworn-in sheriff with misdemeanors, including domestic violence, related to a New Year's Eve incident with his wife. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Ross Mirkarimi, San Francisco's first new sheriff in more than three decades, called his swearing in last Sunday "one of the happiest days of my life."

Not a week later, the popular progressive politician undoubtedly had one of his worst, ending with a mug shot.

Mirkarimi was charged Friday with battering his wife, booked by the very sheriff's deputies he now commands. And if convicted on the misdemeanor charges, he faces the distinction of becoming the only sheriff in California prohibited from carrying a gun. He also would be required to attend domestic violence classes, pay a $400 fine and could be put on probation for up to three years or sent to jail for up to a year

The district attorney's office charged him with domestic battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness ? charges he disputes.

"No one is above the law," District Attorney George Gascon told reporters after announcing the charges. "Whether this was the elected sheriff or any other San Francisco resident, this type of behavior is inexcusable, criminal, and will be prosecuted."

The investigation centers on a New Year's Eve incident in which Mirkarimi, 50, allegedly grabbed his wife, former Venezuelan telenovela star Eliana Lopez, bruising her upper right arm at their San Francisco home.

The sheriff's stormy first week in office followed a steady political rise, San Francisco style.

Mirkarimi, a member of the Board of Supervisors since 2004, won a close election in November to replace longtime progressive Sheriff Michael Hennessey. He was not backed by the deputies' union, but his name recognition and liberal politics helped him win the seat.

The Chicago-born son of an Iranian father, Mirkarimi has called San Francisco home for 27 years. He has master's degrees from Golden Gate University in Economics and the University of San Francisco in environmental science. He graduated from San Francisco's Police Academy and served nine years as an armed DA investigator.

As a county supervisor, representing a district that includes the Haight-Ashbury, Mirkarimi led the nation's first ban on plastic bags in grocery stores.

An advocate of legalizing medicinal marijuana, he was co-founder of the California Green Party and was the state coordinator for Ralph Nader's presidential bid in 2000. He became a Democrat a couple of years ago.

After the alleged domestic violence incident on Dec. 31, Mirkarimi's wife turned to a neighbor, who later contacted police. Authorities confiscated video the neighbor had taken of Lopez's arm and text messages between the two women.

Lopez later said in a written statement that the episode was "completely taken out of context." Mirkarimi, moments after he was sworn in, called the incident "a private matter, a family matter."

But on Friday, the somber sheriff appeared outside his City Hall office, telling gathered reporters that he would fight the charges and would not resign. "The charges are very unfounded," he said calmly.

Lopez, by his side, appeared dazed by the turn of events. "I don't have any complaint against my husband," she said. "This is unbelievable."

San Francisco is no stranger to political drama, even criminal charges being filed against high ranking law enforcement officials. In the "Fajita-gate" scandal of 2002, a late-night brawl by off-duty officers over fajitas led to the indictment of the police chief and his command staff on obstruction charges later found to be baseless.

"San Francisco is not Peoria; it's got a lot of colorful and checkered officials," said Peter Keane, a law professor at Golden Gate University. "You have supervisors who assassinate mayors. It's unfortunately part of the landscape."

The city is still scarred by the 1978 murders of supervisor and gay rights activist Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone by supervisor Dan White, who only served five years in prison then went on to commit suicide.

After his swearing in last Sunday, Mirkarimi said he would focus on the rehabilitation of inmates. "I do believe in the power of redemption," he told the Herbst Theater audience.

Noticeably absent from the ceremony were Mayor Ed Lee, Gascon and Police Chief Greg Suhr, whose officers were investigating the sheriff.

Lee has the authority to charge Mirkarimi with official misconduct and suspend him from office, according to John St. Croix, executive director of the city's Ethics Commission. After a hearing, the commission would make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors about whether to reinstate him or permanently remove him from office.

"As elected officials, our primary responsibility and focus must always be to fulfill our duties to the people of San Francisco," Lee said Friday, noting that he would look at the facts and his options under the City Charter.

Gascon must believe he has a strong case going forward, said Robert Weisberg, a law professor at Stanford University.

"It may be hard for (Mirkarimi) to stay in office if this case goes to trial," said Weisberg, the director of Stanford's Criminal Justice Center. "You've got to assume that the police and the DA's office are being incredibly careful about this and really vetted this before going through. This just has great significance and sensitivity. These are not frivolous charges."

Mirkarimi's comments about the matter being private have added fuel to the controversy, which saw another odd twist when Lopez was photographed in the background of a City Hall rally on Thursday by the domestic violence groups protesting against her husband.

Lopez told a reporter she was just observing the rally as she was headed into the building to see her husband.

The women's rights advocates want Mirkarimi to step aside while the case is ongoing, and to resign if found guilty.

"It's like the fox guarding the henhouse," said Minouche Kendel, an attorney with Bay Area Legal Aid. "The sheriff should not be putting his political career over the safety of domestic violence survivors and their children in this city."

Associated Press

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With time, money running out, SC often turns nasty (AP)

COLUMBIA, S.C. ? In mailboxes across South Carolina in 2007, likely Republican voters received a Christmas card signed by "The Romney Family" with a quotation from a 19th century Mormon leader suggesting God had several wives.

Mitt Romney's campaign, just a few weeks away from the 2008 presidential primary in a state where evangelicals look skeptically on the former Massachusetts governor's Mormon faith, condemned the bogus card as politics at its worst. The sender never took credit. And it was just another anonymous shot in the endless volleys of nasty campaigning in South Carolina.

While attack politics happen in every state, South Carolina's reputation for electoral mudslinging and bare-knuckled brawling is well-earned.

Why there? Largely because of the high stakes. South Carolina has always picked the GOP's eventual nominee since the primary's inception in 1980. And money, nerves and time are usually running out for almost everyone but the front-runner after Iowa and New Hampshire, often leading challengers to go for the jugular.

"The ghost of Lee Atwater hangs over South Carolina like a morning fog and permeates every part of the state's politics," says Scott Huffmon, a Winthrop University political science professor. Atwater, who died 20 years ago, was South Carolina's most famous political operative and a master of slash-and-burn politics.

Given the dynamics of this year's Republican presidential race, it's safe to expect under-the-radar attacks over the next week as challengers work to derail front-runner Romney before the Jan. 21 primary. The rise of super PACs ? outside groups aligned with but independent from the candidates ? means some of the attacks could be more public this time, but still nasty.

"You've got four guys that are make or break,' said Warren Tompkins, a veteran South Carolina political consultant advising Romney. "Desperate men do desperate things."

Romney says he's ready for whatever comes his way.

"Politics ain't beanbags, and I know it's going to get tough," the GOP front-runner said as he headed south after his New Hampshire victory. "But I know that is sometimes part of the underbelly of politics."

The lore of negative attacks here includes a whisper campaign against Republican John McCain in 2000 that included rumors that the daughter his family adopted from Bangladesh was the Arizona senator's illegitimate black child.

Those were desperate times for George W. Bush's campaign. McCain had just stunned the establishment's choice with a blowout win in New Hampshire, and Bush had just 18 days to turn the momentum around in South Carolina. Publicly, Bush took a few shots at McCain, but mostly stressed he was the true conservative. But plenty of ugliness was happening behind the scenes.

People who attended rallies or debates found flyers on their car windshields with the accusations about McCain's daughter and raising questions about his mental stability. Callers, pretending to be pollsters, would ask loaded questions of voters about whether they could support a man who had homosexual experiences or a Vietnam hero who was really was a traitor. The sponsors of the false attacks were careful to leave no trail.

Alone, none of the charges was all that believable. But their combined weight dragged McCain down.

How careful were the folks attacking McCain? Exit polls after Bush won the 2000 primary with 53 percent of the vote found that nearly half of South Carolina voters felt that McCain had made unfair attacks, compared to only about a third who felt Bush was unfair.

McCain learned a lesson, and in 2008 responded quickly to almost every negative attack, winning the state's primary.

That was the same year that the bogus Mormon holiday card was sent to GOP activists and that the web site PhonyFred.org sprang up during the GOP primary to anonymously attack Republican candidate Fred Thompson. There also were automated phone calls raising doubts about one candidate or another. And, of course, whisper campaigns crop up every four years.

South Carolina's Democratic primary didn't begin until 1992, and doesn't have the same must-win reputation as does the GOP primary, but it does still tend to get nasty. In 2008, former president Bill Clinton spent several days in the state campaigning for his wife and making the point that Barack Obama was unelectable in part because of his race. Even as an Obama win in the primary seemed inevitable, Clinton kept reminding reporters that Jesse Jackson won the state caucuses in 1984 and 1988 and went nowhere.

Below-the-belt political attacks have a long tradition in the state, curried by political operatives like Atwater who during the 1980s essentially built the Republican Party from scratch in South Carolina.

In 1980, Texas Gov. John Connally was strongly challenging Ronald Reagan, who had won the New Hampshire primary, when there were anonymous charges that Connally was "trying to buy the black vote." Reagan won the state and the nomination. Later, it leaked out that Atwater was behind the racial accusations against Connally.

The rough-and-tumble politics go even further back.

Opponents of South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, who served from 1954 to 2003, sometimes challenged him to fistfights after speeches early in his career because his attacks were so personal. The only assault ever to happen on the floor of the U.S. Senate occurred in 1856 when South Carolina Rep. Preston Brooks beat Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane so severely it took Sumner three years to recover. The beating happened after Sumner gave a speech condemning slavery in the years before the Civil War.

To be sure, negative attacks don't always work.

Just two years ago in the GOP's gubernatorial primary, Nikki Haley survived allegations she had an extramarital affair and won the race. The now-governor's accuser presented cellphone records that showed they enjoyed late-night chats but no proof they had an intimate relationship.

Of course, in the world of dirty South Carolina politics, there's a conspiracy theory: Some observers suggest the allegations were planted to get Haley sympathy and make her look stronger as she fought back.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_el_pr/us_nasty_politics_south_carolina

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The Simpsons Are Already Making Fun of Steve Jobs [Video]

You probably missed this among the CES clusterfuck: the Simpsons made fun of Steve Jobs on this week's episode, titled Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson. As Homer is being interviewed on TV, "Steve Jobs unveils iGhost" crawls across the news ticker. More »

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UN chief urges Hezbollah disarmament (AP)

BEIRUT ? The U.N. Secretary General says he is "deeply concerned" about the military capacity of the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group and lack of progress in its disarmament.

Ban Ki-moon says the presence of any weapons outside Lebanese state authority is "not acceptable."

The U.N. chief was speaking at a press conference in Beirut where he arrived Friday.

He urged Lebanese officials to resume a national dialogue to discuss the Iranian-backed group's weapons that are outside government control.

Hezbollah's weapons are a contentious issue in Lebanon. The group says it needs to maintain its powerful arsenal to ward off any threat from Israel but the weapons also make it the most potent military force in Lebanon ? stronger than even the national army.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_lebanon_un

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Horror flick "Devil" surprises with $34.5 million (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Low-budget horror movie "The Devil Inside" scared up a surprisingly strong $34.5 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales to take possession of the weekend box office crown, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.

The better-than-expected performance for "Devil," coming despite terrible reviews and poor reactions from some filmgoers, knocked Tom Cruise's two-time champion "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" to second place. Both movies were distributed by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.

Critics blasted "Devil," with just 7 percent of reviews coming in positive on aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Filmgoers were sharply divided. Polling from audience survey firm CinemaScore showed 16 percent gave the movie an "A," while 19 percent awarded it an "F." Two-thirds rated the film a C or below.

Still, the movie blew past Paramount's projections for modest weekend sales of around $8 million and other industry forecasts of $20 million-plus. The studio acquired the film for just $1 million and described the movie as "polarizing" audiences.

"As many people loved it as were disturbed by it," said Don Harris, president of domestic distribution for Paramount. He credited the huge opening-weekend take to a marketing strategy similar to the studio's push for its blockbuster, low-budget "Paranormal Activity" franchise.

"The marketing campaign was very much like 'Paranormal.' It was online, trying to find the younger moviegoer, the fans for this genre," he said.

"Devil" tells the story of a woman who investigates her mother's exorcisms. Indeed, the movie appealed to a younger crowd, with 59 percent of filmgoers under age 25, Paramount said. Fifty-four percent of the audience were males.

With "Paranormal Activity," the third movie in the series hit theaters last fall and has pulled in a whopping $203 million globally on a $5 million production budget. The studio just announced a fourth "Paranormal" film for this fall.

Meanwhile, Paramount is basking in the success of Cruise's fourth "Mission: Impossible" movie, which led domestic box-office charts the past two weekends. This weekend, "MI4" took in $20.5 million at domestic theaters. It has racked up $458.1 million around the globe since debuting last month.

"Devil" was the only new movie released nationwide over the weekend as January is typically a slow period for movie-going. The horror flick's appeal helped boost the weekend 29 percent over the same period last year, according to the box office division of Hollywood.com. Sales for all movies in North America (United States and Canada) totaled $144 million.

In third place for the weekend, detective sequel "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" collected $14.1 million at domestics theaters.

Rounding out the top five domestically were adult thriller "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and family film sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked." "Dragon Tattoo" ended the weekend with $11.3 million while "Chipwrecked" pulled in $9.5 million.

Time Warner Inc unit Warner Bros. released "Sherlock Holmes." Sony Corp's movie studio distributed "Dragon Tattoo." News Corp unit 20th Century Fox released "Chipwrecked."

(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; Editing by Eric Beech and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120108/film_nm/us_boxoffice

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Tebow rules in OT, too: Broncos 29, Steelers 23 (AP)

DENVER ? Tim Tebow finally flexed his left arm and found one more fantastic finish up his sleeve.

After Ben Roethlisberger rallied the Pittsburgh Steelers from a two-touchdown deficit, the Denver Broncos won the overtime coin toss, and on first down, Tebow tucked the ball in Willis McGahee's belly like he'd done all afternoon.

The linebackers and safety Troy Polamalu all bit on the play-action fake, and Tebow hit wide receiver Demaryius Thomas for an electrifying 80-yard touchdown that stunned the Steelers 29-23 in the AFC wild-card game Sunday.

Thomas reached high to haul in Tebow's pass, stiff-armed cornerback Ike Thomas and outraced backup safety Ryan Mundy to the end zone for Denver's first playoff win in six years.

In 11 seconds ? the shortest overtime in NFL history ? Tebow showed he could be a conventional QB. It was also the longest overtime touchdown in playoff history.

"Case closed," McGahee said. "They say he couldn't throw. They said we wouldn't be able to run the ball on them. We did that. I wonder what they're going to say next week."

The Broncos (9-8) will face the top-seeded New England Patriots (13-3) on Saturday night.

Tom Brady and the Patriots walloped the Broncos 41-23 last month, sending Tebow into a funk that included seven turnovers and a 40 percent completion clip ? and prompting Broncos boss John Elway to implore him to "pull the trigger" in the playoffs.

Did he ever.

Tebow threw for a season-high 316 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 50 yards and another score while slicing up the league's top defense ? which was missing its top tackler, Ryan Clark, held out because of a blood condition that's exacerbated at altitude.

As Thomas sped down Denver's sideline, several teammates and coaches were tagging along and would mob him in the end zone. Elway thrust his hands into the air like he used to when he was the one engineering all these Broncos comebacks.

Tebow, too, chased down Thomas and knelt on one knee ? Tebowing as it's known ? in the end zone. Then he pounded a fist in triumph and took a victory lap after his fourth overtime win this season.

"When I saw him scoring, first of all, I just thought, `Thank you, Lord,'" Tebow said. "Then, I was running pretty fast, chasing him ? like I can catch up to D.T! Then I just jumped into the stands, first time I've done that. That was fun."

Unlike Elway, who lost his first postseason start ? to the Steelers at home in 1984 ? Tebow is 1-0 in the playoffs.

The Steelers (12-5) lost despite a gimpy Roethlisberger rallying injury-depleted Pittsburgh from a two-touchdown halftime deficit with 10 points in the final 10 minutes.

He also drove the Steelers into Broncos territory in the final minute, but three sacks and a fumble kept them from getting in field goal range, and Roethlisberger never got to touch the ball in overtime.

"We were moving it and we had a shot," Roethlisberger said. "Someone got, it felt like a finger, on the ball and knocked it out. After that, you're trying to throw a 70-yard Hail Mary and that's hard."

Thomas also had receptions of 51 and 58 yards to set up second-quarter touchdowns after Tebow lost his top target, Eric Decker, to a seriously injured left knee, in the first half, as the Broncos built a 20-6 halftime lead on the heavily favored but banged-up Steelers.

"They were the No. 1 defense and we are the No. 1 offense running the ball," Thomas said. "So, I feel like they wanted to make a statement and stop the run. I don't know if they forgot about the passing game. The last couple of games that we had, we were not passing the ball that great."

Tebow's passer rating of 125.6 was the highest in Broncos postseason history. He completed 10 of 21 passes and Thomas hauled in four of them for 204 yards ? after no receiver had a 100-yard game on the Steelers all season.

"It's amazing because I haven't played explosive like I did in college in a long time," Thomas said.

These two teams had played the first ever regular-season overtime game on Sept. 22, 1974, in Denver. Now, they played the first non-sudden death playoff game in history. The new rules called for both teams to get the ball in the extra period providing there wasn't a touchdown by either the offense or defense.

Tebow took care of that in a hurry.

Making his first appearance in the playoffs after going 7-4 as Denver's starter, Tebow outplayed Roethlisberger, a two-time Super Bowl winner playing on a bad ankle, who fell to 10-4 in the playoffs.

Roethlisberger was 22 for 40 for 289 yards with one TD, one interception and five sacks. Tebow wasn't picked off or sacked by the league's top defense.

The Broncos gained just 8 yards in the first quarter as Tebow looked like he did in ugly losses to the Patriots, Bills and Chiefs to close the season.

Then, he hit Thomas with his first big gain, setting up a 30-yard TD toss to Eddie Royal that put the Broncos ahead 7-6 and energized Denver, which took a 20-6 lead into the locker room.

The Broncos snapped a three-game losing streak that had many wondering if Tebow's time was up and if Denver was even worthy of its first trip to the playoffs in six seasons.

"One of the great things about our team is we're a team that constantly believes," Tebow said.

Notes: This was the Broncos' second playoff win since Elway retired following his second straight Super Bowl triumph in 1999, and their first since Jan. 14, 2006, when they handed Tom Brady his first playoff loss. The Broncos lost to the Steelers the following week. ... This was the first OT playoff game since the Saints beat the Vikings 31-28 in the NFC championship on Jan. 24, 2010. ... Broncos coach John Fox was the coach in Carolina when Steve Smith set the previous record for the longest overtime TD, a 69-yarder from Jake Delhomme to beat St. Louis 29-23 on the first play of the second overtime on Jan. 10, 2004.

___

Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

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Just how strong is Gorilla Glass 2 you ask? See for yourself...

We know you want to see just how strong the new Gorilla Glass 2 is, not just hear about the fanciness of it. Lucky for you, the folks at Corning took to the stage at CES today to show off just how strong the product is, and we've got it all on camera. Check it out and see how well the new Gorilla Glass 2 holds up in our video above.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/JPqTINuTW7s/story01.htm

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