The glory days when Eastman Kodak Co. ruled the world of film photography lasted for over a century. Then came a stunning reversal of fortune: cutthroat competition from Japanese firms in the 1980s and a seismic shift to the digital technology it pioneered but couldn't capitalize on. Now comes a wistful worry that this icon of American business is edging toward extinction.

Bad science papers can have lasting effects. Consider the 1998 paper in the journal the Lancet that linked autism to the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. That paper was fully retracted in 2010 upon evidence that senior author Andrew Wakefield had manipulated data and breached several proper ethical codes of conduct.

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Asia's oldest hotel chain has waded into the debate on the slaughter of sharks for their fins by taking the Chinese delicacy off its menus.
From January, diners won't be offered shark's fin products at the luxury Peninsula Hotels chain, due to a decision by its owners, the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels group.
"By removing shark fin from our menus, we hope that our decision can contribute to preserving the marine ecosystem for the world's future generations," the group's chief executive officer Clement Kwok announced in a brief press statement.

A federal court has refused to dismiss David LaChapelle's copyright claim against pop singer Rihanna over a music video with scenes allegedly copied from several of LaChapelle's images. The ruling, by the US District Court in New York City, means the photographer's claim can now go to trial.

LaChapelle filed suit in February, alleging that some scenes from the video for Rihanna's hit single called "S&M" are rip-offs of sadomasochistic images he has created and published over the years. According to LaChapelle's claim, Rihanna asked various directors to create a "LaChapelle-esque video" for "S&M," and provided a story board for the video actually included prints of some of LaChapelle's photographs.

In its pre-trial ruling, the court ruled that LaChapelle made a plausible claim for infringement because the video appeared to copy protectable elements of his images, according to the judge. (Protectable elements exclude the idea and subject matter, but include factors that contribute to the originality or expression of the subject: sets, wardrobe, lighting, camera angle, mood, etc.)

IS THE tide turning against shark’s fin soup? Conservationists certainly hope so. On September 22nd in Shanghai WildAid, a charity, launched a campaign to persuade Chinese people to give up eating the delicacy. Celebrity support for the bid was provided by Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball star, and Sir Richard Branson, a British business star. In California, meanwhile, a ban on the sale, trade and possession of sharks’ fins has been passed by the state senate, and awaits only the governor’s signature to become law.

When infidelity hit Tiger Woods two years ago, sponsors couldn't run away faster from the once endorsement king. He lost Gatorade, Gillette, Tag Heuer, Buick and Accenture, and the only thing we've seen Tiger pushing lately besides Nike is a Japanese pain rub, but that's all changed with the latest announcement that Rolex is back with Tiger after parting ways in 2002, a partnership that started in 1997 when Woods turned professional.

Bath salts and synthetic marijuana -- two popular designer drugs, formerly available at a head shop near you -- are already illegal under both federal and Washington state law. The state's ban, however, was a "temporary emergency" measure enacted in April. But today, the Board of Pharmacy moved to not only permanently outlaw the substances and their active ingredients, but also a broad swath of related chemicals that, in some instances, haven't even been invented yet.

On the afternoon of April 22, Army medic and two-tour Iraq veteran David "Doc" Stewart gunned down his girlfriend Kristy Sampels and fatally shot himself on I-5 just south of Tumwater after a state trooper pulled him over for speeding after a lengthy chase. Hours earlier, Stewart's 5-year-old son Jordan was asphyxiated with a plastic bag over his head at the family's home in Spanaway. Investigators discovered a jar of Lady Bubbles "bath salts," a powerful stimulant chemically similar to methamphetamine and snorted like cocaine, in Stewart's pocket. Yesterday, toxicology results from the Thurston County Coroner confirmed that both Stewart and Sampels were high on the drug at the time of their deaths.

A former federal cop assigned to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia admitted stealing $2.4 million in "error" coins.

William Gray, 64, of North Wildwood, N.J., admitted in federal court that he took the $1 presidential coins, all missing edge lettering, and sold them to a California coin dealer. Gray pleaded guilty to theft of government property and income tax evasion, said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

 

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (KTLA) -- "Austin Powers" actor and former mixed martial arts fighter Joseph Hyungmin Son was convicted Thursday of torture in the Christmas Eve gang rape of an Orange County woman.

Son, 40, was arrested Oct. 7, 2008 on charges related the 1990 incident.

He was already in custody for an unrelated vandalism charge and was linked to the 1990 crime when he gave a DNA sample to authorities following a probation violation.

Here's a photo I took of my dive buddy, Josh Smith, on the wreck of the Capilano - sunken off of the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. A group of close friends and I had a fantastic time diving three stunning wrecks in the emerald waters of British Columbia during this particular excursion. After the trip, John Rawlings and I collaborated on a story about those shipwrecks. He primarily focused on the history of each wreck and I provided a narrative of our dives and the present-day condition of the wrecks, doing our best to connect the past with the present. We both contributed photos. Here's a link to the full article: Diving the Shipwrecks of Vancouver Island, Canada.

a projected $1 billion national program dubbed Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques — kicks off today at Logan International Airport and will be put to use in Terminal A on Aug. 15. It requires screeners to make quick reads of whether passengers pose a danger or a terror threat based on their reactions to a set of routine questions.

But security experts wonder whether Transportation Safety Administration agents are up to the challenge after an embarrassing string of blunders — including patting down a 95-year-old grandmother in Florida and making her remove her adult diaper and frisking a 3-year-old girl who screamed “stop touching me” at a checkpoint in Tennessee.

It’s the story of an America that has transferred its allegiance to spectacle, to pseudo-events, that no longer can determine what is real and what is illusion, that confuses how they’re made to feel with knowledge, that confuses propaganda with ideology, and that’s exceedingly dangerous. All totalitarian societies are image-based societies, and that’s what our society has become.

 

SHANGHAI — China, the largest foreign holder of United States debt, said Saturday that Washington needed to “cure its addiction to debts” and “live within its means,” just hours after the rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded America’s long-term debt.

Beijing called on Washington to make substantial cuts to its “gigantic military expenditure” and its “bloated social welfare” programs.

Many investors are on edge about the market’s reaction to a possible downgrade in US Treasury bond ratings if the near-term debt ceiling isn’t raised. Our view is that a deal will eventually be struck to keep the US from defaulting on its obligations.
But while the US political system may resolve the near-term fiscal crisis, it seems unable to address the long-term structural issues behind it. Rating agencies have put the US on notice that those issues could lead to a Treasury downgrade, regardless of whether the debt ceiling is raised. What would happen if US Treasury ratings were downgraded?