Animated 'Delgo' Has Worst Wide Release Opening Ever

Don't feel too left out if you missed seeing the animated adventure
movie "Delgo" this past weekend. No one did. In fact, the movie broke
a record for having the worst opening ever for a film in wide release.
"Delgo" earned a measly $511,920 this weekend on 2,160 screens, not
even breaking the top ten. That's an average of $237 per screen for
the three days. If you figure there were five screenings a day, and
assume ticket prices are about $8, that comes out to two people in the
theater per showing. By comparison, the Golden Globe-nominated drama
"Doubt" earned roughly the same amount of money, but it was only in 15
theaters.

This is all too bad because the story of the making of "Delgo" has the
makings of a great Hollywood underdog story. 36-year-old entrepreneur
Marc Adler decided he wanted to direct and produce a $40 million
computer animated kids' flick completely independent of Tinseltown
behemoths like Disney and Dreamworks.

Starting in 2001, Adler and his small Atlanta-based animation company
Fathom Studios toiled for years on a tight budget. They lined up an
impressive, if eclectic, cast of voice actors including Freddie Prinze
Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Val Kilmer, Malcolm McDowell, Kelly Ripa,
and Anne Bancroft in her final role (she died in 2005). And when Adler
couldn't get a Hollywood studio interested in his movie, he raised
eyebrows by releasing it himself through distributor-for-hire
Freestyle Releasing. It was a huge risk; one that ultimately didn't
pay off. There wasn't the sort of marketing budget needed to make a
film stand out in the already crowded holiday movie season.

Another problem was the quality of the movie. Or lack thereof. The
story -- star-crossed lovers squaring off against an evil queen on a
fanciful world divided between a reptilian people who can move rocks
with their minds and a sprite-like folk who like dragons -- borrows
liberally from "Star Wars," "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Dark
Crystal," just without the charm and intelligence. The script required
the efforts of six, count 'em, six screenwriters, including Adler. The
critics trashed it, giving it a dreadful D average on Yahoo!, which
proved to be lethal.

"Delgo" is not the only major wide release bomb of the year. Three of
the ten worst openings for films in over 2000 locations came out this
year. The raunchy teen sex comedy "College" and the thriller
"Deception," starring Hugh Jackson and Ewan MacGregor, both tanked,
garnering the sixth and ninth worst openings ever respectively. In
both of those cases, the studios dumped the movies with little fanfare
rather than spend millions on marketing a stinker.

Bush sneaks through host of laws to undermine Obama

After spending eight years at the helm of one of the most
ideologically driven administrations in American history, George W.
Bush is ending his presidency in characteristically aggressive
fashion, with a swath of controversial measures designed to reward
supporters and enrage opponents.

By the time he vacates the White House, he will have issued a record
number of so-called 'midnight regulations' - so called because of the
stealthy way they appear on the rule books - to undermine the
administration of Barack Obama, many of which could take years to
undo.

Dozens of new rules have already been introduced which critics say
will diminish worker safety, pollute the environment, promote gun use
and curtail abortion rights. Many rules promote the interests of large
industries, such as coal mining or energy, which have energetically
supported Bush during his two terms as president. More are expected
this week.

America's attention is focused on the fate of the beleaguered car
industry, still seeking backing in Washington for a
multi-billion-dollar bail-out. But behind the scenes, the 'midnight'
rules are being rushed through with little fanfare and minimal media
attention. None of them would be likely to appeal to the incoming
Obama team.

The regulations cover a vast policy area, ranging from healthcare to
car safety to civil liberties. Many are focused on the environment and
seek to ease regulations that limit pollution or restrict harmful
industrial practices, such as dumping strip-mining waste.

The Bush moves have outraged many watchdog groups. 'The regulations we
have seen so far have been pretty bad,' said Matt Madia, a regulatory
policy analyst at OMB Watch. 'The effects of all this are going to be
severe.'

Bush can pass the rules because of a loophole in US law allowing him
to put last-minute regulations into the Code of Federal Regulations,
rules that have the same force as law. He can carry out many of his
political aims without needing to force new laws through Congress.
Outgoing presidents often use the loophole in their last weeks in
office, but Bush has done this far more than Bill Clinton or his
father, George Bush sr. He is on track to issue more 'midnight
regulations' than any other previous president.

Many of these are radical and appear to pay off big business allies of
the Republican party. One rule will make it easier for coal companies
to dump debris from strip mining into valleys and streams. The process
is part of an environmentally damaging technique known as
'mountain-top removal mining'. It involves literally removing the top
of a mountain to excavate a coal seam and pouring the debris into a
valley, which is then filled up with rock. The new rule will make that
dumping easier.

Another midnight regulation will allow power companies to build
coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks. Yet another
regulation will allow coal-fired stations to increase their emissions
without installing new anti-pollution equipment.

The Environmental Defence Fund has called the moves a 'fire sale of
epic size for coal'. Other environmental groups agree. 'The only
motivation for some of these rules is to benefit the business
interests that the Bush administration has served,' said Ed Hopkins, a
director of environmental quality at the Sierra Club. A case in point
would seem to be a rule that opens up millions of acres of land to oil
shale extraction, which environmental groups say is highly pollutant.

There is a long list of other new regulations that have gone onto the
books. One lengthens the number of hours that truck drivers can drive
without rest. Another surrenders government control of rerouting the
rail transport of hazardous materials around densely populated areas
and gives it to the rail companies.

One more chips away at the protection of endangered species. Gun
control is also weakened by allowing loaded and concealed guns to be
carried in national parks. Abortion rights are hit by allowing
healthcare workers to cite religious or moral grounds for opting out
of carrying out certain medical procedures.

A common theme is shifting regulation of industry from government to
the industries themselves, essentially promoting self-regulation. One
rule transfers assessment of the impact of ocean-fishing away from
federal inspectors to advisory groups linked to the fishing industry.
Another allows factory farms to self-regulate disposal of pollutant
run-off.

The White House denies it is sabotaging the new administration. It
says many of the moves have been openly flagged for months. The spate
of rules is going to be hard for Obama to quickly overcome. By issuing
them early in the 'lame duck' period of office, the Bush
administration has mostly dodged 30- or 60-day time limits that would
have made undoing them relatively straightforward.

Obama's team will have to go through a more lengthy process of
reversing them, as it is forced to open them to a period of public
consulting. That means that undoing the damage could take months or
even years, especially if corporations go to the courts to prevent
changes.

At the same time, the Obama team will have a huge agenda on its plate
as it inherits the economic crisis. Nevertheless, anti-midnight
regulation groups are lobbying Obama's transition team to make sure
Bush's new rules are changed as soon as possible. 'They are aware of
this. The transition team has a list of things they want to undo,'
said Madia.

Gas Price Decline Over!

An honour guard stands next to an OPEC poster before the arrival of
Algeria's president Abdelaziz … Crude prices sank again Monday ahead
of an OPEC meeting where huge production cuts are expected, though
retail gasoline prices rose over the weekend for the first time in
nearly three months.

After hitting a low of $1.6559 gallon Friday, gas prices rose over the
weekend to break an 86-day streak begun in July after prices topped
$4.11 per gallon, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

With average wholesale costs rising 20 cents per gallon or more since
late November, "there's a sense that the Autumn low of $1.6559 gal may
indeed represent the 2008 low water mark for street prices," OPIS
analyst Tom Kloza said in a note.

Light, sweet crude for January on the New York Mercantile Exchange
peaked briefly above $50 a barrel early Monday, but then fell $1.77 to
settle at $44.51 with more dour economic news from both Asia and the
United States.

Investors were looking at more signals of deteriorating demand, rather
than at any OPEC action to cut supply, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at
Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.

"They really can't surprise the market," he said of OPEC. "When we
trade commodities, we have the tendency to buy the rumor and sell the
fact, and of course right now we've done a pretty good job in pricing
in the OPEC rumors."

On Monday, Toyota said it would indefinitely delay a new assembly
plant in Mississippi due to auto industry downturn.

Growth in China's factory output fell to its lowest level in nearly
seven years as trade plunged.

In London, January Brent crude fell $1.81 to settle at $44.60.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for
40 percent of global supply, has signaled it plans to announce a
substantial reduction of output quotas at its meeting Wednesday in
Algeria.

But in a hint of what could come out of the ministers' gathering, OPEC
President Chakib Khelil evoked OPEC's last Algeria meeting four years
ago, where "we reduced by 2 million barrels."

"It was a historic conference, and it enabled us to meet the challenge
of falling markets," he told reporters.

Kuwaiti oil minister Mohammed al-Eleim said Monday that OPEC was
"undoubtedly inclined" to cut production. But he added that any
decision would balance the need for a cut with its impact on the
ailing world economy and producer nations' need for revenue to fund
development projects.

Analysts have questioned whether OPEC members will follow through with
any announced cut.

"They're talking about a severe cut, but the question is their
discipline," said Christoffer Moltke-Leth, head of sales trading at
investment firm Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. "Unless they really
surprise the market, this cut may not support the price much."

Flynn said oil has also been affected by falling equity markets.

"You can talk about OPEC cutting production, but if the economy goes
into the tank there's not going to be nobody left to buy their oil
anyway," he said.

Oil has jumped from a four-year low earlier this month of $40.50 a
barrel on expectations that an OPEC output reduction could be the
catalyst to stabilize the oil price, which has fallen 65 percent since
July.

Investors largely ignored two previous cuts this year that pulled a
total of about 2 million barrels of oil from the market each day,
focusing instead on a slowing global economy that's hurt crude demand.

More bad macro-economic and company news from the U.S. and Europe over
the coming weeks will likely push oil prices lower, Moltke-Leth said.

"I expect crude to continue its slide and I don't think OPEC is going
to prevent that," Moltke-Leth said. "Demand destruction in the major
economies will still very much be on the agenda. We could go as low as
$30 a barrel."

From Sunday to Monday, the national average for regular gas fell
three-tenths of a penny overnight to $1.66 a gallon, according to auto
club AAA, the OPIS and Wright Express.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures fell 4 cents to settle at
$1.0369. Heating oil fell 3.3 cents to settle at $1.4601 a gallon
while natural gas for January delivery rose 15.7 cents to settle at
$5.645 per 1,000 cubic feet.

McCain declines to back Palin for 2012

John McCain pointedly refused to say Sunday that he would back former
running mate Sarah Palin if she runs for president in 2012, saying
there are plenty of other good people in the Republican Party to
consider.

"Oh, no," McCain said on ABC's This Week program when asked if Palin
could count on McCain's support if she seeks the Republican
presidential nomination.

"Listen, I have the greatest appreciation for Governor Palin and her
family, and it was a great joy to know them. She invigorated our
campaign. She was just down in Georgia and invigorated their campaign.

"But I can't say something like that. We've got some great other young
governors. I think you're going to see the governors assume a greater
leadership role in our Republican Party."

As examples, he mentioned Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Utah Gov.
Jon Huntsman.

Pressed by moderator George Stephanopoulos, McCain joked that it's
still early to expect him to take sides so soon after losing his own
campaign.

"My corpse is still warm, you know?" he said.

Girl asks Santa to stop her relative's molestation

A 55-year-old Pharr resident was arrested after a young relative wrote
a letter to Santa Claus wishing that the man would stop molesting her.

The 9-year-old girl wrote the letter and turned it in at Cesar Chavez
Elementary School.

A counselor at the school "reported that the student had turned in a
wish list to Santa wishing for her (relative) to stop touching her and
her sister," according to a probable cause complaint.

Pharr police investigators believe Andres Enrique Cantu molested the
girl throughout a four-year period, according to the complaint.

The Monitor is not disclosing Cantu's relationship to the victim to
protect her identity.

The years of sexual abuse allegedly occurred in the girl's own bedroom
while family members slept.

Cantu was arrested Friday and charged with continuous sexual abuse of
a young child. His bond was set at $100,000. If convicted, Cantu could
face 25 to 99 years in prison.

The girl wrote her letter to Santa Dec. 11.

The following day, she was interviewed at the Children's Advocacy
Center in Edinburg, which works with abused children. There, she told
authorities the details of her molestation, according the complaint.

The counselor who reported the situation to police could not be
reached for comment Monday. Pharr police investigators also could not
be reached to discuss the alleged crime.

The charge against Cantu is a new one, created by the Texas
legislature last year. It is part of a series of changes to the penal
code called Jessica's Law, designed to heighten punishments of sexual
predators.

Advocates of blind fault 'SNL' skit about N.Y. Gov. Paterson

The National Federation of the Blind says it considers NBC's Saturday
Night Live skit making fun of New York Gov. David Paterson an attack
on all blind Americans.
Federation spokesman Chris Danielsen says the portrayal on Saturday's
television show suggesting Paterson as befuddled and disoriented
because of his blindness is "absolutely wrong."

The skit features SNL actor Fred Armisen as Paterson, who must appoint
someone to replace Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Armisen says he has three criteria: economic experience, upstate
influence and someone with a disability and unprepared for the job —
like himself. He holds up a chart illustrating the state's job losses
upside down.

Paterson says he can take a joke, but adds that most blind people
can't find work and the skit's "third-grade" humor won't help matters.

Russian warships headed for Cuba

Russia said on Monday it was sending a group of warships to Soviet-era
ally Cuba in its latest defiant naval move around US waters, part of a
drive to revive old Cold War ties with Latin America.

The warships will visit Havana on December 19-23, the navy said,
continuing a tour that has already taken in US foes Venezuela and
Nicaragua and seen the ships pass through the Panama Canal for the
first time since World War II.

"This will be the first visit to Cuba by Russian warships since the
Soviet era," the Russian naval headquarters said in a statement.

The destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two other ships already held
exercises with Venezuela's navy in the Caribbean Sea last month.

The naval manoeuvres close to US waters are seen as a riposte to
Washington's own moves in Russia's Soviet-era sphere of influence,
including in the Black Sea.

US officials have said they see no military threat from Russia's naval
manoeuvres but continue to keep a close eye on the situation.

The naval visit to Cuba, scene of a dramatic 1962 stand-off between
Moscow and Washington over nuclear missiles, comes as tensions over US
missile defence plans in eastern Europe have prompted talk of a
renewed Cold War among some analysts.

Last month Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made a tour of Latin
America where he visited Cuba and Venezuela and met former Cuban
leader Fidel Castro, part of efforts to revive what he called
"privileged relations" from Soviet times.

Last week he also received Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner,
another Latin American critic of the United States.

Nicaragua's leftist President Daniel Ortega is to visit Moscow on
Thursday, after he risked Washington's wrath this summer by following
Russia in recognizing two Moscow-backed rebel regions of Georgia as
independent.

The Russian moves in Central and Latin America follow heightened
tensions over Russia's military onslaught in Georgia, a close US ally.

Russia strongly objected to US naval deployments off Georgia's Black
Sea coast, accusing the United States of covertly rearming Georgia, a
charge Washington denied.

On Monday the Russian navy avoided direct reference to the United
States, saying that visits to Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela
signified "long-term prospects for developing cooperation among these
countries' navies in the interest of building stability and trust on
the world's oceans."

During the Cuba visit, residents will be welcomed aboard the Russian
ships and Russian officers will lay flowers at a memorial to Cuban
campaigner for independence and critic of US expansionism Jose Marti,
the navy said.

Last week the navy said it was sending ships from its Pacific Fleet to
join ships from the Northern Fleet for exercises with India's navy and
in parallel would continue anti-piracy operations off Somalia.

Despite the growing Russian assertiveness, defence experts have said
Russia's navy remains severely weakened following years of post-Soviet
neglect.

That impression was reinforced by the inadvertent fatal poisoning last
month of 20 people aboard a Russian nuclear-powered submarine that was
undergoing tests off the Pacific coast.

Zimbabwea Students Face Hard Times

Students at Fort Hare University, South Africa, have turned to menial
jobs such as car-washing, security guarding and street vending to earn
a living after the government failed to send them money to return
home.

Worse still, the students who are on government scholarships have
found themselves living in the open after the university authorities
chucked them out of the institution's accommodation they had been
offered after campus closed for the festive season.

The university, where President Robert Mugabe was once a student,
closed its doors for the year a fortnight ago and authorities advised
the Zimbabwean students to return home for the festive period.
However, the government, stung by critical foreign currency shortages,
has failed to come to the rescue of the students.

Parents who spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent said they were disturbed
by the government's failure to send home the students when it was the
state bankrolling their studies at Fort Hare.

"My child is stuck in South Africa and the government is not taking
action," a parent who asked for anonymity said. "They did not even
bother to tell us that they have no money or transport to send our
children back. Right now, I don't know how my child is surviving
without food or shelter. It is very worrying."

Criticism and complaints have dogged the scholarship programme over
the years, especially in the manner the government selects
beneficiaries.

Complaints of favouritism and nepotism have rocked the once efficient
programme whose major intentions have been to support underprivileged
students.

The programme has of late become a Zanu PF project meant to buy
loyalty and votes.

Mugabe initiated the scholarship and has since established similar
programmes with the universities of Rhodes, KwaZulu Natal,
Witwatersrand, Cape Peninsula, and Walter Sisulu.

In 2008 alone the government through the presidential scholarships
sent more than 481 students to South African universities.

While the government has expanded the presidential scholarship
programme, it has ironically slashed financial support to students at
local institutions owing to the crunch financial situation back home.

Student riots over payouts are now the order of day at various
institutions of higher learning.

Lecturers' strikes over poor salaries and working conditions have also
become a permanent feature in the education sector, painting a gloomy
picture of the future of education in Zimbabwe.

Efforts to get a comment from the coordinator of the presidential
scholarship fund Chris Mushohwe and Higher Education minister Stan
Mudenge were fruitless as they were reportedly out of their offices.