Jude Law, Tackling Hamlet From The Inside Out

October 6, 2009

He's a well-known movie star who's fodder for the tabloids, but Jude Law wants you to think of him — for the next few months, at least — as the Prince of Denmark. And as Law prepares for his Broadway opening in a much-anticipated production of Hamlet, director Michael Grandage says that shouldn't be too much of a stretch. Audiences in England, says Grandage, already think of Law as more than just a pretty face.

"He's known for somebody who enjoys taking on great classical texts and interpreting them in a fresh and alive way," Grandage says. "And, eventually, when you do that for quite a bit of your life and you go into your 30s, Hamlet eventually looms up in front of you as something to be tackled before you go on much longer. And so it was with Jude."

Law's Hamlet opened in London's West End to great excitement and acclaim last spring; now the production has made the trip to West 44th Street. And while Shakespeare's famous character may be haunted by the ghost of his father, Law says he wasn't haunted by the daunting roll call of great actors who've played the role, from Richard Burbage (the original, 400 years ago) to Richard Burton.

"I think what's key about this part and what we discovered very quickly is that there's no definitive Hamlet," Law says. "Hamlet shifts in the skin. ... He has the capability — and the play has the capability — to morph with the times."

Law says he discovered almost immediately that despite the accumulated tonnage of Hamlet scholarship and tradition, the character "had to come from inside me — so the idea of carrying this mantle sort of disappeared immediately."

Not that Law avoided outside research. He says he spent a year reading everything he could about the play, its history and its various interpretations, before he began rehearsals. Then he and Grandage spent time alone working on the part.

"We started a week before everyone else, and we started on the soliloquies," Law says. "And there are no stupid questions, he always says. Everyone's allowed to be an idiot and say, 'What the hell does that word mean?' And, 'What am I saying here?' And, 'Do we all get this?' And so you start by pulling it apart, line for line, word for word."

Grandage's direction is all about clarity. The set is spare, and the director says he wanted to present a "timeless" modern production of Hamlet — contemporary dress, yes; BlackBerrys, no — so audiences could relate more directly to the characters and the situations.

"We also knew, because Jude Law was playing Hamlet, that we would hopefully be engaging with a lot of young people," Grandage says. "And I didn't want their first experience in the theater, let alone their first experience with Shakespeare, to be something that alienated them in any way. I wanted it to be as fresh and as modern as it could be."

Keeping Hamlet fresh is part of Law's approach. Geraldine James, who plays Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, says she's constantly surprised by the range Law displays from night to night.

"I never know what Jude's gonna do, and it's often different and always amazing," says James, who'll be familiar to Broadway audiences who saw her play Portia — alongside Dustin Hoffman's Shylock — in a celebrated Merchant of Venice a decade ago.

"Sometimes, it's very, very, very emotional. Sometimes it's less emotional," she says of Law's Prince Hamlet. "Sometimes it gets more angry. Sometimes it's more frightening."

Law says quicksilver changes are all part of the role — Hamlet can go from high to low, from tragedy to comedy, in the space of a few lines. And even as he faces the turmoil of a father murdered, a mother marrying the murderer, and eventually committing murder himself, Hamlet is always the smartest guy in the room; his key characteristic, the actor says, is a wit "that doesn't rely on falsehood or anger or anything other than a sharp, fast mind and an equally matched tongue."

Law says it's his job to bring all the aspects of this tragic role to life for the audience. He's always mindful of how this prince, destined to be king, has been violently thwarted.

"Every night I want to try and fulfill the possibility that he would've 'been most royal, had he been put on,' " the actor says, quoting another character's assessment of Hamlet in the play's closing scene. "He actually had the possibility of being a great king and a great man. ... To me, one of the elements of the tragedy is that you see a positive human become sort of hardened and tarnished, being a murderer. And it's simply through him trying to cope with the world."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

fodder ['fɔdә] : n. 飼料, 草料, (創作的)素材, 彈藥 vt. 喂

tabloid ['tæblɔid] : n. 小報, 藥片

interpreting  : 解釋的

interpret [in'tә:prit] : v. 解釋, 說明, 口譯, 通譯, 認為是...的意思

loom [lu:m] : n. 織布機, 織機 v. 隱現, 迫近 

 1  [usually +adv./prep.] to appear as a large shape that is not clear, especially in a frightening or threatening way:  A dark shape loomed up ahead of us.

haunted ['hɔ:ntid] :adj. 鬧鬼的,鬼魂出沒的,受到折磨的

daunting ['dɒ:ntiŋ] : adj. 使人畏縮的

morph- [mɔ:f] : (=morpho-)表示“形, 形體, 形態”之義(用于元音之前)

(動植物的)變種, 變體

語子, 語素形式, 形素

tonnage ['tʌnidʒ] : n. 登記噸位, 排水量

mantle ['mæntl] : n. 斗蓬, 覆蓋物, 壁爐架 v. 披風, 覆蓋

soliloquy [sә'lilәkwi] : n. 自言自語, 獨白

timeless ['taimlis] : adj. 永恆的

Shakespeare ['ʃeik,spiә] : n. 莎士比亞(1564-1616,英國劇作家,詩人,作有37部戲劇,154首十四行詩和2首長詩)

alienate ['eiljәneit] : v. 疏遠

quicksilver ['kwiksilvә] : vt. 涂上水銀 adj. 水銀的, 易變的 adj. 似水銀的,光亮且流動快的

    noun [U] (old use) = MERCURY

    adjective [only before noun] (literary) changing or moving very quickly:

        his quicksilver temperament

turmoil ['tә:mɔil] : n. 騷動, 混亂

wit [wit] : n. 智力, 才智, 智慧

falsehood ['fɔ:lshud] : n. 謬誤, 不真實, 謊言, 虛假

tragic ['trædʒik] : adj. 悲慘的, 悲劇的 n. (文藝作品或生活中的)悲劇因素, 悲劇風格

thwart [θwɔ:t] : adj. 橫放的 vt. 反對, 阻礙, 橫過 adv. 橫過

quote [kwәut] : vt. 引用, 引證, 提供, 提出, 報(價)

assessment [ә'sesmәnt] : n. (為徵稅對財產所作的)估價, 被估定的金額

Debate Over Homebuyer Tax Credit Heats Up

October 7, 2009

If you're thinking of buying your first home, there are 8,000 good reasons to do it now.

As part of its effort to prop up the housing market, the federal government is offering an $8,000 tax credit to first-time buyers. But the offer is set to expire at the end of November.

"All the first-time homebuyers that have been procrastinating basically have to have their home under contract in the next 10 days to make sure they can close by the end of November," says Atlanta real estate agent Kerry Lucasse. "It's been a complete frenzy."

Lucasse figures she spent about 20 hours in her car this past weekend, shuttling eager buyers from one house to the next. Then she dropped by a house she'd just put on the market.

"I literally put the sign in the ground, and a realtor and their buyers came up. And I think we had an offer in four hours," she says.

Rising Sales

September was the busiest month Lucasse's office has had in seven years. Nationwide, pending home sales have been on the rise for seven months in a row, according to the National Association of Realtors. But just as auto sales dropped sharply once the government's Cash for Clunkers program ended, real estate pros are bracing for a letdown if the tax credit is allowed to sunset.

"I've heard a few other agents kind of chuckle and say, 'It's going to be a cold, dark winter,' " Lucasse says.

But not if lawmakers like Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) can help it. Isakson — a former real estate executive himself — wants to extend the tax credit, increase its size and make it more widely available. The National Association of Realtors is backing that idea.

"We'd like to see it extended through 2010. In fact, we'd like to see it expanded to all buyers — not investors, not people buying second homes. But to people buying a home to live in," says NAR spokesman Walter Molony. "Certainly there's a cost to the Treasury in offering this. But the economic benefit — it gives you a pretty good bang for the buck."

Doubts About The Credit

But some people think the tax credit is a dud.

"Four out of 5 of the buyers were given $8,000 for doing something they were going to do anyway," says Andrew Jakabovics, associate director of housing and economics at the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank closely aligned with the Obama administration. "While there are stimulative effects, it's a very costly credit."

Asked this week about the president's position on extending the tax credit, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was noncommittal. Jakabovics believes the government should continue to prop up the housing market, but thinks it could do so in a more targeted way.

"That money could theoretically go towards foreclosure prevention and other housing market interventions that would be more effective," he says.

Even some real estate agents have doubts about just how long the government can keep giving handouts to every first-time homebuyer.

"Personally, I would love to have it extended," says Lucasse. "But I can't even imagine what the bill is at this point for the government."

The cost, so far, tops $11 billion.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

prop [prɔp] : n. 支持者, 倚靠人, 道具, 螺旋槳 vt. 支撐, 維持

prop up : v. 支撐, 支持

procrastinate [prәu'kræstineit] : v. 延遲, 耽擱

frenzy ['frenzi] : n. 瘋狂, 狂暴, 狂怒

eager ['i:gә]: adj. 熱心于, 渴望著

drop by : v. 隨便訪問

literally ['litәrәli] : adv. 逐字地, 按照字面上地, 不誇張地

realtor ['ri:әltә] : n. <美>房地產經紀人(尤指美國房地產行業工會成員)

pros and contras : 贊成和反對的論點

brace [breis] : n. 支柱, 帶子, 振作精神 vt. 支住, 撐牢, 振作起來, 奮起 adj. 曲柄的

letdown ['letdaun] : n. 鬆勁, 減低, 減退, 鬆弛, 失望

chuckle ['tʃʌkl] : n. 吃吃的笑聲 vi. 吃吃的笑, 咯咯叫

    ~ (at / about sth) to laugh quietly:

    [V] She chuckled at the memory. [also V speech]

     chuckle noun:

    She gave a chuckle of delight.

costly ['kɔstli] : adj. 昂貴的, 貴重的

noncommittal ['nɔn'kɔmitәl] : adj. 不明朗的, 不承擔義務的

theoretically [,θi:ә'retikli] : adv. 理論上, 理論地

foreclosure [fɔ:'klәuʒә(r)] : n. 喪失抵押品贖回權, 排斥

deduction [di'dʌkʃәn] : n. 減除, 扣除, 減除額, 推論, 演繹

Too Late to Play the Advertising Recovery?

The global economic downturn has affected nearly every industry, including advertising. While we think ad spending will remain weak in 2009, we anticipate a rebound in 2010. However, it may be too late for investors to play this rebound, as the stocks of most advertising-related companies have appreciated considerably since the market lows of the past year.

According to TNS Media Intelligence, after falling 4.1% in 2008, U.S. advertising fell another 14.3% in the first half of 2009. With the exception of online advertising, every major category (television, newspapers, radio, magazines, outdoor) posted double-digit declines during this period. While media companies that depend on advertising revenue have taken a big hit during this recession, marketing services conglomerates  Omnicom OMC,  Interpublic Group IPG, and  WPP Group WPPGY have been affected as well. During the first half of 2009, U.S. internal revenue at Omnicom, Interpublic, and WPP declined between 10.1% and 12.3% compared with the overall decline of 14.3% reported by TNS.

While their short-term results are discouraging, we like the marketing conglomerates' competitive positioning. Although most large corporations have internal marketing departments, they still outsource the majority of their marketing needs (ad creation, brand strategy, media buying, public relations, and so on) to specialized agencies because of the complexity and scale of their campaigns. As a result, the large global footprint and broad portfolio of services these firms can offer make it very difficult for smaller rivals to compete for large, integrated marketing campaigns. Additionally, the nature and variety of services performed leads to customer "stickiness," as building relationships with new service providers can be cumbersome. Combined with incremental acquisitions and international exposure, we think marketing services firms will enjoy steady revenue growth over the long run.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

conglomerate [kɔn'glɔmәrit] : v. 聚結

  noun

  1  [C] (business) a large company formed by joining together different firms:

      a media conglomerate

  2  [sing.] (written) a number of things or parts that are put together to form a whole

  3  [U] (geology) a type of rock made of small stones held together by dried clay

majority [mә'dʒɔriti] : n. 多數, 大半

    The majority of people interviewed prefer TV to radio. * The majority was / were in favour of banning smoking.

    OPP MINORITY

the silent majority : (美國人口中政治上不公開表態的)沉默的多數, 普通的美國公眾

    [usually sing.] the large number of people in a country who think the same as each other, but do not express their views publicly:

    It is time the silent majority made their opposition known.

portfolio [pɒ:t'fәuliәu] : n. 皮包, 公文包, 部長職務, 有價證券財產目錄, 藝術代表作選輯

campaign [kæm'pein] : n. [軍]戰役, (政治或商業性)活動, 競選運動 vi. 參加活動, 從事活動, 作戰

      1  ~ (against / for sth) a series of planned activities that are intended to achieve a particular social, commercial or political aim:

cumbersome ['kʌmbәsәm] : adj. 討厭的, 麻煩的, 笨重的

incremental [inkri'mentәl] : adj. 增加的

acquisition [ˏækwi'ziʃәn] : n. 獲得, 獲得物

Giant Dust Ring Is Discovered Around Saturn

October 7, 2009

The Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered the biggest but never-before-seen ring around the planet Saturn, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced late Tuesday.

The thin array of ice and dust particles lies at the far reaches of the Saturnian system and its orbit is tilted 27 degrees from the planet's main ring plane, the laboratory said.

JPL spokeswoman Whitney Clavin said the ring is very diffuse and doesn't reflect much visible light but the infrared Spitzer telescope was able to detect it.

Although the ring dust is very cold — minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit — it shines with thermal radiation.

No one had looked at its location with an infrared instrument until now, Clavin said.

The bulk of the ring material starts about 3.7 million miles from the planet and extends outward about another 7.4 million miles.

The newly found ring is so huge it would take 1 billion Earths to fill it, JPL said.

Before the discovery Saturn was known to have seven main rings named A through E and several faint unnamed rings.

A paper on the discovery was to be published online Wednesday by the journal Nature.

"This is one supersized ring," said one of the authors, Anne Verbiscer, an astronomer at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Her co-authors are Douglas Hamilton of the University of Maryland, College Park, and Michael Skrutskie, also of the University of Virginia.

Saturn's moon Phoebe orbits within the ring and is believed to be the source of the material.

The ring also may answer the riddle of another moon, Iapetus, which has a bright side and a very dark side.

The ring circles in the same direction as Phoebe, while Iapetus, the other rings and most of Saturn's other moons go the opposite way. Scientists think material from the outer ring moves inward and slams into Iapetus.

"Astronomers have long suspected that there is a connection between Saturn's outer moon Phoebe and the dark material on Iapetus," said Hamilton. "This new ring provides convincing evidence of that relationship."

The Spitzer mission, launched in 2003, is managed by JPL in Pasadena. Spitzer is 66 million miles from Earth in orbit around the sun.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
particles ['pɑ:tikl] : n. 粒子, 點, 極小量, 微粒, 質點, 小品詞, 語氣
Saturnian [ˏsæ'tә:niәn] : adj. 農神的, 土星的
diffuse [di'fju:z] : v. 散播, 傳播, 漫射, 擴散, (使)慢慢混合 adj. 散開的, 瀰漫的
minus ['mainәs] : adj. 負的, 減的 prep. 減去 n. 負數
Fahrenheit ['færәnhait, 'fɑ:r-] : adj. 華氏溫度計的 n. 華氏溫度計, 華氏溫度計
bulk [bʌlk] : n. 大小, 體積, 大批, 大多數, 散裝 vt. 顯得大, 顯得重要
outward ['autwәd] : adj. 外面的, 外表的, 公開的, 向外的, 外出的 adv. 向外, 在外, 表面上 n.外表
faint [feint] : n. 昏暈, 昏倒 adj. 虛落地, 衰弱的, 軟弱的, 無力的, 微弱的, 暗淡的, 模糊的 vi. 昏暈, 昏倒, 變得微弱, 變得沒氣力
riddle ['ridl] : n. 謎, 謎語, 神秘人物 v. 解謎, 出謎, 迷惑
vt. 解謎, 給...出謎, 篩, 尋根究底地檢驗, 充滿于
IDIOMS
be riddled with sth to be full of sth, especially sth bad or unpleasant:
His body was riddled with cancer. * Her typing was slow and riddled with mistakes. * The woods are riddled with rabbit holes.

FTC: Bloggers Must Disclose Paid Endorsements

October 6, 2009

If you read blogs or use Facebook and Twitter, you might have friends who share information about coffee, makeup, toys or other products they like.

Advertisers are trying to take advantage of those relationships by paying bloggers and tweeters. The Federal Trade Commission has announced rules that will require bloggers and tweeters to be open about those connections.

Among those bloggers affected is Andrew Bennett. He might not make millions from product endorsements like LeBron James, but he does have a few hundred followers on his blog who take him seriously.

Bennett seeks out products, like a home soda maker, that he can promote for money from a site called SocialSpark, which lists advertisers who want to pay to get on blogs.

"Basically, that allows you to pick and choose what opportunities you'd like to blog about," he says.

Bennett says bloggers can make between $50 and $500, depending on how many followers they have. SocialSpark also requires bloggers to tell their readers that they are being paid. But it doesn't necessarily tell them how.

"There is no specific one way to disclose them," Bennett says. "We are trying very hard to disclose every way possible."

Now, Bennett and other bloggers will be required by the FTC to tell people when they are blogging or tweeting for money. Even though Bennett already does this, he's worried. He says the regulations are very vague about how he must disclose his connections.

Advertisers are also concerned, says Anthony DiResta, an attorney who consults with major advertising firms.

"It's pretty interesting how to figure out where to put disclosure," he says. "Is it an audio platform? Is it visual? Is it limited like Twitter is?"

Officials at the FTC say they want to work with the advertisers to come up with clear policies.

Kelly McBride, of the nonprofit Poynter Institute for journalism, says this is an important step: While many consumers can tell a commercial from a program on television, she says they can be naive when their Facebook friends say they're a fan of McDonald's.

"For the most part, people assume that those are genuine, positive reviews of whatever product it is," McBride says.

McBride hopes that the new regulations will help create more awareness among the general public about how advertising works in the new world of social media.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
endorsement [in'dɔ:smәnt] : n. 揹書, 籤註(文件), 認可
disclose [dis'klәuz] : vt. 揭露, 透露
disclosure [dis'klәuʒә] : n. 揭發, 敗露, 敗露的事情
naive [nɑ:'i:v] : adj. 天真的

Tale Of Exploding Assassin Worries Security Officials

October 6, 2009

This is the story of an al-Qaida assassination plot that failed — or did it?

The two main characters are a Saudi prince and an al-Qaida suicide bomber. The prince survived their meeting in August. The bomber did not. And yet, the episode has sent a chill through Western security circles.

The assailant had a bomb hidden inside his body in an elaborate effort to kill the Saudi prince. And Western intelligence officials are concerned that the technique will be tried again.

Jarret Brachman, author of the book Global Jihadism, says the attack shows al-Qaida is still determined and still innovating.

"And so they've developed everything from body cavity explosives through surgical insertion of explosives into the body. So they've come up with a lot of ideas, and they've been playing with these on paper," Brachman says. "This is one of the first times we've seen them actually try to put some of these innovative ideas into practice."

The setting was Saudi Arabia — the palace of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef. The prince is not just a senior member of the royal family, but head of the country's counterterrorism program.

He works to rehabilitate terrorists, get them to renounce al-Qaida. And it was through his work that he came to meet Abdullah al-Assiri — Saudi-born, al-Qaida-trained and selected for the task of assassinating Prince Mohammed.

The trick was for Assiri to pose as a terrorist ready to surrender. He persuaded the prince to send a private jet to Yemen to pick him up and bring him to the prince's palace in Jidda.

On Aug. 27, the two men sat down to talk.

Richard Barrett, head of the al-Qaida and Taliban monitoring team at the United Nations, continues the story: "Assiri said, 'Oh, you need to speak to my friends because they also want to give themselves up, and if they hear from you, they'll certainly come.' "

Barrett says this was a key part of al-Qaida's plan: to get the prince talking on a cell phone. "The prince was on the telephone when the signal was sent to detonate the bomb that was concealed inside Assiri," he says.

As Barrett told it, in a speech at a Washington think tank, Assiri had swallowed a bomb. There is confusion on this point: Some accounts maintain he hid the bomb in his rectum.

However the explosive was concealed, it was detonated by that phone call. And amazingly, there's a recording of that call, which has now been released by al-Qaida. NPR obtained it through the Maryland-based SITE Intelligence Group.

During the call, there was a beep. Seconds later, the bomb detonated — and Assiri was blown apart. The prince was only slightly injured.

Security experts say that beep may have been a text message that triggered the bomb.

Adam Raisman, a senior analyst at the SITE Intelligence Group, says al-Qaida would have preferred to kill the prince. "But the fact that they were able to get someone onto his private jet, into his palace — that they essentially fooled the prince's security and the prince himself — it is, for them, a victory."

What's worrying Western security officials is where they might put these ideas into practice.

"Here is a guy who got on a plane, he went through at least two security checks — he would have passed a metal detector. So he could get on any plane," says Barrett, the U.N. al-Qaida expert. "That technique would work on any airline anywhere, regardless of what sort of security measures there are at any airport."

Barrett says there is a lot of chatter on jihadi Internet sites about the possibilities of the technique.

Then again, it's not totally clear whether Assiri did pass through airport security since he flew on the prince's private plane.

A U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on condition he not be named, says established airport screening procedures should be able to detect a bomb, even inside a body. But, he added, counterterrorism officials are studying the episode closely.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

assailant [ә'seilәnt] : n. 攻擊者
cavity ['kæviti] : n. 洞, 空穴, [解剖]腔
palace ['pælis] : n. 宮, 宮殿
counter-terrorism : noun
[U] action taken to prevent the activities of political groups who use violence to try to achieve their aims
counter-terrorist adjective

rehabilitate [ˏri:(h)ә'biliteit] : v. 使(身體)康復, 使復職, 使恢複名譽, 使復原
renounce [ri'nauns] : v. 斷絕關係
surrender [sә'rendә] : vt. 交出, 放棄, 使投降, 聽任 vi. 投降, 自首 n. 交出, 放棄, 投降 投降算了
detonate ['detәuneit] : v. 引爆
conceal [kәn'si:l] vt. 隱藏, 隱蔽, 隱瞞
[VN] ~ sb/sth (from sb/sth) (formal) to hide sb/sth:
The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. * For a long time his death was concealed from her. * Tim could barely conceal his disappointment. * She sat down to conceal the fact that she was trembling.
see also ILL-CONCEALED

hid [hid] : vbl. hide的過去式和過去分詞
rectum ['rektәm] : n. 直腸
chatter ['tʃætә] : n. (動物, 尤其是鳥類)嘮叨, 啁啾聲, (小溪的)潺潺流水聲 vi. 喋喋不休的談, 卡搭作響
jihad [dʒi'hɑ:d] : n. 討伐異教徒, 擁護運動

High Court Weighs Arguments In Dogfighting Case

October 6, 2009

Animal-rights groups and free-speech advocates squared off in a major First Amendment battle Tuesday, as the U.S. Supreme Court prepared to decide whether videos of illegal dogfights are protected speech.

In oral arguments, the Obama administration asked the justices to reinstate the Federal Depiction of Animal Cruelty statute. The 10-year-old law prohibits the sale of videos and other depictions of animal cruelty in jurisdictions where the activities shown are illegal unless they have "serious value."

But Virginia filmmaker Robert Stevens argued in court filings that the law is too broad and violates his constitutional right to free speech. In 2005, Stevens was convicted of producing violent videos of dogfights and sentenced to 37 months in prison, but a federal appeals court found the law unconstitutional and overturned his conviction.

At issue in U.S. v. Stevens is whether animal cruelty should be categorized as expression so reprehensible that it does not deserve First Amendment protection. That hasn't been done since the court's landmark 1982 ruling on child pornography.

During arguments Tuesday, several of the justices indicated that they may agree with Stevens.

"Why not do a simpler thing?" Justice Stephen Breyer asked a lawyer for the government. "Ask Congress to write a statute that actually aims at the frightful things they were trying to prohibit."

Stevens' lawyer, Patricia Millet, said Congress must be careful when restricting an individual's right to free speech, noting lawmakers should use "a scalpel, not a buzz saw."

Representing the government, Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal said Congress was careful to exempt hunting, educational, journalistic and other depictions from the law. Katyal urged the court not to wipe away the legislation in its entirety, but to allow courts to decide on a case-by-case basis whether videos are prohibited.

Justice Samuel Alito asked whether the court should focus on the potential prosecution of hunters, "or do we look at what's happening in the real world?"

Congress passed the law in 1999 with an eye toward limiting Internet sales of "crush videos," which show women crushing small animals with their bare feet or while wearing high-heeled shoes, according to Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA), who sponsored the anti-cruelty legislation.

"Other crimes often go hand in hand with animal fighting, including illegal gambling, drug trafficking and acts of human violence," Gallegly said in a statement on his Web site. "Virtually every arrest for animal cruelty has also led to additional arrests for at least one of these criminal activities. Moreover, gratuitous cruelty toward animals dehumanizes all of us and is simply wrong."

The case has generated a large amount of interest, in part because of the dogfighting conviction of pro football player Michael Vick in 2007. Vick served nearly two years for running an interstate dogfighting ring from his home in Virginia and was released in May.

Stevens, a pit bull enthusiast, has said he opposes animal cruelty. In court documents, he maintained he did not stage the dogfights and that the videos were intended to be instructional guides for pit bull owners.

He has garnered support from major news organizations and free-speech advocates, who argued that the law could discourage efforts to investigate such activities as seal clubbing or animal testing in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries if video or photographic images are obtained.

"Images of bullfighting in Spain, historical footage of cockfighting in Louisiana and documentaries about clubbing seals in Canada all could be prosecuted under the statute," the American Civil Liberties Union stated in a court brief supporting Stephens.

But animal-rights advocates and law enforcement agencies around the country argued that removing the profit motive from "blood sports" is a valuable tool for law enforcement authorities.

"The importance of the law in stopping animal cruelty cannot be overstated," said Sgt. David Hunt of the Franklin County (Ohio) Sheriff's Department. "It's a powerful tool to go after those who profit from illegal animal cruelty and promote criminal behavior."

From NPR staff and wire reports

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amendment [ә'mendmәnt] : n. 改善, 改正
dogfight ['dɔgfait; (US) dɔ:g-] : n. 混戰, 空戰, 狗咬狗, 纏斗 vi. 在空中纏斗
oral ['ɔ:rәl] : adj. 口頭的 n. 口試
reinstate ['ri:in'steit] : v. 恢復
as sth)
1 to give back a job or position that had been taken away from sb:
He was reinstated in his post.
2 to return sth to its previous position or status:
There have been repeated calls to reinstate the death penalty. * Tennis has now been reinstated as an Olympic sport.
reinstatement noun [U]

depiction *[di'pikʃәn] : n. 描寫, 敘述
cruelty ['kru:әlti] : n. 殘忍, 殘酷
jurisdiction [ˏdʒuәris'dikʃәn] : n. 權限
Juris ['dʒuәris] : n. 法學博士 adj. 權力的, 法律的
diction ['dikʃәn] : n. 措辭, 用語, 言語
convict ['kɔnvikt] : vt. 證明...有罪, 宣告...有罪 n. 罪犯
overturn [ˏәuvә'tә:n] : n. 傾覆, 破滅, 革命 vt. 推翻, 顛倒 vi. 翻倒 n. 翻轉, 毀滅
reprehensible [ˏrepri'hensәbl] : adj. 應斥責的, 應該譴責的
prehensible [pri'hensibl] : adj. 能被抓住的,能被掌握的
frightful ['fraitful] : adj. 可怕的, 非常的
restrict [ris'trikt] : vt. 限制, 約束, 限定
scalpel ['skælpәl] : n. 解剖刀
exempt [ig'zempt] : v. 免除 adj. 被免除的
prosecution [ˏprɔsi'kju:ʃәn] : n. 進行, 經營, 檢舉, 起訴
bare [bєә] : adj. 赤裸的, 無遮蔽的, 空的 vt. 使赤裸, 露出
trafficker ['træfikә] : n. 貿易商, 商人, 干非法勾當者, 行為卑劣者
gratuitous [grә'tju(:)itәs] : adj. 免費的, 無理由的
dehumanize [di:'hju:mәnaiz] : v. 使失掉人性, 使成獸性
interstate [ˏintә(:)'steit] : adj. 州際的
pit [pit] : n.深坑, 深淵, 陷阱, （物體或人體表面上的）凹陷, (英國劇場的)正廳後排﹑正廳後排的觀眾
vt.
窖藏, 使凹下, 去...之核, 使留疤痕, 使競爭
vi.
起凹點, 凹陷
garner ['gɑ:nә] : v. 儲存 [VN] (formal) to obtain or collect sth such as information, support, etc.
cosmetic [kɔz'metik] : n. 化妝品 adj. 化妝用的
pharmaceutical [ˏfɑ:mә'sju:tikәl] : n. 藥物 adj. 製藥(學)上的
cockfighting ['kɔkfaitiŋ] : n. 鬥雞 adj. 鬥雞的
documentary [ˏdɔkju'mentәri] : n. 記錄片 adj. 文件的 紀錄片 記錄片,文獻片
prosecute ['prɔsikju:t] : vt. 實行, 從事, 告發, 起訴 vi. 告發, 起訴, 作檢察官
statute ['stætju:t] : n. 法令, 條例