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'Smashed': A Love Story Minus The Alcohol

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Kate Hannah (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Charlie (Aaron Paul) in Smashed.

Credit Oana Marian / Sony Pictures Classics

Rochelle (Mary Kay Place) in Smashed.

By editor

Originally published on Sun October 14, 2012 4:02 pm

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What happens to a young marriage when the one thing that once brought two people together suddenly vanishes? In Smashed, the answer isn't pretty. But neither is the alternative, because in Smashed, the thing that brings the couple together is alcohol.

The couple is played by Aaron Paul of the series Breaking Bad, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The film also stars Nick Offerman of the TV show Parks and Recreation, Megan Mullally, best known from the TV show Will and Grace, and Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer.

1:03 pm

Sun October 14, 2012

Arlen Specter, Senator Who Gave No Quarter, Dies

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Specter campaigns with President George W. Bush in 2004 at the Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania. Specter spent most of his political career as a moderate Republican. He supported Bush, but later criticized the then-president's warrantless wiretapping program, saying it overstepped civil liberties.

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Specter speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in July 2005. Five months earlier, he announced that he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system. He worked during chemotherapy, and on July 22, 2005, ended his treatment. Three years later, his cancer returned and he underwent chemotherapy again.

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Specter and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, board an elevator after a February 2009 meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to find a bipartisan compromise on the stimulus package. Specter and Collins were two of three Republicans who voted for the plan. Collins, like Specter, was considered to be one of a dwindling number of moderate Republicans.

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Specter shakes hands with Philadelphia voters on primary day in 2010. He lost the Democratic primary to Joe Sestak, ending the veteran senator's political career. Conservative Republican Pat Toomey defeated Sestak in the general election.

Credit John Duricka / AP

Senate Judiciary Committee member Arlen Specter, R-Pa., questions witnesses defending law professor Anita Hill at the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas on Oct. 13, 1991. Hill had alleged that Thomas sexually harassed her in the 1980s.

Credit J.M. Eddins, Jr. / The Washington Times/Landov

Specter discusses his new book and the presidential campaign during an interview in Washington, D.C., on March 21, 2011.

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Sen. Arlen Specter, a member of the Senate Government Affairs Committee investigating campaign fundraising abuses, questions a witness during hearings on Capitol Hill on July 9, 1997.

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President Obama greets Sen. Arlen Specter at a reception in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month. After 44 years as a Republican, Specter switched parties in 2009.

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President George W. Bush and Specter arrive at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania on April 19, 2004.

By Nina Totenberg

Originally published on Mon October 15, 2012 9:16 am

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Former Sen. Arlen Specter, one of the most influential senators of the last half-century, died Sunday from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was 82.

The five-term senator, a moderate Republican-turned-Democrat, was a key member of the Judiciary Committee and a major player in the confirmation proceedings of 14 Supreme Court nominees. But he was consistently a thorn for leaders of both political parties and their presidents.

12:15 pm

Sun October 14, 2012

Sen. Arlen Specter Dies at 82

Credit Matt Rourke / AP

Arlen Specter, the five-term senator from Pennsylvania, died from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, said his son, Shanin. He was 82 years old.

By editor

Originally published on Sun October 14, 2012 1:47 pm

Arlen Specter, the outspoken senator who started off Republican, switched to Democrat and stayed moderate throughout, has died, the AP reports.

The former five-term senator from Pennsylvania announced that he was once again battling cancer in August. He died at his home in Philadelphia on Sunday, according to his son, Shanin, from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

11:21 am

Sun October 14, 2012

A Defection Hints At Cracks Among Syria's Alawites

By Deborah Amos

11:14 am

Sun October 14, 2012

Syrian Forces Using Cluster Bombs, Rights Group Says

Credit Tauseef Mustafa / AFP/Getty Images

Syrians deliver an injured civilian to a hospital in the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, following shelling by government forces.

By Melisa Goh

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2:36 pm

Sun October 14, 2012