In Oklahoma, tiny airport attracts federal money, but few planes

ARDMORE, Okla. — Along a country road in southern Oklahoma, there is a place that doesn’t make sense. It is an airport without passengers.

Or, for that matter, planes.

This is Lake Murray State Park Airport, one of the least busy of the nation’s 3,300-plus public airfields. In an entire week here, there might be one landing and one takeoff — often so pilots can use the bathroom. Or none at all. Visiting pilots are warned to watch out for deer on the runway.

So why is it still open? Mostly, because the U.S. government insists on sending it money.

Every year, Oklahoma is allotted $150,000 in federal funding because of this place, the result of a grant program established 13 years ago, in Congress’s golden age of pork. The same amount goes to hundreds of other tiny airfields across the country — including more than 80 like this one, with no paying customers and no planes based at the field.

Lake Murray, as it turns out, is an ATM shaped like an airport.

It’s also an example of the kind of spending — wide-ranging, constituent-pleasing giveaways — that Washington has struggled to swear off in this time of austerity. Once again, for example, Congress voted to continue giving money to local airports last year. And in Oklahoma, state officials voted to keep the airport open and, therefore, be able to take it.

“This is a direct gift from your congressman and senators,” said Victor Bird, director of the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission, which handles the money the government allots for Lake Murray. “Everybody’s going to get something here, and we’re going to take some.”

For advocates of leaner government, the story of Lake Murray’s airport is particularly galling now, as an $85 billion budget cut nears on Friday. The “sequester,” as the cut is known, is what lawmakers call a “dumb cut,” because it doesn’t try to distinguish muscle from fat.

Within the Federal Aviation Administration, for instance, officials say the sequester could result in the closure of air-traffic control towers and long flight delays. But it would not touch the airport program, which has allotted Lake Murray about $1,500 for each of its takeoffs and landings.

“Why have we not gotten rid of the stupid stuff in the federal government?” said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who highlighted Lake Murray in his annual “Wastebook” last year. “Because every one of these . . . stupid or irresponsible projects has a constituency.”

The story of Lake Murray’s airfield starts in the early 1960s. At that point, Congress was not involved: The airport was intended to function as an airport. The state parks department hoped the field would draw high-rolling visitors with their own planes.

At first, they came. Now, they generally don’t.

“There’s an airplane!” Wesley Chaney, the state park’s head golf pro, said one afternoon this month. At that moment, this was surprising — and worrying — news. Chaney was standing smack in the middle of the runway.

“That’s a bird,” Richard Keithley, another parks employee, told him.

There was no plane coming. In the wide blue Oklahoma sky, in fact, the only things aloft were jumbo jets passing at high altitude and a few circling buzzards.

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Motor Racing: Ecclestone wants Melbourne race for '50 years'

SYDNEY: Formula One ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone said Tuesday he would happily sign a contract for Melbourne to host the Grand Prix for 50 years, declaring "everybody loves Australia".

The sport has a contract with Melbourne until 2015 but beyond that it is up in the air, and other cities have expressed interest in snapping up the event which Ecclestone has previously said is the "least viable" on the F1 calendar.

Ecclestone said he hoped to travel to Melbourne for the season-opening 2013 race on March 17, in a year in which negotiations on a new contract are set to begin.

"Everybody loves Australia, loves Australian people and it's good to be there because it's the first race, it's nice, it's relaxed," he said in an official Australian Grand Prix podcast.

"We hope we're going to be in Melbourne forever, although I understand we do get a little bit of criticism and I don't know why.

"We're happy with Melbourne. I'd be happy to sign a 50-year contract. So we don't have a problem with Melbourne."

Ecclestone revealed that other Australian states had contacted him in attempts to poach the event from Victoria, but he indicated he was determined to keep the race in the southern state's capital.

"We get proposals from other parts, but we're happy in Melbourne," he said.

Ahead of the 2012 race Ecclestone floated the idea of a "divorce from our friends in Melbourne" and "walking away from Australia" when the contract expires.

"The race itself, from our point of view, is probably the least viable of all the races we have," he said then.

Ecclestone also said last year he was keen on a night race, which would fit better with European timezones, helping to sell TV rights there.

Such a move would likely be opposed by residents who live around Melbourne's Albert Park circuit, as well as costing the Victorian state government more to stage.

Last year's race cost taxpayers A$56.7 million (US$58.2 million) -- more than the revenue it generates -- with A$30 million of that reportedly going to Ecclestone for the right to host the race.

Ecclestone said the fee was "purely what the race cost" and included bringing six jumbo jets full of freight transportation to Australia.

Melbourne has hosted the Grand Prix since 1996.

- AFP/ck

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94% women feel unsafe travelling alone in India, survey finds

NEW DELHI: The Delhi gang-rape incident has not just bruised the image of the national Capital, but the country as well. A travel survey has found that 94% women feel unsafe traveling alone, while 84% voted for Delhi as the most unsafe metro. The findings come at a time when an increasing number of women admitted that they preferred to travel alone both for work and leisure.

TripAdvisor, a leading travel site, surveyed 500 women to find that 84% women claimed to have travelled alone for leisure, business or both. The respondents were a mix of working women, including a number of self employed, as well as homemakers.

The survey also brings to light the disturbing fact that 94% women worry about their safety — always or at least sometimes — when they travel alone within India. Among women who said they travel alone on work, 37% agreed that they don't mind travelling alone but worry about their safety.

Even more dismal is the fact that more women travelers have a better sense of safety overseas than in India. Around 24% respondents said they worry when they travel within India but not when they travel to international destinations, while only 6% suggested otherwise.

Despite the fear and worry, only 33% women said they carry any item for self defense when travelling to a new or unfamiliar city.

Due to the recent spate of crime against women, Delhi has gained notoriety with 84% women claiming it to be the most unsafe metro in the country. Mumbai came out on top as the city considered safest by 34% women. Ahmedabad and Bangalore were tied at a distant second with 12% each.

Among the states, Delhi NCR again topped the hall of shame with 60% women voting it as the most unsafe. At a distant second is Bihar (18%), followed by Uttar Pradesh (8%). A majority of 27% respondents said they considered Maharashtra to be the safest state, followed by Gujarat (15%) and Karnataka (10%).

According to TripAdvisor country manager Nikhil Ganju, "The rise in women travelling alone on business is understandable fallout of the increase in the number of working women. The real surprise is the significant number of Indian women who are choosing to travel solo on vacation. Another interesting insight that highlights a latent opportunity for the hospitality sector is that 78% respondents said they would prefer to stay in an all women's hotel or on a women exclusive floor in a hotel, when travelling alone."

In a break from tradition, Indian women enjoy traveling alone for leisure. Among women who travel alone, 41% respondents said they actually enjoyed travelling alone for work. In addition, 76% said they enjoy going solo on holidays.

And lack of company is definitely not a complaint. In fact, majority (58%) said their biggest incentive for solo vacations was that they could do all the things they want without having to worry about what someone else wants. Around 34% women indicated they loved travelling alone as it was adventurous and exciting. Another 32% claimed the thrill of managing everything by themselves was a motivator as well.

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Sharks Warn Off Predators By Wielding Light Sabers

Diminutive deep-sea sharks illuminate spines on their backs like light sabers to warn potential predators that they could get a sharp mouthful, a new study suggests.

Paradoxically, the sharks seem to produce light both to hide and to be conspicuous—a first in the world of glowing sharks. (See photos of other sea creatures that glow.)

"Three years ago we showed that velvet belly lanternsharks [(Etmopterus spinax)] are using counter-illumination," said lead study author Julien Claes, a biologist from Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain, by email.

In counter-illumination, the lanternsharks, like many deep-sea animals, light up their undersides in order to disguise their silhouette when seen from below. Brighter bellies blend in with the light filtering down from the surface. (Related: "Glowing Pygmy Shark Lights Up to Fade Away.")

Fishing the 2-foot-long (60-centimeter-long) lanternsharks up from Norwegian fjords and placing them in darkened aquarium tanks, the researchers noticed that not only do the sharks' bellies glow, but they also had glowing regions on their backs.

The sharks have two rows of light-emitting cells, called photophores, on either side of a fearsome spine on the front edges of their two dorsal fins.

Study co-author Jérôme Mallefet explained how handling the sharks and encountering their aggressive behavior hinted at the role these radiant spines play.

"Sometimes they flip around and try to hit you with their spines," said Mallefet, also from Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain. "So we thought maybe they are showing their weapon in the dark depths."

To investigate this idea, the authors analyzed the structure of the lanternshark spines and found that they were more translucent than other shark spines.

This allowed the spines to transmit around 10 percent of the light from the glowing photophores, the study said.

For Predators' Eyes Only

Based on the eyesight of various deep-sea animals, the researchers estimated that the sharks' glowing spines were visible from several meters away to predators that include harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), and blackmouth catsharks (Galeus melastomus).

"The spine-associated bioluminescence has all the characteristics to play the right role as a warning sign," said Mallefet.

"It's a magnificent way to say 'hello, here I am, but beware I have spines,'" he added.

But these luminous warning signals wouldn't impede the sharks' pursuit of their favorite prey, Mueller's bristle-mouth fish (Maurolicus muelleri), the study suggested. These fish have poorer vision than the sharks' predators and may only spot the sharks' dorsal illuminations at much closer range.

For now, it remains a mystery how the sharks create and control the lights on their backs. The glowing dorsal fins could respond to the same hormones that control the belly lights, suggested Mallefet, but other factors may also be involved.

"MacGyver" of Bioluminescence

Several other species use bioluminescence as a warning signal, including marine snails (Hinea brasiliana), glowworms (Lampyris noctiluca) and millipedes (Motyxia spp.).

Edith Widder, a marinebiologist from the Ocean Research and Conservation Association who was not involved in the current study, previously discovered a jellyfish whose bioluminescence rubs off on attackers that get too close.

"It's like paint packages in money bags at banks," she explained.

"Any animal that was foolish enough to go after it," she added "gets smeared all over with glowing particles that make it easy prey for its predators."

Widder also points out that glowing deep-sea animals often put their abilities to diverse uses. (Watch: "Why Deep-Sea Creatures Glow.")

"There are many examples of animals using bioluminescence for a whole range of different functions," she said.

Mallefet agrees, joking that these sharks are the "MacGyver of bioluminescence."

"Just give light to this shark species and it will use it in any possible way."

And while Widder doesn't discount the warning signal theory, "another possibility would be that it could be to attract a mate."

Lead author Julien Claes added by email, "I also discovered during my PhD thesis that velvet belly lanternsharks have glowing organs on their sexual parts."

And that, he admits, "makes it very easy, even for a human, to distinguish male and female of this species in the dark!"

The glowing shark study appeared online in the February 21 edition of Scientific Reports.

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Arias Claims Innocence on Death Penalty Charge

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was confronted today with a barrage of lies she told after she killed her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, but she twice defiantly declared that she was innocent of first degree murder.

"It's the truth. I'm innocent of that charge," Arias said to prosecutor Juan Martinez, referring to the criminal charge that could carry the threat of the death sentence if she is found guilty.

Arias admitted on the stand that she lied for months and years after killing her ex-boyfriend, telling investigators and friends that she had nothing to do with Alexander's grisly death, in which he was stabbed 27 times, his throat was slashed, and he was shot in the head.

Eventually, Arias confessed to the killing, but claims it was in self-defense.

Today, prosecutors hammered Arias about her lying, getting her to admit to lies she told and playing video of her police interrogation and a TV interview in which she told stories that she has since conceded were not true.

See the Evidence in the Jodi Arias Murder Trial

In an interview with NBC's "48 Hours," Arias said she smiled for her mug shot partly because she knew she was innocent.

"You truly believe that you didn't do anything wrong here?" the prosecutor asked incredulously.

Jodi Arias Testimony: Prosecution's Cross-Examination Watch Video

Jodi Arias Remains Calm Under Cross-Examination Watch Video

Jodi Arias Doesn't Remember Stabbing Ex-Boyfriend Watch Video

"I believed that I knew that I was not guilty of first-degree murder and I did plan to be dead," she replied, a reference to her claim that she planned to commit suicide.

Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage

During a day of contentious questions and answers between Martinez and Arias, the prosecutor used Arias' own diary entries and text messages to show contradictions of her claims that Alexander was abusive toward her, that he hit her and tried to choke her.

Arias said that in early 2008, Alexander hit her in the neck while they were riding in his car. Martinez showed a diary entry describing the day they rode in the car, and there was no mention of physical violence.

"This entry does not corroborate what you told us happened in the car," he said. "With regard to the (choking incident) you didn't call police. You didn't tell anyone about it. There is no corroboration anywhere in your journal. All we have is your word. Are there photos? Any other writings? Is there a police report? Is there a medical report?"

Arias said there was no evidence that the alleged abuse happened, except for her testimony in court.

"There's no evidence because it didn't happen, did it ma'am?" Martinez yelled.

Arias said that she had told one person about the abuse she claims she suffered at the hands of Alexander, and that it was another ex-boyfriend, Matthew McCartney. But when pressed for details about the conversation in which she told him, Arias became confused and changed her answers.

"I saw (Matt) a few days later, and he called me out on the bruises," Arias testified.

"Where?"

"Over the phone, just days after I think," she said.

"Isn't it true he wouldn't have been able to see your injuries because you were talking over the telephone?"

"No, I was in Yreka (California) by then. I stopped to see Matt after I left Arizona. Let's see, I believe it was two or three days after. I'm not saying there was no telephone call, (but) it was at his house. I went and saw Matt, and some make-up wore off, and he confronted me on (the bruises)."

Martinez said that McCartney has denied the conversation ever took place.

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Legislative branch prepares for spending cuts

Lawmakers will return to work Monday after a week-long break, with $85 billion in automatic spending cuts set to take effect in four days.

Congressional offices and agencies have remained largely quiet on the issue compared with the executive branch, where top officials — from President Obama to Cabinet members such as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta — have warned against the budget cuts known as sequestration, in speeches and with testimonies before congressional committees.

But that doesn’t mean the legislative branch would escape cuts.

The sequester would not affect lawmaker salaries, since their pay does not come from discretionary spending. But the reductions would hit their individual offices, as well as all legislative-branch agencies such as the Library of Congress, the Congressional Budget Office and U.S. Capitol Police.

Agencies that have sent letters to employees have noted similar strategies: imposing hiring freezes, reducing travel expenses, trimming funding for technology upgrades and reworking some contracts.

Furloughs stand out as one of the greatest concerns among federal workers, because they mean less pay for the year and fewer days for employees to do their jobs.

Some congressional agencies have said they expect to avoid unpaid leave if the sequester happens, while others have said they may resort to the measure for a few days.

The Government Accountability Office told employees in a memo last week that furloughs probably wouldn’t be necessary for the agency, based on the latests estimates for a reduction target.

“We have been allocating our funds since the start of the fiscal year in a very conservative manner, recognizing that sequestration might go into effect,” Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro said in the memo.

“We project that we would no longer require furloughs at GAO this year to absorb the potential reduction associated with sequestration,” Dodaro added.

Likewise, a spokesman for the Architect of the Capitol said in an e-mail last week that the organization doesn’t think furloughs will be necessary to meet the reduction target.

What remains to be seen is just what the reduction targets would be. The latest estimate from the White House budget office said the sequester would require across-the-board cuts of “roughly 5 percent for non-Defense programs.”

The Congressional Budget Office calculated 5.3 percent for the same category.

Even based on those estimates, some legislative agencies don’t think they can avoid furloughs under the sequester.

The Library of Congress last week warned its employees that the cuts would probably require four days of unpaid leave, with individual workers scheduling one of those days in coordination with supervisors, while the other three would come during library closings at times when the facilities would normally be open.

The Government Printing Office wasn’t so specific, saying by e-mail that “furloughs may also have to be implemented” in addition to plans for a hiring freeze, limits on overtime and reductions in travel and training.

Although the sequester could have an impact on lawmakers’ local and Capitol Hill offices, it remains unclear how many members of Congress would impose layoffs, furloughs or pay cuts to meet the reduction targets. Only those who expect to avoid such measures commented for this report.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said his office prepared for the sequester during the past year by stopping pay raises, reducing travel, eliminating its staff retreat and cutting back on mailings — resorting to more cost-effective digital communications instead.

“We’ve kept awfully lean this year just on the assumption that this might happen,” Cole said. “We’ll make the adjustments, but we won’t have to furlough and we won’t reduce services in terms of case work or answering constituent questions.”

The automatic cuts were established with the intent that they would be so undesirable that lawmakers would be motivated to reach a budget compromise. But with the cuts days away and Democrats and Republicans as far apart as ever, observers say the reductions appear to be inevitable.

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Japan to nominate ADB president as BoJ chief

TOKYO: The Japanese government of Shinzo Abe is set to nominate Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda as governor of the central bank, reports said on Monday, sending the dollar surging against the yen.

The greenback surged past 94 yen in early Asian trade from 93.37 yen in New York on Friday, with investors confident that there will be fresh aggressive easing steps by Abe's administration to boost the flagging economy.

The cabinet plans to submit his nomination to parliament this week, the Nikkei and other newspapers said. The appointment requires parliamentary approval.

If approved, the 68-year-old former finance ministry bureaucrat will succeed incumbent Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor Masaaki Shirakawa, who is stepping down on March 19, several weeks before the end of his term.

Abe has decided to pick Kuroda "as he backs Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bold monetary easing policies while maintaining good links with the international financial industry," the Nikkei said.

Abe also plans to pick Tokyo's Gakushuin University economics professor Kikuo Iwata as one of the deputy governors, while BoJ executive-director Hiroshi Nakaso is the leading contender for the other deputy position, Nikkei reported.

Immediate confirmation of the reports was not available.

Abe told a news conference on Friday in Washington that his government would start picking nominees on Monday after concluding his US trip, during which he held talks with President Barack Obama.

Kuroda spent decades as a Japanese finance ministry bureaucrat. He was responsible for international affairs and foreign exchange policy between 1999 and 2003 before assuming the post of ADB president in 2005.

A former vice finance minister for international affairs, he is known as an advocate of aggressive monetary easing to overcome Japan's deflation, a stance in line with Abe's economic policy.

Abe had warned he could change a law guaranteeing the bank's independence if it did not follow his prescription of big spending and aggressive monetary easing to rescue the economy from decades of weak growth and deflation.

- AFP/ck

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Copter deal fixer specializes in India

NEW DELHI: Security services in Algeria, commercial promotions in India, supply of specialized personnel in the Middle East and more.

Guido Haschke, the Swiss resident who was allegedly one of the key middlemen in the VVIP helicopter deal with India, almost sounds like a global consortium with several specializations across the globe in the internal documents of Finmeccanica group. Or was he a key conduit for funneling out money from the Italian group`s various companies?

According to internal documents of Finmeccanica group reviewed by TOI, Haschke and his companies were paid at least 2.65 million euros (approx Rs 18.55 crore) between 2005 and 2011 for several activities across several countries. These are besides the payments that were made to companies such as IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix, and other front companies.

The documents point towards an extremely cozy relationship between the Italian-US citizen and the consortium. It also shows the blessings enjoyed by Haschke from the Finmeccanica top brass, especially former chairman Giuseppe Orsi, which emerges in the several taped conversations between Hashcke and other suspects during the ongoing Italian probe.

Without such a considerate approach from Finmeccanica, he couldn`t have won so many diverse contracts. There is no clear indication yet that Haschke and his companies had all these capabilities shown in the contracts.

India definitely was his main playground. Haschke had several contracts with Finmeccanica group companies in India at least until March 2012 when details of the scandal began to emerge in Italian media. Investigations show that Haschke and his companies handled kickbacks of 21 million euros in the Rs 3,546 crore deal for buying 12 VVIP helicopters for the IAF in 2010. Christian Michel, a UK citizen based in Dubai, handled another 30 million euros in kickbacks, according to Italian investigators.

AgustaWestland entered into three consultancy agreements between December 2005 and September 2007 with Haschke in India. According to a report submitted to the Finmeccanica board after the scandal broke, these were "concerning scouting for the sale of civilian helicopters in India, for which fees totalling 400,000 euros were paid". The report told the board, "Those agreements have no connection with the subsequent supply of the 12 helicopters discussed" in the controversy.

Alenia Aermacchi, the aerospace arm of Finmeccanica, paid Haschke 300,000 euros in financial year 2011-12 under what is called a "service agreement". It is not clear what specific services Haschke provided to the company, which is pitching its C-27J transport aircraft to the Indian military.

Another Finmeccanica company OtoMelara, which is looking to supply its land and naval systems to Indian forces, had a "service agreement" with Haschke in the 2011-12 financial year for 58,000 euros. Ansaldo Energia, the power engineering company of Finmeccanica group, entered into two commercial support contracts and one contract for the supply of specialized personnel with Haschke in India. Under a contract signed on June 15, 2006, he was paid 202,000 euros for "acquisition of an order from a private Indian party". A second contract dated January 15, 2011 was for supply of spare parts for a plant in India, with a fee of 249,000 euros.

Ansaldo Breda, which is into road and rail systems, entered into a commercial promotion contract in India from November 1, 2008 to October 31, 2009, and paid Haschke 120,000 euros. Haschke`s contracts with Finmeccanica group companies were not just limited to India.

Ansaldo Energia, through its Abu Dhabi branch, had a contract for "specialized personnel" for assembly and work site activities in the Middle East and North Africa with Haschke. The agreement started from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2006 at an annual cost of 600,000 euros. Ansaldo Energia also had a contract with Haschke for security services for a work site in Algeria during 2007-2010, and he was paid a total fee of 1.14 million euros.

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Picture Archive: Dorothy Lamour and Jiggs, Circa 1938

Dorothy Lamour, most famous for her Road to ... series of movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, never won an Oscar. In her 50-plus-year career as an actress, she never even got nominated.

Neither did Jiggs the chimpanzee, pictured here with Lamour on the set of Her Jungle Love in a photo published in the 1938 National Geographic story "Monkey Folk."

No animal has ever been nominated for an Oscar. According to Academy Award rules, only actors and actresses are eligible.

Uggie, the Jack Russell terrier from last year's best picture winner, The Artist, didn't rate a nod. The equines that portrayed Seabiscuit and War Horse, movies that were best picture contenders in their respective years, were also snubbed.

Even the seven piglets that played Babe, the eponymous star of the best picture nominee in 1998, didn't rate. And the outlook seems to be worsening for the animal kingdom's odds of ever getting its paws on that golden statuette.

This year, two movies nominated in the best picture category had creatures that were storyline drivers with significant on-screen time. Neither Beasts of the Southern Wild (which featured extinct aurochs) or Life of Pi (which featured a CGI Bengal tiger named Richard Parker) used real animals.

An Oscar's not the only way for animals to get ahead, though. Two years after this photo was published, the American Humane Association's Los Angeles Film & TV Unit was established to monitor and protect animals working on show business sets. The group's creation was spurred by the death of a horse during the filming of 1939's Jessie James.

Today, it's still the only organization that stamps "No Animals Were Harmed" onto a movie's closing credits.

Editor's note: This is part of a series of pieces that looks at the news through the lens of the National Geographic photo archives.

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Oscars 2013: Live Blog of the Academy Awards

Feb 24, 2013 1:13pm

9:00 p.m. ET: Best Animated Feature Oscar goes to….”Brave.”

8: 58 p.m. ET: Paperman wins Best Animated Short.

8: 58 p.m. ET: Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy lost us in their intro to animated short film.

8: 51 pm. ET: And the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor goes to Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained.”

8:49 p.m. ET: Every nominee for Best Supporting Actor already has an Oscar under his belt.

8: 42 p.m. ET: Another musical number with Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph-Gordon Levitt. And then we got a little Disney music too with “Be Our Guest,” which finally scored MacFarlane the “Best Oscars host ever” headline.

8: 39 p.m. ET: Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron are dancing to MacFarlane singing “The Way You Look Tonight.” A shame not to see the “Magic Mike” star shirtless though.

8:38 p.m. ET: Captain Kirk from “Star Trek” has descended on the stage to warn MacFarlane that he’s about to ruin the Oscars and be branded the worst Oscar host ever. “The show is a disaster. I’ve come back in time … to stop you from ruining the Academy Awards,” William Shatner says. “You sing an incredibly offensive song that upsets a lot of women in the audience.” Cut to MacFarlane singing “We Saw Your Boobs,” a hilarious number referencing when we’ve seen actresses nude in movies.

8:35 p.m. ET: MacFarlane pokes fun at Daniel Day Lewis’ method. “Your process fascinates me. You were totally 100% in character in Lincoln… So if you saw a cell phone, would you have to be like, ‘Oh god, what’s that?’ If you bumped into Don Cheadle on the studio lot, you’d try and free him on the studio lot.”

8: 32 p.m. ET:  Too much? MacFarlane compared “Django Unchained” to Rihanna and Chris Brown’s relationship.

8:30 p.m. ET: Seth MacFarlane is on stage and quips: “The quest to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh begins now.”

8:27 p.m. ET: The stars are seated and the show is about to start. A lot of anticipation about Seth MacFarlane’s opening monologue. Channing Tatum is tweeting that he’s getting ready to take to the stage: “Hope you like what we’ve been working on. Getting ready to hit the #Oscars stage! Wish me luck!” Will there be a musical number right off the bat?

8:20 p.m. ET: Strapless is definitely a trend of the night. We’ve also seen a lot of beauties in blue.

Image credit: Getty Images

8: 15 p.m. ET: We’ve confirmed that Best Supporting Actress nominee Helen Hunt is rocking … H&M! “The Session” actress is in a  custom made midnight-blue full length gown is silk satin gown (also strapless).  See it here.

8:14 p.m. ET: Anne Hathaway is talking about her dress. “My mom says it’s business in the front, party in the back.”

8:08 p.m. ET: Do Jacki Weaver and Olivia Munn share a stylist? ABC News’ Alexis Shaw spotted the Best Supporting Actress nominee and Munn in eerily similar crimson gowns with matching gold embellishment on the top. Click here for more.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

8:05 p.m. ET: Kristen Stewart is sporting crutches on the red carpet. Might be because she took home the Worst Actress Razzie award last night for “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2.”

Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

8:00 p.m. ET: The show is now officially a half hour away. In honor of Oscar night, the President tweeted this picture from a White House movie night.

Image credit: Twitter/BarackObama

7: 52 p.m. ET: “Les Mis” star and Best Actor nominee Hugh Jackman just picked up pre-show host Kristin Chenoweth on the red carpet and said she weighs less than an Oscar. Not really though…Each nearly 14-inch-high statue weighs 8.5 pounds and costs $500 to make. Get more Oscar trivia here.

7:40 p.m. ET: If there’s one star you can count on to look fabulous, it’s Jennifer Aniston.  She’s in a Valentino red strapless gown and has fiance Justin Theroux at her side. They’re in the running for Hollywood’s hottest couple on the red carpet.

7:38 p.m. ET: Bradley Cooper brought his mom as his date. She’s rocking a shrug with serious feathers and what look like sneakers with her gown. Cooper is up for Best Actor in “Silver Linings Playbook.”

7:34 p.m. ET: Reese Witherspoon is in head to toe Louis Vuitton. The presenter’s black and royal blue gown with side-swept hairdo scream old Hollywood glamor. Click here.

Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images

7: 28 p.m. ET: Fashion miss: Jane Fonda is slightly blinding in bright yellow.

7: 24 p.m. ET: Best actress nominee Naomi Watts is in a gunmetal Giorgio Armani gown in grey sequins. Does she make your best dressed list? See more arrivals here.

7:20 p.m. ET: Anne Hathaway’s dress may raise eyebrows tonight. The “Les Miserables” star is in a backless, halter dress that appears slightly sheer on the red carpet.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

7:18 p.m. ET: We can’t get enough of Quvenzhane Wallis. The “Beasts of the Southern Wild” star has her mom’s permission to stay out a little bit later tonight, she told Lara Spencer on the red carpet.

Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

7:15 p.m. ET: “I feel super tucked in,” Amanda Seyfried said of the corset in her Alexander McQueen gown. “I can’t sit down.” The “Les Miserables” star is performing tonight. Hope she can breathe on stage.

7:07 p.m. ET: Another star goes strapless. Jennifer Lawrence, who’s up for Best Actress in “Silver Linings Playbook,” is in a blush Dior Haute Couture gown with a full skirt.

Credit: Steve Granitz/Getty Images

7:01 p.m. ET: ABC’s pre-show is kicking off! “Red carpet is 500 feet long. That’s about 2,000 of me,” Chenoweth joked. Tune into ABC now and get a behind-the-scenes look via Backstage Pass on the Oscar App.

6:56 p.m. ET: The red carpet is packed, but not everyone is making it through the notorious L.A. traffic. Mark Ruffalo is running late. The actor, who’s presenting tonight, tweeted to the Academy: “Dear @TheAcademy. We are running a good deal behind would you mind starting a little later this year? Mark and Sunrise Ruffalo.”

Credit: ABC News

6:49 p.m. ET: Presenter Kerry Washington is in Miu Miu. The “Django Unchained” and star “Scandal” star always keeps us guessing and never fails to impress.

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6:44 p.m. ET: Who are you most excited to see on the red carpet? What will be the meme of the night? Angelia Jolie’s right leg stole the show last year and Twitter is reminding us. “1 year ago today you met the glorious thing that is ME #neverforget,” @Angelina Jolie’sLeg posted.  

6:35 p.m. ET: The reigning “Sexiest Man Alive” Channing Tatum and a pregnant Jenna Dewan are both glowing on the red carpet. See them canoodling here.

6:25 p.m. ET: Amy Adams looks ethereal in a seafoam green Oscar de la Renta strapless dress. She’s up for Best Supporting Actress for “The Master.”

Credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

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6:22 p.m. ET: Cutest moment of the red carpet so far, as captured by the Academy. Nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, nominated for “Beasts of the Southern Wild” shows off her puppy-shaped purse to fellow Best Actress nominee Jessica Chastain. It’s reportedly named Sammy after her dog at home.

Credit: @TheAcademy/Twitter

6:10 p.m. ET: The winners have arrived, WABC’s Sandy Kenyon reports! In these briefcases are the top secret ballots from the Academy. Read more here.

Credit: Twitter/SandyKenyon7

5:56 p.m. ET: “GMA” anchors Robin Roberts and Lara Spencer smile backstage before the red carpet heats up.

Credit: ABC

5:42 p.m. ET: ABC pre-show hosts Kristin Chenoweth and Kelly Rowland have arrived on the red carpet and are looking fabulous in black and white.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

5:30 p.m. ET: See what the stars see as they walk down the grand staircase to the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre. This cool 360 view is courtesy of the Academy.

5:15 p.m. ET: Get your Oscar party on. Impress your friends with these movie-themed recipes and cocktails. We could go for some Spinach “Argo-choke Dip” right about now…

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5:00 p.m. ET: “GMA” anchor Robin Roberts is back and looking better than ever! Roberts, who returned to the morning show Wednesday after undergoing a bone marrow transplant to treat MDS, will be on the red carpet tonight. “To my wonderful, beloved #TeamRobin … This one’s for you. XO,” she tweeted. She’s in a cobalt blue velvet halter gown from designer Marc Bouwer.

Credit: Twitter/RobinRoberts

4:44 p.m. ET: We’re less than an hour away from red carpet arrivals. “Good Morning America” anchor Lara Spencer is getting red-carpet ready to host the Oscar pre-show.  “Hair + Make-up = Butterflies!” @LaraSpencer tweeted. Spencer, actress Kristin Chenoweth, Entertainment Weekly’s Jess Cagle and singer Kelly Rowland will have interviews with all of the stars, starting at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC.

Credit: Twitter/LaraSpencer

1:15 p.m. ET: Hollywood’s biggest night of the year is officially here: the Oscars. Funnyman Seth MacFarlane is hosting the 85^th Annual Academy Awards and we’ll be covering all of the big winners, best moments, surprises, and all-important red carpet arrivals. Refresh for the latest updates all night long.

We are just hours away from seeing the gorgeous gowns and finding out who’s going home with those coveted statuettes. It’s not too late to make your picks and predictions on our interactive Oscar ballot. To get up to speed before the festivities begin, check out our complete Oscars coverage.

Credit: Bob D'Amico/ABC

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Backstage Pass: Download the Oscars App for insider views from the red carpet and behind the scenes. Click here to learn how!

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