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Elizabeth Cline investigates the kinds of clothes made in the Bangladesh factory that collapsed in late April, , beginning with a hat bought at the clothing brand Port Authority. She eventually findsabout the factory conditions in which the hat was manufactured: "It’s actually quite rare to be able to get even this amount of information about a clothing factory used by a major brand and even rarer to be able trace a specific item (a hat) back to a specific factory, one that might have actually created that hat," she writes. "But, even then, the report does little to inspire consumer confidence. It does not disclose the name of the factory or the address nor does it give any real sense of what the factory is like. It also reveals a string of noncompliance issues, among them wage violations, a lack of accurate payroll records, a handful of faulty smoke detectors and fire extinguishers that were partially blocked by embroidery machines. And there is no public record of when and if these issues were resolved."take a broader view of America's demand for inexpensive clothing: "Americans' appetite for cheap clothes is one of the strongest of the economic forces that led to a boom in Bangladesh, with the resulting race to add manufacturing capacity setting the stage for the series of horrific accidents. U.S. consumers have become accustomed to spending relatively little on clothing compared with other items—and getting a lot for their money."

RELATED:

What has become of Don Draper in season six of Mad Men? "As the island was to Lost, Don Draper is to Mad Men," observes Emily Nussbaum. "He was a great premise, a mystery we were dying to understand. But, the more the puzzle has been filled in, the more he’s begun to feel suspiciously like a symbol, a thesis title rather than a character: 'Appearance Versus Reality'; 'American Masculinity as Performance'; 'The Links Between Prostitution, Marriage, and the Ad Game.'" Played by Jon Hamm, Draper has become something of a burden: "Instead of being the show’s engine, [Draper] has become its anchor—heavy, even in the sixties sense. This is true despite the excellent performance of Hamm, who remains the most watchable man on earth, even when he’s doing nothing but glaring over a tumbler of Scotch." , Draper is becoming an artifact of his time: "Don isn’t putting it on, exactly. He’s really just having a showdown with himself. The new age belongs to men like [Draper's professional rival Ted Chaough], who come to meetings on time, who have semi-productive brainstorming sessions, who don’t drink at the office, who are inspired by lowbrow shows on TV."

RELATED:

Matthew Winkler addresses the recently-unveiled, and apparently widespread, practice among Bloomberg News reporters ofto keep tabs on employees at financial firms where the terminals were installed. "We are defined by our words," Winkler begins, referring to a memo called , "and they applied to us when a Bloomberg LP customer expressed concern that Bloomberg News reporters had access to limited client information. Our client is right. Our reporters should not have access to any data considered proprietary. I am sorry they did. The error is inexcusable." But according to , the practice was at least implicitly encouraged, if not by Winkler himself, as a way to stay ahead in the famously competitive Bloomberg newsroom. "The sheer amount of data available on the terminals created a dynamic in the Bloomberg newsroom in which some reporters favored breaking news over strict subscriber confidentiality," she writes, before quoting one reporter: "There was always a discussion in the newsroom of how to use the terminals to break news. ... That’s where it gets nuanced because I’m sure that in encouraging people to break news, Matt [Winkler] did not mean in this way."

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Michelle Cottle spots a pattern among the rising stars of the Grand Old Party, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who otherwise couldn't more less alike: "One is a twangy Texan with that shit-kicking, boot-wearing thing going on ... the other is a Jersey bruiser, with a (much-discussed) physique reminiscent of Tony Soprano after a donut bender. But both are delivering a booster shot of testosterone ... that hard-to-define-but-easy-to-recognize machismo that no amount of therapy, media training, or psycho-pharmaceuticals can impart." Which is crucial, she argues: "This essence of manliness is central to the GOP’s mythology. The Daddy Party cherishes its self-image as the party of toughness, of self-reliance, of up-by-the-bootstraps fortitude. ... seeing as how the GOP is increasingly a guy's party, both demographically and culturally, it really should have at least a couple of men out there who can walk the walk and talk the talk." But it's unclear what such a message of self-reliance will do for the party. , for one, hopes "Republicans [will] reject the 'radical individualism' of the last four years, and return to a compassionate conservatism that remembers our bonds and obligations to one another."

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Fast & Furious 6" director Justin Lin doesn't understand why James Franco would ever bad mouth their 2006 collaboration, "Annapolis."

"He's going on publicly about stuff and I honestly don't understand it," Lin told the Huffington Post in an interview published Tuesday. "I think James is a good guy, but I don't know. I wish he would just not say anything."

While promoting "Spring Breakers" in March, Franco referred to Lin's naval academy boxing drama as "a really bad movie." He told Badass Digest that he "ended up not liking the experience and not liking the movie."

Lin, however, sees it differently.

"The crew had a great experience; we were all very young and we were all doing the best we can," Lin said. "And for someone to kind of lay judgment, you know, it is hurtful. And I think it's very disrespectful."

"Annapolis" was a box office flop and slammed by critics when released, but Lin isn't letting those details influence his pride in his work.

"I wish James could keep it to himself because I don't know the point," Lin continued. "We make movies and we all try our best and sometimes we connect with the audience, sometimes we don't."

Lin has connected with audiences through the "Fast and Furious" franchise -- a four-picture gig that began with directing "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift."

Although Lin wasn't able to rejuvenate Universal's racing franchise until directing the fourth installment, "Fast & Furious," Lin recognizes the important role both "Annapolis" and "Tokyo Drift" played in his now-booming career.

"Without 'Annapolis,' I wouldn't have gotten 'Tokyo Drift' - I wouldn't be here today. And, so, it's part of who I am," Lin said. "I will always be proud of it. And for someone to be a big part of that and to publicly go and start talking trash? You know, I just don't think that's cool."

Despite Franco's criticism of both his and Lin's work, they remain on good terms. Still, Lin cites "a respect factor in filmmaking" that Franco ignored when his negative opinion of "Annapolis" was not "kept in the locker room."

"James Franco is not perfect. I'm not perfect. I'm really proud to be here now, but I'm just as equally proud as when that movie opened and nobody would take my call," Lin added. "Because that makes me who I am. And that experience made me who I am. And I would hope it's the same for him as opposed to him judging the rest of us."

The FTR Moto pilot, 26, was detained in the southern town of Jerez early on Thursday following an incident overnight, police said.

Barbera finished 12th in Sunday's Spanish grand prix in Jerez and had stayed on to spend a few days with his girlfriend, who is from the area, local media reported.

After an altercation in their hotel, the girlfriend needed hospital treatment and officials at the clinic notified police, the reports said.

Barbera's team said they had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. (Reporting by Teresa Larraz, writing by Iain Rogers, editing by Clare Fallon)

Officials with the courts say that so far, it has been confirmed that 94 Social Security numbers were obtained in the February attack.

Initially, authorities didn't think confidential information was taken. But following an investigation by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the broader breach was confirmed in April.

A courts spokeswoman says those potentially affected may include those who were booked into a city or county jail between September 2011 through December 2012, and those who received DUI citations or had traffic cases or superior court criminal cases during a specific period.

, released on Tuesday, showed that nation wide home prices did not register a significant change in the third quarter of 2011, with the U.S. National Home Price Index up by only 0.1% from its second quarter level. Home prices are down 3.9% across the board and are now back to their first quarter of 2003 levels.

From August to September, housing prices have fallen the most in Atlanta, with a 5.9% decline, followed by Tampa Bay and San Francisco, both with a 1.5% drop in housing prices.

Boston, New York, Washington and Los Angeles remain the most expensive cities in the lower 48 states.

"The plunging collapse of prices seen in 2007-2009 seems to be behind us," says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. "Any chance for a sustained recovery will probably need a stronger economy."

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Creatine, a supplement favored by bodybuilders, modestly boosted muscle strength in patients with fibromyalgia, Brazilian researchers report.

Apart from helping with muscle weakness, though, the treatment had little effect on other symptoms of the mysterious disorder, such as chronic pain, fatigue, memory loss, depression, anxiety and sleeplessness.

"The improvements in muscle function did not reflect improvements in general symptoms as we hypothesized," said senior study author Bruno Gualano, a professor at the University of So Paulo School of Physical Education and Sports in Brazil.

As many as one in 50 Americans suffers from fibromyalgia, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The condition typically strikes in middle age, affects women more often than men and is thought to be triggered by stress.

Current treatments for fibromyalgia symptoms include three FDA-approved drugs - antidepressants Savella and Cymbalta, plus the nerve-pain medication Lyrica - along with antiepileptic drugs and sedatives. Experts noted, however, that the drugs are not very effective and come with many side effects.

Non-drug treatments for fibromyalgia include exercise, massage and meditation.

Previous research has found that brain and muscle tissues in fibromyalgia patients have reduced levels of creatine - a chemical critical to cells' ability to generate energy - which might explain the weakness and neurological symptoms, Gualano and his colleagues note in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

One study found that creatine supplements improved general fibromyalgia symptoms, but the research was not rigorously done, which made the results difficult to interpret.

So Gualano's team conducted a 16-week double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, the gold standard for medical research, in which fibromyalgia patients daily consumed either creatine (15 patients) or placebo pills (13 patients).

Neither the trial staff nor the patients knew who was getting the real supplement, or even what substance the supplement was supposed to be, until after the study period was complete.

At that point, the creatine-supplemented group showed modest strength improvements when tested on leg presses (10 percent improvement) and chest presses (8 percent improvement).

But, participants were also surveyed on an array of other symptoms, including their pain levels, moods and sleep, and those in the supplement group didn't report any changes in overall quality of life.

"It was a well-done study, but not very exciting," said Dr. Don Goldenberg, rheumatology chief at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Boston, who was not involved in the study.

Most researchers consider fibromyalgia a disease of the nervous rather than muscle system, Goldenberg said.

"Muscle strength is not a primary problem for people with fibromyalgia; it's chronic pain and fatigue," he told Reuters Health.

He wasn't surprised that creatine supplements didn't affect a host of other symptoms.

"I would encourage people to do strengthening exercise rather than to use a supplement to strengthen," Goldenberg said. "To say that (creatine supplementation) is something that I'm going to recommend to my patients? No."

"I don't think patients are going to gain much at all (from the study); false hope perhaps," said Pam Stewart, chairwoman of the non-profit Fibromyalgia UK. "The extra strength it gives to muscles is not long lasting and in everyday life, that isn't usually what patients need."

Instead, patients need to get better sleep, lead less stressful lives and pursue low-impact exercises, Stewart told Reuters Health.

Still, because anti-fibromyalgia medicines typically target the brain, but have limited effectiveness and several side effects, their use is limited and researchers applauded any attempts to find alternatives.

"Looking at new approaches is a really important thing to do," Goldenberg said. "I'm just not that enthusiastic about this particular approach."

For chronic pain, Goldenberg thinks the longer the disease is not treated or diagnosed, the worse the symptoms become.

"One of the messages for people is get an early diagnosis and get early therapy," Goldenberg said. However, "many chronic pain syndromes have overlapping symptoms, making diagnosis difficult."

Though creatine failed to pan out as a therapy on its own, Gualano said that he'd like future studies to combine the supplement with exercise and anti-fibromyalgia drugs to see if it enhances their effects.

Gualano also said he would recommend creatine supplementation to help build muscle and strength in patients, but stressed that exercise is also very important for all fibromyalgia patients.

"Exercise is the most important therapeutic tool that physicians have to treat rheumatic patients including fibromyalgia," Gualano said.

SOURCE: bit.ly/12GtIuD Arthritis Care & Research, online April 1, 2013.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's not a "Star Trek" tricorder, but by hooking a variety of gadgets onto a smartphone you could almost get a complete physical without the paper gown or even a visit to the doctor's office.

Blood pressure? Just plug the arm cuff into the phone for a quick reading.

Heart OK? Put your fingers in the right spot, and the squiggly rhythm of an EKG appears on the phone's screen.

Plug in a few more devices and you could have photos of your eardrum (Look, no infection!) and the back of your eye, listen to your heartbeat, chart your lung function, even get a sonogram.

If this sounds like a little too much DIY medical care, well, the idea isn't to self-diagnose with Dr. iPhone. But companies are rapidly developing miniature medical devices that tap the power of the ubiquitous smartphone in hopes of changing how people monitor their own health.

"We wanted to make sure they have all the right tools available in their pocket" is how Joseph Flaherty of AgaMatrix describes his company's tiny glucose monitor. Diabetics can plug the iBGStar into the bottom of an iPhone and check blood sugar on the go without carrying an extra device.

This mobile medicine also might help doctors care for patients in new ways. In March, prominent San Diego cardiologist Eric Topol tweeted "no emergency landing req'd" when he used his smartphone EKG to diagnose a distressing but not immediately dangerous irregular heartbeat in a fellow airplane passenger at 30,000 feet.

And the University of California, San Francisco, hopes to enroll a staggering 1 million people in its Health eHeart Study to see whether using mobile technology, including smartphone tracking of people's heart rate and blood pressure, could help treat and prevent cardiovascular disease.

The question: Do smartphone devices really work well enough for the average patient and primary care doctor to dive in, or are early adopters just going for the cool factor? Many of the tools cost $100 to $200, there's little public sales information yet and it's not clear how insurers will handle the fledgling trend.

"Technology sometimes evolves faster than we're ready for it," cautioned Dr. Glen Stream of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "We're recognizing more and more that not all care needs to be delivered face to face," but only if people measure the right things and have a relationship with a doctor to help make good use of the findings, he stressed.

Addressing a recent TEDMED conference in Washington, Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, UCSF's chancellor, put the challenge this way: "How does mobile monitoring become something more than a toy or something interesting? How does it connect to how I'm cared for by my caregiver?"

About 300 doctors, health policy wonks and others attending that high-tech meeting received what was dubbed a "smartphone physical" from medical students using 10 of the latest devices. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a number of the gadgets for sale; others are experimental prototypes gathered for the demonstration by Nurture by Steelcase and the doctor website Medgadget.

"It's going to be our generation that adopts most of these," noted Shiv Gaglani, a Johns Hopkins medical student who helped organize the project.

The FDA cites industry estimates that 500 million smartphone users worldwide will use some type of health app by 2015. Today's apps mostly are educational tools, digital health diaries or reminders and fitness sensors. The new trend is toward more sophisticated medical apps, some that work with plug-in devices, that provide information a doctor might find useful.

Some of the devices sell by prescription or on drugstore shelves, while others like the diabetes monitor and blood pressure cuff have entered a new venue for medicine the Apple store.

Simplicity is part of the idea. Take the AliveCor Heart Monitor. Snap it on like a smartphone case, place fingers on the sensors no sticky wires on the chest and you've got an EKG recording in 30 seconds. The FDA approved sale of the $199 device in December for doctors to use in exams or to prescribe for patients to use on themselves.

It doesn't measure as much as a full-scale EKG, and patients must email the recording to a doctor for analysis. But heart patients frequently experience palpitations that have ended by the time they reach a cardiologist and emailing an on-the-spot EKG reading might help the doctor figure out what happened, said AliveCor co-founder Dr. Dave Albert.

"This is a brand-new technology. We're trying to understand how people will use it," said Albert, whose company also is seeking FDA permission to sell the device over the counter.

Welch Allyn's iExaminer taps the smartphone's camera to photograph deep inside the eye the orange view of the retina filling the phone's screen.

Similarly, CellScope Inc. is developing an otoscope that magnifier doctors use to peer into the ear that can snap a photo of the eardrum. It's not for sale yet, but might parents one day email that kind of picture to the pediatrician before deciding whether Johnny needs an office visit?

"It was great to see it on the phone, rather than the pinpoints we get to see" through a traditional scope, said Dr. Bertina Yen, a Los Angeles internist-turned-health IT specialist. She turned the tables during her smartphone physical, taking over some of the equipment to try it out herself.

And University of Washington researchers are testing a way to measure lung function in people with asthma or emphysema as they blow onto the phone and it captures the sound. Usually patients blow into special machines at the doctor's office, while a use-anywhere version might help someone spot early signs of worsening before they see a doctor.

Insurers are studying what smartphone technology to pay for. For example, health care giant Kaiser Permanente is about to begin a project in Georgia to sell the iBGStar alongside other diabetes monitors in its on-site pharmacies. The project will determine whether patients like the smartphone monitor, if it improves care and if so, whether the readings should beam into patients' electronic health records, in Georgia and in other Kaiser regions.

But ultimately these devices may have a bigger role in developing countries, where full-size medical equipment is in short supply but smartphones are becoming common. Even in rural parts of the U.S. it can take hours to drive to a specialist, while a primary care physician might quickly email that specialist a photo of, say, a diseased retina first to see whether the trip's really necessary.

"These tools make diagnosis at a distance much easier," said Dr. Nicholas Genes, an emergency medicine professor at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who helped with TEDMED's smartphone physical.

The presence of the cell confirms fears that the jihadist groups, which sprang up last year in northern Mali, have succeeded in travelling past the numerous roadblocks to the country's most populous city.

The cell was first discovered more than a month ago, Sougalo Togola, press officer for the Ministry of Internal Security, told The Associated Press by telephone. The information was confirmed by an intelligence official involved in the case, as well as by a member of the capital's gendarmerie, or paramilitary police. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

"There was indeed a MUJAO cell in Bamako and it's been dismantled," said the intelligence agent.

Photographs of the seven suspects were published Tuesday on Maliweb.net, an online news portal which often publishes messages from the military. All seven have the last name "Diallo," indicating they're from the Peul ethnic group.

MUJAO is led by commanders who splintered from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the al-Qaida affiliate in North Africa. For years the fighters operated out of bases at the feet of the Sahara desert in the remote northern triangle of Mali. Then in March 2012, after a coup in Mali's capital, they pushed south and succeeded in taking the important provincial capital of Gao, located 1,200 (750 miles) northeast of the capital.

The jihadists actively recruited locals, including from the Peul ethnic group, from the villages around Gao, an area of the country where some communities were already practicing a more conservative form of Islam, known as Wahabism. Although the cell dismantled in Bamako was in its early stages, experts have long warned that Mali's central government is too weak to stop the movement of potential jihadists to the capital.

Security at even the most crucial buildings in the capital, like the National Assembly, is lax and if a mature cell was able to take hold in Bamako, the damage they could do could be substantial, say experts.

MUJAO, and the two other Islamic extremist groups controlling northern Mali, were ousted from the main cities in January, after a full-on military intervention by over 2,000 French troops. They have not succeeded, however, in flushing out entrenched cells in rural areas and since the French-led intervention there have been repeated suicide bombings in Gao, as well as in the other two major northern cities Kidal and Timbuktu.

The cell dismantled in Bamako did not have the capacity to do significant damage, said the official with the gendarmerie in Bamako. "These are people who were based in the north and who received military training," he said. "When the war started, they got spooked and they fled south. They are not experienced fighters."

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Associated press writer Rukmini Callimachi contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal.

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Baba Ahmed can be reached at www.twitter.com/babahmed1

Rukmini Callimachi can be reached at www.twitter.com/rcallimachi

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - AMC has announced an ambitious programming slate at Wednesday's upfront presentation for advertisers.

It includes the announcement of an overall deal with writer/producer Rolin Jones ("Boardwalk Empire," "Smash," "United States of Tara"). Under the pact, Jones will write and executive produce projects specifically for the network.

Also, AMC announced a new live after-show for its critically acclaimed series "Breaking Bad's" final season; renewals for its "Walking Dead" after-show "Talking Dead" and unscripted series "Comic Book Men" and "Freakshow."

"Six years ago at AMC, we set a goal to create premium television on basic cable and we began to develop and nurture shows that would set us apart," Charlie Collier, president and general manager of AMC, said in a statement. "As we lay out the year ahead for advertisers at our 2013/14 Upfront, it is an honor to have such a breadth of development and programming to share and to be in business with such a high caliber of talent in front of and behind the camera."

Here's a full list of Wednesday's announcements:

"Talking Bad"

AMC will air a special weekly, half-hour live after-show to accompany the conclusion of its Emmy Award-winning series, "Breaking Bad." "Talking Bad" will analyze and dissect every detail of "Breaking Bad's" final eight episodes beginning Sunday, August 11. "Talking Bad" will air at 11pm ET/PT, and will be produced by Michael Davies' Embassy Row with Sony Pictures Television serving as the studio partner.

SCRIPTED DEVELOPMENT

"Ballistic City"

Writer and Executive Producer: Travis Beacham (Clash of the Titans, Pacific Rim); Executive Producer and Director: Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy, Oblivion), Executive Producers: Steve Golin, Bard Dorros and Michael Sugar of Anonymous Content (Oblivion)

A futuristic drama, "Ballistic City" is the story of a former cop thrust into the criminal underworld of a city housed in a generational space ship destined for an unknown world.

"King"

Executive Producers: Joe Scarborough (MSNBC's "Morning Joe") and Mika Brzezinski (MSNBC's "Morning Joe"); Writers and Executive Producers: Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider ("Boardwalk Empire," "The Sopranos")

In the early 1960s, Floridian King Carmichael sells his soul to a corrupt, racist political machine to win a seat in the Senate. Having run as a segregationist, he is then tapped by Lyndon B. Johnson to champion civil rights in the South.

"Ashland"

Writer and Executive Producer: Allison Anders (Gas, Food, Lodging, Mi Vida Loca) and Terry Graham; Co-Executive Producer: Shana Eddy

Set in 1950 in Ashland, a tiny mining town in Kentucky, the Evans family has just relocated from California and the matriarch, Del, must hide her family's secrets and find a way to support her three children at the height of the Red Scare.

"White City"

Executive Producer: Tom Freston (MTV); Writers and Co-Executive Producers: Nick McDonell (Twelve, The Third Brother, An Expensive Education) and John Dempsey

The drama series follows western diplomats and journalists living in Afghanistan.

"Untitled Dahvi Waller Project"

Writer and Executive Producer: Dahvi Waller ("Mad Men")

Set against the New York automobile industry of the 1920s, two brothers struggle to keep their family-run company afloat with a class-hopping Ziegfeld girl and the daughter of an English competitor blurring the line between love and business.

"Untitled Tim Lea/Anonymous Content Project"

Writer and Executive Producer: Tim Lea ("Flash Forward," "The Riches"); Executive Producers: David Kanter and Matt DeRoss of Anonymous Content (Winter's Bone, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

In America's near future, one family is nearly torn apart in the conflict between a repressive government and the emerging movement for a second American Revolution.

"The Wall"

Writers and Executive Producers: Jim Keeble and Dudi Appleton (Thorne); Executive Producer: Red Arrow; Executive Producer: Alan Greenspan (Donnie Brasco, High Fidelity)

In 1960s Berlin, an American businessman becomes embroiled in a web of East-West espionage.

UNSCRIPTED DEVELOPMENT

"Majority Rules"

Produced by ALL3 Media America; Executive Producers: Stephen Lambert, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman

"Majority Rules" is a docu-style, unscripted series that celebrates the American democratic process. At the most grass root level, whether it's an election for president of the birdwatchers club or a small-town city council, it will take a light-hearted look at democracy at work as the candidates vie for votes - because, in America - Majority Rules.

"All-Star Celebrity Bowling"

Produced by High Noon Productions; Executive Producers: Chris Hardwick and Peter Levin of Nerdist; Executive Producers: Jim Berger and Patrick Jager from High Noon

"All-Star Celebrity Bowling" is the battle royale of celebrity talk shows - an unscripted, hilarious, tongue-in-cheek format that features celebrity bowling matches. In each episode, celebrity teams compete to win big money for charity while letting loose and showing how even the highest profile stars can get competitive, while letting fans in on their lives and current projects.

"Cancelled"

Produced by Lion Television; Executive Produced by Tony Tackaberry and Allison Corn

"Cancelled" is a social experiment that will attempt to determine just how far people will really go for fame. Over the course of eight weeks, six households will be outfitted with cameras that will give them the chance to compete for 'ratings' that will determine which household has the most-watched reality show.

This news comes on the heels of AMC's recent greenlight for the pilot of "Geek Out," an unscripted project that takes the ultimate super-fan of a specific film, comic book, author, actor, athlete, musician, video game, or television series on an adventure that emotionally connects them to their obsession. Ernest Cline, best-selling author, screenwriter and fanboy aficionado co-hosts and serves as executive producer with ThinkFactory Media's ("Gene Simmons Family Jewels," "Hatfields & McCoys") Leslie Greif, Adam Freeman, Adam Reed and Dan Farah under his Farah Films banner.

NEW SPRING & SUMMER PROGRAMMING PREMIERES

Thursday, May 9 at 10PM - "Small Town Security" Season 2

Produced by Left/Right Films ("This American Life," "Boomtown," "Mob Wives"); Executive Producers: Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver

"Small Town Security" explores the inner workings of a small, family-run security and private investigation company in Ringgold, Georgia called JJK Security. The series returns for a second season of straight-up and serious security work, love triangles with a twist, sarcasm served over easy, and a generous helping of stranger-than-fiction scatological humor that will draw you in and make you look away, all at the same time. Season one premiered in July 2012 to critical acclaim, with USA Today hailing it as a reality show that "manages to defy the stereotype" and the Associated Press saying it "bristles with authenticity even as it feels deliriously (and sometimes hilariously) hyper-real with its larger-than-life characters."

The season two premiere will be preceded by a marathon of all eight episodes from season one beginning at 6PM.

Thursday, May 23 at 9PM - "Showville"

Produced by Storyvision Entertainment and distributed by Sony Pictures Television; Executive Producer: Laurie Girion ("Cheerleader Nation," "Welcome to Sweetie Pies")

Fame meets Main on AMC's new unscripted competition series, "Showville." The series centers around a small town talent show featuring local acts, who get the chance of a lifetime to be in the spotlight. "Showville" is a celebration of performing, and a fond, funny look at the lives, workplaces and families of these acts and what happens to them when Hollywood comes to town. Each week, a one-hour episode of "Showville" touches down in a quintessentially American small town and puts together a talent show in a mere four days.

Sunday, August 11 at 9PM - "Breaking Bad" kicks off its final eight episodes

Produced by Sony Pictures Television; Creator and Executive Producer: Vince Gilligan; Executive Producer: Mark Johnson (Gran Via); Executive Producer: Michelle MacLaren

"Breaking Bad" has garnered seven Primetime Emmy Award wins and a Peabody, and been named to the American Film Institute's (AFI) list of the "Top 10 Programs of the Year" (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012). The explosive series that The Hollywood Reporter called "one of the greatest dramas in TV history," returned to AMC for the first part of its final season on July 15, 2012 with its most watched episode to date with 2.9 million viewers (up 14% over the season four premiere). "Breaking Bad" stars three-time Emmy Award-winner Bryan Cranston; two-time Emmy winner Aaron Paul; Anna Gunn; Dean Norris; Betsy Brandt; RJ Mitte and Bob Odenkirk.

Sunday, August 11 at 10PM - "Low Winter Sun"

Co-production from Endemol Studios and AMC Studios; Executive Producer and Writer: Chris Mundy ("Criminal Minds," "Cold Case")

Starring Mark Strong (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, Zero Dark Thirty) and Lennie James ("The Walking Dead," "Jericho," Snatch), "Low Winter Sun" is a contemporary story of murder, deception, revenge and corruption in a world where the line between cops and criminals is blurred. The series begins with the murder of a cop by a fellow Detroit detective. Seemingly the perfect crime, in reality the murder activates forces that will forever alter the detective's life, and pull him into the heart of the Detroit underworld. The ten-episode series is based on the 2006 award-winning British two-part mini-series of the same name written by Simon Donald and produced by Tiger Aspect Productions (an Endemol Company).

Thursday, August 15 at 9PM - "Owner's Manual"

Produced by Asylum Entertainment ("The Kennedys," "Addicted," "The Locator"); Executive Producers: Steve Michaels, Jonathan Koch and Alex Piper

"Owner's Manual" will test one of the most common divides among man - those who read the owner's manual and those who do not. Representing each side of this divide, Ed Sanders ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition") and Marcus Hunt (HGTV's "Hammer Heads") are put to the test in a weekly challenge where they attempt to operate today's most advanced, dangerous and powerful machinery and technology - from a stunt plane to an off-road racing car to a locomotive, and more. With opposing points of view and conflicting methods of practice -- one man works strictly from the rule book, while the other uses only his instincts - the real test will be how this "everyman" duo can collaborate to accomplish their challenge.

The series premiere will feature two new episodes, back-to-back, from 9-10pm, with one new episode and one repeat episode airing from 9-10pm each week thereafter.

Thursday, August 15 at 10PM - "The Pitch"

Produced by All3Media America ("Undercover Boss"); Executive Producers: Eli Holzman, Stephen Lambert, Aaron Saidman and Domini Hoffman

"The Pitch" chronicles numerous interesting characters as they prepare unique creative campaigns, with big personal stakes, at their advertising agencies to try and win a major new piece of business. The show focuses on the characters who are putting their best work forward and shows the personal stakes involved in winning each client. "The Pitch" first premiered on AMC in April 2012 and earned a Critic's Choice nomination for Best Reality Series - Competition.

As previously announced, the network will also debut the third seasons of its scripted dramas "The Killing," which kicks off with a special two-hour premiere on Sunday, June 2 at 8PM and "Hell on Wheels" on Saturday, August 3 at 9PM. Following its two-hour premiere, "The Killing" will return to its regular time on Sundays at 9pm.

SERIES RENEWALS

"Talking Dead" renewed for a third season

Produced by: Embassy Row; Executive Producers: Michael Davies and Jen Kelly

AMC's live after show, hosted by Chris Hardwick (Nerdist; G4), serves as a platform for discussion of the network's hit series "The Walking Dead."

"Comic Book Men" renewed for a third season

Produced by Original Media ("LA Ink," "Storm Chasers," "Swamp People"); Executive Producers: Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy), Charlie Corwin, Elyse Seiden (Red State) and Brian Nashel

The series follows the crew of fan boys from Kevin Smith's iconic comic shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, as they geek-out over rare memorabilia and discover treasures of the comic collecting world.

"Freakshow" renewed for a second season

Produced by Endemol USA; Executive Producers:R. Greg Johnston and Todd Ray

"Freakshow" follows Todd Ray's quirky family business - the Venice Beach Freakshow. Leaving behind a successful career in the music industry, Todd realized his true passion: bringing together all things bizarre and unique, including two-headed animals, strange artifacts, eccentric performers and human wonders.