Wave of attacks in Iraq kills at least 39 people

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A wave of bombings targeting Shiite Muslims in two major cities south of Baghdad killed at least 39 people and wounded more than 100 on Thursday morning, Iraqi officials said.

The deadliest of the attacks was in the city of Hillah, where back-to-back explosions in a busy commercial area killed at least 27 people and wounded up to 90, a police officer said. Insurgents first detonated a roadside bomb that was followed by a car bomb explosion when rescuers rushed to the scene, he added.

Among the victims in Hillah, 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad, were Shiite mourners who were commemorating the 17th century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein, he added.

Twisted and charred remains of vehicles were seen outside damaged shops as shop owners collected their strewn merchandise from the bloodstained pavement, littered with debris.

Just hours earlier, a parked car bomb went off at one of its gates of the city of Karbala in the nearby province by the same name, killing six people and wounding 20, another police officer said. The explosion took place less than one kilometer (half mile) away from the shrine of Imam Hussein.

Shiite religious ceremonies have often been targeted by Sunni militants who view the Shiites as heretics. Iraq has seen repeated deadly attacks against Shiites commemorating the anniversary of Imam Hussein's death, but Thursday's attacks were the deadliest since ceremonies started last Sunday.

Karbala, 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Baghdad, is one of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam and the place where Imam Hussein and his brother, Imam Abbas, are buried. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites flock to their golden-domed shrines every year.

Also Thursday, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint in the city of Fallujah, 65 kilometers (40 miles) to the west of the capital, killing three policemen and wounding 11 others, another police official said.

And in the northern city of Mosul, a parked car bomb went off next to a passing police patrol, killing two people and wounded two, police said. Another police patrol was hit by a roadside bomb in the in the town of Balad Ruz, 70 kilometers (45 miles) northeast of Baghdad, killing one policeman and wounding six others.

Three health officials confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Although violence has ebbed since the peak of insurgency several years ago, attacks are still frequent against security forces, government officials and civilians. No one claimed responsibility for Thursday's bombings, but car bombs, shootings and roadside devices are the hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq.

_____

Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report from Baghdad.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-29-Iraq/id-aff7dfba6d9a4ace97ed4a1cd22d68fb

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Bangladeshis protest after fire that killed 112

Firefighters battle a fire at a garment factory in the Savar neighborhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh, late Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. At least 112 people were killed in a fire that raced through the multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, an official said Sunday. (AP Photo/Hasan Raza)

Firefighters battle a fire at a garment factory in the Savar neighborhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh, late Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. At least 112 people were killed in a fire that raced through the multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, an official said Sunday. (AP Photo/Hasan Raza)

Civilians and firefighters battle a fire at a garment factory in the Savar neighborhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh, late Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. An official said firefighters have recovered more than 100 bodies after a fire raced through the multi-story garment factory just outside Bangladesh's capital. (AP Photo/Polash Khan)

Relatives of garment factory workers killed in a fire cry as they come to collect bodies from a mortuary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. At least 112 people were killed in a late Saturday night fire that raced through the multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, an official said Sunday. (AP Photo/Khurshed Rinku)

A woman breaks down as she takes back the body of her relative killed in a fire at a garment factory in the Savar neighborhood outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday Nov. 25, 2012. At least 112 people were killed in a late Saturday night fire that raced through the multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, an official said Sunday.(AP Photo/Jibon Amir)

A firefighter douses the inside of a garment factory outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. At least 112 people were killed in a late Saturday night fire that raced through the multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, an official said Sunday. (AP Photo/ khurshed Rinku)

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? Thousands of Bangladeshi workers blocked the streets of a Dhaka suburb Monday, throwing stones at factories and smashing vehicles, as they demanded justice for 112 people killed in a garment-factory fire that highlighted unsafe conditions in an industry rushing to produce for major retailers around the world.

Some 200 factories were closed for the day after the protest erupted in Savar, the industrial zone where Saturday's deadly fire occurred. Protesters blocked a major highway.

The government announced that Tuesday will be a day of national mourning, with the national flag flying at half-mast in honor of the dead.

Investigators suspect that a short circuit caused the fire, said Maj. Mohammad Mahbub, fire department operations director. But he said it was not the fire itself but the lack of safety measures in the eight-story building that made it so deadly.

"Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory, the casualties would have been much lower," Mahbub said. He said firefighters recovered at least 100 bodies from the factory, and 12 more people died at hospitals after jumping from the building to escape the fire.

Local media reported that up to 124 people were killed.

Mohammad Ripu, a survivor, said Monday that he tried to run out of the building when the fire alarm rang but was stopped.

"Managers told us, 'Nothing happened. The fire alarm had just gone out of order. Go back to work,'" Ripu said. "But we quickly understood that there was a fire. As we again ran for the exit point we found it locked from outside, and it was too late."

Ripu said he jumped from a second-floor window and suffered minor injuries.

Mahbub said the fire broke out on the ground floor, which was used as a warehouse, and spread quickly to the upper floors. He said many workers who retreated to the roof were rescued, but dozens of others were trapped; firefighters recovered 69 bodies from the second floor alone.

Many victims were burned beyond recognition. The bodies were laid out in rows at a school nearby. Many of them were handed over to families; unclaimed victims were taken to Dhaka Medical College for identification.

The garment-factory fire was Bangladesh's deadliest in recent memory, but such dangers have long been a fact of life as the industry has mushroomed to meet demand from major retailers around the world.

The factory is owned by Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of the Tuba Group. Neither Tazreen nor Tuba Group officials could be reached for comment.

The Tuba Group is a major Bangladeshi garment exporter whose clients include Wal-Mart, Carrefour and IKEA, according to its website. Its factories export garments to the U.S., Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, among other countries. The Tazreen factory, which opened in 2009 and employed about 1,700 people, made polo shirts, fleece jackets and T-shirts.

Tazreen was given a "high risk" safety rating after a May 16, 2011, audit conducted by an "ethical sourcing" assessor for Wal-Mart, according to a document posted on the Tuba Group's website. It did not specify what led to the rating.

Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner said online documents indicating an orange or "high risk" assessment after the May 2011 inspection and a yellow or "medium risk" report after an inspection in August 2011 appeared to pertain to the factory. The August 2011 letter said Wal-Mart would conduct another inspection within one year.

Gardner said it was not clear if that inspection had been conducted or whether the factory was still making products for Wal-Mart. If a factory is rated "orange" three times in two years, Wal-Mart won't place any orders for one year. The May 2011 report was the first orange rating for the factory.

"Our thoughts are with the families of the victims of this tragedy," the retailer said in a statement. "While we are trying to determine if the factory has a current relationship with Wal-Mart or one of our suppliers, fire safety is a critically important area of Wal-Mart's factory audit program and we have been working across the apparel industry to improve fire safety education and training in Bangladesh."

In its 2012 Global Responsibility report, Wal-Mart said it ceased working with 49 factories in Bangladesh in 2011 because of fire safety issues, and was working with its supplier factories to phase out production from buildings deemed high risk.

Bangladesh has some 4,000 garment factories, many without proper safety measures. The country annually earns about $20 billion from exports of garment products, mainly to the U.S. and Europe.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said it would stand by the victims' families and offered 100,000 takas ($1,250) to each of the families of the dead. The association's acting president, Siddiqur Rahman, said on a talk show late Sunday that Tazreen's owner was to meet with group representatives on Monday.

"We will discuss what other things we can do for the families of the dead," Rahman said on Rtv, a private television station. "We are worried about what has happened. We hope to discuss everything in detail in that meeting."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-26-Bangladesh-Factory%20Fire/id-f979b44e3c0a4ca8810be3546f02622f

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Holiday shoppers buy early, often, online

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. shoppers went to stores earlier this Thanksgiving weekend and bought online more than in years past, giving retailers a strong start to the holiday shopping season, data showed on Sunday.

The more successful retailers, analysts said, were companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Macy's Inc, which did better at combining physical stores with their online and mobile channels into a seamless shopping experience.

"The more you can make a shopper shop multiple channels, they are at least twice as likely to be a loyal shopper and spend tons of money," Patty Edwards, chief investment officer at investment firm Trutina Financial, said.

But shoppers also tried to stay disciplined during the onslaught of deals over the so-called "Black Friday" weekend, named for the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally kicks off the November-December holiday shopping season.

A total of 52 percent of Black Friday shoppers that answered a Reuters/Ipsos poll said they stayed on budget and 34 percent said they spent less than planned. Only 14 percent said they went over budget.

Of the 404 in the poll that shopped on Black Friday, 33 percent said the deals they found were better than last year and 39 percent found them to be the same, while 15 percent said the deals were worse.

While holiday shopping appeared to be off to a good start, analysts cautioned against reading too much into one weekend's numbers. Retailers have to sustain the initial burst through the November-December holiday season, which can account for a third of annual sales and 40 to 50 percent of profits for the year.

The impact on the U.S. economy is also sizeable as consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of all economic activity. U.S. employment has undergone a slow but steady recovery, but concerns remain about the "fiscal cliff" that threatens to produce tax increases and automatic spending cuts in January.

MORE SHOPPING TO DO

According to the Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted over the weekend, 59 percent of people who shopped on Friday said they had completed less than a quarter or none of their holiday-season shopping that day.

Total spending for the long weekend rose to $59.1 billion, up 12.1 percent from last year, according to a survey from the National Retail Federation. An estimated 139.4 million adults visited U.S. stores and websites from Thanksgiving through Sunday, up 6.4 percent from last year, the survey, conducted for the industry trade group by BIGinsight, said.

Staying open on Thanksgiving became more widespread this year as retailers such as Target, Sears Holdings Corp and Toys R Us Inc joined in, while others including Wal-Mart and Gap Inc either extended their operating hours or had more stores doing business.

Traditionally, stores had waited until Black Friday to make their big push.

In the latest sign of the growing importance of Internet-based retailing, comScore Inc said Black Friday online sales topped $1 billion for the first time, while IBM said online sales rose 16.9 percent year-over-year on Saturday.

Amazon.com was the most-visited retail website on Black Friday - the point when retailers in the past would turn a profit for the year - and it posted the highest year-over-year visitor growth rate among the top five retailers.

Wal-Mart's website was second, followed by sites run by Best Buy Co, Target Corp and Apple Inc, comScore said.

WAL-MART "MOST IMPROVED"

"Wal-Mart gets the most-improved prize. They invested and delivered in every channel - stores (opening early), website (very competitive deals, many delivery options), and mobile (bringing it all together for customers by making it easier)," said Fiona Dias, an executive at e-commerce company ShopRunner, which is part owned by eBay Inc.

Analysts said while some of the larger retailers such as Wal-Mart saw strong traffic through the weekend, traffic appeared to ebb at some smaller specialty retailers by Saturday.

One was Abercrombie & Fitch Co, where it looked like traffic "really slowed off on Friday afternoon and Saturday", Ken Perkins, president of data-monitoring firm Retail Metrics, said.

Several analysts criticized J.C. Penney Co Inc's decision not to open until Friday morning, losing shoppers to competitors like Target and Macy's that opened hours earlier.

"They blew it," Edwards said.

There are two extra days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year and one more full weekend, so the opportunity for a lull between the holidays is greater.

"A big Black Friday, it's hard to read too much into that for the rest of the season," Scott Tuhy, vice president at Moody's Investors Service, said.

Retailers may have to discount more than they want sooner to help spur more shopping, which could cut into margins, Liz Ebert, retail lead at consulting firm KPMG LLP, said.

The National Retail Federation still expects sales in November and December to rise 4.1 percent this year, below last year's 5.6 percent increase.

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Brad Dorfman in Chicago; Additional reporting by Alistair Barr in San Francisco and Martinne Geller in New York; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/holiday-shoppers-buy-early-often-online-002035381--business.html

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Source: http://essre802.blogspot.com/2012/11/zox-pro-training-system-speed-reading.html

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5 Cover Letter Techniques That Work | CAREEREALISM

Bottom-line is,?a cover letter?s purpose is to lure the reader to, well, read your resume and call you for an interview.

Now you may be dying to ask me, why then can?t I?only submit my resume? My answer is, you can?but how do you know your competition didn?t?submit a persuasive cover?letter that just about nudged you off the top spot?

Hmm?

Worst-case scenario, they can set your cover letter aside but it?s available if they need more convincing.

So, how do you create cover letter that is not tossed?

I?m glad you asked?

1. Break a leg with your opening act: Don?t begin cover letters with an ordinary and boring statement. You really want to ?have them at hello.? (Sorry. Couldn?t help it.) Really, captivate with the very first sentence. Exude sincerity, offer specific value, spin it, and make sure it?s employer-oriented. Here is one of my favorite openings:

Dear Mr. Bradley,

Offering to drive pharmaceutical sales growth by generating qualified leads, penetrating territories,?and closing the toughest sales, consistently!

Please allow me to introduce myself?

2. Make a personal connection: You can tell a personal story that?further positions you as the best candidate. You can provide statistical insight, reinforcing your industry knowledge. You may opt to walk your employer through your process. In other words, you can communicate more personally than you would on your resume and leverage that ?ace in your?pocket.?

See an example I used in a cover letter:

I am an avid golfer (with a pretty good handicap) and golf at least twice per week?I have closed many sales on the golf course over a weekend. Clients consider me a trusted friend and have even helped me form golf teams for charity events, which is an excellent way to network and gain new business?

Do you think I would have been able to add this golf example in the resume for my client ?- no.

Now, let?s say candidate #1 is a stellar sales person and candidate #2 (my client) is also an outstanding revenue producer?this?example is helping my client promote an added value. This ?sign-on benefit??clues the hiring manager my client initiates and?develops fruitful relationships through personal networking strategies that will be advantageous to the company. Besides, it?s memorable. In a pile of hundreds of resumes and cover letters ?- memorable is a winner!

3. Become a tease: Foreshadow what will be listed on the resume; what they will discover when they read your resume?but don?t repeat. Piqu? interest! Save some fresh content for your cover letter.?This is?a strategic career marketing plan, part of which what goes on your resume or cover letter is determined?a real choreography! Example:

Please refer to my resume which summarizes more than 15 years of experience increasing revenue for top corporations such as IBM. I have aggressively launched unique sales strategies that have produced up to $8M annually. You will find a full account of my projected sales plans and exceeded goals by percentage?per year.

Now we have asked the hiring manager to review the resume and we have provided a bit of information to spark interest. It is important to add quantifiable information and be specific, as you don?t want to seem vague. However, there is no need to provide all the details in the cover letter, especially if it will be on the resume. While I urge you to tease ? the teasing must be done with actual facts and specific references not generalities that mean nothing.

4. Mesmerize them and get?em to say,?YES: There is a physiological connection that goes on when you get a person to think or say yes. So, when you craft your cover letter try to envision the reader nodding their head in agreement with your statements. In order to do this you must validate their needs. You can cast this spell through reinforcing statements or?questions.

Take it easy on the questions though?you don?t want to come across too sales-driven.

(The art of career marketing?is a delicate balance.)

5. Ask for the interview: In sales, they always?direct you to ask for the sale. Well, ask for the interview. Just ask for it!

The point here is that your cover letter is a supporting?influencing tool. It?must be unique, inviting, compelling? a prelude to a well crafted resume in order?to provoke action. Your cover letter is part of a marketing package and so merely writing it as you would any other communication letter is not going to generate?the interviews you seek.

True story: I had a client tell me that when they were interviewed they were told the cover letter clinched the interview and the resume was used as a guide for an interesting interview. Here is a beginning part of that cover letter:

Music and entertainment is my passion. I am lucky to have realized so early what I was born to do! I have known I wanted to work in the entertainment industry since I was 11 years old. At age four, I already had an affinity for music and entertainment? I loved to perform, watch all the award shows on TV, memorize the choreography to music videos, and I always wanted to know how it all worked behind the scenes.

Client landed a job with Universal Music Distribution. There you have it. Market yourself as the ideal candidate via a purposefully created cover letter, which?augments the resume, convincing the employer you?ve got what they need? in a very special way.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Source: http://www.careerealism.com/cover-letter-techniques/

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Gigantic orphan planet: Homeless world hurtles through space without star (+video)

The free-floating object, called CFBDSIR2149, is likely a gas giant planet four to seven times more massive than Jupiter.

By Mike Wall,?SPACE.com / November 15, 2012

This artist?s impression shows the free-floating planet CFBDSIR2149, at 100 light-years away the closest such 'rogue' world to our own solar system. It does not orbit a star and hence does not shine by reflected light; the faint glow it emits can only be detected in infrared light.

ESO/L. Cal?ada/P. Delorme/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org)/R. Saito/VVV Consortium

Enlarge

Astronomers have discovered a potential "rogue" alien planet wandering alone just 100 light-years from Earth, suggesting that such starless worlds may be extremely common across the galaxy.

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The Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope have discovered a planet that is freely wandering through space. It has no orbit nor a star attached to it. This planet free-floating planet is labeled CFBDSIR2149 and also referred to as CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9.

The free-floating object, called CFBDSIR2149, is likely a gas giant planet four to seven times more massive than?Jupiter, scientists say in a new study unveiled today (Nov. 14). The planet cruises unbound through space relatively close to Earth (in astronomical terms; the Milky Way galaxy is 100,000 light-years wide), perhaps after being booted from its own solar system.

"If this little object is a planet that has been ejected from its native system, it conjures up the striking image of?orphaned worlds, drifting in the emptiness of space," study leader Philippe Delorme, of the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble in France, said in a statement.

Orphan planet, or something else?

Delorme and his team detected CFBDSIR2149's infrared signature using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, then examined the body's properties with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. [Video: Rogue Planet Has No Parent Star]

The newfound object appears to be among a stream of young stars called the AB Doradus moving group, the closest such stream to our own solar system.

Scientists think the AB Doradus stars all formed together between 50 million and 120 million years ago. If CFBDSIR2149 is indeed associated with the group ? and researchers cite a nearly 90 percent probability ? then the object is similarly young.

And if the discovery team is right about CFBDSIR2149's age, the body is likely a planet, with an average temperature of 806 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius), researchers said.

There's still a slight chance that CFBDSIR2149 is a?brown dwarf?? a strange object that's larger than a planet but too small to trigger the internal nuclear fusion reactions required to become a full-fledged star. Additional observations should help decide the matter.

"We need new observations to confirm that this object belongs to the AB Doradus moving group," Delorme told SPACE.com via email. "With a good distance measurement and a more accurate proper motion, we will be able to increase (or decrease) the probability that it is indeed a planet."

The new study was published today in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Billions of starless planets?

The discovery of a starless?alien planet?would not be shocking, at least not anymore. In the last year or so, astronomers have spotted a number of such orphan worlds ? so many, in fact, that some scientists think parentless planets are the rule rather than the exception.

One 2011 study, for example, estimated that rogue worlds outnumber "normal" planets with obvious host stars?by at least 50 percent?throughout the Milky Way. If that's the case, the galaxy that includes Earth probably also hosts billions of orphan planets.

And gas giants may be in the minority among these solitary wanderers, researchers say.

"We now know that such massive planets are rare and that Neptunes or Earth-mass planets are much more common," Delorme said. "We also know that massive objects are more difficult to eject [from solar systems] than light ones. If you follow the rationale, you deduce that ejected exo-Neptunes and ejected exo-Earths should be much more common than objects like CFBDSIR2149."

It's exciting to have a starless planet so close to Earth, researchers say. Future telescopes should be able to learn a great deal about CFBDSIR2149, since they won't have to contend with the overwhelming glare of a nearby host star.

"This object is a really easy-to-study prototype of the 'normal' giant planets we hope to discover and study with the upcoming?generation of direct-imaging instruments," Delorme said. "It will help to improve our forecast of these objects' luminosity and hence help us discover them ?and, once discovered, it will help us understand the physics of their atmospheres."

Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter?@michaeldwall?or SPACE.com?@Spacedotcom. We're also onFacebook?and?Google+.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/iCOm26k_PPg/Gigantic-orphan-planet-Homeless-world-hurtles-through-space-without-star-video

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#SciAmBlogs Wednesday - bird disease citizen science, dog words, Wild Sex, expertise, amoebae, Thanksgiving myths, and more.

By Bora Zivkovic?| November 21, 2012 |??

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---

Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.

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Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.

More??

#SciAmBlogs Wednesday ? bird disease citizen science, dog words, Wild Sex, expertise, amoebae, Thanksgiving myths, and more.

About the Author: Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.

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The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=a498e222dbab434f722db8f70acbea9f

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Sinking Our Teeth Into Twilight, Day 5: Breaking Dawn Part 2

It's had its share of detractors and naysayers, but Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga has become a bona fide cultural phenomenon, a popular and lucrative franchise that has raked in over $2 billion at the box office and spurred a renewed obsession with vampires and werewolves. Unfortunately for its fans, however, the series drew to a close this past weekend with the release of its final chapter, Breaking Dawn, Part 2. As such, we thought it would be a good time to hunker down and examine what it is, exactly, that made the series such a hit. To that end, we've commissioned two dedicated RT staffers -- one fan and one neophyte -- to trade observations on The Twilight Saga. Today, we bring you the last chapter of the discussion, which focuses on Breaking Dawn Part 2, the final installment of the franchise.

---

Cat: I didn't know what to expect from Bella's transition, but all I can say is: finally, this is a Bella I can get behind. She exudes confidence. It is clear that she has come into her own, and I find her to be vastly more relatable as she feels more comfortable in her own skin. I'm still a little annoyed it took four movies to get here, but as I've said before, I'll take what I can get when it comes to this franchise. Props go to KStew for such an appealing performance as a newborn. I was skeptical on how it would be shot, but I thought showing how hyper-sensitive she is to her natural surroundings was fantastic. I felt like I was in the movie, experiencing it with her. This movie had me captivated from the beginning. Everything -- from her running through the woods, to taking down a mountain lion, to then trying to act human, so Charlie wouldn't notice a change -- was superb.

Jeff: Cat, you're making me feel bad for laughing during Bella's first "newborn" hunting scene. I understand what you're saying, and I was just as glad as you were to see Bella finally do something besides mope around, but I thought Kristen Stewart was in way over her head during those scenes. She's okay when it comes to the newfound grace, confidence, and sexiness that Bella's supposed to exude, but when she tries to show feral power -- or rage -- she's as clumsy and adorable as a baby bird trying to peck its way out of its shell.

C: How perfect was Bella's reaction to finding out about Jake imprinting on her infant daughter? I don't think I could have expected anything more from her. Her reaction and performance were simply a joy and fun to watch play out. Let us not forget about the infamous lake monster nickname Jake gave his baby love. Hilarious! However, did anyone else think it was weird that Jake was always around her? I know he imprinted on her, but I didn't realize that meant him being present for EVERYTHING. If I was that little girl, I would have found it very odd.

J: Well, you already know how I felt about Stewart trying to get tough in this movie. But overall, I thought director Bill Condon and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg did a fairly good job of demonstrating Jake's devotion for young Renesmee while laying the groundwork for their eventual love affair as subtly as possible. It's one of many ways that Stephenie Meyer didn't do the filmmakers any favors, but they manage to walk the line pretty sensitively -- and kudos to Taylor Lautner for convincingly portraying one of the oddest, grossest character developments in recent cinematic memory.

C: I'm still working on buying the fact that Jake says his attraction to Bella all this time was because she was going to produce the child he'd imprint on. That just wasted his point in the first four movies, for the most part. I think Jacob is the stronger of the two main men, character-wise, and to use that as a cop-out seems so out of character for him. This simply dumbed him down and negated the whole love triangle.

J: Well, except for the fact that the members of his tribe aren't in control of their imprinting. He didn't know it was going to happen, and once it did, it made everything clear for him -- including his strange unwillingness to let Bella go. Gross implications aside -- and yes, there are plenty of those -- I thought it was an interesting way to resolve the Jacob-Bella-Edward love triangle. More interesting than the triangle itself, anyway.

C: What was the deal with Jake stripping in front of Charlie? He's never worried before about his clothes ripping off when transforming. I'm all for a shirtless Taylor Lautner just as much as the next girl, but someone should have given him a better reason to be shirtless; too far-fetched and cheesy, but made for great laughs. In the real world, Charlie would have arrested him for being indecent in public, but then again, that would just make too much sense -- something Twilight rarely entertains.

J: For a cop, Charlie is awfully passive -- something underscored again in Breaking Dawn - Part 2's opening act, when he stays away for days even though he knows Bella's going through some unspecified medical drama. As for the stripping scene, yeah, it was totally gratuitous, but the studio knows where its bread is butter -- and there were definitely a lot of hoots and hollers in the packed screening I attended. Plenty of laughs, too.

C: I initially felt like I could have done without the last scene in the meadow -- thinking, "Oh god, this again." I simply have never cared about the love story between Edward and Bella and thought the better plot points had to do with the supernatural clan as well the action sequences. After realizing she was literally letting down her guard by pushing away her shield so he could see her thoughts, I was OK with it. I still would rather it have ended with the scene before, but again, I guess the Twi-hards would have been disappointed by not getting that last Bella/Edward scene.

J: I had that exact thought when I saw our lovebirds back in the meadow, and that scene essentially lived down to my expectations, especially since it basically served as the setup to yet another music video-type interlude (how many did we get in Breaking Dawn - Part 2? Four? I think that brings the franchise total to something like 10). I'll say this much, though: Their extended flashback was a thoroughly soapy nod to the characters' past, and kind of a sweet way of acknowledging the journey Twilight fans have gone on with Meyer and the filmmakers.

C: OK, I know I skipped ahead, but that's because I'm still wrapping my head around the fight sequence in this film. I've waited a year to see this go down and I can't help but feel a little let down. [SPOILER ALERT!] The fact that they had the balls to kill off some major characters was shocking -- my mouth simply dropped when Aro killed Carlisle -- but then to have the rug pulled out from under me because it turns out it was only one of Alice's premonitions was a massive letdown. Don't take me on such an emotional rollercoaster ride just to give me a big "psych!" at the end. I could have forgiven most everything else that was horrible about this saga had they simply gone with the astonishing ending.

J: It was kind of a copout, yeah. But I could see why they did it -- it gave audiences a chance to have their cake and eat it too, serving up a big dose of climactic action without actually altering any of the narrative fabric of the franchise. I can see why you'd feel let down, because for a minute, it seems like a series that never takes any chances is finally going to go someplace interesting, but I was just grateful that things were actually happening on screen -- whether or not they ended up being real.

That action sequence, to me, was the least of Breaking Dawn - Part 2's problems -- even if it occasionally reminded me of an unintentionally funny attempt at vampire/werewolf professional wrestling, it didn't have any problems with pacing or tonal consistency. This movie is just a mess -- Condon and Rosenberg have to work overtime to compensate for four films' worth of constant dithering, but they still need to fill up two hours of screen time with 45 minutes of story, so the movie herks and jerks like a teenager learning how to drive a manual transmission. There are these mad bursts of action and expository information (mostly information), followed by long stretches where nothing important is going on. If I hadn't already seen the previous movies, I'd say it's surprisingly clumsy.

Ultimately, I think The Twilight Saga would have been better off as a trilogy -- or, even better, a five-season CW soap that had enough time to delve into the family drama that I thought was actually the interesting part of the story. These films weren't targeted at me; I get that, and I don't begrudge anyone their enjoyment of the series. I only wish they'd done a better job of actually, you know, being movies.

Written by Jeff Giles and Catherine Pricci

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1926294/news/1926294/

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Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5

The Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5 ($699.99 direct with lens) is the mid-level entry in the company's line of compact Micro Four Thirds cameras. It's a bit bigger than the PEN E-PM2, but doesn't quite have the advanced control layout found in the PEN E-P3 . Under the hood, the camera has the same 16-megapixel image sensor and processing engine found in our Editors' Choice for high-end compact interchangeable lens cameras (CILCs), the Olympus OM-D E-M5 , so it's no surprise that its image quality and performance are excellent. It isn't quite enough camera to knock our entry-level Editors' Choice CILC, the Sony Alpha NEX-F3 ?from its perch, but Micro Four Thirds shooters will be hard pressed to find a better compact body than the PEN Lite.

Design and Features
The E-PL5's body isn't that much bigger than a large point-and-shoot camera. At 2.5 by 4.4 by 1.5 inches, it's actually smaller than the fixed-lens Fujifilm X10?, although the PEN's size advantage is diminished when you attach a lens. It feels a little heavy for its size given its 11.4-ounce weight. The E-PL5 is available in black or silver with a black handgrip, or in white with a tan grip. If you aren't happy with the color of the grip, you can replace it with a gray checked or brown striped grip, each available for around $45, or simply remove it and use the camera sans grip.

The bundled lens is a 14-42mm zoom (28-84mm equivalent). It's the same collapsible design that Olympus has bundled with previous generations of PEN cameras. It's about 2 inches shallower when collapsed, which makes it easier to squeeze into your camera bag.

The 3-inch rear LCD supports touch input, so you can select a focus point, fire the shutter, and swipe through photos during playback. The display is hinged so that it tilts up or down, making it possible to use the camera above your ahead or at your waist. Its 460k-dot resolution is adequately sharp, but it's not as crisp as the 921k-dot display found on Sony's NEX-F3.

The control layout is more robust than that of the PEN E-PM5, but still leaves a bit to be desired. There's a mode dial on top, as well as dedicated buttons to control Exposure Compensation, the Drive Mode, and flash control. If you're shooting in Aperture or Shutter Priority mode you'll first have to tap the EV Compensation button to gain access to aperture and shutter speed control. Other cameras with a similar wheel simply let you move it to the left or right to adjust the aperture or shutter when shooting in those modes.

Additional shooting settings are adjusted via an overlay menu, accessed via the OK button in the center of the rear dial. From here you can adjust Metering, Autofocus, ISO, and other common settings.

The PEN Lite supports the same art filters built into the E-PM2. Changing the top mode dial to the Art setting gives you access to numerous in-camera effects, all of which are previewed in real time. You can capture grainy black and white photos, emulate a pinhole camera, apply a sepia tone to monochrome images, and use the miniature effect to make real-life scenes look like scale models. When in Art mode your photos are saved in JPG mode, but you shoot Raw and JPG simultaneously an unprocessed Raw image will be saved as well.

There's no Wi-Fi support, which is becoming more common in both point-and-shoot and compact interchangeable lens cameras. Olympus recommends that you use a Toshiba FlashAir card to add wireless support, and is offering one for free via mail-in rebate with the purchase of the E-PL5 through the end of 2012. If you want a mirrorless camera with integrated Wi-Fi, consider the Samsung NX1000 . It offers one of the best implementations of the technology, one that lets you post photos directly to Facebook and other social networking sites directly from the the camera.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/o3nligm4QZQ/0,2817,2412069,00.asp

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The new propaganda: Armies take war to Twitter in Gaza conflict

7 hrs.

Wilson Rothman , NBC News

As Israeli and Palestinian forces clash in Gaza this week,?those same armies are engaging in a real-time battle of hashtags and twitpics, trying to win the hearts and minds of watchers around the globe.

Propaganda used to be about full-color posters and?dropping leaflets from airplanes. Now, the Israel Defense Forces and the Hamas military Al Qassam?Brigades?are taking to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr, instantly?sharing photos, videos and?granular news bites in English, so that they can reach?the broadest?possible?audience.

"What is happening here is that both Israel and Hamas are using social media to communicate over to the other side in the conflict and the broader international community,"?Charles Ries,?former ambassador to Greece and vice president of the international division of the?RAND Corporation,?told NBC News.

"Both sides immediately appeal to world opinion to make the case that the other side was depriving it of human rights," Ries said.

What's ironic about the Twitter activity is how, on these?occasions, the two accounts reply and retweet each other, even though they are run by sworn enemies.?Mediators have been unable to get them to talk to each other directly?in the real world.

On Wednesday, Israel announced its attack on Gaza via the @IDFSpokesperson?Twitter account, saying, "The IDF has begun a widespread campaign on terror sites & operatives in the #Gaza Strip, chief among them #Hamas & Islamic Jihad targets." The action, labeled #PillarOfDefense, had two main goals, according to the Twitter feed. "To protect Israeli civilians and to cripple the terrorist infrastructure in the #Gaza Strip." At the same time, the group launched a blog that it would live-update as well.

Though many of the IDF's early tweets present arguments in support of the military actions, and notified of strikes including a hit on Al Qassam leader?Ahmed Al-Jabari,?one tweet addressed the rest of Hamas directly:

We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead.

Across the frontier in Gaza, a Twitter feed representing Al Qassam presented the other side of the story, quickly seizing on the #GazaUnderAttack hashtag to rally social-media?supporters. It confirmed the death of Al-Jabari and other casualties, announced that the group was shelling Israeli?military bases, and?then directed its own threat to Israel ??by way of @IDFSpokesperson:

@idfspokesperson Our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are (You Opened Hell Gates on Yourselves)

The tweets continued throughout Wednesday and Thursday, and as violence escalated, the IDF and?Israeli tweeters picked up the #IsraelUnderFire hashtag.?

But reams of scrolling text is not the point?of these campaigns. The true impact comes when you click a link. A 10-second video of an IDF assassination of a Hamas military leader was viewed hundreds of thousands of times, despite a brief ? and accidental ? takedown by YouTube. A link to a photo of a?dead baby?makes the nightmare real like no Life magazine spread ever could, mostly because it was delivered overnight.

Many observers have noted that these two?Twitter accounts have?served up information more quickly than mainstream news outlets. However, the content in the tweets show that while?propaganda may be confused with news, it?is not news.

"There have been cases of falsified video or video and pictures that are stripped of context and posted on YouTube or Instagram or Flickr," Neal Ungerleider, a former Middle East correspondent who reports on the intersection of defense and technology, told NBC News.?"You can't identify where it came from and that's a big issue right now."

A link to one of?the?Al Qassam feed's most horrific images appeared with?no attribution or accompanying text. Sharp-eyed?Twittizens quickly noted that the horrific?image was first published in October ? and came from Syria.

The IDF, for its part, has turned propaganda postering into a real-time affair. In its stream of Twitter?images ? along with a press shot of army officers departing from a helicopter???are a?full-color illustration of a family in the?crosshairs ("Israeli civilians are?Hamas' target") and an all-caps "ALERT" saying that "rockets were fired into Israel."

As many tech publications have noted, social media companies that are quick to yank hate?speech and inappropriate content posted by American?15-year-olds aren't censoring?videos, images ? and?even threats ??coming from these governments, even if they breach the terms of service. (An?excellent look at this conundrum was presented by Joseph L. Flatley in The Verge.)

Whatever the ramifications for Twitter, YouTube and the rest, it's clear that the battling armies benefit from this new level playing field.?For example, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. has been making rounds of media outlets, but the same airtime is rarely given to a Hamas spokesman. In the cyber world, the two don't necessarily need traditional media to make their points.

Media-savvy Israel may?gain traction as well, said?Michael Makovsky, foreign policy director of the?Bipartisan Policy Center.?"My guess is that the Israelis also would find it effective to skirt traditional media and to get the message out unfiltered," Makovsky told NBC News.?"There might be a view that historically the Israelis haven't always gotten a fair shake from mainstream media around the world."

It's not the first time this sort of thing has happened ? Ungerleider cites the tension between the Kenyan army and the Islamic?Al-Shabaab group in Somalia that occasionally surfaces on social media ? but it is the biggest example yet of an increasing trend.?

With all of the social-media chatter, it can be hard for those located thousands of miles from the Middle East to remember that there's a real war on.

Ungerleider,?who now writes for Fast Company, and lived in southern Israel at the time of the last Gaza conflict in 2009,?recommends looking past the propaganda and connecting with civilians, many of whom are also posting using the #GazaUnderAttack and #IsraelUnderFire?hashtags.?

"For ordinary Americans trying to make sense of the conflict, look at the civilians who don't have agendas, showing themselves running down stairs to a shelter," he told NBC News. "They're just talking about life during wartime."

??With reporting from NBC News'?Ayman Mohyeldin in?Gaza?and Suzanne Choney

Wilson Rothman is the Technology & Science?editor at NBC News Digital. Catch up with him on Twitter at @wjrothman, and join our conversation on Facebook.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/new-propaganda-armies-take-war-twitter-gaza-conflict-1C7094755

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Tribunal overturns convictions of Croat generals

Former Croatian Army General Ante Gotovina enters the courtroom of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (ICTY) for his appeal judgement in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. The ICTY is delivering its decision in the appeal of two Croatian generals convicted for their roles in a 1995 military offensive to drive Serb rebels out of land they had occupied for years along part of Croatia's border with Bosnia. Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, were sentenced to 24 and 18 years respectively in 2011 for war crimes and crimes against humanity. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, Pool)

Former Croatian Army General Ante Gotovina enters the courtroom of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (ICTY) for his appeal judgement in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. The ICTY is delivering its decision in the appeal of two Croatian generals convicted for their roles in a 1995 military offensive to drive Serb rebels out of land they had occupied for years along part of Croatia's border with Bosnia. Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, were sentenced to 24 and 18 years respectively in 2011 for war crimes and crimes against humanity. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, Pool)

Former Croatian Army General Mladen Markac talks to his lawyer in the courtroom of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (ICTY) prior to his appeal judgement in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. The ICTY is delivering its decision in the appeal of two Croatian generals convicted for their roles in a 1995 military offensive to drive Serb rebels out of land they had occupied for years along part of Croatia's border with Bosnia. Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, were sentenced to 24 and 18 years respectively in 2011 for war crimes and crimes against humanity. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, Pool)

Former Croatian Army Generals Ante Gotovina, left, and Mladen Markac, right, enter the courtroom of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (ICTY) for their appeal judgement in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. The ICTY is delivering its decision in the appeal of two Croatian generals convicted for their roles in a 1995 military offensive to drive Serb rebels out of land they had occupied for years along part of Croatia's border with Bosnia. Gotovina and Markac, were sentenced to 24 and 18 years respectively in 2011 for war crimes and crimes against humanity. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, Pool)

Former Croatian Army General Ante Gotovina, center, speaks with his lawyers in the courtroom of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (ICTY) prior to his appeal judgement in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. The ICTY is delivering its decision in the appeal of two Croatian generals convicted for their roles in a 1995 military offensive to drive Serb rebels out of land they had occupied for years along part of Croatia's border with Bosnia. Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, were sentenced to 24 and 18 years respectively in 2011 for war crimes and crimes against humanity. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, Pool)

Croatian war veterans hold candles during a vigil for Croatian generals Gotovina and Markac, in Zagreb, Croatia, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012.Thousands of Croatians on Thursday attended Masses and candlelight vigils for their hero, Gen. Ante Gotovina, as they anxiously awaited the outcome of his appeal against a war crimes verdict at a U.N. tribunal.(AP Photo/Nikola Solic)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) ? The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal overturned the convictions of two Croat generals on Friday for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against Serb civilians in a 1995 military blitz.

The decision, by a 3-2 majority in the five judge appeals chamber, is one of the most significant reversals in the court's 18-year history and overturns a verdict that dealt a blow to Croatia's self-image as a victim of atrocities, rather than a perpetrator, during the Balkan wars in the 1990s.

Neither Ante Gotovina nor Mladen Markac showed any emotion at the decision, but their supporters in the court's packed public gallery cheered and clapped as Presiding Judge Theodor Meron ordered both men freed immediately. On a lawn outside the tribunal, supporters sang, waved a Croat flag and sipped champagne.

The generals were returned to their jail cells to complete release paperwork before being flown back to Croatia, likely Friday afternoon.

"I think right now what he wants to do is go home to his wife, his little boy, his daughter," said Gotovina's American lawyer, Greg Kehoe.

Gotovina and Markac were sentenced to 24 and 18 years respectively in 2011 for crimes, including murder and deportation. Judges ruled both men were part of a criminal conspiracy led by former Croat President Franjo Tudjman to expel Serbs.

But the appeals judges said prosecutors failed to prove the existence of such as conspiracy, effectively clearing Croatia's entire wartime leadership of war crimes in the operation known as Operation Storm.

The operation came at the end of Croatia's battle to secede from the crumbling Yugoslavia and involved grabbing back land along its border with Bosnia that had earlier been occupied by rebel Serbs.

"Does this vindicate that particular operation as a proper and just attempt to bring back this land under Croatia? Of course," Kehoe said.

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic called the ruling "an important moment for Croatia."

"We are talking about two innocent people. I say thank you to them for surviving so long for the sake of Croatia," he said.

Vesna Skare Ozbolt, former legal adviser of late President Tudjman, called the verdict "a victory of justice."

"It corrects all wrongs about our just war," she said. "This proves that there was no ethnic cleansing in Croatia and that it was all lies."

Tudjman died in 1999, while under investigation by the tribunal.

While supporters of the generals at home in Croatia cheered and set off fireworks, the acquittals enraged hardline opponents of the U.N. court in Serbia who accuse its judges of anti-Serb bias.

The headline in the Blic daily's online edition read: "Scandalous decision: Gotovina and Markac free as if there had been no operation Storm."

Some 600 Serbs were killed and more than 200,000 were driven from their homes during the operation.

Serbia's war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic also branded the ruling "scandalous," saying it endangered the general principle that war crimes must be punished.

"This was one of the biggest war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, murder, expulsion and endangering of several hundred thousand people and no one was held responsible," Vukcevic told The Associated Press.

Gotovina's and Markac's convictions were one of the few at the tribunal to punish perpetrators of atrocities against Serb civilians. The majority of criminals convicted have been Serbs. The Bosnian Serb wartime leader and military chief, Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic, are currently on trial for allegedly masterminding Serb atrocities.

Gotovina, 55, is especially popular among Croatian nationalists. The charismatic former soldier fought in the French Foreign Legion in the 1980s and spent four years on the run from justice before being captured in the Canary Islands in December 2005.

The verdicts against the two generals had triggered anti-Western sentiments among nationalist Croatians ahead of the country's planned European Union entry in July 2013.

After the convictions last year, thousands of Croatian war veterans massed in Zagreb and ripped EU flags and denounced Croatia's leaders who made EU membership their goal.

The original convictions were based on a finding that Croat forces deliberately used illegal artillery attacks on four towns to drive Serb civilians from their homes. But appeals judges overturned that key finding and said that therefore no criminal conspiracy could be proven.

Kehoe said the appeals judgment was not damaging for the tribunal, but in fact proved its impartiality.

"Is it a vindication for the rule of law and justice? Yes it is," he said.

____

Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic in Zagreb, Croatia, and Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-16-War%20Crimes-Croatia/id-de9176502ab2490e91c8449c98db92fd

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Currency Traders Watching Obama - CNBC

Housing Recovery?

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Obama vows to work with Republicans after winning re-election

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-vows-republicans-winning-election-073959182.html

steve jones emily maynard