In 2013, watch zombies, Superman, 3-D 'Gatsby'

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, NBC News

As the calendar rolls over to 2013, moviegoers have a whole new slate of films coming to theaters. There are some powerhouse titles coming our way, including superhero flicks such as "Man of Steel" and "Iron Man 3" and second films in both the "Hunger Games" and "Hobbit" series. We can't include all the blockbusters here, but have chosen 10 titles to watch for.

Warner Bros, Disney, Universal

"The Great Gatsby," "Oz the Great and Powerful," "Despicable Me 2" and "Man of Steel" are all among the films coming our way in 2013.

Oscar's calling
It's not for everyone, and yes, it features disturbing torture scenes, but "Zero Dark Thirty," Kathryn Bigelow's film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, is many critics' choice to win the best-picture Oscar this year. The last hour of the film, where SEALs swarm the Pakistan compound looking for the terrorist leader, is glued-to-your-seat suspenseful, even though we all know what happened. (Jan. 4 in most markets, already open in NY and LA.)

Yippee ki-yay, Mother Russia
"A Good Day to Die Hard" might be great, it might be terrible, but Bruce Willis' John McClane is one of the most-beloved action heroes of all time, so you can bet there will be lines to see it. It's set in Moscow, and Aussie actor Jai Courtney plays McClane's estranged son. And it opens on Valentine's Day, so great date-night fodder! (Feb. 14.)

Back over the rainbow
Before Dorothy and Toto ever showed up, things were swirling in the merry old land of Oz. Sam Raimi's "Oz the Great and Powerful" takes a look at how the wizard and the witches got their start. (March 8.)

Gatsby believed in the green 3-D light
May is a jam-packed month for big blockbusters in 2013, with "Iron Man 3," "Star Trek Into Darkness" and "Hangover Part III" among the new releases scheduled. But our top pick is "The Great Gatsby," with Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as his beloved Daisy, and Tobey Maguire, DiCaprio's real-life good pal, as Gatsby's friend Nick. We still don't get why it's in 3-D. (May 10.)

Monsters get schooled
"Monsters Inc.," in which cute monsters Mike and Sulley reveal that they're just as scared of kids as the kids are of them, was a hit for Pixar in 2001. Prequel "Monsters University" shows how the monsters meet, at monster college, where they're frat-boy rivals who become friends. (June 21)?

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a reboot
Superman is a great hero, but he can be a bit boring, all clean-cut and square-jawed. Hollywood will reboot the character in "Man of Steel," with "Tudors" star Henry Cavill playing Supes, Amy Adams as love interest Lois Lane, and Michael Shannon as villain General Zod. (June 14.)

Haven't had enough zombies? Good!
"World War Z" is based on Max Brooks' excellent book, which compiles fictional interviews with folks all over the world who tell of their experiences with a decade-long zombie apocalypse. Brad Pitt plays the U.N. employee who travels the world interviewing survivors and trying to get things under control. (June 21.)

All hail minions
"Despicable Me" was underrated when it was released in 2010. The characters were funny-looking and unfamiliar, and it wasn't from Pixar. But that film holds up, and now "Despicable Me 2" is on the way, with Steve Carell returning as villain-turned-daddy-figure Gru, Al Pacino as his new nemesis, and a million yellow pill-shaped minions hopping around speaking their own patented gibberish. (July 3.)

Start your engines
Even if you don't know F-all about F1 (Formula One racing, that is), the sport sure gets some great movies made about it. ?The 2010 documentary "Senna," about handsome doomed driver Ayrton Senna, was one of the best films of that year. And now comes "Rush," Ron Howard's film about the 1976 rivalry between drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt, and Lauda's recovery from the fiery crash that nearly killed him, and has scarred his face to this day. (Sept. 20)

Supercalifragilisticexpila...well, you know the rest
What's that you say? Tom Hanks starring as Walt Disney? Emma Thompson as "Mary Poppins" author P.L. Travers? It won't take a spoonful of sugar for us to line up for "Saving Mr. Banks," which tells the story of how the beloved flying nanny came to the big screen. ?(Dec. 20.)

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Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/21/16075215-zombies-superman-and-a-return-to-oz-among-movies-to-look-forward-to-in-2013?lite

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The secret history of COPS in Schools (Powerlineblog)

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Car bombing targeting Shiites in Pakistan kills 19

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) ? A car bomb targeting a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims killed 19 people in southwest Pakistan, officials and eyewitnesses said.

Earlier Sunday, 21 tribal policemen believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban were found shot dead in Pakistan's troubled northwest tribal region, government officials said.

Reports conflicted about whether the car bombing was a suicide attack or the device was detonated remotely.

Pakistan has experienced a spike in killings over the last year by radical Sunni Muslims targeting Shiites, whom they consider heretics. The violence has been especially pronounced in Baluchistan province, where the latest attack occurred.

In addition to the 19 people killed in the bombing in Baluchistan's Mastung district, 25 others were wounded, many of them critically, said Tufail Ahmed, a local political official. The blast destroyed the bus and damaged a nearby bus also carrying Shiites.

Ahmed and a person who was riding in the second bus, Mohammed Ayan Danish, said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

The bomber "rammed a small car into the first bus, which contained 43 pilgrims," said Danish.

But Akbar Durrani, the home secretary in Baluchistan, said the explosion was caused by a car packed with explosives that was parked beside the road and detonated by remote control.

The pilgrims who were targeted were headed to Iran, a majority Shiite country that is a popular religious tourism destination, Ahmed said.

Shiites make up around 15 percent of Pakistan's 190 million people. Baluchistan has the largest community, mainly made up of ethnic Hazaras, identifiable from their facial resemblance to Central Asians.

An escalation in recent years of Sunni extremists' attacks against Shiites in Pakistan has been fueled mainly by the group Laskar-e-Jangvhi, aligned to Pakistani Taliban militants in the tribal region. More than 300 Shiites have been killed in Pakistan this year, according to Human Rights Watch.

The violence has pushed Baluchistan deeper into chaos. The province was already facing an armed insurgency by ethnic Baluch separatists who frequently attack security forces and government facilities. Now the secessionist violence has been overtaken by increasingly bold attacks against Shiites.

The sectarian bloodshed adds another layer to the turmoil in Pakistan, where the government is fighting an insurgency by the Pakistani Taliban and where many fear Sunni hard-liners are gaining strength. Shiites and rights group say the government does little to protect Shiites and that militants are emboldened by their perceived links to Pakistan's intelligence agencies.

The 21 tribal policemen who were shot dead were found shortly after midnight Sunday in the Jabai area of Frontier Region Peshawar after being notified by one policeman who escaped, said Naveed Akbar Khan, a top political official in the area. Another policeman was found seriously wounded, Khan said.

The 23 policemen went missing before dawn Thursday when militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two posts in Frontier Region Peshawar. Two policemen were killed in the attacks.

Militants lined the policemen up on a cricket pitch late Saturday night and gunned them down, said another local official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Also Sunday, two Pakistani army soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in the North Waziristan tribal area, the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaida militants in the country, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with official policy.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the escalating violence, especially the continuing targeting of religions minorities, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

"These cruel acts of violence cannot be justified by any cause or grievance," Ban's spokesman said. "Their perpetrators should be brought to justice."

The secretary-general stressed the U.N.'s solidarity and support for the government and people of Pakistan and "their efforts to defend their country's institutions and freedoms in the face of the scourge of terrorism," Nesirky said.

___

Associated Press writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/car-bombing-targeting-shiites-pakistan-kills-19-005101092.html

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Israel indicts former foreign minister Lieberman

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli far-right leader Avigdor Lieberman was charged on Sunday with fraud and breach of trust, allegations that prompted his resignation as foreign minister two weeks ago, justice officials said.

Lieberman, who has denied the accusations, remains head of the Yisrael Beitenu party that has formed a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party ahead of a January 22 parliamentary election.

Israeli justice officials said Lieberman was indicted on charges relating to the promotion of an Israeli diplomat who had illegally given him information about a police investigation against him.

Under Israeli law, conviction on the fraud and breach of trust charges could disqualify Lieberman from holding a cabinet post in the next government.

Lieberman, who lives in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, has stoked controversy by questioning the loyalties of Israel's 1.5 million Arab citizens.

His comments have drawn accusations of racism but have also given him a large electoral following beyond his Russian-speaking base.

Earlier this month, he angered the European Union by saying it had not sufficiently condemned calls by Hamas Islamists for Israel's destruction, likening this to Europe's failure to stop Nazi genocide against Jews during World War Two.

The European Union foreign policy chief called the comments offensive and reiterated the bloc's commitment to Israel's security.

Born in Moldova, Lieberman emigrated to Israel in 1978. He became administrative head of the Likud party in 1993 and ran the prime minister's office from 1996 to 1997 during Netanyahu's first term. He left and formed Yisrael Beitenu in 1999.

Lieberman is the latest in a string of Israeli politicians to face corruption charges in recent years. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned in 2008 after being indicted, though he has since been acquitted of most of the charges against him.

(Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Andrew Heavens)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-indicts-former-foreign-minister-lieberman-084430102.html

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Beaufort Police seek suspects in church burglary

Authorities are searching for a 33-year-old Beaufort man they say was involved in an Aug. 4 burglary at the Baptist Church of Beaufort in which credit cards and property worth $1,200 were stolen.

Ricky Edward Smith is wanted by the Beaufort Police Department on a felony financial transaction card theft charge, according to the department's Facebook page. If convicted, he faces a $3,000 to $5,000 fine, up to 5 years in prison or both, according to state law.

Two Beaufort women, ages 33 and 34, were arrested in November in connection with the incident at the church, located at 600 Charles Street. The women, who were charged with misdemeanor use of the credit cards, posted $3,000 and $5,000 bonds respectively less than a week after their arrest.

Police also have been searching for a fourth suspect, Joshua Leonard Reed, 31, of Lady's Island, since Aug. 7.

Those with information on the suspects or the incident can call Investigator Dowling at 843-322-7950 or make an anonymous tip by calling 843-322-7938.

Source: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/12/29/2325820/beaufort-police-seek-suspects.html

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Congratulate Los Angeles Animal Shelters on No-Kill December

By Andrew Helton

Target: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

Goal: Praise California for reaching its goal achieving no-kill status by the end of the year.

Since the start of a campaign earlier in the year by No-Kill Los Angeles (NKLA), a coalition including the city, Best Friends Animal Society, and more than 50 other animal welfare groups, Los Angeles has been working toward the goal of reaching no-kill status by the end of December. The numbers are currently very close and if not by the end of the month, it looks like they will meet that goal by the beginning of next year. This is a significant contribution to animal welfare given the pet population of L.A. and the city deserves our praise.

The idea was put into action over a decade ago when shelters became the target of animal rights activists after the city euthanized a record 50,000 animals. In 2003, a year that saw 30,000 animals euthanized, former Mayor James Hahn vowed that Los Angeles would end the killing of unwanted pets within five years. Although it has been more than five years, persistent pressure from activists, and the help of the current General Manager of Animal Services and the NKLA coalition, the city will finally accomplish what it proposed to do.

No-kill status means that a city has reached a 90% save rate. The 10% left are those that are too sick or aggressive to be adopted out. During the fiscal year 2011-12, Los Angeles had a saved rate of 62%, but as of December 16, the city took in 1,951 dogs and cats and euthanized 313, an 84% saved rate for the month. City shelters are doing everything they can to work with the community and reach 90% by the end of the year, which would be the first no-kill month on record.

Please take a moment to sign the petition below to congratulate the city of Los Angeles for accomplishing such an incredible goal, and also to thank all of the shelters, volunteers, activists, and city employees whose tireless effort made this possible.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,

Soon Los Angeles will end its first month on record where no unwanted animals will be euthanized. Given the population of the city as well as the number of stray animals, this is a striking achievement and will stand as an example for the rest of the country.

Just over a decade ago L.A. was heavily criticized for euthanizing 50,000 animals in a single year, but due to the contributions and tireless efforts of the city, its animal shelters, and volunteers, you have given thousands of dogs and cats a chance at a wonderful life they wouldn?t have had in the past. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you and all of Los Angeles for keeping the promise it made ten years ago.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo credit: grilled cheese via Flickr

Source: http://forcechange.com/48820/congratulate-los-angeles-animal-shelters-on-no-kill-december/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=congratulate-los-angeles-animal-shelters-on-no-kill-december

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ? A sun-powered robotic explorer named Juno rocketed away Friday on a five-year journey to Jupiter, the solar system?s most massive and ancient planet. Hundreds of scientists and their families and friends watched from just a few miles away, cheering and yelling, ?Go Juno!? as the NASA spacecraft soared into a clear [...]

Greg Stokes and David Chaney have both left their jobs in the wake of the Colombia prostitution scandal. NBC News? Kristen Welker reports. By NBC News and msnbc.com staff Updated at 6:53 p.m. ET: A 12th Secret Service agent is under investigation in the Colombian prostitution scandal, the agency said Friday. Meanwhile, three more agents [...]

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ABB Wins $36 Million Texas HVDC Order to Boost Power Exchange with Mexico

ABB has won an order worth around $36 million from Sharyland Utilities L.P. to supply and install a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station in Texas, USA.

The 150-MW back-to-back HVDC converter station will be built in Mission, Texas, where an identical installation was delivered by ABB in 2007. The two stations, part of the Railroad DC Tie Expansion project, will work in parallel to provide a transmission capacity of up to 300 MW. This will increase the power transfer capacity between Texas and Mexico and secure power supply.

?Availability and security of power supplies is key to economic growth and HVDC is a proven technology when it comes to efficient and reliable transmission of electricity,? said Brice Koch, head of ABB?s Power Systems division. ?We are delighted to work with Sharyland Utilities once again on this important interconnection to improve power exchange capability and help enhance the reliability of the grid.?

ABB will design, engineer, supply and install the converter station including high-voltage equipment such as power transformers and thyristor valves. The station is scheduled to go into operation in 2014.

?The expansion of our HVDC facility from 150 MW to 300 MW is a significant project for us, and we are pleased to partner with ABB once again,? said Mark Caskey, Senior Vice President of Sharyland Utilities. ?Based upon our experience with ABB during the initial phase of the project in 2007, we believe their technical strength and HVDC knowledge made this an easy decision.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/td-most-read/~3/fHJWBDIsP0A/index.html

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Starbucks expands cup campaign aimed at U.S. fiscal deal

(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp is expanding its campaign of using messages written on coffee cups to inspire U.S. lawmakers to reach a deal and avoid going over the "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and government spending cuts.

As President Barack Obama and congressional leaders were in a final effort to reach a budget agreement before year's end, Starbucks this week began urging workers in its roughly 120 Washington, D.C.-area shops to write the words "come together" on customers' cups.

A spokesman for the world's largest coffee chain said the company would expand the effort to all U.S. stores, continuing through next week.

"Stores from across the country have been asking if they could join in and we have been saying absolutely yes," Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson said in an email late Friday.

"Based on this unprecedented response, we are inviting all of our partners at U.S. stores to start signing their customers' cups with Come Together through next Friday," Olson said.

Starbucks' cup campaign aims to send a message to sharply divided politicians and serve as a rallying cry for the public in the days leading up to the January 1 deadline to avert harsh across-the-board government spending reductions and tax increases that could send the U.S. economy back into recession.

"We believe the (Washington) DC effort caught on so swiftly because they Come Together message is such a simple and respectful gesture that expresses the optimism that is core to our country's heritage and to Starbucks mission," Olson said.

"This is an important moment for Starbucks to use its scale for good and give Come Together an even louder voice - as we move from signing tens of thousands of cups in DC to tens of millions of cups across the U.S. over the course of next week."

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/starbucks-expands-cup-campaign-aimed-u-fiscal-deal-164328478--finance.html

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The US ? one year on | Xero Accounting Software

If I could tie a bow on this year I would. It has been a great inaugural year for Xero in the US and such a pleasure to meet so many forward thinking small businesses and accounting professionals. Many thanks to all who have joined us early in the US ride. It feels like a real partnership and I feel like we are building cloud accounting the way it should be.

Jamie, Craig and Catherine

Building a great team

Less than a year ago that it was just Craig, Catherine, and myself on the ground in San Francisco. Fast forward to today and we?ve grown to 20 people across the US. Our staff have come from all over, with a variety of backgrounds. Some from Intuit and Quickbooks, some with payroll backgrounds, some who have run their own successful accounting practices, and some with a deep understanding of small business because they have run their own. While they all bring something a little different to the table, they all have something very much in common ? a passion for building a great company that is solving real problems for real businesses. They are some of the most energetic people I?ve had the pleasure to work with. If you have the same passion and drive ??we?re hiring!

Localizing with a z
Our number one priority this year was to get Xero localized for the US. As with all product development there is always more to do but this year we ripped through quite a few big US features. We introduced check printing in April, moved to American spelling, introduced a 1099 workflow, and organized integration with online filing service Track1099.

We partnered with both?Bill.com, and ADP, and lastly, we built in GAAP reporting making us the first small business cloud accounting application to do both IFRS and GAAP reporting in a single online system. On top of all this US-specific work we released a ton of features that were applicable to all regions we operate in.

Partners and customers made it possible
We wouldn?t be where we are today without the encouragement from partners and customers. To help with our market entry in the US, we set up a Xero Partner Advisory Council with long-time industry influencers like Doug Sleeter and Gary Boomer. They helped us with strategy, product feedback, and also advised us on gaps we can fill that aren?t being addressed by other software and service vendors in our space.

We are seeing Xero being used by a huge variety of accounting professionals.?Steve Chaney has transformed his practice with Xero at the core and has done it so well that he is in demand from accounting firms across the country to provide consulting on how to move to the cloud. Armanino McKenna, the 35th largest accounting firm in the US, is now developing their outsourced accounting services division with Xero as the platform of choice for all those customers that would have typically been Quickbooks customers. Todd Peterson, their new Financial Management Outsourcing Practice Leader, has one of the most forward-looking visions of how to put together a 21st generation cloud practice. I?m sure we?ll be hearing more from him on the speaker circuit.

And to cap of the year, we received praise from Brad Smith, Intuit?s CEO and our biggest competitor in the US. He said he admires what Xero has done and that Intuit has learned some things from Xero. It?s always great to have the market leader endorse you ??and also rare.

Here?s to a great foundational year in the US and to many more fantastic years ahead. If you are not on the Xero train yet, we hope you will come join us for the ride ??there are plenty of seats available!

?

Source: http://blog.xero.com/2012/12/the-us-one-year-on/

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binusingh: SCRAPBOOKING AND CHRISTMAS ? A MATCH MADE ...

By Administrator on Dec 24, 2012 in Home and Family

Handmade cards are always extra special ? so why not show off your scrapbooking skills this Christmas with some beautiful and unique creations for friends and family?

Giving a handmade card is a wonderful way of expressing your personal thoughts and demonstrating to people how much they mean to you.? Card making is rewarding in more ways than one?you can save money too.

And you don?t have to be a scrapbooking expert either when it comes to card making.? ??There are thousands and thousands of websites with a huge range of ideas and illustrations for paper crafts and Christmas ideas, from the craft supplies stores to scrapbooking blogs ? and many of these also have really easy-to-follow tutorials demonstrating how to make cards etc.

Many of the craft store websites and scrapbooking blogs will also have templates for card-making to get you started.

For those who already do scrapbooking, making Christmas cards is a wonderful way of using up all those bits and pieces that you?ve accumulated during the year.? Don?t just think about patterned paper?you can use just about anything for card making and crafting?.lace, ribbon, felt, magazine cuttings, cotton wool, ice cream sticks, fabric scraps, stencils, glitter, marker pens, aluminium foil?the only limit is your imagination.

But don?t forget to match your card to an envelope before you get creative!

Card making can also be a fun way of entertaining kids after all the hullabaloo of Christmas is over?they can make their own ?thank you? cards from your craft supply box in appreciation of their gifts

So, with Christmas around the corner, don?t cut corners when it comes to spreading festive cheer and goodwill?jump online to the craft supply websites and start making your own personalised cards for friends and family to treasure.

Source: http://www.mylife-coach.net/6625/scrapbooking-and-christmas-a-match-made-in-heaven/

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Dot Earth: The Unfulfilled Promise of 'Promised Land'

I recently attended a Manhattan screening of ?Promised Land,? a new feature film written by and starring Matt Damon?and John Krasinski?that aims to examine America?s natural gas drilling boom as a case study in ?what happens when real people and real money collide,? as Krasinski explained in publicity materials.

The film opens Friday in New York City and Los Angeles and then expands to more theaters in early January. My sense is that it will not satisfy many people ? either as a drama or a potential weapon (for either side) in the fight over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the drilling method that has opened vast regions of the country underlain with gas-rich shale to exploitation.?

An eager young industry deal closer, played by Damon, is dispatched to rural Pennsylvania to push presumably unwary village folk into leasing their farmland. But he runs into more than he expects ? both from the community and his own company ? and ends up sympathizing with a culture that values land, water and tradition more than money.

The plot has nearly all of the beats, but ? regrettably ? little of the heart and soul of the whimsical, near mystical 1983 film ?Local Hero.? In the new film rural Pennsylvania is a stand-in for coastal Scotland and America?s shale gas bounty takes the place of North Sea oil.

The filmmakers, led by director Gus Van Sant, could have drawn on the real and often wrenching drama in such regions ? the struggle between landowners and politicians eager for a way out of longstanding economic decline and those fearing contamination, industrial hazards or a loss of rural character. In my travels last spring and summer in Pennsylvania and New York communities situated over the gas-rich Marcellus shale, I saw plenty of this. Tom Wilber?s fine book on the gas rush in the Northeast, ?Under the Surface,? probably came out too recently to provide source material for the filmmakers, but depicts the regional tensions in vivid detail. (I recommend that you read Wilber?s thoughtful, informed assessment of the film.)

While the film nicely conveys the textures of small-town life in gas regions, its main characters too often border on caricature.?The industry duo moves from farmhouse to farmhouse, facing a sequence of lone, gullible property owners signing leases over a cup of coffee. That might have been commonplace in 2008 or so in Pennsylvania and other early frontiers in the gas boom, but the norm these days in gas country is?savvy landowner associations?that approach gas deals with skepticism and lawyers.

The plot at first seems crafted to provide no easy answers. An impassioned environmentalist (Krasinki?s character) is as unappealing as Damon and his equally duplicitous partner, played by?Frances McDormand. While the industry team offers town officials manila envelopes stuffed with cash, the activist conducts an absurd classroom demonstration ? drizzling a toy farm with toxic chemicals and then igniting it ? to make his point.

Whether because of budget constraints or by design, the movie never shows drilling itself, leaving the specter of the industrial invasion of rural America to the imagination of the townsfolk and audience. One way or the other, this works to its dramatic advantage.

The central tension in the story surrounds a planned vote by the town that would ban or allow gas drilling. From Ohio through Pennsylvania and New York, there?s been a building push to fight gas drilling by taking control of energy extraction at the local level through home rule.?Tom Wilber, again, is an ideal guide?to how this is playing out (mostly in the courts).

Unfortunately, any prospects of a compelling denouement evaporate in the film?s final act, when the plot veers cartoonishly, doing for the gas industry what John Grisham has long done for big law firms.

Nuance leaves the theater.

In the end, because of such missteps, the tussle?around?the film in recent months between?environmentalists and their allies?and?industry and its supporters?ends up (sadly) more interesting than what appears on the screen.

~~~

For more background on how ?Promised Land? came about (the initial scenario centered on wind turbine developers in upstate New York) and the views of its creators, watch the recent Times Talks discussion with Van Sant, Damon and Krasinski and read the recent Times feature on the film.

Source: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/the-unfulfilled-promise-of-promised-land/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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China tightening controls on Internet

FILE - In this July 14, 2010 file photo, a Chinese man uses a computer at an Internet cafe in Beijing. China's new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses. The measures suggest China's new leader, Xi Jinping, and others who took power in November 2012 share their predecessors' anxiety about the Internet's potential to spread opposition to one-party rule and their insistence on controlling information despite promises of more economic reforms. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

FILE - In this July 14, 2010 file photo, a Chinese man uses a computer at an Internet cafe in Beijing. China's new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses. The measures suggest China's new leader, Xi Jinping, and others who took power in November 2012 share their predecessors' anxiety about the Internet's potential to spread opposition to one-party rule and their insistence on controlling information despite promises of more economic reforms. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

BEIJING (AP) ? China's new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses.

The measures suggest China's new leader, Xi Jinping, and others who took power in November share their predecessors' anxiety about the Internet's potential to spread opposition to one-party rule and their insistence on controlling information despite promises of more economic reforms.

"They are still very paranoid about the potentially destabilizing effect of the Internet," said Willy Lam, a politics specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "They are on the point of losing a monopoly on information, but they still are very eager to control the dissemination of views."

This week, China's legislature took up a measure to require Internet users to register their real names, a move that would curtail the Web's status as a freewheeling forum to complain, often anonymously, about corruption and official abuses. The legislature scheduled a news conference Friday to discuss the measure, suggesting it was expected to be approved.

That comes amid reports Beijing might be disrupting use of software that allows Web surfers to see sites abroad that are blocked by its extensive Internet filters. At the same time, regulators have proposed rules that would bar foreign companies from distributing books, news, music and other material online in China.

Beijing promotes Internet use for business and education but bans material deemed subversive or obscene and blocks access to foreign websites run by human rights and Tibet activists and some news outlets. Controls were tightened after social media played a role in protests that brought down governments in Egypt and Tunisia.

In a reminder of the Web's role as a political forum, a group of 70 prominent Chinese scholars and lawyers circulated an online petition this week appealing for free speech, independent courts and for the ruling party to encourage private enterprise.

Xi and others on the party's ruling seven-member Standing Committee have tried to promote an image of themselves as men of the people who care about China's poor majority. They have promised to press ahead with market-oriented reforms and to support entrepreneurs but have given no sign of support for political reform.

Communist leaders who see the Internet as a source of economic growth and better-paid jobs were slow to enforce the same level of control they impose on movies, books and other media, apparently for fear of hurting fledgling entertainment, shopping and other online businesses.

Until recently, Web surfers could post comments online or on microblog services without leaving their names.

That gave ordinary Chinese a unique opportunity to express themselves to a public audience in a society where newspapers, television and other media are state-controlled. The most popular microblog services say they have more than 300 million users and some users have millions of followers reading their comments.

The Internet also has given the public an unusual opportunity to publicize accusations of official misconduct.

A local party official in China's southwest was fired in November after scenes from a videotape of him having sex with a young woman spread quickly on the Internet. Screenshots were uploaded by a former journalist in Beijing, Zhu Ruifeng, to his Hong Kong website, an online clearing house for corruption allegations.

Some industry analysts suggest allowing Web surfers in a controlled setting to vent helps communist leaders stay abreast of public sentiment in their fast-changing society. Still, microblog services and online bulletin boards are required to employ censors to enforce content restrictions. Researchers say they delete millions of postings a day.

The government says the latest Internet regulation before the National People's Congress is aimed at protecting Web surfers' personal information and cracking down on abuses such as junk e-mail. It would require users to report their real names to Internet service and telecom providers.

The main ruling party newspaper, People's Daily, has called in recent weeks for tighter Internet controls, saying rumors spread online have harmed the public. In one case, it said stories about a chemical plant explosion resulted in the deaths of four people in a car accident as they fled the area.

Proposed rules released this month by the General Administration of Press and Publications would bar Chinese-foreign joint ventures from publishing books, music, movies and other material online in China. Publishers would be required to locate their servers in China and have a Chinese citizen as their local legal representative.

That is in line with rules that already bar most foreign access to China's media market, but the decision to group the restrictions together and publicize them might indicate official attitudes are hardening.

That comes after the party was rattled by foreign news reports about official wealth and misconduct.

In June, Bloomberg News reported that Xi's extended family has amassed assets totaling $376 million, though it said none was traced to Xi. The government has blocked access to Bloomberg's website since then.

In October, The New York Times reported that Premier Wen Jiabao's relatives had amassed $2.7 billion since he rose to national office in 2002. Access to the Times' Chinese-language site has been blocked since then.

Previous efforts to tighten controls have struggled with technical challenges in a country with more than 500 million Internet users.

Microblog operators such as Sina Corp. and Tencent Ltd. were ordered in late 2011 to confirm users' names but have yet to finish the daunting task.

Web surfers can circumvent government filters by using virtual private networks ? software that encrypts Web traffic and is used by companies to transfer financial data and other sensitive information. But VPN users say disruptions that began in 2011 are increasing, suggesting Chinese regulators are trying to block encrypted traffic.

Curbs on access to foreign sites have prompted complaints by companies and Chinese scientists and other researchers.

In July, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said 74 percent of companies that responded to a survey said unstable Internet access "impedes their ability to do business."

Chinese leaders "realize there are detrimental impacts on business, especially foreign business, but they have counted the cost and think it is still worthwhile," said Lam. "There is no compromise about the political imperative of controlling the Internet."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-27-China-Internet%20Controls/id-53d3f97c8ec642e192ee3d0fa0759850

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LG?s latest projector system is powered by freaking lasers

7 hrs.

Gary Merson , HD Guru

Until now, all consumer front projector systems?produced light using lamps or in rare cases LEDs. The new?LG HECTO FP system, on the other hand, uses lasers for illumination instead. Yes, lasers.

As LG announced on Wednesday, the new projector system uses lasers and a Texas Instruments DLP chip to form images. Typical home front projectors require around a 9 to 12 foot distance from the lens to a 100-inch screen. The LG HECTO requires only a 22-inch throw to fill the screen and can be placed on the floor or the mounted to the ceiling.

The LG HECTO Laser Projection TV will be sold as a complete system with a 100-Inch diagonal screen, a built-in ATSC TV tuner, HDMI switching and a Wi-Fi connection for streaming video.

Specifications include a rated 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 1080p resolution, 3 HDMI inputs, an optical audio input, RS-232 interface. Audio is produced by two 10W built-in speakers. The projector measures 5.7-inches high. The HECTO Laser projector does not have 3-D capability. LG has not? provided a brightness rating, a key specification. (Lasers offer the promise of very high intensity using low power.)

The screen is a fixed design and unlike theater screens its surface is black not white. LG claims the system will render a vivid, high contrast crisp image, even in lighter viewing environments.

The Laser TV supports LG's Smart TV platform and will stream movies via Netflix?and?YouTube as well as other services and?apps via its built-in Wi-Fi wireless Internet connection. The HECTO also includes LG's latest Magic Remote control.

LG claims its laser based illumination system has a lifespan of up to 25,000 hours, which is 5 times or more the life of traditional mercury-based lamps.

The LG HECTO Laser projector will be demonstrated at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show early next month. We expect pricing and availability to be announced at the show.

Have a question for the HD Guru? Send an?email.

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/lgs-latest-projector-system-powered-freaking-lasers-1C7660219

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