Saturday, December 31, 2011

Ouch! The 11 Worst Movies of '11 (omg!)

Ouch! The 11 Worst Movies of '11

So many bad movies, so little time? Just as it's truly difficult to narrow down a "best of" list at the end of the year, a "worst of" list is even tougher, because there's so much dreck out there in the multiplex to sift through. Sometimes you know a film will be bad before you choose to watch it, and that's okay. We all have our guilty pleasures. But the worst films in my opinion are like wolves in sheep's clothing, disguised as something good or innocuous -- and then they strike when you've made yourself vulnerable.

Of course, I truly believe (or at least I was taught this in film school) that every movie, no matter how bad, has at least one redeeming quality. So in all fairness, I single those out too.

Red Riding Hood
Why it Bugged:
This movie had potential, but the studio marketing pulled a serious bait-and-switch. Sold in the trailers as a horror movie with a hint of romance, what could have been a cool update of the classic fairytale in the vein of A Company of Wolves instead tried to be the next Twilight. Courtesy of Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke (no doubt why she was hired to direct this mess), the dialogue is cringe-worthy; the cast is straight out of The CW casting pool; the cool period village soundstage set looks just like that -- a cool period village soundstage set; and an early, somewhat racy sex scene in this PG-13 movie had me embarrassed for the mother of the tween girls seated next to me. But I held out, hoping that maybe we'd see some neato, American Werewolf in London-style transformation effects. Alas, the oversized CGI wolf is cut-rate, and when he began to have a psychic conversation with Amanda Seyfried, I walked out of the theater and went straight to grandma's house.

Redeeming Quality: Amanda Seyfried does look cute in her Red Riding Hood outfit.

The Tree of Life
Why it Bugged:
I give director Terrence Malick tremendous credit for finding the financing for this big-budget experimental film, and The Tree of Life has more than just a few redeeming qualities. But despite the critical raves and placement on numerous "best of the year" lists, I found this to be an overhyped, grandiose, uneven knock-off of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey mashed up with Revolutionary Road and a taste of This Boy's Life. The rambling tale tries to put creation, life and death in context with The Big Bang, but I found the Sean Penn storyline befuddling. Why, as an adult, is he still so distraught about his brother's death during his childhood? Penn finds redemption in the afterlife, but he's barely in the film, and we're supposed to sympathize with his scrunchy face? The Oscar-winning actor complained that the majority of his role was left on the cutting room floor, so perhaps the answer lies there. Of course, if you're going to indulge in a three-hour exercise about the meaning of life, would it hurt to add in 10 more minutes to justify the climax of the film?

Redeeming Quality: There are several naturalistic, magical moments captured on film, from the adoration of new parents to the wonder of bubbles and the mischievous experimentation of youthful rebellion. They must have rolled through a lot of digital memory cards.

Super 8
Why it Bugged:
J.J. Abrams has found true Hollywood success, deservedly so, but now he thinks he's Steven Spielberg. True, Spielberg produced Super 8, but Abrams is in the director's chair, and this disjointed film appropriates all the elements of Spielberg's greatest hits -- aimless kids in suburbia, misunderstood aliens, military cover-ups and, of course, long, wondrous stares, aka the "Spielberg Face." The result is an unoriginal, mishmash movie in search of an identity. I'll be the first to point out that Super 8 has a wonderful premise: a group of kids in the '70s band together to make a home movie, only to stumble upon a story much greater than their own. But this premise is quickly abandoned to make way for another stab at Cloverfield, this time with more lens flare and less "shaky cam," and an expectation that the audience will have sympathy for a man-eating alien/monster. I threw in the towel when Abrams chose to show a top-secret government operation locking down an entire town, yet they don't seem to mind that a group of kids are blatantly filming a movie right in front of them. "Production value!"

Redeeming Quality: The sweet moment between Elle Fanning and Joel Courtney is nice as the kids rush to capture more "production value" on the train platform. And sure, that train crash was pretty spectacular, but it quickly went way over the top. After the clamor died down, the kids didn't even think to search for survivors?

I Am Number Four
Why it Bugged: Another Twilight wannabe, this tale of aliens on the run posing as high school students throws logic out the portal from the get-go. Like a CW big-screen event with a slightly larger special effects budget, I Am Number Four is full of pretty teens, pretty lame bad guys who look like rejects from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the film's storyline has the audacity to go nowhere in an effort to hold out for a franchise. Good luck.

Redeeming Quality: The Abercrombie & Fitch leads are easy on the eyes, I s'pose.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Why it Bugged: I freely admit I'm a sucker for hucksterism. Everyone from director Michael Bay to Shia LaBeouf and the writers of the Transformers franchise publicly?declared that the second movie lost its way. They practically asked for forgiveness and swore that Transformers: Dark of the Moon was the best of the series and was much more interested in telling a compelling, coherent story. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this bombastic blockbuster was actually the worst of all three films -- and that's saying a lot -- from the painfully bad dialogue and leaden attempts at humor to the inane plot ties to the "dark of the moon." I'm sure they wanted to call it Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, but Pink Floyd complained. I walked out of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen two-thirds through, and I should have walked out of this exercise in torture too.

Redeeming Quality: Sure, that sequence in Chicago when Shia LaBeouf and the gang are sliding along the floor as their high-rise building collapses is pretty cool. Too bad I didn't care if they'd live or die.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Why it Bugged: At then end of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, I think we all agreed that the world needed a break from this series, but the end-title prospect of Jack Sparrow seeking out the Fountain of Youth was intriguing. After a well-timed hiatus, the series returned and completely lost the wind from its sails, courtesy of Chicago helmer Rob Marshall's uninspired direction. Not even a hammy Johnny Depp could save this by-the-numbers storyline that smacks of a script by committee: Hmmm, lets insert some mermaids and zombies to keep it supernatural! Even acclaimed?Deadwood star Ian McShane as Blackbeard, "the pirate that all pirates fear," sleepwalks through this movie with no motivation and nothing to do. Penelope Cruz is there to spice it up as Jack Sparrow's former flame, but her accent is impenetrable and there's zero chemistry between the stars. By the time we finally reach the Fountain of Youth, we don't know why we're there and we don't care. Too bad, because I like this franchise.

Redeeming Quality: It was nice to see Jack Sparrow landlocked in London and straddling a horse and carriage in the opening action sequence.

The Green Hornet
Why it Bugged:
Forget Green Lantern. It was popular this summer to diss the big-budget Ryan Reynolds superhero debacle as a major disappointment, but in all honesty I think that movie was perfectly fine for kids. Sorry, fanboys. As for The Green Hornet, well, that's a different story: It was truly the most offensive superhero movie this year. Seth Rogen was given free reign with the project, and what he gave us was a stoner comedy movie disguised as a action-fantasy. Rogen's crime-fighting Britt Reid was so spoiled, unlikable, had no arc and displayed so few redeeming qualities that by the time his frustrated sidekick Kato kicks his ass through a window I stood up and cheered. The real joke of this movie is that Kato is the real superhero, and The Green Hornet is his sidekick. Inglorious Basterds baddie Christoph Waltz's talents are completely wasted in this movie, and Cameron Diaz seemed wedged in there to balance out the all-male cast. Oh yeah, and there was no reason whatsoever for this film to be in 3D.

Redeeming Quality: Rogen is all slimmed-down for the role, and Jay Chou has a quiet cool as Kato (but his English is so broken that you couldn't understand a word he said); and stolen straight from the TV series, the Black Beauty supercar was the best thing about the film.

Sucker Punch
Why it Bugged:
This is the perfect example of why some pet projects should not be made. Watchmen director Zack Snyder was clearly given full creative control over his "vision," and I don't think anyone had the guts to tell him that his story was ridiculous. Many have said that Snyder's "empowered" protagonist women with guns and swords are just the opposite in their roles as prostitutes in garters and skimpy threads. I just see Sucker Punch as a misdirected, convoluted tale featuring dancing sex workers who disappear into fantasy to avoid their harsh reality -- with a lame "twist" ending. The biggest flaw of this film is that there is zero tension during the video-game/anime-inspired dream sequences. We know that it's not real, so there's no sense of jeopardy for these characters in these over-the-top battle situations. And every time Baby Doll (Emily Browning) slowly goes into her little "trance dance," Snyder cuts away to another overlong fantasy sequence, only to revert back to reality and the comical reaction shots of her co-horts, astounded at her incredible moves that we never see. That isn't the worst part of the movie. It's arguable the best ? for laughs.

Redeeming Quality: Sure, the fantasy sequences looked cool, and the music choices were great, especially the extended version of Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit. In fact, one of the best parts of the film is a musical number to Roxy Music's Love is the Drug, giving greater context to the story, but it was inexplicably cut out and left for the DVD "director's cut" release.

Paul
Why it Bugged: I loved Shaun of the Dead. Hot Fuzz was also a winner. When Simon Pegg and Nick Frost team up, it's comedy gold. Add Superbad/Adventureland director Greg Mottola and you've got another hit on your hands, right? But this road trip comedy about two Comic-Con geeks seeking out intelligent life at sci-fi tourist traps runs out of gas very quickly. Enter Seth Rogen as a wisecracking, pot-smoking, farting CGI alien, and you've got a serious Area 51 turkey. The good intentions are there, but sadly Paul is a misdirected?Winnebago on the highway to hell, wasting the talents of its cast.

Redeeming Quality: There are some amusing sci-fi movie references, but with no play on words they quickly grow old in an effort to pass as actual comedy.

Jack and Jill
Why it Bugged:
Watching this film with Adam Sandler playing dual roles of himself and his annoying "sister," I felt just like George C. Scott did as he viewed his own daughter in anguish in Hardcore. Sure, you know what you're getting when you choose to see an Adam Sandler movie: cheap laughs and bathroom humor. But simply put, Sandler's unending reactions of annoyance and disgust at his sister in this movie pretty much mirrored my own in the movie theater.

Redeeming Quality: It was amusing to watch Katie Holmes and Al Pacino flail about in this attempt at comedy, wondering if they should fire their respective agents.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part 1
Why it Bugged: Is it fair that a film I haven't actually seen is on my "worst of" list? Perhaps not, but having endured the previous three Twilight movies and listening to the reaction of friends who were dragged to see this one, I can say with complete confidence that this would make my list. So here it is, bloody half-vampire baby birth and all. More Taylor Lautner abs, more brooding looks from Robert Pattinson, and more uncomfortable fidgeting by Kristen Stewart. It surely sucks.

Redeeming Quality: If you're a Twi-hard, then I'm sure the entire movie is great!

Honorable "Worst" Mentions
I chose to avoid these movies this year like the plague, and I'm sure for good reason: Beastly, The Dilemma, The Roommate, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, Abduction, Just Go With It, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Something Borrowed, The Smurfs, Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, The Human Centipede II: Full Sequence, Zookeeper, Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Johnny English Reborn, I Don't Know How She Does It, In Time, and Valentine's Day.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_ouch11_worst_movies_11_231500387/44039611/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/ouch-11-worst-movies-11-231500387.html

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Racial Disparities Seem to Persist in Depression Diagnosis (HealthDay)

TUESDAY, Dec. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Racial and cultural factors still affect the diagnosis and treatment of depression in elderly Americans, despite improvements to diagnostic tools and therapies in recent decades, according to a new study.

Researchers found that elderly blacks are less likely to be diagnosed -- and therefore treated -- than whites or Hispanics.

About 6.6 percent of elderly people in the United States have an episode of major depression each year, making it a significant public health issue for older Americans, the Rutgers University researchers pointed out in a university news release.

If it's left untreated or undertreated, depression can have a major negative impact on quality of life and can also complicate medical conditions that are common in elderly people, including congestive heart failure, arthritis and diabetes, Ayse Akincigil, an assistant professor in Rutgers' School of Social Work, and colleagues explained.

The investigators analyzed data collected from nearly 34,000 Medicare beneficiaries between 2001 and 2005, and found that rates of depression diagnosis were 6.4 percent for whites, 4.2 percent for blacks, 7.2 percent for Hispanics, and 3.8 percent for other groups.

"Efforts are needed to reduce the burden of undetected and untreated depression and to identify the barriers that generate disparities in detection and treatment," the researchers concluded.

"Promising approaches include providing universal depression screening and ensuring access to care in low-income and minority neighborhoods," they added. "An increase in the reimbursement of case management services for the treatment of depression also may be effective."

The study was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more about older adults and depression.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/seniors/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111228/hl_hsn/racialdisparitiesseemtopersistindepressiondiagnosis

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Archos Budget Android Tablet Coming Soon

Liam Martin Yesterday

smartbuy

Once our credit cards have cooled down, the shelves have been stripped bare and the January sale signs are gone, the first month of the year is time best spent saving. Most of us wouldn't dream of buying anything as flashy as a tablet computer, except for maybe the new Archos budget Android tab, of course.?

Sporting the not-too-shabby Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system, the Archos 70b tablet goes on sale in January at a very reasonable ?180, which is extraordinary value for money, especially considering what's under the bonnet. Archos claims that it's the cheapest tablet on the market to run Honeycomb, and we can't say that we're in?a position to object.

The Archos 70b also features a 1.2 GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. We're also keen to see what the 7" multi-touch display looks like when running our favourite movie, games and video apps.

Almost identical to its predecessor - the Archos 70 internet tablet (pictured) - the 70b isn't anywhere near as attractive as rivals such as the?iPad, but that's to be expected considering the price. The only other drawback we've spotted is that it confusingly shares its name with the Archos 70b e-Reader?- how many people do you think will order one of those?

Liam MartinAbout Liam Martin I love gadgets, gizmos and games and look forward to a future where humans and robots can co-exist peacefully. My most wanted includes a Wii U, a Pac-Man heat changing mug and the impressively compact Yamaha YHT-S400 home cinema system.

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Source: http://vouchercodes.co.uk//most-wanted/archos-budget-android-tablet-coming-soon-9954.html

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Monday, December 26, 2011

East TN organization gives tornado victims new homes

After living in poor conditions since the April storms, the Greene County community has worked together to make sure The Hunley family had a liveable home for this Christmas.

Just a few days ago, the Hunley's were living in unsafe conditions caused by the tornado that hit the county 8 months ago.?

"When the tornado came, it ripped our floors up; we had to rebuild those just to get us through because, you know, we had family members that lost everything, and we were more focused on them," Allison Hunley explained.

Allison's husband Sam lost his job shortly after the storms. Since then, he's spent his time volunteering to help other people get back on their feet.

AIDNET, a Greene County organization, heard the Hunley's story and wanted to help.? They teamed up with Hardin's Chapel Church to purchase and remodel a new mobile home for the Hunleys.

The Hunleys couldn't be happier.

"There's so much more room! There's no mold for me to have to worry about my children's health. This is the best thing that's happened to our family ever," they told 10 News on Saturday.

Greene County was one of the areas hardest hit by April's tornadoes. 7 people were killed, and dozens of homes and buildings were destroyed.

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Source: http://www.wbir.com/rss/article/197228/2/East-TN-organization-gives-tornado-victims-new-homes

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Jailbreak iOS 4.3.5 With RedSn0w for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad

Article by Hassan Imtiaz

Apple released iOS 4.3.5 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. After some time, MuscleNerd, the leading member of the iPhone Dev Team, has also confirmed that iOS 4.3.5 jailbreak is possible. However it would be a tethered jailbreak, meaning that every time you want to reboot your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, you have to plug it in to the computer and do the jailbreaking process again in order to use your device. If you do not do so, then it will just get stuck on the Apple logo and won?t boot up until and unless you boot tethered using a computer and the very same redsn0w software you used to jailbreak it. The files required for jailbreak are also important for boot tethered, so keep them safe, the following files you are required to download:

- iOS 4.3.5 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch- iOS 4.3.4 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch- Redsn0w 0.9.8b4 for Windows and Mac- iTunes 10.4 for Windows and Mac

Also keep in mind that iPad 2 is not supported for this jailbreak. For those who want to unlock their iPhone, should not update to iOS 4.3.5 as your baseband will also be upgraded and you will not be able to use the service of your choice. Just forget about it. Follow this step by step to Tethered Jailbreak iOS 4.3.5 on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad:

Step 1: First of all, Download iOS 4.3.5 as well as iOS 4.3.4. You will need the iOS 4.3.4 ipsw.

Step 2: Now Download RedSn0w 0.9.8b4 for Mac and Windows and iTunes 10.4.

Step 3: Extract the redsn0w folder. Launch redsn0w on your computer. If you are running Windows 7 or Vista, make sure to do the following procedure before you run redsn0w.

- Right click on redsn0w.exe and click on Properties- Go to the Compatibility tab- Check Run this program in compatibility mode for and select Windows XP Service Pack 3 from the drop down menu- Check Run this program as an administrator down in the Privilege Level.- Click Apply followed by Ok

Step 4: Once redsn0w loads up. Browse for the iOS 4.3.4 ipsw that you previously downloaded. Yes, to jailbreak iOS 4.3.5, you need to point redsn0w to iOS 4.3.4 ipsw.

Step 5: Redsn0w now begins to identify the ipsw. Once done, it takes you to a screen where you have several boxes to check. First and foremost, check Install Cydia. You may also choose to enable Battery Percentage and Multitasking Gestures.

Step 6: Upon clicking next, redsn0w now instructs you to power off your device and connect it to the computer. From here when you click next, it will show instructions on how to put your device in DFU mode. Follow these instructions carefully:Press and hold the Power button for around three secondsPress and hold both the Power and Home buttons for up to 10 secondsRelease Power button but keep on holding Home button until redsn0w starts injecting the Limera1n bootrom exploit.

Step 7: Once the device is in DFU mode, leave it up to redsn0w to work its magic. Sit back and watch redsn0w jailbreak iOS 4.3.5 on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Boot iOS 4.3.5 tethered after jailbreak:

Step 1: So once you have successfully done the jailbreak, you need to boot your freshly jailbroken device tethered. Connect it to your computer and power it off.

Step 2: Launch redsn0w once again and select the iOS 4.3.4 ipsw.

Step 3: Uncheck Install Cydia and any other options you may have previously checked. Now only check Just boot tethered right now.

Step 4: Follow the above mentioned instructions to put your device in DFU mode.

Step 5: If the instructions have been followed as they are meant to be, you?ll see redsn0w starts to work on its on again. At this moment, your device shall be displaying a pineapple in place of the Apple logo that appears at start up. Within 2 minutes, your device will be fully booted, tethered on jailbroken iOS 4.3.5.

Source: http://appleapple.net/2011/12/26/jailbreak-ios-4-3-5-with-redsn0w-for-iphone-ipod-touch-and-ipad/

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

nedhepburn: RT @cnnbrk: Former Speaker #Newt_Gingrich fails to qualify for GOP primary ballot in Virginia, joining Texas Gov. #Rick_Perry. http://t. ...

Twitter / CNN Breaking News: Former Speaker #Newt_Gingr ... Loader Former Speaker fails to qualify for GOP primary ballot in Virginia, joining Texas Gov. .

Source: http://twitter.com/nedhepburn/statuses/150506949803380736

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Mass. man gets 14 years for Obama-inspired fire (AP)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ? A white man convicted of burning down a predominantly black church because he was angry about President Barack Obama's election was sentenced Thursday to nearly 14 years in prison.

Michael Jacques was convicted in April of various charges in connection with the fire, including conspiracy against civil rights and damage or destruction of religious property. He was sentenced Thursday to 13 years and 10 months in federal prison.

A federal judge also ordered the 27-year-old Jacques to pay nearly $1.6 million in restitution to the church and its insurance company.

Prosecutors say Jacques and two friends burned down the Macedonia Church of God in Christ in Springfield the night of Obama's 2008 election in an act of racism. Jacques has said he was at his parents' house that night.

Benjamin Haskell and Thomas Gleason pleaded guilty to the civil rights charges. Haskell was sentenced to nine years in prison. Gleason is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 18.

Prosecutors said the men burned down the church on Nov. 5, 2008, hours after Obama was elected as the nation's first black president. The church was under construction at the time of the fire and no one was inside. A few firefighters suffered minor injuries fighting the blaze.

Prosecutors said all three men confessed to the crime and implicated each other. But Jacques later recanted, saying authorities wore him down during a long interrogation as he suffered withdrawal from addictions to Percocet painkillers and cigarettes.

During closing arguments at Jacques' trial, prosecutors said his racism reached the "boiling point" when Obama was elected. They said he often used racial epithets and expressed anger that minorities were taking over the country.

Jacques' attorney, Lori Levinson, called the sentence "extraordinarily heavy" and said Jacques plans to appeal.

"He continues to maintain his innocence," Levinson said.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement that she hopes the sentence "sends a strong message that we will bring all of our resources to bear in order to protect the civil liberties of every citizen."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_on_re_us/us_church_fire_obama

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Arsenal manager Wenger mulls Henry return on loan

updated 9:13 p.m. ET Dec. 23, 2011

LONDON - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is considering trying to bring Thierry Henry back to the club on a two-month loan from the New York Red Bulls to fill the void left by strikers going to the African Cup of Nations.

Henry won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups during a hugely successful eight-year spell at Arsenal, establishing himself as the club's all-time top scorer.

After leaving London for Barcelona in 2007, Henry moved to New York in 2010 but he has been back at Arsenal to train during the Major League Soccer offseason.

A statue of the 34-year-old Frenchman was unveiled at the Emirates Stadium last month to coincide with the club's 125th anniversary.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45781111/ns/sports-soccer/

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Bahrain police attack Shiite opposition offices (AP)

MANAMA, Bahrain ? Security forces firing rubber bullets and tear gas attacked the headquarters of Bahrain's main Shiite opposition party in the capital on Friday after the group challenged a new government ban on its weekly protests. Police also used tear gas to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters attempting to protest elsewhere in the capital.

"I was really shocked to see tear gas and rubber bullets hit our offices," said vice president of the Al Wefaq party, Sheik Hussain Al Daihi. He said he was inside the building with foreign journalists when the security forces attacked and that a 13-year-old girl among those hurt had a serious injury to her thigh.

Friday's clampdown was the latest episode in 10 months of unrest between Bahrain's Sunni monarchy and an opposition movement led by the country's majority Shiites, who have long complained of discrimination.

"We are a people that won't be broken. All this repression and brutality is the source of our strength and determination to continue the struggle and defend our national rights," Al Daihi said later in a statement.

Authorities banned the weekly Friday protests for the first time since emergency laws were lifted in June. The Interior Ministry "gave silly excuses" to ban the event, including that it would block traffic and endanger others in the area, Al Daihi said.

Defying government orders, Shiite clerics on Friday also held prayer services on the rubble of mosques that had been bulldozed by authorities earlier this year. It was the first time that Shiite clerics have actively taken part in the protest movement, openly defying the government.

The Shiite clerics say at least 38 mosques used by their congregations were destroyed since the protests began in February.

"We will start a campaign to defend our religious sites and the first such activity starts with a protest at the end of the prayer at Diraz grand mosque," senior Shiite cleric Sheik Isa Qassim said during his Friday sermon. Diraz is an opposition stronghold northwest of the capital.

"We demand democracy for one people, Sunni and Shiite, and we understand the approach of the government that aims to divide our people. We are the ones who insist on unity, and because of this we are targeted by the government," he said.

Qassim called on international allies of Bahrain to exert pressure on the government because of what he said was it lack of will to reform.

Bahrain is a key U.S. ally in the Gulf and is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

Since February, at least 40 people have been killed.

Hundreds of activists have been detained and brought to trial on anti-state charges in a special security court set up after authorities imposed marital law and invited a Saudi-led Gulf military force into the country to help deal with dissent in the tiny island kingdom.

Bahrain lifted emergency rule in June. Since then, government opponents have clashed with police almost every night.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

It's Time To Start Freaking Out About Oil Prices - Business Insider

There have been so many other temporary emergencies in the world over the past few years that it's easy to overlook a permanent one:

Oil prices.

Right now, much of the global economy is weak... and oil is still over $100 a barrel!

A few years ago, when oil prices first hit this level, the news came as an absolute shock. And soon, when gas hit $4 a gallon, the entire national conversation changed.

(It didn't change so much internationally, because, thanks to gas taxes, other countries already charge way more than $4 a gallon for gas, so oil price moves don't have so huge and visible an impact on driving costs).

Specifically, $100+ oil caused many Americans to buy different cars and drive less. And it put a choke chain on the economy, throttling growth. And, shortly thereafter, the economy tanked.

And then, of course, oil prices followed the economy down, allowing everyone to focus on other more pressing emergencies.

But then, with even a crappy economic recovery from the depths of the financial crisis, oil prices soared again. And now they're back to near-emergency levels, even with the global economy sputtering.

And this time, no one's blaming "speculators." Which is good, because the "speculator" excuse was always ridiculous. Oil prices are about supply (finite) and (ever-increasing) demand.

Yes, if the global economy goes back into recession, oil prices will drop again. But the drop will be temporary.

And if the economy ever threatens to start growing at its full potential, meanwhile, oil prices will likely keep right on going up.

Until they choke off growth again.

And so on.

It has gotten to the point, in fact, that oil prices may start to act as a natural Central Bank on the world economy--raising costs when the economy starts to heat up and cutting them when it cools. And that would be fine...if we could maintain reasonable oil prices when the economy was running at a healthy rate.

But the economy is not running at a healthy rate right now, at least not in Europe and the United States.

And oil prices are already over $100 a barrel.

So we hate to think what will happen if and when we finally do see a vigorous economic recovery.

SEE ALSO: GRANTHAM: We're Headed For A Disaster Of Biblical Proportions

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/oil-prices-2011-12

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Obama urges public help pushing payroll tax cuts

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the White House Tribal Nations Conference, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, at the Interior Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the White House Tribal Nations Conference, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, at the Interior Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama listens while touring a building under construction in Washington, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, part of his Better Building Initiative to promote energy efficient buildings. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama wants voters to get involved in the debate over extending the reduced payroll tax and he's asking them to tell members of Congress to keep the cut in place.

"Let your members of Congress know where you stand," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. "Tell them not to vote to raise taxes on working Americans during the holidays. Tell them to put country before party. Put money back in the pockets of working Americans. Pass these tax cuts."

Obama's address directs listeners to the whitehouse.gov website, where an online calculator lets them determine how much money it's worth to them to continue the 2 percent reduction in the payroll tax that took effect this year. A family with income of $50,000 a year would pay $1,000 more in payroll taxes if Congress does not act by the end of this year to extend that reduction.

Democrats want to expand the reduction in addition to extending it. Republican leaders say they're committed to passing an extension, fearing political fallout if payroll taxes rise on Jan. 1 on 160 million wage-earners. The GOP rank-and-file appears divided, with many Republican senators voting against an extension supported by their leadership this week.

There's also disagreement about how or whether to pay for any extension. Democrats favor a new tax on millionaires; Republicans prefer to cut federal spending.

"We're going to keep pushing Congress to make this happen. They shouldn't go home for the holidays until they get this done," Obama said in his address. "And if you agree with me, I could use your help."

Obama also took note of a new monthly jobs report out Friday that showed the economy added 120,000 jobs in November, a positive number. "We need to keep this growth going and strengthen it," the president said.

Republicans devoted their weekly address to promoting a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, which is headed for a vote in the Senate after failing in the House last month.

Democratic leaders worked aggressively to defeat the measure in the House, saying that such a requirement could force Congress to cut billions from social programs during times of economic downturn and that disputes over what to cut could result in Congress ceding its power of the purse to the courts. The result was that the amendment got majority support but fell short of the two-thirds needed to advance a constitutional amendment.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said "the impending vote to amend the Constitution represents a choice between changing business as usual in Washington or embracing the status quo that we can no longer afford."

"The real reason many lawmakers don't want a balanced budget amendment is the exact reason why it's so essential," Snowe said. "They don't want their hands tied; they want to continue to spend without restraint."

Like Obama, she asked listeners to make their views known.

"Contact your senators and urge them to support our balanced budget amendment," Snowe said, "so that we finally seize the fiscal reins and reclaim our future for our children and our grandchildren."

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: http://www.youtube.com/gopweeklyaddress

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-03-Obama/id-d05d1591bbc24b38a05e58aaf790d5f6

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Gothridge Manor: Selling Some Gaming Books


I've got a fat stack of White Wolf's original Vampire, Werewolf, Mage and Changeling.? I'm willing to sell these bad boys cheap.? If your interested just email me elder(underscore)sensa(at)yahoo(dot)com.? All I ask is let me know how much you're willing to pay and since these guys weight a ton (around 15.5lbs) to pay the shipping also.? I'm not sure if there will be many or any offers for these books, but if you're looking for a stash of early Vampire books let me know.? All the books are in pretty good condition.? Here are the books included.

Vampire
The Main Rule Book (hardcover)
The Players Guide
The Players Guide to The Sabbat
The Storytellers Handbook to The Sabbat
Chicago by Night
Children of the Inquisition (over-sized book)

Werewolf
The Main Rulebook
Players Guide?
Book of the Wyrm
Ways of the Wolf

Mage
Main Rulebook

More to come!? I've got to make some room on my shelves.

Source: http://gothridgemanor.blogspot.com/2011/12/selling-some-gaming-books.html

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Haptic shoes could help the blind navigate cane-free (Yahoo! News)

Colette Noble

DES MOINES--Colette Noble's kids used to tell her, "You'll never lose your job--you work too hard."

Noble's voice choked up and her eyes welled with tears as she recounted the exchange.?"I used to say, 'You know what--you never know,' " she said, during an interview last week at a Starbucks here. "There are lots of good people who worked hard that lost their jobs."

Noble was laid off in January as an account manager at CDS Global, an Iowa-based subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation, where she worked for two decades. She was the was the sole breadwinner for her family of four. Her two sons are 15 and 17. Her husband, a lawyer, stopped working several years ago after becoming addicted to Oxycontin, a painkiller that a doctor prescribed him for back pain.

Noble, who is 48, threw herself into the search for a new job. "If there's a resource to be found, I feel like I've found it, " she said. But nearly a year later, she's still looking. She's now unable to pay the mortgage on her house.

Her long and fruitless search is hardly uncommon. The political class thinks of Iowa these days mostly as a staging ground for the long presidential campaign surrounding January's first-in-the-nation caucuses (including?Saturday's Republican presidential debate at Drake University, sponsored by Yahoo! and ABC News). But for many people in Iowa, the most important day-to-day concern is the state's struggle, along with the rest of the country, to throw?off the effects of the Great Recession and the halting recovery that's followed.

Although?low by national standards, Iowa's official unemployment rate has spiked to 6 percent--around 99,000 people--from 3.7 percent in 2007, before the economic downturn began. And jobless spells are lasting longer than ever. Iowa's long-term unemployment rate--the share of the 99,000 unemployed who have been out of work for 6 months or more--is 34 percent, nearly twice what it was before the downturn began.

"We look better, it sounds better, it feels better," said David Swenson, an economist who teaches at Iowa State University. "But in fact we have a lot of the stresses and the consequences of the recession that the rest of the nation has."

Iowa didn't have much of a housing bubble, so it escaped the worst of the crash. And thanks to high food prices, its agricultural sector is booming, helping to keep the rest of the state's economy afloat. But Swenson said Iowa's relatively low jobless rate is deceptive. Many of Iowa's younger workers--those under 45--tend to move to places like Kansas City, St. Louis, and Chicago, where there's more work.

"So our historically low unemployment rate is a function of that as well," Swenson said. "Our surplus labor that we can't use, it goes someplace else. It's unemployed elsewhere."

Compounding the problem, the recession exacerbated a nationwide trend that was already underway: a shift toward jobs with lower pay and fewer hours. The jobs gained in Iowa since the recession officially ended in 2009 pay more than $5,000 less, on average, than those lost during the downturn, according to a recent report?by the Iowa Policy Project, a union-backed group. Iowa is one of only three states in which wages for low-, median-, and high-wage workers were all lower last year, after adjusting for inflation, than they were a decade earlier. Colette Noble said she'd be "thrilled" to get a job that paid 60 or 70 percent of what she was making before.

Read More ?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20111202/tc_yblog_technews/haptic-shoes-could-help-the-blind-navigate-cane-free

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GM considers new battery for Volt, offers to buy back hybrids from pyrophobic customers

Chevy Volt
Still freaked out about that whole Volt catching fire thing? Well, GM wants you to know it's taking your concerns very seriously. The company is considering a redesign of the battery in the hybrid, possibly delaying the release of the Opel-branded version in Europe. What's more, for those not satisfied with being able to pick up a loaner, the company will buy the vehicle back from you. That is if you're too much of a pansy to keep your combustible car.

GM considers new battery for Volt, offers to buy back hybrids from pyrophobic customers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/02/gm-considers-new-battery-for-volt-offers-to-buy-back-hybrids-fr/

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Quantum Entanglement Links Two Diamonds

News | More Science

Usually a finicky phenomenon limited to tiny, ultracold objects, entanglement has now been achieved for macroscopic diamonds at room temperature


Diamond wafer used in entanglement experimentNOT SO SMALL: One of the diamond wafers used in the entanglement experiment, with a coin for scale. Image: CQT

Diamonds have long been available in pairs?say, mounted in a nice set of earrings. But physicists have now taken that pairing to a new level, linking two diamonds on the quantum level.

A group of researchers report in the December 2 issue of Science that they managed to entangle the quantum states of two diamonds separated by 15 centimeters. Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon by which two or more objects share an unseen link bridging the space between them?a hypothetical pair of entangled dice, for instance, would always land on matching numbers, even if they were rolled in different places simultaneously.

But that link is fragile, and it can be disrupted by any number of outside influences. For that reason entanglement experiments on physical systems usually take place in highly controlled laboratory setups?entangling, say, a pair of isolated atoms cooled to nearly absolute zero.

In the new study, researchers from the University of Oxford, the National Research Council of Canada and the National University of Singapore (NUS) showed that entanglement can also be achieved in macroscopic objects at room temperature. "What we have done is demonstrate that it's possible with more standard, everyday objects?if diamond can be considered an everyday object," says study co-author Ian Walmsley, an experimental physicist at Oxford. "It's possible to put them into these quantum states that you often associate with these engineered objects, if you like?these closely managed objects."

To entangle relatively large objects, Walmsley and his colleagues harnessed a collective property of diamonds: the vibrational state of their crystal lattices. By targeting a diamond with an optical pulse, the researchers can induce a vibration in the diamond, creating an excitation called a phonon?a quantum of vibrational energy. Researchers can tell when a diamond contains a phonon by checking the light of the pulse as it exits. Because the pulse has deposited a tiny bit of its energy in the crystal, one of the outbound photons is of lower energy, and hence longer wavelength, than the photons of the incoming pulse.

Walmsley and his colleagues set up an experiment that would attempt to entangle two different diamonds using phonons. They used two squares of synthetically produced diamond, each three millimeters across. A laser pulse, bisected by a beam splitter, passes through the diamonds; any photons that scatter off of the diamond to generate a phonon are funneled into a photon detector. One such photon reaching the detector signals the presence of a phonon in the diamonds.

But because of the experimental design, there is no way of knowing which diamond is vibrating. "We know that somewhere in that apparatus, there is one phonon," Walmsley says. "But we cannot tell, even in principle, whether that came from the left-hand diamond or the right-hand diamond." In quantum-mechanical terms, in fact, the phonon is not confined to either diamond. Instead the two diamonds enter an entangled state in which they share one phonon between them.

To verify the presence of entanglement, the researchers carried out a test to check that the diamonds were not acting independently. In the absence of entanglement, after all, half the laser pulses could set the left-hand diamond vibrating and the other half could act on the right-hand diamond, with no quantum correlation between the two objects. If that were the case, then the phonon would be fully confined to one diamond.

If, on the other hand, the phonon were indeed shared by the two entangled diamonds, then any detectable effect of the phonon could bear the imprint of both objects. So the researchers fired a second optical pulse into the diamonds, with the intent of de-exciting the vibration and producing a signal photon that indicates that the phonon has been removed from the system. The phonon's vibrational energy gives the optical pulse a boost, producing a photon with higher energy, or shorter wavelength, than the incoming photons and eliminating the phonon in the process.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=2d0d65d86e97e9e7c8827368633fbba8

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

Clinton, Suu Kyi vow to promote Myanmar reforms

Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton embrace while speaking to the press after meetings at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Saul Loeb, Pool)

Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton embrace while speaking to the press after meetings at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Saul Loeb, Pool)

Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tour the grounds after meetings at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Saul Loeb, Pool)

Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tour the grounds after meetings at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Saul Loeb, Pool)

Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, right, talks with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton following a meeting at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Soe Than Win, Pool)

Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tour the grounds after meetings at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Saul Loeb, Pool)

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, two of the world's most recognizable women leaders, pledged on Friday to work together to bring democracy to Suu Kyi's long isolated and repressive nation.

Wrapping up a historic three-day visit to Myanmar, Clinton held hands with Suu Kyi on the porch of the Nobel peace laureate's lakeside home where she spent much of the past two decades under house arrest and thanked her for a her "steadfast and very clear leadership." The meeting was the second in as many days for the pair who appeared to have bonded almost as sisters after a private, one-on-one dinner in Yangon on Thursday.

"You have been an inspiration but I know that you feel you are standing for all the people of your country who deserve the same rights and freedoms as people everywhere," Clinton told Suu Kyi. "The people have been courageous and strong in the face of great difficulty over too many years. We want to see this country take its rightful place in the world."

Suu Kyi has welcomed Clinton's visit and tentatively embraced reforms enacted by Myanmar's new civilian government. She thanked the secretary and U.S. President Barack Obama for their "careful and calibrated" engagement that has seen the U.S. take some modest steps to improve ties.

"We are happy with the way in which the United States is engaging with us," she said. "It is through engagement that we hope to promote the process of democratization. Because of this engagement, I think our way ahead will be clearer and we will be able to trust that the process of democratization will go forward."

As she did in the capital of Naypyidaw on Thursday, Clinton said more significant incentives will be offered but only if the government releases all political prisoners, ends brutal campaigns against ethnic minorities, respects the rule of law and improves human rights conditions.

Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy party won 1990 elections that were ignored by the then-military junta but now plans to run in upcoming parliamentary elections, endorsed that approach and called for the immediate release of all political prisoners and cease-fires to end the ethnic conflicts..

"If we move forward together I am confident there will be no turning back on the road to democracy," Suu Kyi said, referring to her party, the government, the United States and other countries, including Myanmar's giant neighbor China. "We are not on that road yet, but we hope to get there as soon as possible with the help and understanding of our friends."

Suu Kyi, a heroine for pro-democracy advocates around the world, said Clinton's visit, the first by a secretary of state to Myanmar in more than half a century, represented "a historical moment for both our countries."

With U.S. assistance and pressure on the government, which is still backed by the military, she said she believed change was on the horizon for Myanmar

"There have been times that Naypyidaw has weakened but I don't think it has ever really broken," she said.

Clinton's meetings with Suu Kyi were the highlight of the U.S. secretary of state's visit to the long-isolated country known as Burma and forcefully underscored a U.S. challenge to Myanmar's leaders: The new civilian government must expand recent reforms, including the release of political prisoners, to improve relations as it emerges from more than a half-century of repressive military rule.

"We believe that any political prisoner anywhere should be released," the Clinton told reporters on Thursday. "One political prisoner is one too many in our view."

U.S. officials warned that even the modest incentives Clinton offered to Myanmar's new, military-backed leaders this week would come off the table if the country fails the political-prisoners and other tests of reform.

In meetings with top Myanmar officials in the capital of Naypyidaw and then with Suu Kyi in the commercial hub of Yangon, Clinton said the country's leaders must end violent campaigns against ethnic minorities and break military ties with North Korea

Clinton offered a small package of rewards for steps President Thein Sein and other leaders have already taken but said the U.S. was not ready to lift tough sanctions on the country. Removing some of those sanctions would require approval by Congress, where many lawmakers have criticized the Obama administration for rewarding Myanmar too quickly without enough evidence of change.

The modest first steps Clinton announced include Washington no longer blocking enhanced cooperation between Myanmar and the International Monetary Fund that could lead to the approval of much-needed loans and support for the poorest nation in the region. Also, the U.S. would support intensified U.N. health and microfinance programs and resume bilateral counternarcotics efforts.

Those steps could be followed by an upgrade in diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Myanmar, Clinton said, although U.S. officials stressed that concrete action on American concerns must be completed first. The U.S. has not had an ambassador in Myanmar since the early 1990s and is represented now by a charge d'affaires.

___

Associated Press writer Aye Aye Win in Yangon contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-02-Clinton-Myanmar/id-34a1377ffaf24d0c90061f33f3769301

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2012 Grammy Award Nominations: Recapping The Concert (PHOTOS & VIDEO)

The 2012 Grammy Award nominations are in! We heard some of the nominations via the Grammy’s concert, and here’s what went down during the hour filled with performances! We kick the night off with LL Cool J welcoming everyone to the show. Lady Gaga performs ‘Marry the Night’ wearing a black bikini under a black jacket, face paint and all. Her usual amazing self. Nicki Minaj announces the Record of the Year nominees: Adele, Rolling In The Deep Holocene, Bon Iver Bruno Mars, Grenade The Cave, Mumford & Sons Katy Perry, Firework We go to the O2 arena in London, England where Rihanna performs ‘We Found Love’. What an amazing performer she is. Never disappoints. The Band Perry performs ‘Independence’ and moves into their cover of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’. Nice job, kids! Taraji P. Henson announces Song of the Year nominees: All Of The Lights, Kanye West The Cave, Mumford and Sons Bruno Mars, Grenade Bon Iver, Holocene Adele, Rolling In The Deep Jason Aldean performs ‘Dirt Road Anthem’ and does his own little rap before Ludacris comes out to join him. Who knew that would be such an awesome collaboration? LL Cool J gabbing with Bruno Mars, who’s [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/6O6XE3oZwu4/

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Friday, December 2, 2011

Afghan woman, jailed for being raped, wins pardon (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) ? Afghanistan has pardoned a woman who was raped by a family member but then jailed for adultery, a statement from the presidential palace has said, in a case that highlights deep concerns about women's rights in the country.

It remained unclear whether the 21-year-old-woman, known as Gulnaz, would still have to marry the man who attacked her, her cousin's husband, after an earlier release offer which stipulated they must marry.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's palace issued the statement pardoning Gulnaz late on Thursday, a rare pardon in such a case in staunchly conservative Muslim Afghanistan.

Her case attracted international attention after she took part in a documentary film commissioned by the European Union but later withheld.

Gulnaz had eventually agreed to the condition she marry her attacker under the earlier release offer but her lawyer said the release granted this week did not depend on her going through with the marriage.

It was not clear whether she still intended to marry the man, her lawyer, Kimberley Motley, said. Her attacker is serving a 7-year prison term for the crime.

Motley said she hoped her client would be released shortly, and that there was a place for her in a women's shelter.

The palace statement said Justice Minister Habibullah Ghalib asked a panel of top legal officials to order her release. Gulnaz sought a pardon from Karzai earlier this week.

"After assessing Gulnaz's case, (they) decided that her remaining sentence in jail should be pardoned under the current rules and regulations of the country and she should be released," the palace statement said.

Gulnaz was initially sentenced to two years in jail for "adultery by force," which was later increased to 12 years on appeal. She was given the choice of marriage or serving a jail sentence.

Her sentence was then cut to three years after a third appeal, and the requirement for her to marry was dropped.

Gulnaz became pregnant as a result of the attack and gave birth to a daughter in the Badam Bagh women's prison in Kabul almost a year ago.

Motley also welcomed what she said was a decision to review the cases of other women in the same jail.

"The judiciary has effectively supported the Elimination of Violence Against Women Act by allowing for her to be released, for allowing for her to be pardoned," Motley said.

"Precedent definitely has been set. As I understand it, the judiciary today was also reviewing the files of other women in Badam Bagh," she said.

The presidential palace declined to comment on whether other cases were under review.

FILM BLOCKED

The film in which Gulnaz featured, a documentary on women in prison, was blocked from release by the EU mission in Afghanistan over fears it might compromise the safety of the women involved because it showed their identity.

The film-makers have been pushing for the film to be released, and say Gulnaz wanted her story to be told.

"I made a promise to these women that I would get their stories out. I am glad that I've been able to honor that promise to Gulnaz," said the film's director Clementine Malpas.

"I still hope that our film can be released, so people can hear the stories of the other women, and perhaps increase their chance of getting justice as well."

EU spokeswoman Lynne O'Donnell welcomed news Gulnaz would be freed but declined to comment on whether the film would be released.

Gulnaz's case had been condemned widely by human rights groups. An online petition started by Motley has been signed by more than 6,000 people.

Motley said she is still trying to ascertain whether the attacker will also be released if they agree to marry.

(Reporting by Jan Harvey and Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_women_prison

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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Personal Vehicle Finance An Easy Way of Generate | Watch My Gear

Personal vehicle finance is a way of financing the vehicle for individual usage. This incorporates funding of cars, light trucks, SUVs and even mini-vans. You can even finance a used or a new car also. There are particular conditions although which are typically used ahead of to finance for a vehicle. The model and year of the vehicle with each other with the real value of the automobile are taken into account in purchase to verify affordability. The vehicle finance is manufactured offered at several inexpensive charges by distinct funding companies.

Additional, the insurance policies and programs of private vehicle finance differ somewhat with distinct finance supplier or the lending organization. In the beginning, you ought to make your selection of the vehicle together with the vendor from whom you wish to deal in with. The moment you do it, further more of your formalities get completed hand in hand. You apply to the finance business giving the particulars about your transaction as well as your possess monetary placement.

On the other hand, the firm requires a appear on your credit scores, employment-capability, and your financial institution statements. Based on the verification, the business normally requires a selection if how significantly income ought to be granted to you. Later, you get a confirmation regarding your eligibility for vehicle finance. On the loan approval, a down payment is made and the motor vehicle is taken into possession by you. Finance is then authorized and a cheque is handed above to you for the needed quantity of income. Nevertheless, there are some finance companies which may possibly make the immediate deposit into your lender account.

The fascination charge for personal vehicle finance differs with individual and with lending organization respectively.

A borrower of affordable or good credit score score is qualified to use for personalized vehicle finance. Following selecting the vehicle as properly as the financier, the borrower presents his appropriate paperwork in assistance. The application is reviewed. The finance organization verifies your eligibility. You are then asked to direct deposit down payment. You get the fund to make a generate. You can make the financial loan application on-line as nicely as offline, processing on the internet is chosen however.

Vehicle Finance

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Source: http://watchmygear.com/2011/personal-vehicle-finance-an-easy-way-of-generate/

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