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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Wall Street closes day up as tech stocks soar

11 hrs.

Reuters

Stocks rose on Tuesday, led by gains in technology companies, helping the S&P 500 end at its best level since Election Day.?

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 79.02 points, or 0.60 percent, at 13,248.90. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 9.31 points, or 0.66 percent, at 1,427.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 35.34 points, or 1.18 percent, at 3,022.30.?

The Nasdaq was lifted by a 3 percent gain in Apple Inc's stock to $545.37. The company's shares had dropped last week as investors took profits before a possible tax rise next year. Coming into Tuesday's trading, Apple shares had lost 25 percent from an all-time intraday high hit in September.?

Other large tech stocks also rallied. Texas Instruments gained 3.5 percent to $30.88 after bumping up its profit target late Monday. That helped other chipmakers rally, with the PHLX Semiconductor index <.SOX> up 1.9 percent.?

"I see a lot of buying in tech, and that's taking the whole market up with it," said Tom Donino, co-head of trading at First New York Securities in New York.?

Traders voiced cautious optimism as the pace of negotiations over the "fiscal cliff" quickened. However, representatives from both parties cautioned that an agreement remains uncertain.?

"I guess in our own dysfunctional way, there is progress," said Frank Davis, director of sales and trading at LEK Securities in New York.?

"Since conversations are occurring, it clarifies at least they are taking some action. My personal gut is they'll jostle this into the holiday week and try to do a last minute push."?

Lawmakers worked toward a deal to avoid a series of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that would hurt U.S. economic growth next year.?

The lack of demonstrable progress has kept investors from making aggressive bets in recent weeks.?

But stocks have steadily marched higher on thin volume. The S&P 500 surpassed 1433.38 on Tuesday, retracing losses in the first seven sessions after President Barack Obama's re-election.?

A positive report from Goldman Sachs Equity Research pushed up shares in some retailers. Luggage maker Tumi Holding Inc. was up 4.8 percent to $21.94 and Michael Kors Holding gained 4 percent to $51.76.?

The U.S. Treasury is selling its remaining stake in insurer American International Group Inc . AIG's shares were up 4.1 percent at $34.74.?

Unexpected improvement in data out of Europe set the positive tone early. In Germany, analyst and investor sentiment rose sharply in December, entering positive territory for the first time since May, a leading survey showed.?

The Fed began a policy-setting meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is expected to announce a new round of Treasury bond purchases when the meeting ends on Wednesday to replace its "Operation Twist" stimulus which expires at the end of the year.?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/wall-street-closes-day-tech-stocks-soar-1C7557827

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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Overweight pregnant women not getting proper weight ... - Health.am

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Overweight women are not receiving proper advice on healthy weight gains or appropriate exercise levels during their pregnancies, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. ?Excessive weight gain ... Researchers reported their findings in a recent edition of Women's Health Issues. ?Women may believe that ... What health info have you recently searched for online? Disease or condition. Exercise or fitness. Diet, nutrition or vitamins. None of the above ...

Source: http://www.health.am/ab/more/overweight-pregnant-women/

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A Guide to the 'Zero Dark Thirty' Torture Debate

Kathryn Bigelow's movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden isn't even out yet, and already people are sparring over?Zero Dark Thirty. Many critics (including our own Richard Lawson) have praised the film for its realism, but certain columnists are now insisting that it glorifies torture, and the critics are fighting back. The voices in this debate can be roughly divided into two camps: 1) the cinephiles who say that portraying torture cinematically isn't the same thing as endorsing it, and 2) the civil libertarians who say that Hollywood shouldn't be portraying the "good guys" engaged in acts of torture. Here's how everyone got so angry so fast, and how to talk about what everyone's talking about:

Phase 1: Critics got all effusive.

NY Film Critics Circle names Zero Dark Thirty as Best Film
? Marc Malkin (@marcmalkin) December 3, 2012

Boston Society of Film Critics vote "Zero Dark Thirty" best film of 2012. #BSFC
? Ty Burr (@tyburr) December 9, 2012

'Zero Dark Thirty' Named Best Film By National Board of Review bit.ly/VE7N37
? Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 5, 2012

Apparently everyone who gets paid to size up movies loved this movie. Film critic organizations from the New York Film Critics Circle to the Boston Society of Film Critics to the National Board of Review have all placed?Zero Dark Thirty at the top of their 2012 lists. Early reviews admit that the torture scenes are brutal, but they argue that the film remains politically neutral on the subject.?"Zero Dark Thirty?is so pared to essentials that even politics are eliminated," writes The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy.?"There's essentially no?Bush?or?Cheney, no Iraq War, no?Obama?announcing the success of the May 2, 2011, raid on bin Laden's in-plain-sight Pakistani compound." And Bigelow and her screenwriting partner Mark Boal have been praised for their meticulous researched into the story behind the bin Laden raid. In a New York article out today, Mark Harris called the duo "probably our most prominent and least sentimental cultural custodians of the post-9/11 war era."

Phase 2: Columnists got all righteous.

If your film "doesn't have an agenda" and is "journalistic," it shouldn't manufacture a torture narrative: motherjones.com/mixed-media/20?
? Tim Murphy (@timothypmurphy) December 10, 2012

WTF is Kathryn Bigelow doing inserting torture into her film, Zero Dark Thirty, if it wasn't used to get Bin Laden? nyr.kr/VLqoho
? Jay Rosen(@jayrosen_nyu) December 10, 2012

Zero Dark Thirty: Can a movie that relies on fabrications to generate support for war crimes still be considered great? is.gd/ny4RLL
? Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 10, 2012

What's that we hear? Amidst all the thundering applause comes the sound of booing. Frank Bruni launched the backlash, writing that Dick Cheney would feel vindicated by?Zero Dark Thirty's take on torture.?Taking issue with Bigelow's claim in a?New Yorker?profile that she's bringing "almost a journalistic approach to film,"?Mother Jones'?Adam Serwer writes:?

The critical acclaim?Zero Dark Thirty?is already receiving suggests that it may do what Karl Rove could not have done with all the money in the world: embed in the popular imagination the efficacy, even the necessity, of torture, despite available evidence to the contrary.

Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee have found that the bin Laden mission did not hinge on any information obtained from C.I.A. detainees, meaning that torture may not have played any role in the lead-up to his?assassination?after all. So why is it such a central part of Bigelow's film, asks the?irascible?Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald:

What this film does, then, is uncritically presents as fact the highly self-serving, and factually false, claims by the CIA that its torture techniques were crucial in finding bin Laden. Put another way, it propagandizes the public to favorably view clear war crimes by the US government, based on pure falsehoods.

Phase 3: Critics fired back .

ZERO DARK THIRTY does not include scenes of torture to glorify torture. It includes scenes of torture because the U.S. tortured people.
? Matt Singer (@mattsinger) December 10, 2012

ZERO DARK THIRTY: Torture is a thing. Columnists: This movie's pro-torture!
? Scott Tobias (@scott_tobias) December 10, 2012

I'm sorry, Glenn Greenwald, but I don't think this is a piece it's responsible to write until you've seen the film: guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/?
? Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) December 10, 2012

Then came the inevitable backlash-to-the-backlash phase. In his retort to Greenwald's rage, Mark Harris made a good point: you haven't even seen this film yet.?Zero Dark Thirty?is still over a week away from limited release, and last time we checked political pundits aren't usually invited to press screenings. Saying a film glorifies violence is always a subjective judgement, and it's even more subjective when you're going off second-hand reports. Here's?New York's film critic David Edelstein responding to Greenwald's criticism of his review:?

I've always admired Greenwald, but his characterization of my review as "gush" is ridiculous. And one should never pronounce on a movie--let alone liken it to Nazi propaganda--without seeing it ... the filmmakers are very careful. They hedge a lot. They don't come close to 24 in their depiction of ticking time bombs and ACLU lawyers ready to sweep down and liberate mass murderers.

Phase 4: So what happens next??

Everyone will still go see?Zero Dark Thirty, it will most likely still win a few Oscars, and debates about the political implications of violence in film will continue to flare up from time to time. You know, like they always do.

RELATED: 'Zero Dark Thirty' for Best Picture Hype Is Real: The Atlantic Wire Golden Tally

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/guide-zero-dark-thirty-torture-debate-202212045.html

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Video: Top political quotes of the year

Gas tumbles almost 10 cents a gallon in 3 weeks

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States fell nearly a dime over the past three weeks, following a drop in crude oil prices and as refineries increased output, according to a widely followed survey released on Sunday.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/hardball/50151852/

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Monday, December 10, 2012

Limited Brands declares $3 special dividend

NEW YORK (AP) -- Specialty retailer Limited Brands Inc. said Monday that its board approved a special dividend of $3 per share to be paid ahead of possible changes in tax rates.

The Columbus, Ohio, company will pay the dividend Dec. 26 to shareholders of record on Dec. 20.

Based on about 288.4 million shares outstanding, the total payout will be about $865.2 million.

Since 2003 investors have paid a maximum 15 percent on dividend income. That historically low rate will expire in January unless Congress and President Barack Obama reach a compromise on taxes and government spending. As it stands, dividends will be taxed as ordinary income in 2013, the same as wages, so rates will go up depending on which income bracket a taxpayer is in. For the highest earners, the dividend rate would jump to 43.4 percent.

Limited Brands is the parent of chains including Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works.

Shares of the company closed at $50.66, down 52 cents. The stock rose 83 cents, to $51.49, in after-hours trading.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/limited-brands-declares-3-special-215926010.html

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Pacquiao loss downs spirit of storm-hit Filipinos

Referee Kenny Bayless, center, sends Juan Manuel Marquez, from Mexico, right, to his corner after Marquez knocked out Manny Pacquiao, from the Philippines, left, in the sixth inning of their WBO world welterweight fight Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012, in Las Vegas. Marquez won the fight by a knockout. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)

Filipinos look stunned after seeing Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao was knocked out by Mexican Juan Manual Marquez during a live TV broadcast at a multi-purpose hall in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. Many Filipinos were stunned by Pacquiao?s knockout defeat to Marquez, dampening the spirit of a nation battered recently by a powerful typhoon. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A Filipino man reacts after watching Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao being knocked out by Mexican Juan Manual Marquez during a live satellite broadcast at a multi-purpose hall in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday Dec. 9, 2012. Many Filipinos have been stunned by Pacquiao?s knockout defeat to Marquez, dampening the spirit of a nation battered recently by a powerful typhoon that left more than 600 dead. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A Filipino boy watches Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao lying on the mat after he was knocked out by Mexican Juan Manual Marquez during a live TV broadcast at a multi-purpose hall in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. Many Filipinos were stunned by Pacquiao?s knockout defeat to Marquez, dampening the spirit of a nation battered recently by a powerful typhoon. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? Filipino fans were stunned by Manny Pacquiao's knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez, dampening the spirit of a nation battered by a powerful typhoon that killed more than 600 people in the southern region where the boxing champion lives.

In New Bataan township, which was ravaged by Typhoon Bopha last week, refugees, rescuers and aid workers took a break from a grueling search for bodies and survivors to watch the fight on a big TV screen ? only to be disappointed by their hero's sixth-round knockout.

The fight took place Saturday night in Las Vegas, or Sunday in the Philippines. Town spokesman Marlon Esperanza said hundreds of villagers, most of whom lost their homes to mud- and rock-laden flash floods, packed the local gymnasium used as a temporary shelter. Many had hoped Pacquiao would triumph and share his earnings with the typhoon victims.

"People were really dismayed," Esperanza told The Associated Press by telephone. "It was like they were hit by another typhoon."

Elementary math teacher Constancio Olivar said people were cheering for Pacquiao in the sixth round, then fell silent when Marquez landed a shot flush to the jaw of Pacquiao, who fell heavily to the canvas and remained motionless for some time.

"It was like a double blow for me ? this disaster and this defeat," said Olivar, whose house was destroyed in the storm. "We were all crestfallen. Everyone fell silent, stunned. It was like we saw a tsunami."

In Manila, President Benigno Aquino III's spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Pacquiao's defeat "cannot set aside the many honors Manny has given to the Filipino people."

"Nothing has changed, the Filipino people continue to admire and support Manny," he said.

Boxing analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz said the defeat could demoralize Filipinos, particularly those in the typhoon-hit areas on the main southern island of Mindanao where Pacquiao is from.

"It's a double tragedy," he said. "People were looking at Pacquiao winning to give them some joy, some hope, some satisfaction. It didn't happen. On top of that, their anguish is further heightened as a result of his loss. ... This is like (Bopha) took a U-turn and came back to hit us with a Pacquiao knockout."

Nathanielsz said Pacquiao, who trained for two months, may not have spent enough time for physical conditioning unlike Marquez, who spent twice as many months preparing for the fight.

"The problem is when you get older, everything else must flow from the basic foundation of strength and conditioning. If you are not in condition, you have a problem," he said.

At the Baclaran Central Elementary School hall in the Manila suburb of Paranaque, where hundreds watched the fight, government employee Jacqueline Gabriel said she was dismayed by Pacquiao's performance.

"Pacman is weaker now," she said, using Pacquiao's nickname. "He is no longer like what he used to be. ... He should retire now."

But factory worker Charlie Cerillo, 37, said Pacquiao, who is also a congressman, should not retire yet.

"He should not have been a congressman. He should focus on sports and if he wants to be a congressman, he should focus on being a congressman," he said.

Pacquiao's mother, Dionisia, said that if it was up to her, she wanted her son to stop boxing.

"I want him to rest now, to relax," she told DZMM radio. "If he wants to be a politician, let him serve and pour everything into that. ... Only God will make him stop."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-09-Pacquiao-Marquez-Philippines/id-cfdd3226ee6c4c48ad8a24a0045f7156

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PSY performs for president despite scandal

By Stacy A. Anderson, Associated Press

A holiday concert attended Sunday by President Barack Obama and his family included some non-traditional entertainment this year: a performance by South Korean rapper and Internet sensation PSY.?

PSY? wearing an all-red outfit including a sparkling, sequined top? was backed by dancers wearing reindeer antlers as he performed his popular "Gangnam Style" dance, which mimics riding a horse.

The rapper, born Park Jae-sang, had apologized Friday for using what he called "inflammatory and inappropriate language" during anti-U.S. protests at concerts in 2002 and 2004. The flak from his remarks didn't dampen the festive holiday mood Sunday.

Other performers at the charity concert included Diana Ross, Demi Lovato, "American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery and Megan Hilty, star of the NBC musical drama "Smash."

In brief remarks, Obama said the celebration was "a chance to get in the Christmas spirit, spread some joy and sing along with artists who have much better voices than we do."

He also said the holiday season was a time to remember that everyone is "incredibly blessed in so many ways," and to share with the less fortunate, such as those in hospitals, shelters and battlefields far from home.

"Those blessings aren't just meant to be enjoyed, they're meant to be used and shared with those who have less," he said.

The "Christmas in Washington" concert benefits Children's National Medical Center. Before the show, Obama was accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and daughters, Sasha and Malia, as he presented a basket of books to four former patients of the center, who were dressed as elves.

The 31st annual concert was held Sunday at the National Building Museum and was hosted for a second year by comedian Conan O'Brien.

It is scheduled to air Dec. 21 on TNT.?

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