Congo rebels give mixed signals, but retain Goma

GOMA, Congo (AP) ? Rebels holding Congo's main eastern city on Wednesday gave mixed signals on whether they would abandon Goma but one thing was clear: For now, the insurgents still hold the strategic locale and no military force seemed strong enough or possessed the will to quickly push them out.

A leader of the M23 rebels said they will withdraw only if Congolese President Joseph Kabila's government meets their demands for wide-ranging national reforms and negotiations.

"Kabila has to meet our demands if we are to pull out," M23 vice-minister of interior Theophile Ruremesha told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

A group comprised of regional nations demanded that M23 leave Goma by Friday. Ruremesha suggested that the withdrawal could take longer.

"For humanitarian reasons we cannot leave the town in the hands of just anybody," he said. "Creating the neutral force will take some time."

While some fear M23, which is only eight months old but already has a record of carrying out executions and of forcing children into its ranks, other residents of this sprawling, lakeside city of 1 million are afraid of the undisciplined Congolese army, which the rebels pushed out of Goma on Nov. 20.

At midday Wednesday, about 1,000 residents marched on Goma's main street, blowing tubas and other musical instruments. They called for the M23 rebels to remain and denounced Kabila, who rules this vast nation from the faraway capital, Kinshasa. The marchers began their protest at the base of U.N. peacekeepers in town, then walked down the avenue.

"I want Kabila to leave because he hasn't helped the people and our country hasn't moved forward since he came to power," said one of the marchers, Augustin Katombo. "I think M23 should stay because we don't want the army to come back."

About 1,500 U.N. peacekeepers were in Goma when M23 attacked on Nov. 20 and government forces fled, but the well-armed U.N. forces did not intervene, saying they lacked the mandate to do so. One of their main missions is to protect civilians.

M23's military chief, Col. Sultani Makenga, said that the rebels intend to pull out of Goma and have already started to withdraw forces from Masisi, a village northwest of Goma. Makenga returned from talks in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

When asked if the M23 troops would be out of Goma by Friday, Makenga said: "It will depend on our troops' movement, but we have started to do what we agreed to in Kampala."

Many people expressed anxiety about a possible attack by the Congo army, which lies in wait several dozen miles (kilometers) to the south of Goma.

"This is a nerve-wracking situation. It fluctuates every hour and we cannot even plan for tomorrow," said Goma resident Ernest Mugisho. "The M23 needs to give a clear message because for us, the population, this is not good."

The rebel group has a large new cache of 1,000 tons of weapons, including heavy artillery, that were abandoned by the fleeing Congo army last week, according to M23 president Jean-Marie Runiga. Six flatbed trucks carrying crates of ammunition were seen Tuesday being driven by M23 soldiers north from Goma.

The M23 was created by former rebels who joined, and then defected from the Congolese army.

A U.N. group of experts said in a detailed report last week that M23 is backed by neighboring Rwanda and, to a lesser extent, by Uganda.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congo-rebels-mixed-signals-retain-goma-115308772.html

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How To Work With Online Auction Sites

By Craig Merwood

Online auction sites are becoming increasingly popular among online consumers, one of the reasons being that it is now widely known that these sites offer the best prices to be found anywhere. There are many different types of auction sites; some specialize in certain items such as household goods like Dyson products, or electronics such as HTC devices and phones, while other sites cover a whole spectrum of items.

If you are looking to find a great deal on a certain product then you can sign up with a penny auction site, purchase bidding credits and search for items in the bidding lists. When you have found an item, you can use your credits to make bids for the items. If nobody places another bid within the time limit, you will win the item for the current price. This means that you can snatch up some amazing bargains if you are lucky enough to be the last bidder, which can happen for a number of reasons. Many people opt not to bid on an item, as they are waiting until they believe nobody else will pay more. However, if all watchers do this, you could win the item for an extremely low price.

If you are searching for one particular item, it is worth keeping an eye on the auction prices for a number of days so that you can get a feel for the winning bids, and possibly even spot one auction that does not seem to have much interest in it. Shopping online at less popular times of the day will increase the chance of being able to get lower prices, as there are less people bidding. Naturally, it does not always work out like that. Waiting for items to appear on special offers or daily deals, is another way to find the best prices.

Many people are now using penny auction sites for just about all of their entertainment or business purchases. By learning how to place the bids effectively and what strategies to implement, you could get some fantastic deals. The key is to set out the value that you place on an item and stick to its worth. If you are desperate to win an item, you could use a large amount of credits to continuously place a bid as soon as someone else does as this can scare other bidders away.

There are many different tips and tricks that people use to optimize their bidding success, but perfecting the art is well worth it as you can save huge amounts on your holiday purchases.

PennyDealsDaily, an online penny auction site, is having a grand opening December 2012 so come sign up for free registration, 25 free credits and free shipping for the month.

Source: http://ninjaseomethods.com/how-to-work-with-online-auction-sites/

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Does a trust protect assets at divorce? | Cover Publications

by Nokuzola Cossie, Glacier by Sanlam

Published: November 29th, 2012

Recently a client asked whether transferring assets to a Trust in the anticipation of a divorce will preclude those assets from being subject to division upon divorce?

Divorces are more often than not acrimonious in nature, fraught with emotion and an asset as insignificant as the silver cutlery that was gifted to the couple by a distant relative whose name is long forgotten becomes an issue of contention. It is therefore not surprising that one of the parties looks to a Trust as a vehicle in which to ?protect? his share of the assets at such a time.? The question is whether the transfer of the assets to a trust will achieve the desired purpose.

There are two manners in which a trust can be funded, either by donation in which case the founder of the Trust will have to pay 20% donations tax on any amount above R100 000-00, and by making an interest free loan to the Trust. This article will deal with the latter method.?

Joint ownership - The consequences of an in community of property marriage is that the assets in an estate are owned jointly regardless of who purchased such assets. The converse also applies in that a husband and a wife are jointly liable for the debts in an estate.? The founder of the Trust requires the consent of his spouse to sell or encumber any assets that are not excluded from their joint estate (e.g. assets inherited by a spouse in which the bequest specified the exclusion of the assets as forming part of the joint estate). Assuming that the spouse grants consent and the assets sold form part of the joint estate, upon such sale the value of the loan account will be an asset in the joint estate and be subject to division upon divorce.

Where parties are married out of community of property, they each retain assets in their own estates, and the transfer of assets into a trust by one spouse will not affect the estate of the other spouse. However where such an out of community of property marriage is subject to accrual, the spouse with the smaller estate may share in the growth of the estate of the spouse with the larger estate upon the dissolution of the marriage, in this case by divorce. As discussed above the assets that are sold by the founder of the Trust will be replaced by a loan account to the value of the amount of the sale of the assets.

Should the founder have the larger estate the spouse with the smaller estate will be entitled to share in such growth, which ultimately includes the loan account.

As illustrated above the transfer of assets to a trust will not exclude those assets from division upon divorce. The Constitutional Court and Supreme Court of Appeal dealt with the issue of divorce in relation to trusts in the cases of Jordaan v Jordaan 2001 (3) SA 288 (C) and Badenhorst v Badenhorst [2006] 2 All SA 363 (SCA) respectively, and held that the trusts in both cases were the founders? alter ego in that the founders had treated the trust assets as their own and were therefore subject to division at divorce. These cases do not deal with the transfer of assets in anticipation of divorce however the principle that is common in both cases is that the court will not allow spouses to ?hide? behind a trust. If assets are transferred into a trust for the sole purpose of ensuring that a spouse does not benefit at divorce I am sure that the courts will not hesitate to take the same view as that of Jordaan and Badenhorst.?? Trusts have various uses and benefits ranging from pegging the value of your estate, providing for minor children, tax planning, protecting your assets and preserving wealth for future generations, however they are not a ?quick fix? solution.? It is vital that appropriate advice is sought to determine whether a Trust is suitable for your estate planning.

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Source: http://climateandcapitalism.com/2012/11/26/rich-nations-renege-on-climate-finance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rich-nations-renege-on-climate-finance

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Egypt's stock market plummets after Morsi's decree

In this Friday, Nov. 23, 2012 photo released by the Egyptian Presidency, President Mohammed Morsi speaks to supporters outside the Presidential palace in Cairo. Egypt's official news agency says that the country's highest body of judges has called the president's recent decrees an "unprecedented assault on the independence of the judiciary and its rulings." In a statement carried on MENA Saturday, the Supreme Judicial Council says they regret the declarations President Mohammed Morsi issued Thursday. (AP Photo/Egyptian Presidency)

In this Friday, Nov. 23, 2012 photo released by the Egyptian Presidency, President Mohammed Morsi speaks to supporters outside the Presidential palace in Cairo. Egypt's official news agency says that the country's highest body of judges has called the president's recent decrees an "unprecedented assault on the independence of the judiciary and its rulings." In a statement carried on MENA Saturday, the Supreme Judicial Council says they regret the declarations President Mohammed Morsi issued Thursday. (AP Photo/Egyptian Presidency)

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's benchmark stock index has plunged 9.5 percent halfway through the first trading session since the country's Islamist president issued decrees to assume near absolute powers.

Sunday's losses on the Egyptian Exchange's EGX30 index are among the biggest since the turbulent days and weeks after the ouster of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak last year.

The fall follows the announcement Thursday by President Mohammed Morsi of a package of decrees that place him above any oversight, including judicial, and extend the same protection to two Islamist-dominated bodies: a panel drafting a new constitution and parliament's upper chamber.

Morsi says his measures are designed to "protect the revolution," but they triggered an uproar among non-Islamist political groups now vowing to press on with street protests to force him to back down.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-25-Egypt/id-c679aa60d2e04c4988e8a4dccc53920d

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We interrupt this protest (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/265323859?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Russian court throws out Madonna anti-gay compensation claim

GENEVA (Reuters) - Kris Kristofferson -- Oxford scholar, athlete, U.S. Army helicopter pilot, country music composer, one-time roustabout, film actor, singer, lover of women, three times a husband and father of eight -- seems ready to meet his maker. At least, that was the clear impression he left with an audience of middle-aged-and-upwards fans at a concert in Geneva this week, a message underscored by his 28th and latest album, "Feeling Mortal" and its coffin-dark cover. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-court-throws-madonna-anti-gay-compensation-claim-174542963.html

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Rubble cleanup a massive task in NY, NJ

An American flag blows in the breeze in front of one of the largest pils of storm debris at the Jersey shore in Long Branch N.J. in this Nov. 15, 2012 photo. Superstorm Sandy created tons of debris that towns in New York and New Jersey are still struggling to dispose of weeks later. Three weeks in, the round-the clock effort to remove storm rubble has strained the resources of sanitation departments and landfill operators, and caused heartaches and headaches for thousands of families. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

An American flag blows in the breeze in front of one of the largest pils of storm debris at the Jersey shore in Long Branch N.J. in this Nov. 15, 2012 photo. Superstorm Sandy created tons of debris that towns in New York and New Jersey are still struggling to dispose of weeks later. Three weeks in, the round-the clock effort to remove storm rubble has strained the resources of sanitation departments and landfill operators, and caused heartaches and headaches for thousands of families. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

Backhoe operator Keith Henry levels a storm-damaged home in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. The splintered plywood, mangled appliances and sodden sheetrock, as well as shreds of clothing and family photos will be added to the increasing piles of rubble being cleared in New York as the cleanup from Superstorm Sandy continues. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

A crane sits atop a pile of storm debris in a parking lot in Point Pleasant Beach N.J. on Nov. 15, 2012. Superstorm Sandy created tons of debris that towns in New York and New Jersey are still struggling to dispose of weeks later. Three weeks in, the round-the clock effort to remove storm rubble has strained the resources of sanitation departments and landfill operators, and caused heartaches and headaches for thousands of families. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Just a few months ago, the parking lot at Jacob Riis Park on New York City's Rockaway seashore was filled with happy beachgoers. Now, it is home to a mountain of misery from Superstorm Sandy ? a growing pile of garbage containing everything from mangled appliances, splintered plywood and sodden drywall to shreds of clothing and family photos.

The seagull-pecked pile, at least two stories high, three quarters of a mile long, and fed by an endless caravan of dump trucks, is just part of a staggering round-the-clock operation along hundreds of miles of coastline to clear away the mangled mess of homes, cars and boats so the rebuilding can begin.

Three weeks in, it is an effort that has strained the resources of sanitation departments and landfill operators, and caused headaches and heartache for thousands of families in the sprawling disaster zone.

The lucky have only had to empty their basements of soggy belongings. Others have been forced to strip their flood-ravaged homes down to the studs and pile drywall, furniture, clothing and appliances on the sidewalk.

"We've seen people put virtually all their worldly possessions at the curb," said Mike Deery, a spokesman for the town of Hempstead, which includes several beach and bay hamlets on Long Island's South Shore. "We've gone down streets and picked up the entire contents of homes, and come back the next day and have it look like we haven't been there in months."

In the three weeks since the storm, New York City alone has removed an estimated 271,000 tons of wreckage from flooded neighborhoods. That doesn't include the downed limbs and trunks of some 26,000 damaged trees.

New Jersey shore towns have been adding to big piles of rubble just like the one at Jacob Riis. One of the biggest ones, in Long Branch, reaches nearly three stories into the sky from a vacant lot a block from the ocean.

As of Friday, auto insurance companies had reported storm damage to at least 52,000 vehicles, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Many of those cars floated on the tide and were left smashed, silt-filled and strewn across sidewalks and yards.

In Long Beach, N.Y., a barrier island city of 33,000 people that was completely inundated by the storm surge, public works crews worked 16-hour shifts to scoop up hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of sand that had buried city streets. The mountain of silt they have created now stands five stories high.

A powerful mechanism has been at work to make it happen: In New York, the city's regular army of 6,000 sanitation workers has been supplemented by battalions of private contractors, hired under a $92 million FEMA contract administered by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Garbage barge terminals on Staten Island that were last used to remove debris from the World Trade Center after 9/11 have been pressed into service again, this time carrying Sandy's wreckage up the Hudson River, toward a landfill outside Seneca Falls.

Rubble has also been moving by truck to landfills in Pennsylvania, some of which have been stretched to the limit.

"You are trying to drive material through a funnel that isn't quite wide enough to accept it," said John Hambrose, a spokesman for industry giant Waste Management. He said the company has had to boost staffing and bring in 65 additional trucks and equipment from as far away as Florida and Wisconsin to handle the rubble headed for its landfills in Pennsylvania.

The task of clearing the streets has had its share of missteps.

In the devastated beach town of Seaside Heights, N.J., famous as the location for MTV's "Jersey Shore," there was outrage after officials asked a towing company to clear the streets of flooded cars.

Numerous residents complained that the company also hauled away undamaged vehicles from private property. Some owners were told they would have to pay as much as $900 to retrieve their vehicles.

Prosecutors in Ocean County, N.J., said they are investigating. An attorney for the company, APK Towing, blamed the episode on "messed-up" communication in the chaotic days after the storm.

"We were told, 'Get rid of everything.' We did what we thought was the right thing to do," said the lawyer, Steven Secare. "A couple of people were honestly charged too much." He said the company is now charging a maximum of $250 for tows and will issue a refund to anyone who paid more. Some people are also getting vehicles back for free.

Boats ripped free by the tide pose another challenge. In Broad Channel, a maritime village built on an island in the middle of New York City's Jamaica Bay, a motor yacht with the words "S.S. Minnow" spray-painted on its side sat partially blocking traffic on the only road in and out of the community for two weeks before it was hauled away.

Up and down the coast, sanitation crews have been working seven days a week, including holidays, since the storm hit, starting before dawn and continuing into the night, when the task of handling nail-studded debris gets dicey. Some of the workers are spending their days off cleaning out their own ravaged homes.

"You've got to remember a lot of our employees live here," said city Public Works Commissioner Jim LaCarrubba. "We asked a lot of them, and they've stepped up."

In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie has sought to speed the cleanup by suspending safety rules that normally limit how many hours or days in a row a truck driver can work without time off.

Speed is seen as key by many people working on the recovery.

On New York City's heavily flooded Rockaway Peninsula, home to 115,000 people, private contractors have been in a race against mold.

"Every last one of these houses needs to have (this) done," said Stephen Wagner, owner of Specialized Cleaning and Flood Restoration of Rochester, N.Y., as he worked to rip out the inside of a flooded Rockaway building.

Living in a home with mold can cause health problems such as skin and eye irritation, a stuffy nose or shortness of breath, particularly for people with asthma or allergies. Ideally, homes would have been gutted within 48 hours ? an impossibility because of the magnitude of the damage.

The floodwaters left behind a nasty mess of contaminants. Residents were urged to clean carefully, especially in areas where the water might have been tainted with sewage.

"If there was a box of paint in a garage, or a car that was swamped that had oil in the engine, those contaminants were released," said John Lipscomb, a boat captain with the environmental group Riverkeeper. "It is an amazing pollution event that just occurred."

New York City's deputy mayor of operations, Cas Holloway, said the beach sand that was scooped off the streets has to be checked for contamination from such things as fuel oil.

"You can't just put that stuff back on the beach," he said.

___

Wayne Parry in Long Beach Township, N.J., and Martin Di Caro in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-11-20-Superstorm%20Sandy-Rubble/id-f54594f6adda4bdb82b319206b96810a

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Oneself or one's self? - Writing for Business - A Whatis.com Blog

Nov 19 2012 ? 3:09PM GMT

Posted by: IvyW
busines writing, CIO

?

Which is correct?
Twitter tip: Don?t call yourself by name in your profile bio, use ?I? or ?me? instead. Speaking about _________ in the third person sounds pretentious and psychologically unstable.
a.?one?s self
b. oneself

Answer: b.

Explanation:

One?s self is considered archaic, although it is still sometimes used when the emphasis is on the self as an entity. You might, for example, speak of psychology as a means of gaining a better understanding of one?s self. However, even in that case, you wouldn?t be wrong to use oneself instead.

People expect that you are the author of your own Twitter account and also the author of the bio, so introduce yourself the same way you?d do it in person.

Referring to yourself in third person ? as if you were not yourself, and not another person speaking to you, but someone talking about some third party ? is called illeism. Ille is Latin for he, the third-person pronoun for males.

Wikipedia has an interesting article about illeism. Here?s a snippet:

? illeism can be used to reinforce self-promotion, as used to sometimes comic effect by?Bob Dole?throughout his political career.^[2]?This was particularly made notable during the?United States presidential election, 1996?and lampooned broadly in popular media for years afterwards.

Similarly illeism is used with an air of grandeur, to give the speaker lofty airs. Idiosyncratic and conceited people are known to either use or are lampooned as using illeism to puff themselves up or illustrate their?egoism. The artist?Salvador Dal??used illeism throughout his interview with?60 Minutes?s?Mike Wallace, punctuating it with ?Dal? is immortal and will not die,? although this may have been a reference to the legacy of his art rather than his actual self. The wrestler?The Rock?was notorious for this, mainly to enhance his persona to a superhuman level.

?***

See also: What?s wrong with this Twitter profile? (It?s a different and even more horrible problem.)

Follow me on Twitter @tao_of_grammar

? ??? ??? ???

Source: http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/oneself-or-ones-self/

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Google cancels December for Android 4.2 users

Don?t tell the kids, but Google has done what the Grinch couldn?t ? stolen Christmas!

OK, they haven?t actually stolen it, but if you?re an Android 4.2 Jelly Bean user you better not have been born in December, because Google have dropped (another) almighty clanger by omitting the month from their stock People/Contacts app.

The bug has been officially reported to Google via the Android Open Source Project (bug 39692). Christian Ulrich, an independent Android developer, has added this plausible explanation of what may have caused the error:

It checks ?maxValue? and resets it to ?.length ? 1? it?s too high. But DatePicker.java (line 140) sets maxValue to 12 and the string array ?months? is only 12 entries long so maxValue gets truncated to 11 by the new check in this commit which in the end will skip ?December? as it is the 12th and last month.

We?ve confirmed the issue ourselves and also found that if an existing contact already has a birthday in December the display shows December, but the date picker rolls the month on to January!

Now, I know that modern software is incredibly complicated, and there?s always going to be bugs, but really?

Let?s hope that Google can find December and get it back before people stop doing the Christmas shopping.

About Ronnie Whelan

I work in IT and marketing, I spend my spare money on smartphones and tablets. My friends have grown weary of my fascination with mobile technology, so I write about it in the hope that someone out there is as obsessed as me? and it seems there is. Welcome to my world.

Follow me @ronnie_whelan or email me at [email?protected]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/coolsmartphone/huIR/~3/unBZkMOyHP4/

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how to use computer technology: Very best Registry Cleaner

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Source: http://bret7850.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/how-to-use-computer-technology-very-best-registry-cleaner.html

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Source: http://ofemybume.posterous.com/how-to-use-computer-technology-very-best-regi

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Source: http://markroperess.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-to-use-computer-technology-very.html

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Videos: Snooki Loves Being a Mom, Bow Wow Talks Fatherhood ...

'Pregnant Man' on His Complicated Divorce

Transgender Thomas Beatie opened up about his divorce and the custody battle with his wife of 10 years, Nancy.

Thomas Talks About Future with New Girlfriend

"Pregnant Man" Thomas Beatie's girlfriend, Amber, appeared on the show, and they talked about whether they're planning to have children.

Snooki Loves Being a Mom

Co-host Snooki opened up about being a new mom -- she loves changing diapers and gets lots of help from the baby's father.

Snooki Shows Off Rapping Skills

Snooki showed off her rapping skills with Bow Wow -- who explained how he freestyles. Did Anderson join in?

Bow Wow Talks Fatherhood

Rapper Bow Wow talked about being a new dad to daughter Shai.

Source: http://www.andersoncooper.com/2012/11/15/videos-snooki-loves-being-a-mom-bow-wow-talks-fatherhood-and-more/

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Neuroscience gets behind the mask of Greek theatre

Hannah Krakauer, reporter

(Image: Alastair Muir/Rex Features)

Over 2000 years may have elapsed since masked Greek tragedies had their heyday on stage in Athens, but some of the most modern neuroscience may be able to give classicists a better understanding of how the ancients watched and thought about those plays that today exist only on paper.

Peter Meineck leads a double life, as a classicist at New York University and a theatre director and founder of the Aquila Theatre in New York. His interest and involvement in live theatre led him to wonder if he could somehow find a window into the minds of the ancient Greeks who watched plays like Antigone and the?Oresteia unfold live on stage rather than the page.

Although the text of a play is undoubtedly important, Meineck says, classicists tend to rely too heavily on the words as first and last authority. At a talk at Stanford University in California last week, Meineck discussed his radical shift away from the text of ancient plays towards understanding the importance of masks and movements by teaming his theatrical knowledge with cognitive neuroscience.

Meineck spent a year studying principles of cognitive science and was immediately attracted to the theory of embodied cognition - the idea that the way we think is mediated by how we physically experience and move in the world - since it aligned so perfectly with his own experience as a theatre director. One of his actors could be reciting perfect Shakespeare, he says, but it would be his body that made the words believable. ?I?m trying to get someone?s body to feel truthfully what is coming out of their mouth,? he explains.

The principles of embodied cognition were all the more important in Greek plays, says Meineck, because the actors were masked. Meineck studied the design of the Theatre of Dionysus, embedded in the southern slope of the Acropolis in Athens. From the theatre is an exceptionally beautiful view of the sky and city. The draw of the horizon in the periphery of the audience?s visual field diverted attention from the performance. The actors needed some kind of tool to draw the audience?s attention. Enter the mask.

At first glance, the theatre mask makes almost no sense in the context of ancient theatre. Evidence from eye-tracking studies shows how readily we search for eyes and a mouth in just about any context, from the head of a human to shadows in a piece of toast. Faces are the most important tools we have in communicating emotion. Intuitively, ?wearing a mask is the worst thing you can do in that art form", Meineck says.

But looking closer at the masks, Meineck started to piece together what made them so powerful. A static mask can readily communicate only the six basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness and surprise. But an ambiguous mask, which is what was used in most performances of tragedy, can be shockingly versatile - and more engaging for the audience.

Meineck donned a mask to demonstrate the point. After strapping the ambiguous female mask to his face with his back turned to the audience, he slowly turned around to reveal a neutral but vaguely offputting expression. Audience members shouted out emotions for him to act out. ?Fear!? was the first suggestion, and Meineck shrank back, cowering and waving his arms in terror. Almost magically, the face did indeed seem to transform into a terrified expression. At ?Surprise!? Meineck jumped up in the air and shook his head. The transformations were equally striking for ?joy?, ?sadness? and ?satisfaction?, though Meineck was understandably stumped by the final suggestion, ?repentance?.

The magic of the mask lies in how it transmutes depending on the angle and context in which we see it. Tilting a mask up and down can change its expression from enraged to content, while a human face is far more consistent from all angles. Because there is no face to tell you explicitly the emotion the character is feeling, your brain takes cues from movement and assigns the face an expression that makes sense. ?Your cognitive system is seeing and suggesting the mask moving,? Meineck says.

The mask is a hypnotic call to theatre precisely because each audience member helps to create the emotional drama unfolding on stage. ?I believe the mask is far more expressive than the human face,? Meineck says. Rather than being told what to see by an actor?s face, the audience plays a role in creating the emotion, projecting onto the mask what should be there rather than what is explicitly present, similar to the way the brain works to find meaning in abstract art.

The shape of the mask?s features may also provide clues into how the ancient Athenians thought about the world, says Meineck. Comparing Greek masks to east Asian ones from the same period, the Greek masks have enormous eyes and mouths with fairly petite noses. The Asian masks are the opposite, sporting a substantial schnozz. Meineck immediately saw the parallels in modern eye-tracking experiments, such as those where subjects look at paintings of fish in an aquarium. People from western cultures were able to accurately describe the individual fish in the foreground after looking at the image, while Asians were superior at describing the context of the entire scene. The prominent noses on Asian masks indicated to Meineck a culture that looks at the centre of an image and takes in the entire field, while Greek masks are closer to modern western culture, focusing on individual details instead of the larger context. The differently shaped masks could be a hint that Greeks had a more individually focused mindset on the world, as opposed to the collaborative cultural perspective commonly associated with Asian cultures.

Though there is a danger that modern investigations into ancient theatre might project conclusions onto the plays in the same way that Athenian theatregoers may have overlaid emotions on ambiguous masks, Meineck?s approach raises interesting questions. What else can we learn about the psychology of the past by teaming up current cognitive science research with expert knowledge of history and the arts?

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Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/259d1e24/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cculturelab0C20A120C110Cneuroscience0Egreek0Emask0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

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Safeguarding Your Computer : Five Free Antiviruses For 2013 ...

From kids to grandparents, everyone is using computers around us. But advancement in technology also brings problems along with benefits. Problem like security is of maximum importance when it is related to your business or any personal not to be shared data. Hence the idea of antiviruses entered into picture, which helps us to make our PCs more secure and our experiences more enjoyable. Here are some top online antivirus programs to protect your computer, which you can consider if you are planning to use one.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2012

It is an antivirus program developed by a Romanian company called ?SoftWin? which is now also considered as the digital dragon to slew all internet evil of all forms.

? It provides security against viruses, spyware and phishing attempts which include online links scanning, search advisor, PC optimizations tools, scheduling scanning and much more.

? It is the best value antivirus program which comes under $30 per personal licence.

? Simple and easy to use but laced with powerful functionality which comprise of private data detection and potential identity theft monitoring (with help of partner, IDWatchDog).

? Anti-phishing measures ? It performs scan for your mails, Instant messages and downloads. It can encrypt chat conversations and as it tracks the privacy settings of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, it helps to detect and protect your account from any malicious data sent from your friend?s accounts.

? Anti-Fraud filter ? It detects scam linked websites to save you from any fake commercial or bank transaction.

? It comes in three packages, Antivirus, Internet Security and Total Security Suite.

? Heuristic real time Active Virus Control ? It uses proactive ICSA-certified scanning and detection
algorithm to detect any online virus activity without compromising on system performance.

? Smart Scan ? It has the capability to detect more significant applications and can schedule its own scans accordingly. Hence doesn?t interfere with your most important running apps.

? Secure gamer mode ? In case you are playing games then with some settings you can prevent any security popups coming in between and hence can enjoy your game without any interruption. This is also known as Autopilot for Silent Security which provides a hassle-free experience by making optimal security-related decisions without input from you. This means no pop-ups, no alerts, nothing to configure.

? For rare security threats like rootkits breach all you need to do is reboot your system in rescue mode to clean and restore your system.

? It supports Windows 7, 8, Vista and XP.
? Installation is easy and step by step information is available.27/7 support is available.

? Free Edition ? In case you don?t need advanced features, you can download BitDefender Free Edition 2012 for sufficient features to protect your PC. It also uses ICSA-certified scanning and detection algorithms like its commercial counterparts. It supports Windows 95, 98, NT ? SP6, Me, 2000, and XP.

Avast Pro Antivirus 6

Avast is one of the most popular names in the antivirus market. It offers mind blowing features to protect your PC and that too just for a cost less than $40.

? Provides a combo of scanning, detection and remediation features.

? It also has reputation rating and heuristics ?based sandboxing for protected online transactions.

? Cleans up the existing threats and prevent potential ones.

? Brand features: ?WebRep? (It scans URL links proactively and has color-coded reputation ratings on search results URLs to indicate the safety level when visited, ?SafeZone? (sandboxing virtual desktop tool; ensures the security during online shopping and bank transactions), ?AutoSandbox? (Uses virtual computing environment called sandbox to identify and open malicious apps), ?Security Gadget? (Tells you about the security status for Windows 7 or Vista platforms)

? It is a multilevel antivirus and prevents your PC from several angles.

? It protects the PC from spyware, rootkits, worms, Trojans, viruses and malware spread through infected email (both inbound and outbound) and instant messaging with an integrated IM shield.

? Silent game mode ? When you play a game all the security tasks are done automatically without any need of your inputs. That disables pop-ups or alerts from interrupting, when you are playing.

? Databases for viruses are regularly updated.

? Heuristic algorithm is used to detect any malicious file which shows such behaviour and your PC is protected immediately.

? Efficient scanning ? During new scan (after first full scan) only changed files are scanned again and hence prevent precious system resources and enhances the performance.

? Easy to use and install. It comes with a pre-installation routine.

? Online and offline support is available 24/7.

? Free Edition ? Ver 6.0 is also available with decent features.

Kaspersky Antivirus 2012

From Russia this face-lifted antivirus is a good choice which comes under $40 for single and under $60 for 3 licences.
? It is a tough antivirus system but do not expect any frills or firewalls. It provides you to choose one of your choices.

? It provides shortest response time in providing security from online and offline threats.

? It provides a cloud based protection service (uses its own security network).

? File advisor feature ? It provides the standards used to mar any file safe and unsafe and at the same time will let you know how many safe computers your file has visited.

? URL advisor Plugin ? helps to not only flag URLs in searches but also other linked in visited sites.

? It protects your PC against rootkits and spyware on top of viruses.

? Heuristic algorithms are used for scanning. Hourly reports of scans are generated.

? It takes only about 50 MB of HDD space and just 512 RAM when active.

? Has built-in system restore feature.

? Autopilot mode is available (see game mode) but with few important pop ups.

? Installation is easy and just after rebooting your system, you can start using it.

? Works for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.

? 30-day full function trial is available for your testing.

? Easy navigation and bright colors makes it quite user friendly.

Panda Internet Security 2012

Panda pioneered to release its latest internet security product for 2012 among PC security companies.

? It provides effective protection software against malicious files, virus, spyware, phishing, spam and is equipped with a competent firewall, parental control, backup facility and identity protection on the side

? You get a suite of products like Firewall, Internet Security, and Antivirus.

? Use heuristic or ?behaviour analysis? techniques based algorithms to detect threats.

? For beginners, it has a ?safe browser? mode that puts a barrier or ?sandboxes? web pages (virtual) so that you don?t download any suspicious malware actually on your PC.

? It can be integrated with Outlook Express and MS Outlook. But this exposes its weakness as well when it leaves your web-based email accounts in AOL, Gmail, Yahoo, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Hotmail vulnerable.

McAfee VirusScan Plus 2012

If you are looking for basic protection features like scanning, detecting, and removing threats on your PC and blocking attempts to infect with the utmost efficiency, power and efficacy with the least burden on your computing resources, then McAfee is one of the best choices. Of course this Plus mentioned in the name brings new features just at $49.

? It has protection service through several diagnostic and monitoring tools which it applies before acting as an antivirus, an anti-phishing tool, a defragmentation tool and a network monitoring tool for reputation rating.

? It has heuristic file behaviour-based engine in the McAfee?s System Guards.

? It comes with a bonus Firewall which is a full featured personal firewall that blocks all web based malicious attacks going to your PC ports.

? IM link scanning is possible and works well with AOL IM and Yahoo Messenger.

? Has ?state aware? feature which is equivalent to ?game mode? of other antiviruses.

? Also has ?Site advisor? feature to keep a check on sites and has color based indicators for the searched sites.

? Easy to use and install.

There are many in the list; Norton Antivirus 2012 is another name which can be considered. Whatever you use; make sure you are protected properly. All I can say is; either you live in isolation or stay protected, choice if simply yours!

Source: http://skytechgeek.com/2012/11/safeguarding-your-computer-five-free-antiviruses-for-2013/

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How Bruce Springsteen Elected Barack Obama

Bruce Springsteen performs during a campaign rally for President Obama in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday

Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images.

I know we are supposed to believe that poll analyst Nate Silver was ?the other winner? on Election Day?the mythic figure whose stature was most enhanced by this election. And there?s truth to that. But I?d like to propose another candidate for ?the other winner,? another mythic figure who?a case can be made?didn?t just predict the victor but helped create the victory.

I?m talking, of course, about Bruce. Need I say the last name?

Springsteen?s contribution to Obama?s victory has been, I believe, underrecognized and underappreciated. So think of this as a personal thank you to Bruce. He?s a figure whose work I?ve loved and struggled with for a long time. (I love the mixture of dread and exhilaration his music evokes; my faves include ?Atlantic City,? ?Darkness on the Edge of Town,? ?Tougher Than the Rest.? I worry a bit about some of the anthemic bombast.) But I?ve always found appealing the original doomy vision that underlies his work, the genesis of his sensibility, his portraits of the sad, seedy romanticism of the Jersey shore (long before Jersey Shore).

And so I was stunned by the fateful confluence of Sandy and Christie and Bruce and Barack just days before the election?a confluence that may well have decided the election. I started thinking about this on a kind of mythic level when the narrative of Sandy?s political effect (as opposed to its tragic, shore-level devastations) began to unfold. Is it not one of the weirdest coincidences that this wicked hurricane was given the name Sandy before anyone knew it was destined to virtually target and devastate the Jersey shore? A Jersey shore whose pre-Snooki muse was an elusive boardwalk goddess named Sandy, immortalized in the Springsteen song ?Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)?? Who could have known then that Sandy (the storm), after heading up the Atlantic coast of the United States, would stop and take that sharp left turn, smashing into the boardwalks and beach towns of the Jersey shore that Bruce had celebrated and mourned? Thereby summoning Barack Obama into the arms of Chris Christie, Chris Christie into the arms of Bruce Springsteen, just when Springsteen was summoning the hearts of those all-important undecided voters in Ohio and the Midwest to Obama? Not even Nate Silver could have predicted all that.

After all, hurricane names are chosen long before the hurricane season by the World Meteorological Organization, and Sandy just happened to be next up alphabetically. It could just as easily have been called Raphael or Tony, this year?s R and T names.

Sandy?the elusive, iconic Jersey girl?appears on Bruce?s album, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. ?Fourth of July ?? is a song that evokes in a strained but heartfelt way the poignant and seamy, the doomed wild and innocent romanticism of the old Jersey shore.

If you listen?it doesn't quite come across in cold type?you can hear the beautiful desperation that would run throughout Springsteen's best work:

And Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight, for I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy girl
My, my, baby ...

Sandy (the song) has even got a dangerous fortune teller on its boardwalk:

?Did you hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin? fortunes better than they do?? (A prefiguration of Nate Silver?)

One lyrics website quotes Springsteen talking about the way ?Sandy? was a turning point for his life and music:

4^th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)? was written in mid-1973. In his 1998 book Songs, Springsteen wrote: ?I?d been evicted from my apartment above the beauty salon, so I moved on myself and was living with my girlfriend in a garage apartment, five minutes from Asbury Park, in Bradley Beach. This is where I wrote ?4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),? a goodbye to my adopted hometown and the life I?d lived there before I recorded. Sandy was a composite of some of the girls I?d known along the Shore. I used the boardwalk and the closing down of the town as a metaphor for the end of a summer romance and the changes I was experiencing in my own life.

Needless to say he couldn?t know when he wrote ?Sandy? that his beloved boardwalk was not only in sad decline, but that it would later be revived as a theme park for the most noxious elements in American culture, a kind of puke-spewing, reanimation of the worst of the past and present marketed as ?reality.? He couldn?t have known Sandy would be replaced by Snooki.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=b2662cba450aa7df8ce01c33d97b95fb

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Data storage: How magnetic recording heats up

ScienceDaily (Nov. 8, 2012) ? Characterization of the thermal processes involved in heat-assisted magnetic recording paves the way for commercial devices.

Most electronic data is stored on magnetic hard drives that spin at many thousands of revolutions per minute. To keep pace with ever-growing storage demand, however, achieving greater storage capacities by simply increasing the size of disks is infeasible. The required spinning speed would put immense physical strain on the components, particularly on the writing 'head' -- a small needle-like object used to write data at particular points on the disk.

An alternative technology, heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), is now a significant step closer to commercial realization, thanks to the efforts of Baoxi Xu and his co-workers at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute, Singapore1. In a system using HAMR, laser light is emitted from a diode on the write head to locally heat the disk during data writing. This technique has the potential to increase a standard disk's recording density by as much as two orders of magnitude. However, the additional heat can cause components such as the write head to destabilize and fall out of alignment.

By studying the temperature increase of the head, the thermal effects on the disk and the thermal response of the lubricant in HAMR, Xu and his co-workers discovered how to maximize the recording density of the medium. They began by establishing the three major heat sources present in the device: the laser diode, the optical transducer, which concentrates the incident light into a nanometer-sized spot, and the write pole, which performs the physical recording.

They found that the temperature of the transducer depends on both its size and distance from the write pole -- both of which can be easily controlled in a commercial device. They also found that the temperature rise in the HAMR head does not significantly inhibit the performance of the laser diode, which is important.

Xu and his team's results showed that the recording density of the medium can be maximized by reducing the number of layers through which the heat energy must pass before it can dissipate. This will be of prime importance for achieving the required high-density data storage goals of commercial devices. This study therefore represents an important breakthrough in our understanding of HAMR, and will be essential in bringing this technology closer to commercial fruition.

"Our work indicates the seriousness of the problems in the HAMR head, which gives a reference for HAMR design, and also provides a direction for improving thermal structures for high-density HAMR recording," Xu says.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), via ResearchSEA.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. B. X. Xu, Z. J. Liu, R. Ji, Y. T. Toh, J. F. Hu, J. M. Li, J. Zhang, K. D. Ye, C. W. Chia. Thermal issues and their effects on heat-assisted magnetic recording system (invited). Journal of Applied Physics, 2012; 111 (7): 07B701 DOI: 10.1063/1.3671421

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/technology/~3/qtsUUiHhedw/121108140853.htm

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Time to Celebrate Family Caregivers in Naperville, IL!

In the United States, there are 65 million unsung heroes. These heroes take care of the sick and disabled. They do this not for money or recognition but for love. These heroes are family caregivers, and November is their month to shine.

During Thanksgiving week in 1994, a celebration began to recognize these hard-working, dedicated family members who care for their loved ones nonstop. Then, in 1997, President Clinton signed a bill proclaiming the entire month of November as?National Family Caregivers Month. This tradition has been carried out every year since then to salute these courageous and important members of any patient?s healthcare team.

A family?caregiver?is of the utmost importance when it comes to their loved one?s care. He or she spends the most time with a patient, ensuring treatments and medicines are carried out as needed. The?caregiver?also acts as an advocate for his or her charge, being in the best position to know what is best for the patient. After all, this person is not just another patient. This person is someone he or she loves.

In recognition of these home-front heroes, the month of November is dedicated to them. During this time of celebration, awareness of?caregiver?issues is highlighted. It is also a time of educational opportunities, not only for the caregiver but also for the public. And providing support for these vital members of a person?s healthcare team is of key importance. They are made aware that they are not alone, but there are millions just like them in this country going through many of the same issues and trials.

Most people in the United States know at least one family?caregiver, if not more. These kind, dedicated, and loving people give there all year round to take care of their loved ones. During the month of November, be sure to give a pat on the back or a round of applause to these unsung heroes who work day and night to care for, protect, and love their sick or disabled family members. They have most definitely earned the praise and recognition.

Home care counselors at?Safe at Home Healthcare?are available to talk with you about your?in-home care?needs including how to reduce?caregiver?stress while providing better, affordable care, including live-in care. We are an elder care agency providing?caregivers?in Naperville, IL. For more information about caregivers?call us at?(888) 703-5287.

Source: http://safeathomehealthcare.com/2012/11/caregivers-in-naperville-il/

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AMD shutters key Linux support lab in Germany as part of company-wide layoffs

The pain from recently announced job cuts by AMD could ripple out to the Linux community, as the chipmaker has shut down a small but important Linux OS research facility in Dresden, Germany. The center housed 25 employees who helped port AMD technology like PowerNow over to new Linux distros, and according to The H, many engineers who submitted major processor and chipset revisions for the OS would be pink slipped. The closure won't affect GPU and APU development, according to the source, but it's not yet known exactly who will pick up the slack from the former Dresden team -- though the research center in Austin Texas is reported to be a likely bet.

Filed under: Software

AMD shutters key Linux support lab in Germany as part of company-wide layoffs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Nov 2012 07:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/DuBdInUNBUo/

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Obama wins second term, Romney concedes defeat

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh from a decisive re-election win, President Barack Obama returns from the campaign trail on Wednesday with little time to savor victory, facing urgent economic and fiscal challenges and a still-divided Congress capable of blocking his every move.

Obama defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Tuesday night after a grueling presidential race and used his acceptance speech in front of a huge cheering crowd in Chicago to strike a conciliatory note toward his political opponents.

But in the cold light of the election's morning-after, it was clear that even though voters have given their stamp of approval for a second Obama term, he could have a hard time translating that into a mandate to push forward with his agenda.

Americans chose to stick with a divided government in Washington by leaving the U.S. Congress as it has been since the midterm elections of 2010.

Obama's fellow Democrats retain control of the Senate and Republicans keep the majority in the House of Representatives, giving them power to curb the president's legislative ambitions.

This is the political reality that Obama - who won a far narrower victory over Romney than his historic election as the country's first black president in 2008 - faces when he returns to Washington later on Wednesday.

But that did not stop him from basking in the glow of re-election together with thousands of elated supporters in his hometown of Chicago early on Wednesday.

"You voted for action, not politics as usual," Obama said, calling for compromise and pledging to work with leaders of both parties to reduce the deficit, to reform the tax code and immigration laws, and to cut dependence on foreign oil.

Obama told the crowd he hoped to sit down with Romney in the coming weeks and examine ways to meet the challenges ahead.

But the problems that dogged Obama in his first term, which cast a long shadow over his 2008 campaign message of hope and change, still confront him. He must tackle the $1 trillion annual deficits, rein in the $16 trillion national debt, overhaul expensive social programs and deal with the split Congress.

The immediate focus for Obama and U.S. lawmakers will be to confront the "fiscal cliff," a mix of tax increases and spending cuts due to extract some $600 billion from the economy at the end of the year barring a deal with Congress.

House Majority Leader John Boehner moved swiftly on the fiscal cliff issue, saying he would issue a statement on it on Wednesday, citing "the need for both parties to find common ground and take steps together to help our economy grow and create jobs, which is critical to solving our debt."

?

Obama also faces looming international challenges like the West's nuclear standoff with Iran, the civil war in Syria, the winding down of the war in Afghanistan and dealing with an increasingly assertive China.

Romney, a multimillionaire former private equity executive, came back from a series of campaign stumbles to fight a close battle after besting Obama in the first of three presidential debates.

But the former Massachusetts governor failed to convince voters of his argument that his business experience made him the best candidate to repair a weak U.S. economy.

The nationwide popular vote remained extremely close with Obama taking about 50 percent to 49 percent for Romney after a campaign in which the candidates and their party allies spent a combined $2 billion. But in the state-by-state system of electoral votes that decides the White House, Obama notched up a comfortable victory.

By early on Wednesday, Obama had 303 electoral votes, well over the 270 needed to win, to Romney's 206. Florida's close race was not yet declared, leaving its 29 electoral votes still to be claimed.

Romney, 65, conceded in a speech delivered to disappointed supporters at the Boston convention center. "This is a time of great challenge for our nation," he told the crowd. "I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation.

He warned against partisan bickering and urged politicians on both sides to "put the people before the politics."

The Republican Party, after losing two presidential contests, is now likely to go through a period of painful soul-searching, especially over how it has alienated Hispanic voters, an important constituency in Obama's victory.

'FAILURES OR EXCESSES'

In the election aftermath, there were signs that partisan gridlock would persist in Washington.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell gave no sign that he was willing to concede his conservative principles, in a sign of potential confrontations ahead.

"The voters have not endorsed the failures or excesses of the president's first term, they have simply given him more time to finish the job they asked him to do together with a Congress that restored balance to Washington after two years of one-party control," McConnell said.

Obama's win puts to rest the prospect of wholesale repeal of his 2010 healthcare reform law, which aims to widen the availability of health insurance coverage to Americans, but it still leaves questions about how much of his signature domestic policy achievement will be implemented.

Obama, who took office in 2009 as the ravages of the financial crisis were hitting the U.S. economy, must continue his efforts to ignite strong growth and recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. An uneven recovery has been showing some signs of strength but the country's jobless rate, currently at 7.9 percent, remains stubbornly high.

DIVIDED CONGRESS

In keeping control of the 100-member Senate, Democrats seized Republican-held seats in Massachusetts and Indiana while retaining most of those they already had, including in Virginia and Missouri.

The Republican majority in the 435-member House means that Congress still faces a deep partisan divide as it turns to the fiscal cliff and other issues.

"That means the same dynamic. That means the same people who couldn't figure out how to cut deals for the past three years," said Ethan Siegel, an analyst who tracks Washington politics for institutional investors.

While the Senate result was no surprise, Republicans had given themselves an even chance of winning a majority, so the night represented a disappointment for them.

U.S. stock futures slipped, the dollar fell and benchmark Treasuries rose after Obama's victory, which investors took to mean no dramatic shift in U.S. economic policy.

International leaders offered their congratulations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has had a testy relationship with the U.S. leader, vowed to work with Obama "to ensure the interests that are vital for the security of Israel's citizens.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain and the United States should make finding a way to solve the Syrian crisis a priority following Obama's re-election.

(Reporting by staff in Washington and other bureaus; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Frances Kerry and Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-race-goes-down-wire-002342258--business.html

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