December jobs report: 155,000 new jobs, unemployment stays at 7.8 percent

The employment picture continues to improve, but Congress' budget battles remain a source of concern
The Labor Department reported on Friday morning that the economy added a solid 155,000 jobs in December, and that the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.8 percent — tied for its lowest level in four years. The report is the latest evidence that the labor market — after years of periodic setbacks — is now on a steady, if slow, climb out of the deep hole caused by the Great Recession.
In further good news, the Labor Department said that the economy created 161,000  jobs in November, up from its initial projection of 146,000.
In December, the private sector added 168,000 jobs, while the government — at the federal, state, and local levels — shed 13,000 workers. Construction companies added 30,000 jobs, the most since September 2011, which was partially attributed to efforts to rebuild areas in the Northeast ravaged by Hurricane Sandy.
It appears that the caustic fiscal cliff debate in Congress had a negligible impact on hiring, despite assertions that the cloud of uncertainty spewing from Washington, D.C., was causing businesses to think twice about making new labor investments. Businesses were reportedly immensely relieved that Congress found a way to extend the Bush tax cuts for all but the wealthiest Americans, as well as unemployment benefits, which act as a stimulus for economic growth.
However, concern lingers that looming budget battles in Congress could undermine the labor market's progress. In the next two months, the country faces the prospect of crippling spending cuts, a U.S. default on its debt, and a government shutdown — if Congress fails to act. "We may be seeing the calm before the storm right now," Ian Shepherdson, the head economist at Pantheon Macroeconomic Advisors, told The New York Times. "Small businesses are wringing their hands in horror at what's going on in Washington.

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Why this year's Oscars will be the least snooty ever

Finally, the Academy seems to realize that box-office success isn't a disqualifying factor
It happens every winter: A beautiful starlet wakes up at the crack of dawn to read a list of movies that will vie for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and millions of people around the country groan. "Never heard of them," America says.
But this year — for the first time in many, many years — not only will a majority of the public have heard of most of the films likely to be nominated, they may have actually seen them, too. Yes, the annual tradition of griping over the disconnect between the Academy's affinity for little-seen arthouse fare and the public's taste for mass-appeal blockbusters may finally be interrupted — at least if precursor award organizations' rewarding of bona fide box-office hits like Argo, Lincoln, and Les Miserables continues. (And it will.)
SEE ALSO: Is Tom Cruise the right actor to play Jack Reacher?
Years of discontent over the snubbing of well-made, populist films finally came to a head in 2008, when The Dark Knight, one of the best-reviewed and most audience-cheered movies of the year, was excluded from the Best Picture race. Not only did Christopher Nolan's second Batman flick score over $500 million at the domestic box office, but its 94 percent approval rating on review-aggregator Rotten Tomatoes trounced eventual nominees The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (72 percent) and The Reader (61 percent), bested Frost/Nixon (92 percent), and tied Milk and Slumdog Millionaire — all while being exponentially more popular with movie audiences. Backlash to The Dark Knight's omission was so vitriolic that it seems to have spurred the Academy to expand the Best Picture category to 10 nominees the very next year. The idea, presumably, was to make room for Dark Knight-like movies released each year that are habitually dismissed by Oscar voters for lack of space.
This was only a moderate success. While films like Avatar, The Blind Side, and The Help have made it in since the change was enacted in 2009, those extra slots have typically been taken by quiet indies: A Serious Man, Winter's Bone, The Kids Are Alright, The Tree of Life. But this year, that's about to change.
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Earlier this week, the Producers Guild Association, considered one of the more accurate Oscar predictors, nominated the operatic (and cash-guzzling) new Bond flick Skyfall for its Best Picture award, marking the first time that any of the 23 Bond films have been (seriously) in the Oscar conversation. Skyfall has been a mammoth commercial success, raking in $290 million in the U.S. alone. Oscar gurus currently have it ranked number 10 among likely nominees. If it does manage to scrape a Best Picture nod, it would join Argo, Les Miserables, Django Unchained, Lincoln, and probably Zero Dark Thirty as films that, by the time the Oscar ceremony takes place, will have crossed the $100 million threshold at the box office. In addition, likely nominee Life of Pi has already made more than $85 million, and will build on that total in the weeks to come.
That means that six likely Best Picture nominees (seven if you count Skyfall) will have made more than $85 million at the box office. Annoyingly complex new rules make it so that as few as five and as many as 10 films are nominated. But the upshot is that it's possible that those six (or seven) commercially successful films will actually be the only nominees. Compare that to last year, when only one nominee made that much at the box office (The Help). And really, for most of the last decade, the Best Picture race has been dominated by teeny-tiny indies. (Remember those box-office juggernauts Capote, Letters From Iwo Jima, and In the Bedroom?)
SEE ALSO: 7 awful Christmas movies that flopped
Water cooler conversations this winter are zeroing in on Anne Hathaway's stunning turn as Fantine in Les Miz, Daniel Day-Lewis' seamless portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, and Ben Affleck's second life as a first-rate Hollywood director — a rare occasion in which buzzy awards films are also just buzzy films in general, irrespective of their Oscar chances. Tuning into the Oscars this February 24 will finally become an active experience, with audience members actually being able to root for and judge nominees instead of shrugging the standard "haven't seen it" when contenders are introduced.
There could be several explanations for this shift. Perhaps after suffering years of blockbuster dreck — Transformers, Twilight, the latter Pirates of the Caribbean films — moviegoers are becoming more discerning with their box-office dollars. Or it could be that after producing years of blockbuster dreck, studios are wising up and making mass-market films that are actually good — The Dark Knight Rises, The Hunger Games, Ted, 21 Jump Street, and The Avengers are among 2012's rapturously reviewed commercial smashes. Or maybe Oscar voters are finally catching on to the growing frustration with out-of-touch awards picks each year.
SEE ALSO: 24 movies to see in 2013: Part two
Whatever the reason, it's a win-win situation. Oscar viewers want to be entertained and engaged by the telecast. Just look at how hosts' performances are mercilessly picked apart each year. Often, these performances are the only one Oscar audiences are familiar with. But when viewers have actually seen the nominees, they're far more likely to enjoy the broadcast.
As for the Academy: Its mission is rewarding art, yes, but it's also producing a television show. Thusly, it wants as many people as possible to watch its television show. Historically, viewership spikes when hugely popular movies up for major awards — the years of Titanic, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and Avatar saw upticks in viewership — and falls when most of the nominees are little-seen movies — the year of No Country for Old Men is the lowest-rated ever.
SEE ALSO: The 13 biggest pop culture moments of 2012
Certainly, no one's arguing that the Oscars should turn into the People's Choice Awards. No one wants The Expendables 2 and Madagascar 3 to get Best Picture nods just because they were popular at the box office. But a year in film in which the general public and the exclusive Academy seem to be seeing eye to eye is something to celebrate.

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Why repeating your message isn't the same as staying on message

Somewhere along the line, political consultants must have told politicians and their spokespeople to repeat their answers over and over again. The logic behind their recommendation: News organizations often have space for only a single quote per person, so if you utter the same sentence over and over again, they'll be forced to use it.
That may have worked many years ago, but it doesn't work anymore. Today's reporters shame repetitive pols by releasing the video of their full, evasive, interview. And it's not just broadcast reporters who shame obfuscating politicians — print reporters often post the video to their newspaper websites as well.
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Ed Miliband, Leader of the British Labour Party, offered a classic example of why the "repeat your message" strategy doesn't work anymore. In this video — which received hundreds of thousands of views and temporarily made Miliband a laughingstock — he repeats his exact same message five times.
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And see if you can spot the message in this 2008 press conference delivered by Cullen Sheehan, then the spokesperson for Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.).
SEE ALSO: What's next for gay marriage?
Brad Phillips writes in his new book, The Media Training Bible, that such overt repetition tends to infuriate the audience. Instead, he recommends that politicians repeat the themes of their messages in every answer by using a combination of stories, statistics, and sound bites. By using variety, spokespeople can ensure that they stay "on message" without ever being overly redundant.
It's a good lesson for anyone who wants to be an effective communicator.

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Is gridlock inevitable in the 113th Congress?

The 112th Congress closed up shop to widespread jeers. Will its newly sworn in successor be any less ineffective?
Among the nicer things said lately about the extraordinarily ineffective, widely insulted 112th Congress: At least it was more popular than gonorrhea and North Korea. And now, with the 113th Congress having been sworn in Thursday, some analysts are speculating hopefully that, with 20 percent of Congress' members fresh-faced newcomers, the House and Senate just gaveled into session could not possibly be worse than their predecessors. Others, however, argue that the new Congress will remain plagued by the same deep divisions that stymied the 112th. The Senate will still be controlled by Democrats, whose majority was strengthened in the November elections, while the House is run by a Republican Party more determined than ever to insist on severe spending cuts after being forced to swallow tax hikes on the wealthy as part of the last-minute deal to avoid the worst effects of the fiscal cliff. With major fights looming over raising the debt ceiling and dealing with postponed fiscal-cliff spending cuts, will the new Congress be stuck in the same, old gridlock?
The 113th is doomed to the same crippling division: "There is no honeymoon ahead," say Sean Sullivan and Aaron Blake at The Washington Post. Republicans forced to cave on taxes will be out for payback in the coming debt-ceiling debate. Judging by John Boehner's narrow re-election as House speaker, plenty of Republicans remain "willing to adopt a stern posture and make a statement." And "more spats over cabinet confirmations will only fuel partisan divisions."
"5 reasons gridlock will seize Congress again"
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But lawmakers know voters won't tolerate more gridlock: The rancor that hobbled the 112th Congress is still rampant on Capitol Hill, economist Alice Rivlin tells The Jacksonville (Fla.) Times-Union. Still, "I am encouraged by the show of bipartisan cooperation" that it took to avert the fiscal cliff. Angry voters and business leaders have finally made politicians see that America wants lawmakers to work together to get things done.
"Angry voters will end all this gridlock, economist says"
This Congress will get a little more accomplished than the last one: There has been no sea change, say Halimah Abdullah and Ben Brumfield at CNN, so anyone expecting this Congress to "dissolve partisan gridlock" is dreaming. Still, "the incoming freshman class took notes on failures of the previous Congress in hopes of avoiding a repeat performance." It might manage to muster enough cooperation "to exceed the abysmal approval rating of the previous Congress.

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Is Promised Land unfair to the energy industry?

The new Matt Damon film, which tackles the controversy over hydraulic fracturing, has fracking fans crying foul
Promised Land, a Matt Damon-starring drama that hits movie theaters today, tells the story of a small town debating whether to allow a corporation to use its hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") process to extract energy from their land. (Watch a trailer for Promised Land below.) Of course, over the past few years, fracking has become a hugely contentious issue pitting environmentalists — who argue that the process can have a devastating impact on the Earth — against industrialists, who argue that the process is a fair and relatively non-threatening way to draw oil and natural gas from land. Unsurprisingly, some in the energy industry have expressed concern that Promised Land will mark a permanent shift in the public opinion war over fracking. Does Promised Land offer genuine insight into the fracking debate, or is it unfairly stilted?
Promised Land is pretty fair to both sides — until the end: "It's easy enough to label Promised Land as the "anti-fracking movie" because, ultimately, that's what it becomes," says James Berardinelli at ReelViews. But for the majority of its runtime, the film actually attempts to offer "an evenhanded look at the issues associated with fracking," with Matt Damon's pro-industry character making a compelling case that the economic benefits for the townspeople override any possible environmental concern. But the film's abrupt shift into a preachy, cartoonish finale throws out any semblance of nuance in favor of a blatant anti-fracking message.
Even Promised Land's anti-fracking argument isn't very convincing: Promised Land may feature a strong cast, but "the star power is deceiving, and the energy companies might be smarter to ignore the film than fan the controversy by attacking it," says Liam Lacey at The Globe and Mail. "This film’s depth of insight into the practice of fracking is, literally, presented at a primary-school level," as one of the film's environmental activists tells a first grade class that chemicals can hurt water and animals. Fracking is a complicated issue that deserves an honest debate, and "it's a shame Promise Land doesn't put up a better fight."
And it isn't likely to encourage a serious debate: Promised Land illustrates "the potential pitfalls of narrative political cinema," says Jason Bailey at Flavorwire. If filmmakers want to make politically themed movies, "it must be done with more subtlety and tact than in Promised Land," which preaches to the choir by delivering its final moral "unambiguously and without much in the way of complexity." A serious narrative film that tackles fracking could (and should) still be made, but it would need to have the courage to present all the facts and let viewers come to their own conclusions.

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Flippa.com Announces Inaugural Flippie Awards

Flippie Award recognizes the best websites sales of 2012.

San Francisco, CA and Melbourne, AUS (PRWEB) January 02, 2013
Flippa.com, the #1 marketplace for buying and selling websites, has launched its first annual Flippie Awards, kicking off 2013 by honoring some of the best sites sold in 2012.
Nominated websites were chosen from over 29,000 websites and domains that were sold on Flippa.com in 2012. The Flippie Committee chose sites based on the level of interest they attracted from website buyers, as well as quality factors such as monetization, content and uniqueness.
With 5 separate categories, sites and domains in various industries will be honored with a Flippie. All of the sites nominated were sold on Flippa where more than $22 million in websites were sold 2012.
The categories for the Flippie Awards are:

Best Ecommerce Site

Best Site Content Idea

Best Blog

Best Site Monetization

Best Web/Mobile App

Best Domain Listing
Each category has 5 nominated sites competing for the award. The site that garners the most votes in all categories combined will also win the Flippie for Best Overall Site.
“Our sellers are the key to our thriving marketplace, and we wanted to acknowledge that by showing off some of the best websites and domain names we've sold in 2012,” stated Dave Slutzkin, CEO of Flippa. “It was a tough job! Our dedicated team diligently sorted through the tens of thousands of sites and domains sold on Flippa in the past year, representing over $20 million in sales. They've come up with some really fantastic sites for our first annual Flippie Awards.”
Voting begins on January 2nd and ends at midnight EST on January 30th. The winners will be announced February 4th, 2013. To see all the nominated sites, prizes, and fineprint; please visit blog.flippa.com/flippies.
About us:
Launched in 2009, Flippa is the #1 marketplace for buying and selling websites. Each month, over $2 million in websites and domains are traded on Flippa. Over 29,000 sites, valued at more than $22 million, were sold on Flippa in 2012 alone. The most notable of these included Mark Zuckerberg’s Facemash.com as well as iPhone application Taptivate.com, news site Inquisitr.com, and Pinterest analytics site PinReach.com.

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AES International welcomes James McLeod as General Counsel

AES International is delighted to announce the arrival of James McLeod, who joins the Board as General Counsel. As AES continues to grow and expand, James will play a pivotal role in ensuring the company maintains its commitment to export UK best practice to the international marketplace.

London, UK (PRWEB UK) 2 January 2013
As General Counsel, James McLeod is responsible for the Corporate Governance and Risk Management at AES International. This involves the oversight of all regulatory, administrative and legal matters within the many jurisdictions in which AES operates to make sure that the highest standards are upheld, regardless of jurisdiction.
AES International CEO Sam Instone commented, 'As independent specialists licensed to provide investment and insurance advice in 34 jurisdictions, AES International has a truly global perspective and we are always looking for people of the highest calibre to join us in our mission to positively change international financial services. James has that quality, and as an Investors in People Gold firm we are thrilled to welcome him into a supportive and progressive environment in which he can build on the great work we are already doing.'
A Classics graduate from Oriel College, Oxford, James was commissioned in 1985 into the Scots Guards, serving in multiple overseas theatres. Following his military service, James worked in the Ministry of Defence, and then qualified as a solicitor in 2003. Working initially as an Associate in the Employment and Pensions Department at S J Berwin LLP, he later moved to specialist positions at both Herbert Smith LLP and Squire Sanders (UK) LLP.
Having such a wide breadth of experience and expertise, James is passionate about ensuring AES delivers the very highest possible standards to both its advisers and clients in accordance with the AES cultural values of integrity, respect, teamwork, knowledge and professionalism. He is committed to enabling a transparent, trusted and well-governed organisation to positively change the international marketplace.
Outside the office, James practices seiko karate, is a keen traveller and has extensive charitable interests including fundraising through organising and participating in long-distance cycle rides. James is a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers and the Law Society and is a solicitor registered in England and Wales.
About AES International
AES is the fastest-growing UK financial services business for both 2011 and 2012, as recognised by the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100.
AES International is the trading style of a multi-award winning financial services group that is licensed for investment and insurance business in over 34 jurisdictions worldwide and is owned by AES International Global PLC.
The company’s approach is strongly differentiated from its peers. As multi-award winning independent specialists with a global perspective, AES seeks to export UK best practice into the international marketplace, focusing on quality; both in terms of the advisers they recruit and the service they provide. Their values-driven approach is reflected in their unique Partnership Charter, which brings peace of mind and security to partners and clients alike.
AES International seeks to bring positive change to international financial services and specialises in multi-jurisdictional, cross border, inpatriate, expatriate, and non-domiciled insurance and investment services. This means they deliver professional services to international private client advisers, wealth managers, and other financial services firms who serve internationally mobile professionals, offshore clients/trusts and the expatriate sector.
The firm delivers three market leading value propositions to those intermediaries and businesses with whom they partner. These enable their partners and agents to help their respective clients understand, build and protect their assets.
Specialities:
International Wealth Management, Protecting your Family and International Insurance, Investment Services, Emigration and Immigration Services, International Pension and Retirement Planning, International Financial Planning.

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Brian Su to Discuss Potential Impact of Chinese Visa Retrogression at Dallas EB-5 Seminar

Brian Su, CEO of Artisan Business Group, Inc., is to discuss potential impact of Chinese visa retrogression at Dallas EB-5 Finance Seminar January 16, 2013.

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) January 02, 2013
Brian Su, CEO of Artisan Business Group, Inc., is to discuss potential impact of Chinese visa retrogression at Dallas EB-5 Seminar January 16, 2013. The proposed visa "cap" to Chinese investors will have a major impact on EB-5 marketplace.
Marked by past success, the EB-5 program has been extended and Artisan Business Group is pleased to be offering the 2013 EB-5 Finance Seminar Tour. This Tour, unlike past events, will provide an excellent experience that will allow for the expansion of knowledge and exposure to the expertise necessary to develop and successfully execute business and investment projects with the EB-5 immigrant investor program.
The US real estate developers and businesses realizes the difficulty that can be associated with successfully executing a business project without sufficient capital and funding. Funding becomes a major issue in the US financial market last three years. The EB-5 finance workshop will advise US project developers on utilizing EB-5 alternative finance. Individuals interested in the EB-5 immigrant investor program are encouraged to attend, including, but not limited to: investors, project developers, attorneys, economist, consulting firms, real estate developers, regional center executives, and governmental officials.
Greenberg Traurig's Business Immigration and Compliance Group is a full-service business immigration practice representing businesses, organizations, and individuals from around the world on a wide range of EB-5 related matters. The firm’s practice has achieved international recognition for legal advocacy, results-oriented service, and responsiveness to its clients. The Greenberg Traurig Business Immigration and Compliance Group works hand-in-hand with its partners in the Securities, Corporate, and Tax practices to develop customized solutions for EB-5 clients. The Greenberg Traurig EB-5 Team has worked with numerous developers and business owners to assist them in raising EB-5 capital for investment projects. Services provided include applications to designate new regional centers; applications for pre-approval of projects within regional centers; having projects adopted by existing regional centers; and purchasing USCIS-designated regional centers. Greenberg Traurig, LLP, is an international, full-service law firm with approximately 1750 attorneys serving clients from 35 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Artisan Business Group, Inc., is a leading US China cross border investment and business advisory firm headquartered in Springfield, IL, with clients throughout the country. For more information about the upcoming tour, log on: http://www.EB5NewsBlog.org

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Microsoft lashes out at Google’s decision to spurn Windows Phone

Dave Heiner, vice president and deputy general counsel for Microsoft (MSFT), took aim at Google (GOOG) and the company’s unwillingness to develop for Windows Phone 8 in a blog post on Wednesday. Heiner claims that, “Google continues to prevent Microsoft from offering consumers a fully featured YouTube app [among other] for the Windows Phone.” Microsoft has been apparently been trying to get a full-feature YouTube app for its Windows Phone operating system for more than two years, however it has been unsuccessful.
[More from BGR: ‘iPhone 5S’ to reportedly launch by June with multiple color options and two different display sizes]
Despite the fact that the Windows Phone Marketplace has doubled in the past year, Google has not yet produced any quality apps for the platform. The company previously said that it will not be launching a native Gmail or Google Drive app for Windows 8 or Windows Phone until people start using the operating systems.

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NewsWatch Features ProCamera HD on it's National Television Show as Part of AppWatch

NewsWatch, a nationwide television show, recently aired a news segment about “ProCamera HD”, a new camera app. The segment aired as part of “AppWatch”, a weekly review of the top apps in the marketplace.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 03, 2013
NewsWatch, a nationwide television show, recently aired a news segment about “ProCamera HD”, a new camera app. The segment aired as part of AppWatch, a weekly review of the top apps in the marketplace.
ProCamera is a full-featured 5-in-1 app that has still camera and video, photo editing tools, social networking support, and camera related utilities. ProCamera sets the standard as the most professional camera app with its high-end features and has gotten numerous awards. ProCamera HD for iPad was released recently as the first full-featured iPad camera replacement app and has been a big success worldwide.
Included in the new app, users have access to: ProCamera Lightbox to save, export and delete photos within the app; QuickFlick for going immediately to albums and settings; 100% stability and blazing fast performance; adjustable capture format, including 16:9, 4:3, 3:2, 1:1,; and Anti-Shake Image Stabilizer for photo and video.
ProCamera HD also comes with professional editing capabilities. Using the Pro Lab Studio users can make real-time tonal curve correction; as well as adjust brightness, contrast, gamma, saturation, color temperature, and shadows.
For more information or to download the “ProCamera HD” app, head to their iTunes Page.
About Cocologics

Cocologics is a professional startup and has become the technological leader for mobile photography software on iOS. Committed to sustainability, Cocologics develops cutting-edge software solutions, which meet the highest demands in quality, aesthetics and simplicity.
NewsWatch is a weekly 30-minute consumer oriented television show that airs on the ION Network Thursday mornings at 5:30am across the nation. NewsWatch regularly features top travel destinations, health tips, technology products, medical breakthroughs and entertainment news on the show. A recent addition to NewsWatch, AppWatch is a weekly segment that provides viewers app reviews and game reviews of the latest and hottest apps and games out on the market for iOS and Android devices. The show airs in 180 markets nationwide as well as all of the top 20 broadcast markets in the country, and is the preferred choice for Satellite Media Tour and Video News Release Distribution.

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