There’s only one new show premiering on television this week — but it’s a doozy. The CW’s Reign (Thursday, 9pm) takes a piece of real life history and turns it into something that is so wonderfully, cynically constructed to appeal to the target audience that you almost have to applaud by the shamelessness of the entire enterprise.
The story of Reign is, technically, the sixteenth century story of Mary Stuart, better known to the world as Mary, Queen of Scots. I say “technically,” because Reign is far less an honest version of history than a version that takes as much inspiration from Gossip Girl, George R.R. Martin and Team Edward tribalism as from actual events. Sure, when Mary was a teen she was indeed sent to French to marry the French Prince Francis, as the pilot explains — but, in reality, Francis was a sickly kid who died soon after claiming the throne, unlike the televisual hunk with the equally swoon-worthy half-brother who didn’t actually exist in the real world.
That Reign plays fast-and-loose with history is hardly surprising — it is a CW show aimed at a teen audience, after all. But what’s more impressive is the way in which the series manages to successfully bring the social dynamics of contemporary teen dramas to the fictional sixteenth century and remake itself with a cleaned-up, broadcast-friendly Game of Thrones aesthetic and confused love triangle straight from Twilight seeming like an uneven patchwork of influences.
Make no mistake; Reign is something that will definitely appeal to its core audience, and doubtless many others, as well. It’s a slickly-made, fast-moving piece of television that lacks the self-consciousness of the CW’s Arrow, say, or the jokiness of Supernatural or Smallville. It definitely commits to the bit; the only problem being that there will doubtless be those who don’t realize that the actual history behind the gloss was far more interesting, tragic and, ultimately, more worthy of a television show than the version onscreen.
Elsewhere this week: For those who enjoy the watchable procedural fluff of the USA network, this is a great week — both White Collar and Covert Affairs return on Thursday (9pm and 10pm, respectively). Beautiful people making dull quips while solving impossible problems in an hour has rarely been such fun.
Apple is getting an upgrade from previously bearish Jefferies analyst Peter Misek.
Misek is rating the stock a "buy" with a $600 price target, up from being a "hold" with a $450 price target.
The reason for his newfound optimism? Improving margins and the iPhone 6.
Apple's suppliers have become "far more lenient on price," says Misek. This is going to boost Apple's gross margins. Earlier in the year, suppliers were telling Misek that they would be able to dictate prices to Apple, and Apple's margins would get hammered. That's no longer the case.
Suppliers also say Apple is targeting a 4.8-inch iPhone for the iPhone 6.
Misek thinks that over 50% of the smartphones sold today are bigger than 4-inches, the current size of the iPhone. Apple has been missing out on over half the market by not offering a bigger phone.
As the bigger iPhone gets further into development, he expects investor enthusiasm.
There is some negativity in Misek's report, though. He says Apple is cutting orders for the iPhone 5C because it's not selling as well as hoped. He thinks Apple could end up cutting prices to boost sales.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq executed 42 people, including a woman, for mass killings and other "terrorism" offences over two days this week, the justice ministry and the United Nations said on Thursday after a surge in sectarian violence.
The U.N. mission in the country said it was concerned about the executions, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, and repeated its call for Baghdad to suspend the death penalty.
Rights groups say executions have been on the rise in recent years.
Sixty-eight death sentences were carried out in 2011, according to Amnesty International. The 42 hanged this week amounted to almost a third of the total number the campaign group said were executed in all of 2012.
"The criminals were found guilty of terrorist crimes... (that) led to the deaths of dozens of innocent citizens, as well as other crimes aimed at destabilizing the security and stability of the country and causing chaos and terror among the people," Minister of Justice Hassan al-Shimary said in a statement.
More than 6,000 people have been killed in attacks across Iraq so far this year, as Sunni Islamist insurgents including al Qaeda regain momentum.
After invading Iraq in 2003, the U.S.-led interim authority suspended the death penalty, citing its use as a tool of repression under dictator Saddam Hussein, who left behind mass graves filled with thousands of bodies.
But as sectarian carnage began to take hold of the country in 2005, Iraq reinstated the punishment for those who commit "terrorist acts", as well as people who provoke, plan, finance and enable others to perpetrate them.
Kidnapping and murder, but also lesser offenses like damage to public property, in certain circumstances, are also punishable by death.
Members of Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority accuse the Shi'ite-led government that came to power after Saddam's overthrow of using the death penalty to persecute their sect.
The ministry did not announce the names of the 48 executed this week, nor their religious affiliation.
A raid by Iraqi security forces on a Sunni protest camp in April touched off a backlash by militants that is still ongoing.
At that time, Human Rights Watch said at least 50 people had been executed by Iraqi authorities during the past month and that the concurrent increase in militant attacks and executions showed the death penalty was ineffective.
(Writing by Suadad al-Salhy; Editing by Isabel Coles and Andrew Heavens)
In my time working at a company called ReadyForZero that creates tools to help people get out of debt, I?ve come to a realization:
While there are many actions that you can take to get out of debt, there is only one overarching secret to it, and that secret is ? break the large problem (your debt) down into smaller problems with corresponding actions to fix them.
What do I mean by that?
Well, if you?ve ever had debt (or have it right now) you can probably testify to the feeling that the problem seems so big and so overwhelming that you?re too afraid and/or discouraged to even think about how to tackle it.
That overwhelming feeling is like a monster that feeds off of your own uncertainty.
In order to kill the monster, you have to understand your situation better and see the steps ahead that can take you to freedom. Then the monster will have no more power over you and you?ll be ready to get out of debt.
That?s why this secret is so powerful.
By breaking it down into small, manageable problems instead of looking at it as one big, seemingly insurmountable problem, you give yourself a path to freedom ? and that makes all the difference. Here?s how you do it:
[Related Article: The First Thing You Must Do Before Paying Off Debt]
Small Problem #1: You Don?t Know Where Your Money Goes
Okay, so we need to take away your fear and replace it with facts. The most important facts: How much you spend each month and where your money goes.
Small Action #1: If you make most of your purchases with a credit card or debit card, log into your online account and find where it shows your purchase history.
Then add up all your costs in each category, such as Groceries, Entertainment, Rent, Utilities, Transportation, etc.
This should only take ten minutes and it will give you a concrete view of your monthly budget.
If you use cash instead of plastic, you?ll need to track your spending for a month in order to get this data.
Small Problem #2: You Spend Too Much
This is a tough one for many of us. With all of the advertising out there, it?s easy to get caught up in a mentality of buying your way to happiness.
However, new iPhones, new outfits, or new cars rarely make us happy in the long run.
Instead, they can mess up our budget and make us unhappy because they prevent us from reaching financial freedom.
Small Action #2: Examine your spending behavior and begin to change your mentality. Remove the triggers in your life that enable you to overspend.
Take your credit cards out of your wallet (and freeze them in ice if necessary). Only use debit cards, cash or checks.
More importantly, challenge yourself to find new ways of getting pleasure and happiness without spending money.
There are many fun things you can do for free ? so go out and find them! (If you suspect you have a serious spending addiction, you may want to get professional help.)
[Related Article: 5 Ways to Get Out of Debt: Which Will Work for You?]
Small Problem #3: You Don?t Know Which Debt to Focus On
This can be one of the trickiest parts of getting out of debt, especially for those who have several credit cards plus other types of debt like student loans, medical debt, etc.
Small Action #3: In general, you want to pay off the debt that has the highest interest rate first.
That?s because you will save yourself money by avoiding unnecessary and excessive interest charges over the life of your debt.
But also see if you can obtain a lower interest rate: call up your lenders and ask them for a lower rate and if they say ?No,? look into balance transfer options or even think about getting a consolidation loan.
You can save a ton of money by lowering your interest rate a few percentage points.
Small Problem #4: You Can?t Stay Motivated with Your Debt
This is when the monster is dangerous. The monster loves it when you don?t have any motivation because that makes it more likely you won?t figure out how to get out of debt.
Small Action #4: Motivation is a tricky thing, but what I?ve found is there are a few things that can really increase your motivation: your family, your life goals, or winning a challenge.
Whichever of these speaks most powerfully to you, use it as your key to motivation.
If it?s your family, make an ?inspiration board? with pictures of your family and all the things you?ll do together once you get out of debt.
If it?s your life goals, then write down those goals (buying a home, retiring early, etc.) and place them in a prominent place where you?ll see them every day.
And if it?s winning a challenge that motivates you, then give yourself a specific date when you plan to be debt free and circle it on all of your calendars.
Then you?ll want to prove to yourself that you can actually do it ? which will keep you focused!
[Related Article: 5?Credit Rules Everyone Should Follow]
Small Problem #5: You Don?t Have Enough Income
This is a hard one. You might think it?s a big problem rather than a small problem, but actually these days there are small actions you can take to increase your income a little bit at a time.
Small Action #5: If you want to make more money on the side (in addition to your regular job) check out sites like Elance.com and oDesk.com which allow anyone to do short-term freelance jobs from the comfort of their own homes.
You can get paid for writing, designing, transcribing, organizing and any number of other things ? all it takes is some research and finding the right opportunities online.
The other thing you can do is start looking into ways to increase your salary at your full-time job.
Find out what income other people in your field make and see what skills or new job opportunities might lead you to a higher salary eventually.
Now you know the secret to getting out of debt! If you use these 5 small steps to get out of debt, you?ll be much more successful than those who continue to let fear and inertia prevent them from taking action.
You need to conquer that debt monster, and with these steps you can do it!
?The Secret to Getting Out of Debt? was provided by Credit.com.?
The development team at The Creative Assembly is delivering a new impressive trailer for its strategy title Total War: Rome II, focused on the conflict between Rome and Carthage and the assault of Hannibal Barca.The video shows the four strategies that a player following the footsteps of the great general can choose from when attacking Rome.
For each scenario, the development team shows small bits of gameplay and cinematic sequences, giving fans a taste of the complexity of the experience.
Historically, Hannibal Barca attacked from the North after crossing the Alps and came very close to destroying the Roman Republic before he lost support of the Carthaginian Senate and was defeated.
Total War: Rome II will be released exclusively on the PC on September 3 and those who pre-order get access to the Greek City States package.
When the Obama administration and congressional Republican leadership crafted the policy of sequestration in the summer of 2011, the idea was relatively simple: Onerous budget cuts that affected the top priorities of each political party would never take place because it was in the interest of both parties to avert them.
A so-called super committee tasked with coming up with a large deficit and debt reduction proposal was supposed to dispatch with sequestration quickly. They failed. The House GOP conference passed its own bill, but it was too one-sided to pass. The end of 2012, the deadline at which sequestration would go into effect, was supposed to be another galvanizing event. But that too failed to spark action, save a short-term delay to continue talks. And eventually, this spring, sequestration was implemented.
Now, in retrospect, even the authors of sequestration concede that they oversold the willingness and ability of lawmakers to come together on a replacement. And in an interview with The New Republic, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) placed it among the biggest legislative regrets of his career.
TNR: Were you surprised that the GOP allowed sequestration?
JM: I think the way it was sold, that the Sword of Damocles would never fall, was a contradiction. You should never point a gun unless you were going to pull the trigger. The leadership said this would never happen. It is the worst vote I have cast in many years.
McCain, who voted for the Budget Control Act that set sequestration in motion, is part of a block of hawkish Republican senators who are most likely to support a sequestration replacement package. His friend and colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has said he'd be open to an additional $600 billion in revenues if it meant canceling out the Defense Department budget cuts. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has floated exchanging entitlement reform for sequestration relief.
But House Republicans are reading off of a different script. And so far, the appropriations bills being crafted by lawmakers in that chamber would actually reduce spending to levels lower than those set by sequestration.
