Obama postpones request to raise nation's debt limit by $1.2 trillion after Congress objects Source: http://twitter.com/davidnakamura/statuses/152827018218717184
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Well, this sexy picture shows one really great way to celebrate the New Year! Plus the two-minute short holiday video that goes along with it is sure to give you some...
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BEIJING (AP) ? A long-awaited government report said design flaws and sloppy management caused a bullet train crash in July that killed 40 people and triggered a public outcry over the dangers of China's showcase transportation system.
A former railway minister was among 54 officials found responsible for the crash, a Cabinet statement said Wednesday. Several were ordered dismissed from Communist Party posts but there was no word of possible criminal penalties.
The crash report was highly anticipated by the public. The disaster near the southern city of Wenzhou also injured 177 people and had triggered a public outcry over the high cost and dangers of the bullet train system, a prestige project that once enjoyed lofty status on a level with the country's manned space program.
Regulations had required the report to be released by Nov. 20. When that date passed, the government offered little explanation, drawing renewed criticism by state media, which have been unusually skeptical about the handling of the accident and the investigation.
The Cabinet statement cited "serious design flaws and major safety risks" and what it said were a string of errors in equipment procurement and management. It also criticized the Railways Ministry's rescue efforts.
The report affirmed earlier government statements that a lightning strike caused one bullet train to stall and then a sensor failure and missteps by train controllers allowed a second train to keep moving on the same track and slam into it.
Those singled out for blame included former Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun, a bullet train booster who was detained in February amid a graft investigation. Also criticized was the general manager of the company that manufactured the signal, who died of a heart attack while talking to investigators in August.
The decision to assign blame to one figure who already has been jailed and another who is dead, along with mid-level managers who have been fired, suggests any additional political fallout will be limited.
Several officials including a former Communist Party secretary of the Shanghai Railway Bureau were ordered dismissed from their party posts, a penalty that is likely to end their career advancement. Others received official reprimands but there was no mention of possible criminal charges.
The bullet train, based on German and Japanese systems, is one facet of far-reaching government technology ambitions that call for developing a civilian jetliner, a Chinese mobile phone standard and advances in areas from nuclear power to genetics.
The bullet train system quickly grew to be the world's biggest but has suffered embarrassing setbacks. After the Wenzhou crash, 54 trains used on the Beijing-to-Shanghai line were recalled for repairs following delays caused by equipment failures.
Critics complain authorities have spent too much on high-speed lines while failing to invest enough in expanding cheaper, slower routes to serve China's poor majority.
Beijing is rapidly expanding China's 56,000-mile (91,000-kilometer) rail network, which is overloaded with passengers and cargo. But it has scaled back plans amid concern about whether the railway ministry can repay its mounting debts.
On Friday, the current railways minister, Sheng Guangzu, announced railway construction spending next year will be cut to about 400 billion yuan ($65 billion), down from this year's projected 469 billion yuan ($75 billion).
A failure to expand rail capacity could choke economic growth because exporters away from China's coast rely on rail to get goods to ports.
The rail ministry's reported debt is 2 trillion yuan ($300 billion). Analysts say its revenues are insufficient to repay that. That has prompted concern the ministry might need to be bailed out by Chinese taxpayers.
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) ? Missouri and Texas A&M will play their first Southeastern Conference games at home on Sept. 8, and Alabama will visit LSU in a rematch of the Bowl Championship Series national championship on Nov. 3.
The SEC released its first 14-team schedule on Wednesday with new members Missouri and Texas A&M as part of the conference.
Missouri will play the 2012 season in the SEC East and hosts Georgia on Sept. 8. Texas A&M will be in the West and hosts Florida. The first conference game will be Aug. 30 when South Carolina visits Vanderbilt.
SEC commissioner Mike Slive praised the league's transition team and athletic directors for handling what he called "significant logistical challenges" in putting together the schedule released Wednesday.
Teams will still play eight conference games, with six against divisional foes and two against the other division. The SEC championship game will be Dec. 1 in Atlanta.
Athletic directors will meet in the spring to decide the formula for future schedules.
David Williams, Vanderbilt's vice chancellor in charge of athletics, said adding Texas A&M and Missouri made it challenging to put together an eight-game conference schedule.
"Fans should keep in mind that this league schedule is only for the 2012 season ...," Williams said in a statement.
There remain plenty of kinks to work out for 2012, though.
Texas A&M is under a 10-year contract to play Arkansas in Dallas, and Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino said recently the Aggies want a home-and-home series now that both teams are in the SEC.
Texas A&M will be the home team for the Sept. 29 game for which the site has yet to be decided. It will be the first league game between these teams since 1991 when both were in the Southwest Conference.
Arkansas released an 11-game schedule with the Razorbacks busy trying to line up a final non-conference opponent. Texas A&M's current schedule has 10 opponents listed. Missouri has three non-conference games to be decided, while Auburn has its non-conference opponents lined up, including Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic with dates yet to be set.
"Unfortunately, there are still several issues to be resolved in our 2012 football schedule, but we wanted to get as much information to our fans as possible so they may begin planning for next season," Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long said in a statement. "We are pleased to have at least seven home games and possibly eight as part of a very competitive 2012 football schedule."
Texas A&M's entry into the SEC will be challenging. The Aggies not only kick off the SEC season against Florida, they still play Arkansas while hosting LSU and Missouri and visit Auburn, Mississippi State and Alabama on Nov. 10.
Missouri visits South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Texas A&M, and hosts Vanderbilt, Alabama on Oct. 13 and Kentucky.
LSU will visit Auburn on Sept. 22 to kick off its SEC schedule before visiting Florida.
Alabama not only hits the SEC road to visit LSU but opens conference play at Arkansas on Sept. 15. Alabama visits Missouri and Tennessee in addition to LSU.
Georgia, the SEC East champ, didn't play either LSU or Alabama in 2011, and the new SEC schedule has the Bulldogs missing both of the BCS teams in 2012. The Bulldogs play Mississippi and Auburn out of the West.
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SEOUL (Reuters) ? The world watched anxiously on Wednesday as North Korea staged a huge funeral in the capital, Pyongyang, for former leader Kim Jong-il, searching for signs of what to expect from the isolated nation that may be close to attaining nuclear weapons capacity.
Bleak pictures from state television showed a funeral cortege led by a limousine carrying a huge picture of the 69-year old, who died on December 17, passing serried ranks of olive green-clad soldiers whose bare heads were bowed in homage in the main square of the snow-covered capital.
A hearse carrying the coffin was led by a weeping Kim Jong-un, the son and heir, accompanied by Jang Song-thaek, his uncle and a key power-broker in the transition, and Ri Yong-ho, the army chief of staff.
"Seeing this white snow fall has made me think of the general's efforts and this brings tears to my eyes," Seo Ju-rim, a red-cheeked, weeping female soldier, told North Korean television, referring to Kim.
One of the myths surrounding Kim Jong-il was that he could control the weather and state media has reported unusually cold and wild weather accompanying his death.
Video showed weeping civilians who swayed with grief and shouted "father, father" as black Lincoln and Mercedes limousines and army trucks streamed past the crowds. It was not clear whether the pictures were live or recorded.
"I wished it was a dream, how can this be true," sobbed one middle-aged woman named Kim. "How can anything like this ever happen in the world?"
Kim Jong-un will become the third member of the family to run the unpredictable North Asian country as it enters 2012, the year that was supposed to mark its self-proclaimed transformation into a "strong and prosperous" nation.
Larry Niksch, who has tracked North Korea for the nonpartisan U.S. Congressional Research Service for 43 years, believes it could take as little as one to two years to have a working nuclear missile once the North produced enough highly enriched uranium for the warhead's core fuel.
The prospect of an untested leader, believed to be in his late 20s, having nuclear capacity has alarmed many.
"Yes, we are watching and will be analyzing how any changes can be reflected in our policy," a South Korean government official said. He was not authorized to speak to the media, so could not be identified.
UNCLE JANG, POWER BEHIND THE THRONE
State television showed Jang Song-thaek walking directly behind Kim Jong-un alongside the limousine carrying the coffin. Jang ranks a lowly 19th in the list of names on the state funeral committee but his public elevation confirms that he will play a key role in shaping policies.
An ascetic-looking, bespectacled 65-year-old, Jang has overcome a purge, bitter palace intrigue and personal tragedy to become vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, the supreme leadership council which Kim Jong-il led as head of the military state.
"Kim Jong-un is clearly the head of the new leadership but, in terms of hierarchy and influence, Jang appears to have secured considerable position," said Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea expert at Korea University in the south.
Strong it may be -- North Korea is backed by neighboring China, has conducted two nuclear tests and has a 1.2 million-strong armed forces -- but prosperous it is not.
On average, the 25 million North Koreans have a life expectancy three-and-a-half years lower than they did when "Eternal President" Kim Il-sung, the new leader's grandfather, died in 1994, according to U.N. data.
The United Nations, in a country program for 2011-15, says North Korea's main challenge is to "restore the economy to the level attained before 1990" and to alleviate food shortages for a third of its 25 million population.
Indications from the transition since Kim Jong-il's death suggest his "military first" policy will continue, leading to further hardship in a country that endured mass starvation in the 1990s.
Leverage from outside, with the exception of China, is limited. All the United States, South Korea and Japan can do is hope that the regime does not collapse, nor flex its military muscle as it did in 2010, when it shelled a South Korean island.
North Korea was established in 1948 and under its founding father, Kim Il-sung, went to war to try to conquer the South. It failed and in 1953 a dividing line that would become the world's most militarized frontier was drawn across the peninsula.
PROSPECTS OF A PURGE
While Kim Il-sung was revered by his people for fighting Japanese colonial rule, the halo surrounding his successors has steadily dimmed to such an extent that his grandson, the new ruler, will have to rely on people such as his uncle, Jang, to hold on to power, at least in the short term.
Official media in the North have built Kim Jong-un, a jowly and rotund man in his late 20s, into a leader worthy of inheriting the crown, naming him "respected general," "great successor," "outstanding leader" and "supreme commander."
This year, dissident groups based in South Korea, citing North Korean refugees and businessmen working in China, linked the youngest Kim to a crackdown on business activities and a tougher policy on people seeking to flee from North Korea.
Those reports could not be verified independently, but would again suggest that further repression is more likely than an economic opening under the new man.
It also gives little hope for the 200,000 North Koreans who human rights group Amnesty international says are enslaved in labor camps, subjected to torture and hunger or execution.
"There is likely to be a politically motivated purge and imprisonment, and it could go on for a considerable period of time," said Pak Sang-hak, who heads a group in Seoul working to support defectors, and is himself a defector.
"That is especially because of the relative instability of Kim Jong-un's leadership. There might also be persecution as a way of intimidation and discipline."
(Additional reporting by Christine Kim and Iktae Park in SEOUL and Jim Wolf in WASHINGTON; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Paul Tait)
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MASON CITY, Iowa ? Rick Santorum isn't going down without a fight. In fact, that fight seems to be lifting him ? at exactly the right time.
The Republican presidential candidate who has logged more miles in Iowa than any of his rivals is starting to see his work begin to pay off with a growing list of supporters and a new poll that shows the little-known former Pennsylvania senator vaulting into contention here five days before the Jan. 3 caucuses.
"We've got momentum," Santorum, a long-overlooked candidate in the GOP race, told people at a diner Wednesday in Independence, a day after sounding a similar tone in Mason City. He told reporters: "I have a shot and I'm feeling better about that shot every day, the top three. This could be a late-breaking race. Now we just have to get over the hurdle of convincing people we can win."
By evening, the candidate was telling CNN "hard work pays off, as it does in most areas of life" after the network, in conjunction with Time, released a survey that moved him from the back of the pack to third place behind Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.
Indeed, there is new evidence that Iowa Republicans, many of whom are still undecided and looking for a consensus conservative, are starting to give Santorum a fresh look as the caucuses loom and the prospect of a victory by Romney or Paul ? considered less conservative than their rivals ? becomes more realistic.
Santorum tried to press that point at a Dubuque furniture store, acknowledging anger in the electorate while also saying: "If you want to stick it to the man, don't vote for Ron Paul. That's not sticking it to anybody but the Republican Party."
In recent days, Santorum's crowds have started growing as he rallies conservatives with a pit bull's pugnaciousness, and just a touch of anger. He began airing a new radio ad Wednesday that, while less obvious than a television spot, can be effective in reaching niche conservatives in rural Iowa. And now, the poll that shows him with 16 percent of support in Iowa.
But he still faces hurdles. His cash-strapped campaign has only just started running TV ads, and his organization is small in a state whose contests rely on the ability of campaigns to turn out a slew of supporters.
Even so, Iowans could end up giving him credit for campaigning in the state the old-fashioned way ? in living rooms, coffee shops and town squares ? even as his rivals relied mostly on TV ads, debates and media interviews. Santorum has built his organization painstakingly, having visited all 99 counties, including at times when there was only one GOP activists to greet him.
His rise comes at a critical moment: conservatives have tested others ? helping several candidates rise and quickly fall ? and now are focusing on the caucuses, just five days away.
"Rick Santorum could be a real surprise," said former Dallas County GOP Chairman Rob Taylor.
He has earned the support of a number of key backers of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Republican caucuses. They include former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, conservative Sioux City radio host Sam Clovis and some influential evangelical pastors.
Santorum landed the endorsement Tuesday of evangelical conservative activists Alex and Brett Harris, founders of Huck's Army, a national group that supported Huckabee's 2008 campaign. On Wednesday, Steve Sukup, a conservative business leader and former state legislator, announced he was supporting Santorum.
"He's the only candidate in this race I trust," said Chuck Laudner, a veteran Iowa GOP operative who introduced Santorum to more than 100 party activists on Santorum's fourth trip to Mason City. "And he's a fighter."
As if to prove the point, Santorum launched into a speech filled with pokes at the national media and his rivals. For 90 minutes, he tore into President Barack Obama, Hollywood and moderate Republicans ? and, by implication, rival Romney.
While Santorum's profile in Congress as a social-issues crusader bought him entree with influential evangelical conservatives in Iowa, it's his unhesitating attack on liberals that seems to be fueling his rise in internal polls by rival campaigns.
"Let's look at colleges and universities," Santorum said in the ballroom of the restored Frank Lloyd Wright Park Inn Hotel on Mason City's town square. "They've become indoctrination centers for the left. Should we be subsidizing that?"
Santorum tossed out Harvard University's motto, "Veritas," Latin for truth. "They haven't seen truth at Harvard in 100 years."
Santorum refers to Obama as a "radical." Just as easily, though, he calls his own party's leaders "the good old guys you can count on to sell out in the end."
Even in entertaining questions from voters, he is frank and at times pointed.
"No, you're missing my point," he told Mason City Republican Julia Jones, a retired factory worker, as he tried to explain Social Security.
Jones, who walked into the event weighing Santorum and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, liked what she heard ? and decided to support Santorum.
"He doesn't soften the edges, but he doesn't talk down to you either," Jones said. "He's just in-depth."
___
Associated Press writer Mike Glover in Independence, Iowa, contributed to this report.
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DES MOINES, Iowa ? Three Republican presidential candidates, each claiming to be the truly conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, are launching bus tours Tuesday through this early nominating state.
Just a week before Iowa's leadoff caucuses, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich prepared to rumble through small towns aboard their campaign buses. They're looking for supporters one at a time and hoping to become a roadblock for Romney, who is looking stronger than expected. Romney returns to Iowa on Tuesday after a quick stop in his long-established stronghold of New Hampshire.
Ahead of the Jan. 3 caucuses that officially begin the GOP's nominating calendar, the candidates were returning for a final rush of speeches, meet-and-greet stops and town hall-style meetings. And they are bracing for one last round of advertising, which most observers are expecting to be nasty.
Each campaign has also tried to gauge the level of enthusiasm for Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. The libertarian favorite has built a strong organization here and recent polls suggest he is peaking, a rise that has him tied with or even ahead of Romney ? and drawing more scrutiny for his views.
"There's really three primaries going on here," former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania told reporters in Adel, where he went hunting for pheasant and quail. "There's the libertarian primary, which Ron Paul is going to win. Then you've got the moderate primary, which Gingrich and Romney are scrumming for. And you've got three folks who are running as strong conservatives."
He included himself, Bachmann and Perry in that conservative camp. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman signaled early on he would not compete in Iowa and instead plans to start his campaign in New Hampshire.
But with time ticking down in Iowa, several hopefuls are packing their days with rambling road trips to sparsely populated corners of the state. If history is a predictor, some of these candidates will be former candidates after the first contest.
Bachmann last week began her effort to visit each of the state's 99 counties, an ambitious pace that left her darting into diners and gas stations for quick visits. She was set to return to that pace early Tuesday in Council Bluffs, on the state's western edge. By nightfall, she was slated to have visited another 10 counties.
Perry was set to begin his tour in Council Bluffs several hours later. He planned just four stops during his day.
Gingrich was ready to return to the opposite side of the state, with three stops in Dubuque.
Paul was set to return Wednesday for a late push ahead of the New Year's holiday.
Many of those expected to participate in the caucuses remain undecided, and most of the contenders have seen their fortunes rise quickly and then deflate. Romney and Santorum have remained relatively steady: Romney solidly near the top and Santorum consistently struggling to build support.
Yet Santorum alone has achieved the accomplishment of visiting all 99 counties. With more than 350 campaign events behind him this year, he is hoping the early groundwork ? and a possible late surge ? help him beat expectations.
He was slated to start his day in Fort Dodge, in the deeply conservative far northwest corner of the state.
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BEIJING (Reuters) ? Japan urged China on Monday to shoulder a big role in ensuring North Korea avoids volatility after the death of its leader, Kim Jong-il.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to share information about developments in North Korea, where the succession of Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, has fanned speculation about who will really control the secretive one-party state and its nuclear program.
"It is important that we will not let the death of the chairman of the National Defense Commission Kim have a negative impact on the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula," Noda was quoted by a Japanese official as telling Hu while on a visit to in Beijing.
Kim Jong-il's many positions included head of the important military commission.
"Under these circumstance, the role of China, which is the chair country of the six-party talks and has a big influence on North Korea, is extremely important," said Noda, according to the official who briefed reporters but declined to be identified.
The so-called six-party talks involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, the United States and Russia and are aimed at getting North Korea to give up its efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
The Japanese prime minister is the first regional leader to visit China since Kim Jong-il's death was announced a week ago.
China is the North's only major ally and the North has long relied on China for diplomatic and economic support.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua said Hu told Noda that it was in the interests of all sides to maintain stability on the Korean peninsula.
"China is ready to make joint efforts with all relevant parties, including Japan, to maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and to achieve lasting peace, security and order on the peninsula and (in) northeast Asia," Xinhua cited Hu as saying.
Noda urged China to be forthcoming about what it learned about the North's transition.
"I would like vigorous information sharing between Japan and China, and intend to address the situation calmly and properly," the Japanese official cited Noda as telling Hu on the second and final day of his visit.
North Korea has alarmed the region with two plutonium-based nuclear test blasts, a succession of military altercations, and declarations that it was developing uranium enrichment, which could open another path to assembling atomic weapons.
Constraining North Korea is especially important for Japan, which is within range of the North's missiles and wants it to resolve the issue of the fate of Japanese citizens kidnapped and taken to North Korea to help train spies decades ago.
But China is wary about upsetting North Korea, especially during a delicate transition, and has restricted its public comments about the implications of Kim's death to broad calls for stability and calm.
"Both sides agreed that preserving the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula serves the interests of all sides," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in its account of talks on Sunday between Noda and Premier Wen Jiabao.
(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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. @standwithus is a pro-Israel group that works with Israeli govt and mainstream US Jewish groups. Yay! Keep up the good work chaverim 
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Former presidential hopeful John Edwards' legal team has asked a judge to delay his criminal trial over campaign finances due to a medical issue. Politico's Josh Gerstein has more.
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WTOP:
WASHINGTON - Extra cops had to be called out Friday morning for crowd control at area malls, but not because of holiday shoppers making the mad rush to stores. Crowd control has been needed because of the release of the new Air Jordan XI Concord shoes.
The shoes are identical to the ones first introduced in 1996.
Starting at 2:02 a.m., police started dispatching officers for crowd control.
Read the whole story: WTOP
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VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) - A Mexican state plagued by drug violence has disbanded the entire police force in the major port city of Veracruz, and officials say the Navy will take over.
The Veracruz state government says it's part of an effort to root out corruption from law enforcement and start from zero in the city of Veracruz.
State spokeswoman Gina Dominguez said Wednesday 800 police officers and 300 administrative employees were laid off. At a press conference, she said they can still apply for state police jobs but must meet stricter standards.
Armed marines have barricaded police headquarters and Navy helicopters were flying above the city where 35 bodies 35 bodies were dumped in September. It was one of the worst gang attacks of Mexico's drug war.
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DENVER?? A holdout group of anti-Wall Street protesters set fire to their tent camp in downtown Denver during an overnight raid by police that dismantled the site, authorities said on Tuesday.
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Nine protesters were arrested during the confrontation, including one person on suspicion of felony arson, said Denver Police spokesman Lieutenant Matthew Murray.
When police arrived late on Monday night, they were confronted by about 50 protesters, and one person in the group set the "shanty town" of tents on fire, Murray said.
Once officers moved protesters back, firefighters extinguished the blaze and public works crews dismantled the camp, he said. No one was injured.
The anti-Wall Street protest in Denver was one of the last encampments left in a major U.S. city, in a nationwide Occupy movement against economic inequality and what activists say is the undue power of the wealthy.
Larger protest camps in such cities as New York and Los Angeles were shut down by police in recent weeks. But the Denver site, across the street from the state Capitol Building, has continued to draw demonstrators despite freezing temperatures and past police crackdowns.
The overnight raid was the third time police removed demonstrators from the site since October.
Occupy demonstrator Jason Ball, 21, a University of Colorado at Denver student, said the confrontation overnight was more "tense" than previous evictions.
"We wish the city would engage in a conversation or dialogue with us," he said. "We will continue to protest until we see some action."
Aside from the person held on suspicion of arson, the other eight protesters taken into custody were arrested for misdemeanor violations such as disobeying a lawful order and interfering with police, Murray said.
The latest raid came after newly installed Denver Police Chief Robert White visited the camp last week, and told demonstrators they were violating the law by camping at the downtown protest site.
Earlier this month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by attorneys with Occupy Denver, who claimed police were selectively using city ordinances to curb demonstrators' free-speech rights.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45741517/ns/us_news-life/
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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Thanks to monster hits like "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1" and art-house breakouts such as "The Artist," many of the major players in the independent film market racked up an impressive year despite the industry-wide box office decline.
The top seven indie studios grossed $1.57 billion at the domestic box office so far this year, compared to $1.52 billion in 2010, according to Boxofficemojo.com.
Theatrical revenues grew while studios continued to exploit video on demand and digital video as a new source of revenue. Barely a week goes by without one or more of the indies signing a new streaming pact with the likes of Netflix or Hulu.
So who's leading the pack? Summit dominated market share thanks to the latest installment in its tween horror romance, "Twilight." Relativity announced itself as a major player on the scene, but next year will need to find a new source of financial backing in order to stay there.
The Weinstein Co. re-emerged from its 2010 refinancing with the wind at its back thanks to Colin Firth's stuttering monarch in "The King's Speech."
Fox Searchlight is translating the critical raves for Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" into solid box office returns.
New entrant FilmDistrict scored a low-budget hit with the $54 million domestic grossing horror film "Insidious," but overspent on Johnny Depp's "The Rum Diaries, with only a measly $13 million at the domestic box office to show for its troubles.
Likewise, Focus Features churned out a genre hit with the $40 million grossing "Hanna," but couldn't interest audiences in the $19.4 million grossing Roman epic "The Eagle."
Not every studio was a winner. Lionsgate, with a costly string of box office misses, saw its numbers fall to earth. But salvation may be just around the corner in the form of a certain dystopian young adult novel, "The Hunger Games."
Here's a look at the top four indie studios:
SUMMIT
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1" powered the studio's slate, grossing a bloody good $658.4 million worldwide -- and counting -- on a $110 million budget. The finale to the sex and blood sucking series hits next summer, at which point the studio will be hard-pressed to find an equally profitable series of projects to replace it.
After all, that film accounted for more than 50 percent of Summit's $1 billion worldwide gross.
The rest of Summit's slate was something of a mixed bag. Cancer comedy "50/50" rode strong reviews to a $34.9 million domestic gross while "The Three Musketeers" deflected critical knocks to rack up $139 million worldwide. Also performing solidly was the mind-bending thriller "Source Code," which generated $146.7 million globally on a $32 million budget.
However, Nicolas Cage's "Drive Angry 3D" grossed a meager $10.7 million on a $9 million budget, and Mel Gibson's "The Beaver" couldn't overcome its star's controversial public image to bank a dreadful $8.7 million on a $21 million budget.
Maybe it's time to start plotting "The Twilight Saga: The Early Years."
LIONSGATE
"The Hunger Games" can't come soon enough for Lionsgate after a dreadful 2011.
The studio was hit hard by a series of flops last summer and fall, after audiences rejected "Conan the Barbarian," "Warrior," "The Devil's Double" and "Abduction" in short order.
Given that those films represented 50 percent of Lionsgate's theatrical slate, the bad grosses were magnified. Last year, the studio released substantially more films -- 14 theatrical releases in total, among them such moneymakers as "The Expendables" and "The Last Exorcism."
The year wasn't a total wash with the studio fielding two solid performers with "The Lincoln Lawyer" ($58 million, domestically) and "Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family" ($53 million, domestically).
Still, theatrical revenues plunged from $510.8 million domestically to $175.7 million this year.
"On the film side, it was one disaster after another," James Marsh, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., told TheWrap. "There's a huge amount riding on 'Hunger Games.'"
Most analysts believe next spring's "Hunger Games" will be the company's highest grossing film of all time and could launch a multi-part franchise.
The studio and its stock have been re-energized in recent months now that Carl Icahn has abandoned his long standing attempt hostile takeover attempt of the studio and sold virtually all of his stock in the company.
The studio has done an expert job of monopolizing digital streaming and other alternative home-entertainment platforms through deals with Netflix. In particular, "Margin Call," the financial meltdown drama produced with Roadside Attractions, has become an unlikely hit for the studio, grossing $5 million domestically and $5 million on day-and-date video on demand.
Also on tap are a sequel to "The Expendables," Arnold Schwarzenegger's big screen return in "The Last Stand," and the Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy "What to Expect When You're Expecting."
RELATIVITY
The end of Relativity's first year as a full-fledged film production and distribution company was marred by a series of executive departures and reports of financial difficulties.
That said, the studio fielded a number of solid box office performers, including "Immortals," the studio's sword-and-sandals epic has grossed $195 million worldwide to date with major territories yet to open including Spain and Latin America.
The pill-popping thriller "Limitless" was a surprise hit last spring, racking up $165.4 million globally on a $27 million production budget.
Not that Relativity didn't have its share of duds. Family comedy "Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer" grossed a lowly $15 million on a $20 million budget, while the long-shelved "Take Me Home Tonight" grossed a paltry $6.9 million domestically. ("Judy Moody" was financed by Smokewood Entertainment, not Relativity.)
More troubling is the potential departure of Relativity President Steve Bertram, who may leave the company when his contract is due up at the end of the year. His exit would be the latest in a string of exits among the studio's top ranks. CEO Ryan Kavanaugh's inability to find a new backer to replace outgoing investor Elliot Management is another concern.
But the studio is proud that in its first year every one of its home-grown projects either broke even or made a profit.
THE WEINSTEIN CO.
"The King's Speech" has been a royal winner for the Weinstein Co.
Snatching Best Picture from the grip of "The Social Network" reaped big dividends for the indie studio, with the drama raking in $414.2 million worldwide.
The rest of the studio's slate hasn't been nearly as impressive, although Harvey and crew clearly think they may have another Best Picture winner on their hands with "The Artist." The black-and-white silent film -- bought for a song (get it?) at the Cannes Film Festival -- has grossed $15.4 million worldwide so far, but business should ramp up if the movie is an Oscar winner.
Thanks in large part to that little gold statue, the studio more than quadrupled its previous year's box office take, earning $547 million as opposed to the $89.7 million banked in 2010.
Although "Scream 4" signaled that that the bottom has probably fallen out of the horror film franchise, it still was profitable with a $97 million worldwide gross on a $40 million budget. Ditto for "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World," which grossed a modest $74 million, but only cost $27 million to produce.
The jury is still out on "My Week With Marilyn," which has grossed nearly $10 million so far, but could add to its take if it picks up awards attention.
Looking ahead, the studio has Quentin Tarantino's slave era spaghetti western "Django Unchained," Brad Pitt's crime thriller "Coogan's Trade," and Shia LaBeouf's prohibition drama "The Wettest Country in the World."
"We're very focused -- that's the message," David Glasser, TWC's chief operating officer, told TheWrap. "There's a need and a desire for the kind of movies that we make."
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The last convoy of soldiers from the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. The brigade's special troops battalion are the last American soldiers to leave Iraq. The U.S. military announced Saturday night that the last American troops have left Iraq as the nearly nine-year war ends. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The last convoy of soldiers from the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. The brigade's special troops battalion are the last American soldiers to leave Iraq. The U.S. military announced Saturday night that the last American troops have left Iraq as the nearly nine-year war ends. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A soldier shouts from the gun turret of the last vehicle in a convoy of the US Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. The brigade's special troops battalion are the last American soldiers to leave Iraq. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
In this Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 photo, a U.S. Army soldier from 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, sits on top of his armored vehicle at Camp Adder during final preparations for the last American convoy to leave Iraq. The U.S. military says the last American troops have left Iraq as the nearly nine-year war ends. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
In this Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 photo, U.S. Army soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, inspect their body armor at Camp Adder during final preparations for the last American convoy to leave Iraq. The U.S. military announced Saturday night that the last American troops have left Iraq as the nearly nine-year war ends. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A U.S. Army soldier holds a flag as a convoy of the US Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. The brigade's special troops battalion are the last American soldiers to leave Iraq. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
AT THE IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER (AP) ? Outside it was pitch dark. The six American soldiers couldn't see much of the desert landscape streaming by outside the small windows of their armored vehicle. They were hushed and exhausted from an all-night drive ? part of the last convoy of U.S. troops to leave Iraq during the final moment of a nearly nine-year war.
As dawn broke Sunday, a small cluster of Iraqi soldiers along the highway waved goodbye to the departing American troops.
"My heart goes out to the Iraqis," said Warrant Officer John Jewell. "The innocent always pay the bill."
When they finally crossed the sand berm that separates Iraq from Kuwait, illuminated by floodlights and crisscrossed with barbed wire, the mood inside Jewell's vehicle was subdued. No cheers. No hugs. Mostly just relief.
His comrade, Sgt. Ashley Vorhees, mustered a bit more excitement.
"I'm out of Iraq," she said. "It's all smooth sailing from here."
The final withdrawal was the starkest of contrasts to the start of the war, which began before dawn on March 20, 2003. That morning, an airstrike in southern Baghdad, where Saddam Hussein was believed to be hiding, marked the opening shot of the famed "shock and awe" bombardment. U.S. and allied ground forces then stormed from Kuwait toward the capital, hurtling north across southern Iraq's featureless deserts.
The last convoy of heavily armored personnel carriers, known as MRAPS, left the staging base at Camp Adder in southern Iraq in Sunday's early hours. They slipped out under cover of darkness and strict secrecy to prevent any final attacks. The 500 soldiers didn't even tell their Iraqi comrades on the base they were leaving.
The attack never materialized. The fear, though, spoke volumes about the country they left behind ? shattered, still dangerous and containing a good number of people who still see Americans not as the ally who helped them end Saddam's dictatorship, but as an enemy.
About 110 vehicles made the last trip from Camp Adder to the "berm" in Kuwait, the long mound of earth over which tens of thousands of American troops charged into Iraq at the start of the war.
The roughly five-hour drive was uneventful, with the exception of a few vehicle malfunctions.
Once they crossed into Kuwait, there was time for a brief celebrations as the soldiers piled out of the cramped and formidable-looking MRAPs. A bear hug, some whooping, fist bumps and fist pumps.
The war that began eight years and nine months earlier cost nearly 4,500 American and well more than 100,000 Iraqi lives and $800 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The bitterly divisive conflict left Iraq shattered and struggling to recover. For the United States, two central questions remain unanswered: whether it was all worth it, and whether the new government the Americans leave behind will remain a steadfast U.S. ally or drift into Iran's orbit.
But the last soldiers out were looking ahead, mostly, and not back. They spoke eagerly of awaiting family reunions ? some of them in time for Christmas ? and longing for Western "civilization" and especially the meals that await them back home.
The 29-year-old Vorhees was planning a Mexican dinner out at Rosa's in Killeen, Texas. Her favorite is crispy chicken tacos. Another joy of home, she said: You don't have to bring your weapon when you go to the bathroom.
Spc. Jesse Jones was getting ready to make the 2 1/2 hour drive from Ft. Hood, Texas, where the brigade is based, to Dallas. His quarry: an In & Out Burger.
"It's just an honor to be able to serve your country and say that you helped close out the war in Iraq," said Jones, 23, who volunteered to be in the last convoy. "Not a lot of people can say that they did huge things like that that will probably be in the history books."
In the last days at Camp Adder, the remaining few hundred troops tied up all the loose ends of a war, or at least those that could be tied up.
The soldiers at the base spoke often of the "lasts" ? the last guard duty, the last meal in Iraq, the last patrol briefing. Even the last Friday was special until it was eclipsed by the last Saturday.
Spc. Brittany Hampton laid claim to one of the most memorable "lasts." She rode the last vehicle of the last convoy of American troops leaving Iraq.
Hampton was thinking of her dad, also a soldier who has served four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I can't wait to ... call my dad and tell him about this," she said. "He's not going to believe it. He's going to be so proud of me."
She joked that no one was going to believe her back home when she told them she was in the very last vehicle to leave.
"But we really, truly were the last soldiers in Iraq. So it's pretty awesome," she said.
In the final days, U.S. officials acknowledged the cost in blood and treasure was high, but tried to paint it as a victory ? for both the troops and the Iraqi people now freed of a dictator and on a path to democracy. But gnawing questions remain: Will Iraqis be able to forge their new government amid the still stubborn sectarian clashes? And will Iraq be able to defend itself and remain independent in a region fraught with turmoil and still steeped in insurgent threats?
President Barack Obama stopped short of calling the U.S. effort in Iraq a victory.
"I would describe our troops as having succeeded in the mission of giving to the Iraqis their country in a way that gives them a chance for a successful future," Obama said in an interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, recorded Thursday.
Saddam and his regime fell within weeks of the invasion, and the dictator was captured by the end of the year ? to be executed by Iraq's new Shiite rulers at the end of 2006. But Saddam's end only opened the door to years more of conflict as Iraq was plunged into a vicious sectarian war between its Shiite and Sunni communities. The near civil war devastated the country, and its legacy includes thousands of widows and orphans, a people deeply divided along sectarian lines and infrastructure that remains largely in ruins.
In the past two years, violence has dropped dramatically, and Iraqi security forces that U.S. troops struggled for years to train have improved. But the sectarian wounds remain unhealed. Even as U.S. troops were leaving, the main Sunni-backed political bloc announced Sunday it was suspending its participation in parliament to protest the monopoly on government posts by Shiite allies of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
"We are glad to see the last U.S. soldier leaving the country today," said 25-year-old Iraqi Said Hassan, the owner of money exchange shop in Baghdad. "It is an important day in Iraq's history, but the most important thing now is the future of Iraq," he added.
"The Americans have left behind them a country that is falling apart and an Iraqi army and security forces that have a long way ahead to be able to defend the nation and the people."
The convoys that left Sunday were the last of a massive operation pulling out American forces that has lasted for months to meet the end-of-the-year deadline agreed with the Iraqis during the administration of President George W. Bush.
On Saturday evening at Camp Adder, near Nasiriyah and about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, the vehicles lined up in an open field to prepare, and soldiers went through last-minute equipment checks to make sure radios, weapons and other gear were working.
Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commanding general for Iraq, walked through the rows of vehicles, talking to soldiers over the low hum of the engines. He thanked them for their service.
"I wanted to remind them that we have an important mission left in the country of Iraq. We want to stay focused and we want to make sure that we're doing the right things to protect ourselves," Austin said.
Early Saturday morning, the brigade's remaining interpreters made their routine calls to the local tribal sheiks and government leaders that the troops deal with, so that they would assume that it was just a normal day.
"The Iraqis are going to wake up in the morning and nobody will be there," said Spc. Joseph, an Iraqi American who emigrated from Iraq in 2009 and enlisted. He asked that his full name be withheld to protect his family.
Camp Adder is now an Iraqi air force base, although they don't have any planes yet. Many of the Americans spent their last day sweeping out the trailers that housed thousands of troops and contractors while Iraqi officers came by to inspect their future domain.
Little by little, the U.S. military gave up pieces of Camp Adder. Soldiers closed down guard towers, turned over checkpoints leading into the base and left hundreds of vehicles, oil tankers and trucks in vast lots with the keys on the dashboard.
The volleyball and basketball courts stood empty. And no one worked out at the gym called "House of Pain."
The roughly 13-square-mile base had at one time been a major way station where troops and supplies often stopped on their way south or north.
But by the time the Americans pulled out for good, their numbers had dwindled so low that the wild dogs that used to be too afraid to come near the living quarters now wandered freely through the rows of trailers and concrete blast walls.
Sgt. First Class Hilda McNamee was the truck commander in the last MRAP to drive out of Iraq. The 34-year-old said when she gets back to Texas, she plans to take her son to the International House of Pancakes.
For her the significance of the last convoy driving out was immediately apparent.
"It means I won't open a newspaper and find out that one of my friends passed away," said McNamee.
She welled up but didn't want to go any deeper. Some memories will always be too fresh.
Going home will also bring new dangers for the troops.
Col. Douglas Crissman, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, said one of his biggest concerns now was making sure that all his soldiers who survived this deployment also survive their re-entry into what is supposed to be a safer world.
"Quite frankly, we lost more soldiers in peacetime in the nine or ten months before this brigade deployed due to accidents and risky behavior ... than we lost here in combat," he said.
His brigade, which controlled the four provinces in southern Iraq, lost three soldiers during this tour. Two were killed by roadside bombs and one was killed by a rocket, likely as he was trying to get to a bunker.
But in the roughly 10 months leading up to their deployment, they lost 13 people. At least one was a confirmed suicide.
The U.S. plans to keep a robust diplomatic presence in Iraq, hoping to foster a lasting relationship with the nation and maintain a strong military force in the region. Obama met in Washington with Prime Minister al-Maliki last week, vowing to remain committed to Iraq as the two countries struggle to define their new relationship.
U.S. officials were unable to reach an agreement with the Iraqis on legal issues and troop immunity that would have allowed a small training and counterterrorism force to remain. U.S. defense officials said they expect there will be no movement on that issue until sometime next year.
In the end, many of the departing troops wrestled with a singular question: Was it worth it?
Capt. Mark Askew, a 28-year-old from Tampa, Florida, said the answer will depend on what type of country Iraq turns into years from now ? whether it is democratic and respects human rights.
"People are asking themselves: 'Was this worth it?'" he said, speaking to his troops before they set off to Kuwait. "I can't answer that question right now."
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SAN FRANCISCO ? Apple Inc is famous for relying on low-cost Asian manufacturers to both source and assemble its popular gadgets, but the consumer device giant recently started receiving a critical component in its iPad and iPhones from closer to home - Texas.
The A5 processor - the brain in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 - is now made in a sprawling 1.6 million square feet factory in Austin owned by Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics, according to people familiar with the operation.
One of the few major components to be sourced from within the United States, the A5 processor is built by Samsung in a newly constructed $3.6 billion non-memory chip production line that reached full production in early December.
Nearly all of the output of the non-memory chip production from the factory - which is the size of about nine football fields - is dedicated to producing Apple chips, one of the people said. Samsung also produces NAND flash memory chips in Austin.
The South Korean giant began supplying the A5 processors to Apple this year from the Austin plant, the people said.
Apple declined to comment, saying it does not detail supplier relationships. A Samsung spokeswoman declined to comment on its customers and the specification of the chips made in its Austin plant.
But she said the company expanded the Austin factory to include a production line to make logic chips. The A5 is one such chip.
The powerful A5 processor, which uses technology licensed from Britain's ARM Holdings, is designed by Apple in California.
The A5 chip debuted in Apple's iPad 2 in March and now also powers the new iPhone 4S. The 120 square millimeter chip is twice as fast as its predecessor, the A4, which is also made by Samsung, according to reports from teardown firms that have taken Apple's devices apart.
TEXAS APPLE
Apart from Austin, Samsung has only one other non-memory logic chip factory, in South Korea.
Apple relies on its main contract manufacturer for gadgets, Foxconn, to assemble them, mainly in its factories in China and Taiwan.
The roaring success of both the iPad and iPhone has helped the city of Austin, where Freescale Semiconductor is based and other chip companies, like ARM, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, also have operations.
Semiconductor companies are attracted to Austin because of a steady supply of educated employees from the University of Texas' engineering school.
Samsung has added about 1,100 jobs to support the new non-memory chip production in the factory, which produces 40,000 silicon wafers every month, a Samsung spokeswoman said.
The rest of Samsung's total 2,400 employees in Austin work in its NAND flash memory factory by the logic chip factory, she added.
The Korean company, which began the U.S. plant in 1996 to make its NAND flash memory chips, continues to produce them there in addition to the A5.
Samsung's factory is the largest foreign investment in Texas with a total investment of about $9 billion, according to Austin Chamber of Commerce.
Austin is also home to an Apple customer call center that deals with customer complaints in North America, Apple's biggest market. The Cupertino company employs thousands in that facility, who deal with calls ranging from complaints to support.
While Apple is one of Samsung's largest customers, both are arch-rivals in the smartphone and tablet marketplace. The two companies are also locked in an acrimonious patent infringement battle that spans multiple countries and products.
(Additional reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco and Miyoung Kim in Seoul; Editing by Gary Hill)
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