Some tips : Traveling to London for royal wedding?

Some tips : Traveling to London for royal wedding? – Diane Morton will soon be flying from Florida, where she lives, to London, to be in the city when the royal wedding takes place.

She hasn't researched the procession route, and she may or may not try to stake out a spot to catch a glimpse of the carriage carrying Prince William and his bride Kate Middleton. But she just wants to be in London when it happens.

"Even if we don't see anything, it's OK just to be there, and be part of the hoopla," said Morton, 67, of Parkland, Fla., who will be traveling with her partner, Donald Ammons. "We enjoy London. It's a fun place to be, and we have a couple of good friends there. If we are lucky, maybe we'll get a glimpse of Kate in the carriage afterwards."

Morton is one of 600,000 additional people who are expected to be in London when the royal wedding takes place April 29, according to estimates from London + Partners, the city's official tourism body.

Those determined to wake up early and stand for hours along the procession route in hopes of seeing the royals in person may get their wish, but tourism experts say there are many other ways to experience the event, from street parties to watching it on giant screens to toasting the happy couple in a pub.

"The atmosphere in the city is going to be a lot of fun," said Dinah Hatch, author of a downloadable ebook, "Frommer's The Royal Wedding," just out from the travel guidebook company. "There will be a lot of pubbing and drinking, and even if you don't catch sight of Kate and Will, it'll be fun. Let's just hope it doesn't rain."

"We love a good party," agreed Karen Clarkson, Visit Britain's vice president for North America, "and there will be informal street parties happening all over London and around the U.K."

Officials have confirmed that giant screens at Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square will show live TV coverage of the event. Clarkson said Visit Britain expects screens will be put up at other locations as well "where people can watch it with a crowd, enjoy the atmosphere and experience the procession."

The route for the procession between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, where the couple will wed, runs through St. James's Park along The Mall; along Horse Guards Avenue past the Horse Guards Parade; and along Whitehall to Parliament Square. Those determined to stake out a spot should be prepared for hours of waiting.

"The key is to actually get there early; everyone knows these spots quite well," Hatch said. "There's a very specific route, past lots of major landmarks. ... There are places where you can get very close to their car or carriage."

But exactly what time you should arrive is anybody's guess. Three a.m. might be too early, but 6 a.m. might be too late. Bad weather might cut down crowds and wait time, while adding to the misery.

Crowds are also sure to be filling the streets and sidewalks beyond the palace grounds in expectation of an appearance by the happy couple after the ceremony. As fans of "The King's Speech" film know, tradition calls for the royals to emerge from Buckingham Palace onto a balcony after major events to greet the public.

"Everyone will be waiting for that moment," said Hatch. "It's a historic moment. You want to be a part of history."

Clarkson said despite the expected crowds, London had ample hotel capacity as of early April, with several new hotels just opened, including the W, St. Pancras Renaissance and the Corinthia. Those for whom the W's $440 (269 pounds) nightly rates are too steep will find plenty of alternatives, with prices falling the farther from center city you go. Early April data from Orbitz.com found average rates for hotel rooms in London this time of year are 21 percent higher over the same period from last year, at $185 nightly.

Locales like Windsor, Brighton or Cambridge offer cheaper lodging, though you'll have to commute by train an hour or more to reach London. On the other end of the spectrum, if you can afford to live like a king, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel is offering a $30,146 five-night package for two that includes views of the procession and private tours by "associates of the royal family."

Airfares, meanwhile, do not appear to be going stratospheric. On April 7, online listings offered roundtrips from New York to London for well under $800 on several different carriers.

Those with a broader interest in Britain's monarchy can visit castles, museums and other attractions offering tours and exhibits, including the Tower of London, where Anne Boleyn, wife of Henry VIII was beheaded; Buckingham Palace, where you can watch the changing of the guard daily; St. Paul's Cathedral, where William's mother Princess Diana was married; and the National Gallery, which houses paintings of kings and queens.

A two-hour, $25 (15 pound) walking tour from Celebrity Planet will show you the history of Kate and Will's courtship, with stops at Jigsaw, the clothing chain where she was working in 2007 when Will broke off their relationship; Mahiki, a nightclub where the prince racked up a bar bill of 11,000 pounds in a week after the breakup; and St. James's Palace, the official residence of William and his brother Harry.

Elsewhere in Britain at the end of April, the birthday of William Shakespeare is being marked April 26 in his hometown of Stratford; the Cheltenham Jazz Festival starts April 27; and Scotland's Speyside Whisky Festival runs April 28-May 2. "You can toast the royal couple with a dram or two," said Clarkson.

Cynics might say the way Diana and Charles' marriage turned out has dashed all romantic illusions about the royals, but Clarkson says many American visitors to England remain fascinated by the monarchy, and plenty of royal-watchers sincerely hope William's marriage has a happier ending than his mother's. After all, says Clarkson, "Everybody loves a good fairy tale." ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Some tips : Traveling to London for royal wedding?

Will the Web have a place in a world full of apps? - Last summer, in a much-read cover story, Wired proclaimed that the Web is dead. Chris Anderson, the magazine's editor, argued that loading pages in a browser is passé. The future, Anderson wrote, is in downloadable apps, which have several advantages over the Web. They're fast, they can be customized for specific purposes, and—perhaps most importantly—people seem to have no problem paying for them, which means that software and media companies have an incentive to keep creating more. Few of us, meanwhile, pay for Web content—and our reluctance, Anderson argued, spoke volumes about what we really want from our computers: "Much as we love freedom and choice, we also love things that just work, reliably and seamlessly."

Anderson's argument was instantly showered with criticism—much of it from people who write on the Web—but if you went beyond the blustery headline and graphics, it wasn't an unreasonable prediction. People spend a lot of time and money on apps these days, and many developers are indeed devoting more of their resources to apps than to the Web. Still, I've been skeptical of the Web-is-dead idea. The Web has one main advantage over apps: It works everywhere, and that's important in a post-Windows world. Since our computers, phones, and tablets use different operating systems, we need a single platform to unite them all. Sure, programmers can theoretically write different apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Palm, and every other gadget that comes along, but that doesn't seem tenable. Instead, they'll come to see the advantages of creating content and applications that work across devices. There's no better uniter than the Web.

But as I began to think about how the Internet will evolve—for this, the second article in my series on the future of tech—I found myself splitting the difference. Both Anderson's view—"The Web is dead!"—and my view—"Ditch the App Store!"—lack nuance. It seems safer and wiser to bet that the Web and apps will survive over the long run or, at least, for the next five years. Indeed, as mobile browsers and Web programming systems improve, the difference between sites you access from a browser and apps you download from a centralized store will surely shrink. Web sites will grow more adept at storing content locally (so you won't have to be online to use them), they'll get better at using your device's specialized hardware, and their interfaces will look and feel just as complex and responsive as those of native apps.

In other words, the fight between apps and the Web will be rendered moot. The two modes of getting online will become indistinguishable—you'll reach for the Web or apps or both, depending on the device you're using. The more relevant issue is that we'll all be getting online more, and for all kinds of tasks—listening to music, watching movies, reading books, playing games, doing office work, and communicating with friends and colleagues. Sun Microsystems' old slogan, "the network is the computer," gets truer every day. (It's telling that the slogan outlived the company.)

I don't think many people have internalized this future. When we buy computers and phones, we still check out how fast they are, how much RAM they've got, and how much storage space they carry. Apple will sell you a 16GB iPad 2 for just $500, but some people are willing to pay $200 more to get 64GB. Why? Because we haven't quite reached the stage when the specs of our gadgets cease to matter. In a few years, you won't care about local storage space nearly as much: As long as your machine can get access to fast broadband and can handle high-definition video, you'll be able to do pretty much anything with it. The device won't matter. The network will.

Let me be more specific: These days many people store e-mail, photos, and documents in the "cloud." It's possible that you get a lot of your entertainment via broadband lines, too (if you listen to Pandora, say, or spend your evenings with Netflix's streaming service). I predict that this trend will continue, but that we'll also see something more interesting. Instead of just using the network just to store data, we'll also rely on faraway servers for their processing power, too. For a taste of this, try OnLive, an Internet-gaming service that I've praised a couple times. OnLive lets you run high-def games—the kind that once required a monster PC or console—on rinky-dink hardware. OnLive does this by processing all of the video on very fast computers, then shuttling the images back to your machine over the Internet. This doesn't sound as if it should work, but it does, and very well, too. Now imagine the same process happening for other apps: You'd could edit video, crunch data sets, create music, or do other computationally complex tasks on your tablet or netbook—all the processing would take place far away, so seamlessly that you wouldn't notice anything amiss. This sounds fantastical. It's not. It's closer than you think.

Your devices' deeper integration with the Internet will change your life even if you don't do a lot of processor-intensive tasks. One of my favorite ideas about the future of computing is the notion of the "continuous client"—Joshua Topolsky's view that when we move from gadget to gadget, the stuff we're doing on one machine should travel with us. If you've got Slate and a spreadsheet open on your office computer when you leave for the day, the same windows should show up on your laptop at home, too. Right now, different companies are working on different aspects of this problem. Google's Chrome OS, which stores all data online, currently offers the most advanced implementation of the continuous client, but it's far from perfect. I suspect that continuity will be one of the main areas of interface innovation over the next few years. You'll use a plethora of gadgets made by different companies, but you'll pick up right where you left off as you flit from one to the next.

There is, of course, a huge question mark dangling over the network-enabled future I'm describing. This future depends on fast and ubiquitous broadband, which, in the oligopolistic American telecom market, isn't guaranteed to happen soon. Over the next few years, major American mobile carriers will adopt faster "4G" wireless Internet systems—but will they be fast, cheap, and reliable enough to spur the sort of innovation I'm describing? I don't know. Honestly, I'm pessimistic.

But even if the United States doesn't take part in this revolution, it's still going to happen. South Korea is working on a plan to increase its wired broadband speeds to 1 gigabit per second by the end of 2012, and it's aiming for wireless speeds of 10 megabits per second. These are roughly 10 times as fast as American broadband speeds. And it's not just South Korea; pretty much every other industrialized country has better broadband than we do. It's a scary thing to contemplate: If the network is the computer, and we don't have the network—what do we have?

What do you think—am I being too pessimistic about American broadband, or too optimistic about how the Internet will revolutionize our gadgets? Let me know your thoughts on the future of the Internet in the comments below. I'll discuss your ideas in a future column. ( slate.com )

READ MORE -

Shakespeare Versus Text Messages and Facebook

Shakespeare Versus Text Messages and Facebook - As parents struggle to wrench their children away from social networking sites, the new national curriculum will encourage them to spend even more time looking at Facebook and text messages.

And while blogs might play a significant role in promoting a healthy democracy, studying them as a piece of literature in an already crowded English curriculum, could turn out to be a big waste of valuable learning time.

The draft national curriculum for year 11 and 12 students lists email, text messages, social networking sites and blogs in its draft curriculum for senior high school students.

It also includes newspapers, magazines, films including Billy Elliot, The Castle, Up in the Air and digital texts such as Dust Echoes, a series of animated Aboriginal dreamtime stories. And it suggests students look at the placement of advertising in the mass media.

Episodes of the ABC television series Australian Story are also included for study, as are Australian plays – Ray Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and David Williamson's The Club, and American author F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. Shakespeare and Jane Austen are survivors.

Students sitting the advanced English exam in the Higher School Certificate have studied a museum exhibit of September 11 artifacts. While interesting, it remains to be seen how valuable an exercise this proves to be.

During the 1980s, the University of Sydney tested its first year English literature students in functional grammar. Most students failed, having learned at school that there is no such thing as correct grammar - it needed only be appropriate to the context in which it was used. This meant that saying ‘‘I don’t know nothing’’ was neither correct, nor incorrect.

It was said to be appropriate if the speaker’s meaning was conveyed. It is difficult to see how this approach served its students well.

You can justify Marxist and feminist approaches to literary criticism if students have a mature and thorough understanding of their Shakespeare texts.

But it is not clear how studying text messages and social networking sites will contribute to valuable learning. ( Sydney Morning Herald )

READ MORE - Shakespeare Versus Text Messages and Facebook

We can't believe our friends are Russian spies, Richard and Cynthia Murphy's N.J. neighbors say

We can't believe our friends are Russian spies, Richard and Cynthia Murphy's N.J. neighbors say. They were the best of friends. The two couples hiked, had barbecues and birthday parties with each other, and their children loved playing together.

Neighbor's photos of accused Russian spies Richard and Cynthia Murphy and their family.

But one of the families in this comfortable New Jersey life had a secret.

Richard and Cynthia Murphy were charged this week with living deep undercover to spy for Russia - an astonishing accusation in a post-Cold War era.

It was even more astonishing to a pair of their closest friends, who agreed to tell their story to the Daily News.

Richard and Cynthia (below) interact with their children.

CLICK IMAGE FOR MORE PICS OF SUSPECTED RUSSIAN SPIES RICHARD AND CYNTHIA MURPHY.

"We're like, 'Holy crap, this is Cyndy and Rick Murphy," said the husband.

"Then we contact the FBI, and they corroborate all this ... but it's still so surreal. We were stunned."

The couple, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they still can't believe the people they palled around with nearly every weekend for two years were agents for the Kremlin.

"While we were in Hoboken, we were probably one of their closest friends," the husband said.

"They'd baby-sit our kids. I kind of realized the other day that they never really let us baby-sit their kids - which, thinking back now, I can probably see why."

Never once did they think the Murphys were into cloak-and-dagger espionage that included secret codes and money drops with shadowy Russian cohorts.

"I'm almost wondering if they got caught up in a situation that they didn't know how to get out of, a situation they didn't really want to be in but were forced to," the husband said.

"My wife and I keep thinking this is all wrong, that they have the wrong people."

The couple said they met the Murphys in 2003 when they moved into a Hoboken apartment complex.

"We were neighbors and we just kind of ran into them one day and just hit it off," said the husband, who works in finance. "They seemed like a decent young couple.

"We just became good family friends, and their kids hung out with our kids. We'd have them over and they'd have us over. We had dinners together. We've had barbecues together out on our back patio."

The couple's photo album contains snapshots of the couples hiking a snowy trail at Turtleback Park in New Jersey, ice-skating together and celebrating the birthday of one of the Murphys' young daughters at a Hoboken toy store in 2004. "I look back at it now and think, 'We let them watch our kids!' Russian spies watching our kids," the husband said.

Richard Murphy told the couple he was attending school to study international affairs and politics. Cynthia Murphy worked at a finance company.

The Murphys gave all indications they were devoted to each other and their two daughters, Katie and Lisa, the couple said.

A federal complaint suggested the Murphys may never have been married at all - their entire lives, including their daughters, a ruse to cover up their real mission.

"They weren't all lovey, touchy-feely, but who is nowadays?" the husband said. "They seemed like a normal couple. They loved their kids. They seemed to enjoy each other's company; they'd laugh a lot.

"She was a great cook. She made us cakes and lasagna. She once made these cookies that were shaped like the Statue of Liberty and a New York taxicab."

The couple moved out of state in 2006, but the wife and Cynthia Murphy continued to correspond via e-mail.

A day after the Murphys moved into their new home in Montclair, N.J., in August 2008, Cynthia Murphy sent the couple an e-mail sharing the news. "Goodbye Hoboken," she wrote. "We even have one spare bedroom for a playroom/guest bedroom if you're ever on the East Coast and would like to come visit."

The couple last heard from the Murphys in December, when they received a Christmas card that featured a family photo taken in front of their new home.

"Looking back at it, it seems just weird," the husband said. "Was it all fake? It must have been all fake, or, like I said, they just got caught up into something didn't know how to get out of."

The wife added, "I feel betrayed."

The couple said they fear what might happen to the Murphys' young girls.

"When I was talking to the FBI guy last night, I said, 'Where's Katie and Lisa?' I told him if they don't have a place to stay, send them down to us and we'll take care of them, and we would in a heartbeat," the husband said.

The couple said they are racking their brains to determine if they divulged anything that was helpful to the Murphys' covert mission.

"I'm wondering did I see a van parked outside of our house that was the FBI staking them out, did I say anything about my time on the New York Stock Exchange," the husband said.

"How does it make us feel?" he added. "Like pawns." ( nydailynews.com )

READ MORE - We can't believe our friends are Russian spies, Richard and Cynthia Murphy's N.J. neighbors say

Men are redundant, but let's keep them anyway

Men are redundant, but let's keep them anyway. Without men, there would be no one to remove spiders from the bath, says Rowan Pelling.

I used to think it would be fascinating to experience life, as the blind prophet Tiresias did, from the point of view of both genders. You could be a woman until the age of 35, or the first sign of serious wrinkles, then turn into a man, play poker and date people ridiculously younger than yourself. This daydream lasted until most of the middle-aged chaps I know developed prostate trouble, and I suddenly realised there were far more troubling things than a ticking womb and laughter lines like a First World War trench.

Men are still required to deal with unwelcome visitors Photo: Andrew Crowley

The "Crisis of Masculinity", as it's often termed, has been brewing a long while. My old boss at GQ, Michael VerMeulen, used to say in the 1990s that the ascent of women meant that men only had two choices, "playboy or drone". But soon even those options were closed: in 2003, after reading Y: The Descent of Men, by the Telegraph science writer Steve Jones, my husband told me mournfully that the crumbling Y chromosome meant his lot would be extinct in another couple of million years.

A few resilient Iron Johns kept beating their chests, sneering at metrosexuals and rushing into the wilderness to wrestle bears. And things started to look up after The Dangerous Book for Boys became a hit, and whittling sticks was once again acknowledged as a useful male activity. But the announcement that British scientists have discovered how to create human sperm from stem cells means it's official: men are redundant.

Yet I feel compelled – and not just as the mother of two small boys – to make a spirited defence of the weaker sex. Where would I be without my husband to read 80 pages of a car manual, in French, to find out how the back windscreen-wiper works? Who would tug the dried lumps of excrement from our cat's backside? Who would explain the rules of cricket to an American? Who would clear a blocked drain of unspeakable clotted matter? Who would take hours to demonstrate the dreadnought manoeuvres at the Battle of Jutland, armed only with salt cellars and jam jars?

Without men, there would be no one to read Joseph Conrad or Norman Mailer, to remove spiders from the bath, or (important one, this) to tell women they're pretty. And say what you like, but they were the lion-hearted fools who invented the idea of "women and children first". I say we keep them.

*One particular male facing a crisis of masculinity, or so it seems to me, is Daniel Radcliffe. The Harry Potter star is almost 20, but is still scheduled to make two more films in the series before he can retire from the role. Like Macaulay Culkin, he seems doomed to be forever perceived as a boy trapped somewhat spookily in a man's body.

Radcliffe, I'm afraid, is not a natural male lead outside wizard school (and yes, I have seen that Kipling drama My Boy Jack, and kept thinking, "It's Harry Potter with a 'tache"). There is no conceivable way he could play the lead in Spooks, or the suave villain in a Bond movie: "Tell me the code, damn you, or I'll bash your shin with this Quidditch broom!" And unlike his co-star Emma Watson, he can't model with Chanel. Once again, it's a woman's world.

*Apparently, it's a boom time for British herbalism, with lavender in particular enjoying a big revival. I am delighted to hear this. During my childhood, no boudoir was complete without a small bottle of Yardley's English Lavender. And recently, when I was suffering from mild panic attacks and broken sleep, my aunt (who told me when I was six that she was a witch, and charmed my verrucas away with a gold ring) suggested I scatter lavender oil on my pillow. I did so, and almost immediately the palpitations disappeared and my sleep improved. Boy wizards may grow up, but witches never retire. ( telegraph.co.uk )

READ MORE - Men are redundant, but let's keep them anyway

Michigan Militia Group Preparing for Antichrist, Web Site Says

Michigan Militia Group Preparing for Antichrist, Web Site Says. The Michigan-based militia group charged with conspiring to kill police officers is preparing for battle with the Antichrist, according to a Web site purportedly run by the group.

AP / Mar. 28: Michigan State Police guard a home in Clayton after the FBI raided the home of a suspected militia leader.

"Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment," Hutaree.com reads. "The only thing on earth to save the testimony and those who follow it, are the members of the testimony, til the return of Christ in the clouds. We, the Hutaree, are prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren't. We will still spread the word, and fight to keep it, up to the time of the great coming."

Nine suspects associated with Hutaree, which is purportedly a Christian-based militia group, have been charged with conspiring to kill police officers and then attack a funeral in hopes of killing more law enforcement officials, federal prosecutors said Monday. U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said agents moved on the group because the militia members were planning an attack sometime in April.

Members of the militia, including its leader, David Brian Stone, also known as "Captain Hutaree," are charged in the case and allegedly met regularly since at least 2008 to conduct military-style training in Michigan's Lenawee County and elsewhere. An indictment alleges that members of the group conspired to "levy war against the United States, (and) to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States."

Eight suspects have been arrested by the FBI and one more is being sought. Of the eight captured, seven were arraigned Monday in Detroit and ordered held pending a bond hearing Wednesday.

Stone's ex-wife, Donna Stone, told The Associated Press before the arraignments that her former husband was to blame for pulling her son into the Hutaree movement. She said David Brian Stone legally adopted her son, David Brian Stone Jr., who is among those indicted. She said the marriage lasted about 10 years.

"It started out as a Christian thing," said Donna Stone, 44. "You go to church. You pray. You take care of your family. I think David started to take it a little too far. He dragged a lot of people with him."

Another son of David Brian Stone, Joshua Matthew Stone, also was indicted and is a fugitive, said Detroit FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold.

According to an indictment unsealed Monday, nine members of the militia had planned to kill a member of law enforcement and then plant an improvised explosive device to attack the subsequent funeral procession. Other possible acts included killing a law enforcement official and his or her family at home or luring a member of law enforcement with a false 911 emergency call and then killing him or her.

"These acts would intimidate and demoralize law enforcement diminishing their ranks and rendering them ineffective," the indictment reads.

Once such an attack was launched, the indictment alleges that Hutaree members would then retreat to one of several "rally points" to detonate trip-wired improvised explosive devices.

"It is believed by the Hutaree that this engagement would then serve as a catalyst for a more wide-spread uprising against the Government," the indictment continued.

Several conspirators allegedly attempted to travel to Kentucky in early February to attend a summit of militia groups convened by Stone, the alleged leader of the organization.

"The purpose of the summit of militia groups was to facilitate better communications, cooperation, and coordination between the various militias," the indictment read.

Although weather ultimately prevented the conspirators from reaching their destination, Stone allegedly identified law enforcement officers in a "specific community" near his residence and one officer as potential targets, according to the indictment.

Weeks later, the suspects gathered in Michigan's Lenawee County to engage in training for the planned covert reconnaissance exercise. Each suspect in attendance carried and used at least one firearm, the indictment continues.

Andrew Arena, head of the FBI's field office in Detroit, said the case is an example of "radical and extremist fringe groups" found throughout society.

The "Doctrine of the Hutaree," which is based on faith, according to the group's Web site, states that Christians should "stand firm in Christ and believe in him until our uttermost end. The testimony must by no means pass away and we must spread the word believing in Christ's words, even during the end times."

A two-minute video on the Web site depicts several camouflaged, armed men firing high-powered rifles as they move throughout open wilderness. At one point, three men can be seen firing weapons from behind a parked vehicle. Several other videos of the militia's training activities, including one that has been viewed more than 21,000 times, can be found on its YouTube channel.

Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, told the Associated Press that one of his team leaders got a frantic phone call Saturday evening from members of Hutaree, which the Web site says means "Christian soldier." The callers said their property in southeast Michigan was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Lackomar said.

"They said they were under attack by the ATF and wanted a place to hide," Lackomar said. "My team leader said, 'No thanks.'"

A message sent to the militia group by FoxNews.com seeking comment was not immediately returned early Monday.

According to the militia's ranking system, members of the group can hold titles such as senior gunner, gold rifleman, "zulif" and "arkon."

"Respect the officer above you and obey your commander with dignity," the Web site reads. "Each man holds his place in flesh and spirit, heaven and earth."

The Web site also includes links to Hutaree forums, a photograph of a patch for the Colonial Christian Republic and a red banner promoting a training session for April 24.

"Preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive," the Web site reads. " ... Being Hutaree is to stay the Testimony of Christ alive, and follow a motto, John 15:13, 'Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.'"

Hutaree was named in a list of 512 so-called active "patriot" groups in the U.S. last year by the Southern Poverty Law Center in its spring intelligence report on extremist organizations. Of those groups, 127 were militias, including Hutaree. The remaining groups, according to SPLC, engage in "groundless conspiracy theorizing" or advocate anti-government doctrines. ( The Associated Press )

READ MORE - Michigan Militia Group Preparing for Antichrist, Web Site Says

Who are the Christian militia 'Hutaree' and why was the FBI targeting them?

Who are the Christian militia 'Hutaree' and why was the FBI targeting them?. This weekend, the FBI conducted a series of raids in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana to detain members of a Christian militia group on criminal charges. So what does this group believe, and how do its members fit in with the larger radical right?

The group in question calls itself the "Hutaree"; its website says the term translates as "Christian warrior." And in keeping with that name, the material it has posted online reflects an outlook of violent religious confrontation. The Hutaree believe that acts of violence can bring about the final judgment prophesied in the Christian Bible — and therefore have been arming themselves to go to war with the Antichrist, "evil Jews," and Muslims. They have documented their training exercises in a series of YouTube videos. And they spell out the theological rationale for their actions on the "About Us" page on their website:

Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment. The only thing on earth to save the testimony and those who follow it, are the members of the testimony, til the return of Christ in the clouds. We, the Hutaree, are prepared to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren't. We will still spread the word, and fight to keep it, up to the time of the great coming ... The Hutaree will one day see its enemy and meet him on the battlefield if so God wills it. We will reach out to those who are yet blind in the last days of the kingdoms of men and bring them to life in Christ.

According to the indictment unsealed this morning in court, the nine members of the group — eight men and one woman — planned to "levy war" against the U.S. government. To incite such a war, the group planned to murder law enforcement officials and then follow up their initial attacks with a separate attack on the fallen officers' funeral(s), where a large number of law enforcement personnel would no doubt be gathered.

With other news of vandalism and harassment from right-wing activists angry about the passage of health care reform, some commentators are already depicting the arrests as a further sign of how conservative activists are promoting violence in their ranks. But even within the militant world of the Michigan militia movement, the Hutarees are viewed as extreme religious fanatics. Michael Lackomar, a leader of the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, told the Associated Press that he'd fielded a frantic call from a Hutaree member Saturday night reporting the onset of the federal raids. After hearing pleas for help, Lackomar said that his group declined. "They said that they were under attack by the ATF and wanted a place to hide," Lackomar recalls. "My team leaders said, 'No thanks.' "

A posting on a Hutaree message board by someone named Anna seems to back up Lackomar's claim that Hutaree members were seeking help from other militia groups in the area.

"We need some help please," she wrote. "I am enroute south with my children using the wifi's as I can. They were catching others as they came to their rallying points, they broke into homes and took children and used the tasers on wives, my son who is 12 and I got out by crawling through the creeks behind our house. My husband and others are taken, please call the press and tell them, if any in the Michigan Militia is still free please rally with them. Please help."

Still, while the more secular and libertarian leaders of the militia movement may distance themselves from the Hutaree, the two militant strains of right-wing activism share some tactical affinities, says Kenneth S. Stern, the American Jewish Committee's director on anti-Semitism and extremism. "What you're starting to see in the number of militia groups sprouting up in the last year is a general antigovernment ideology," Stern says. "The targeting of cops is not inconsistent with that. The literature that glorified that white supremacist movement that helped the militia movement take off in the 1990s advocated those tactics — especially in books like 'The Turner Diaries.' And some of these groups — like the Order and others — started setting traps for law enforcement and going after first responders."

Stern cautions that it's too soon to draw broader lessons from the alleged Hutaree plot. But he does add that "whenever you have a combination of the ideology that says, 'the government is evil and we'd better do something about it,' and a religion that says, 'Hey, God wants you to do something about it,' that can be problematic." ( yahoo.com )

READ MORE - Who are the Christian militia 'Hutaree' and why was the FBI targeting them?

Ten Things to Know About Background Checks

Ten Things to Know About Background Checks. You have been working long and hard on your search for a new job opportunity. Finally, you have an awesome interview and you get a great offer. The hiring manager indicates that the only thing remaining is a background check (BC).

Your heart starts to pound and beads of sweat appear on your forehead. Questions fly through your mind: What are they looking for? What are they going to find? Who are they going to talk to? How do they conduct the process? Am I in trouble because of the DUI I got when I was 20 years old? Will they find out about the company I didn't include on my résumé because I only worked there for two months? Will they find out I got fired instead of quitting? Will my bankruptcy from 12 years ago prevent me from getting the job? What will my vindictive former boss say about me?

Let's answer these questions for you.

Companies are using BCs now, more than ever before, to make certain they are hiring the right person. Unfortunately, BCs are now more common because so many job seekers have a tendency to "exaggerate" on their résumés. Companies want to identify severe problems in the candidate's employment or personal history. But what information are they entitled to and what privacy rights do you have?

Robert Mather, CEO of Pre-Employ.com, which specializes in background checks, has some interesting insights into the industry and process. Let's take a look at what Bob has to say and what you can expect from a BC.

Mather says that the larger BC companies conduct between 4,000 and 12,000 checks per day. The cost will vary from about $19-56, depending on the type of information the company is seeking. In addition, companies cannot conduct a BC without your written authorization. If you are turned down because of a BC, the company must tell you why, according to federal law.

Let's review the most common BC items:

1. Criminal History

Felony and misdemeanor searches can be conducted by county, state or throughout the nation. Each respective search costs an additional fee. Some states will only provide information for the past seven years. You need to check each state for its policy. Only information of public record is available. Juvenile records cannot be accessed. Bob Mather indicates that identity theft and false criminal reporting are on the increase and can appear on your BC. More about this later and what you can do about it.

2. Civil History

Similar to criminal history and includes whether the job candidate is/was a plaintiff or defendant.

3. National Wants and Warrants

If the candidate is "wanted," it will appear through the NCIC system, but this information is not frequently requested.

4. Credit Report

This is a very common item for BCs. Companies are searching for financial stability. Bankruptcies prior to seven years will not appear.

5. Social Security Reports

This will reveal where the candidate has lived for the past seven years. Name variations are frequently used to verify addresses and locations.

6. Previous Employer Verification

This is the item that makes most job seekers nervous. Almost everyone has had some form of disagreement with his or her boss. The concern centers on what the employer will say and whether they will release employment files. In most cases, because of a dramatic upsurge in lawsuits from job seekers who received false bad references, previous employers typically only confirm dates of employment. Compensation and good or bad references are not generally provided; however, that doesn't mean it is not done. A job seeker might want to consider hiring a "reference check" company to verify what previous employers are saying.

7. Drug Tests

Approximately 15 to 20 percent of all BCs include a drug test. BC companies typically contract with local medical clinics to conduct the test. It can be expensive, so it is not done in all cases. In most cases, the job requirements determine if a drug test is necessary, particularly for anyone operating machinery or a motor vehicle. Executives are also frequently screened for drugs.

8. Reference Verification

The employer or BC firm will contact references provided by the job candidate. Typically, the questions are very specific regarding job performance as opposed to personal or private information. They rarely contact anyone other than the designated references provided by the candidate.

9. Education

The BC will verify attendance, majors, degrees, certifications and dates earned. This has become a common BC item as a result of overwhelming falsification by job candidates. We have all seen news reports of leading politicians, executives, teachers and celebrities who have falsified their education. Here is a tip: Job candidates without a formal degree should not waste their money on the phony degree or certification programs where you pay a fee to get a degree based on experience. Be honest about your education. If you believe you need additional education, enroll in an accredited school. Your efforts to complete or enhance your education will definitely be viewed positively.

10. Driving History

A common and almost mandatory BC item for people required to operate a motor vehicle. They are checking for license status, holder, dates of issuance and expiration, violations, suspensions, or other actions.

"Errors in criminal history frequently occur as the darker side of identity theft," Mather says. "Most people quickly become aware of problems on credit history as a result of identity theft. But you should also be aware that false reporting of crimes may be reflected on your BC because someone has stolen your identity."

If you have any concern about identity theft, or if you wish to learn what a BC will reveal about your background, you may wish to conduct a BC on yourself for a nominal fee using www.mybackgroundcheck.com. This site also has great free resources regarding background checks and how to clean up your report if you find any errors -- use the "Consumer Resources" link.

Finally: Relax. Too often job candidates worry too much about a BC. In the overwhelming number of cases, minor problems on your BC will not be an issue. Problems that occurred in the distant past will be overlooked based on your current history and ability to perform your job with talent and integrity. If a company is going to do a BC, be straightforward with them about any problem that might be discovered. Offer evidence that this is no longer an issue. Your hard work and honesty will help overcome any mistakes from the past. ( msn.com )

READ MORE - Ten Things to Know About Background Checks

Fight the Fear of Returning to Work

Fight the Fear of Returning to Work. Admit it -- you may not be sure how to start your job search, or what the most effective job search techniques are. Sometimes you aren't even sure exactly what career or job you want to do now.

Many women want to restart a career after beginning a family, but with years out of the workforce they question their own worth and whether anyone would hire them. The job search process seems downright scary, causing many women to stay on the sidelines. Sure there are pitfalls to avoid, lots of advice, both good and bad, plus plenty of competition vying for the jobs.

Having a workable action plan will take away some of your uneasiness. To get started:

Soul search.

Career happiness is a result of aligning your skills, your values and your interests. Do some self-analysis. Define your skills that you can offer an employer -- be sure to note any volunteer work, which is greatly valued by employers. What do you want to do? Where? Part-time or full? Narrow down the career options that seem ideal for you.

Employers hire you to do a specific job and expect you to define exactly what that is. Applying for everything only wastes time--yours and the employers. It's better to identify your top strengths and assess your abilities and experience (paid and volunteer). Consider what interests you and focus on how best to apply your talents in a career you have some passionate interest in. Research the potential job options and select one or two job titles to pursue.

Be ready to work.

Employers hate working parents who don't show up and have proved to be undependable. Be prepared to clearly define that you have a solid, dependable daycare and reliable backup plan so you won't skip out every time Johnny gets a runny nose.

Consider setting up a co-op with other parents or neighbors to cover you when your kids are sick. Also, anticipate any overtime requests, travel and commute time when selecting a daycare, which often has very rigid hours of service. A positive, "I will deliver the results needed" attitude will go along way to aid you in landing a job.

Know where to find good leads.

According to a recent study from the Society for Human Resource Management, 86 percent of employers use online recruitment for open jobs. The Department of Labor states that less than 4 percent of job seekers found their jobs on the Internet, and most of those were posted on the employers' Web sites, but for the Department of Labor, networking accounts for 63 percent of all jobs filled -- 63 percent! Start with everyone you know. Ask for referrals -- people they know that you should contact who might help pass your résumé inside their companies, or names of other companies you should investigate. It's better to be direct and say, "I'm job hunting. Do you know anyone over at XYZ company?" versus, "Heard of any jobs? I need one."

Write a winning résumé and cover letter.

Employers give résumés less than a 15-second glance, so a vague résumé gets trashed immediately.

Demonstrate results! A one-page résumé stressing actions and noting results such as increasing/decreasing, saving time or making money are most influential.

Use action verbs. Start each sentence with a powerful descriptive action verb -- such as established, managed, organized, etc.

Proofread! Studies have shown employers cite spelling and typos as the top mistake job hunters make.

Cover letters are influential -- use them.

Apply quickly! Employers call the strong early-birds first, often leaving hundreds of résumés unread.

Be armed and ready for the interview.

Employers make snap decisions. They state that most people lose the job in the first minute of the interview. Inappropriate attire is the worst culprit. Dress professionally. To be ready for the tough questions, practice writing out good answers to potential questions ahead of time. Role-play an interview with a friend to better prepare and eliminate nervousness. Keep answers to less than one minute, and use specific examples from your experience whenever possible. Display a positive, eager-to-learn, enthusiastic attitude. It is a key trait employers want.

And finally, always send a handwritten thank-you note -- e-mails are too quickly forgotten.

Need more assistance? Robin's The DreamMaker audio coaching can help! It is your ideal career decision-making tool to direct you into a better career and brighter future.

The DreamMaker Audio Coaching Program includes everything you need to help you uncover your passion and make a positive career change. Based on Robin Ryan's popular career book, "What To Do With The Rest Of Your Life" her workbook and coaching CDs will help launch your new career FAST. Don't waste another day hoping things will change! Get The DreamMaker and let your new life begin!

Robin Ryan has appeared on the Dr. Phil Show, Oprah, NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, CNN, CNBC and is considered America's top career coach. She is the best-selling author of: "60 Seconds & You're Hired!;" "Winning Résumés;" "Winning Cover Letters" and "What to Do with the Rest of Your Life." She's the creator of the highly acclaimed audio training program Interview Advantage and The DreamMaker. ( msn.com )

READ MORE - Fight the Fear of Returning to Work

Job Hunt Giving You a Headache?. For some people, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is a guiding principle. During a job search, however, it's hard to tell just what ain't broke and what needs fixing. Looking for work is a time-consuming process that can move or at least feel like it's moving at a snail's pace.

So how can you tell the difference between a regular, patience-trying job search and an unsuccessful one?

The first sign: No one's calling you for interviews. Not every résumé you send will result in an interview, but some of them should. Another clue is if you are getting called for interviews but you never get called back for a second round or receive an offer.

If you find your job hunt isn't giving you anything but a stress headache, ask yourself the following questions:

Is my résumé targeted?

Just because you're applying for multiple jobs, don't assume the same résumé works for every position. Each job posting will stress different qualities over others, so rework each résumé to highlight the experience and skills that correspond to that particular employer. Your résumé will prove not only that you're qualified for the job but that you also have an attention to detail.

Am I networking?

Think about this: There is only one of you and there are thousands of job openings. The more people know you're looking for a job, the better your chances of finding one are. You can never be sure who will know of an available position.

Networking can also give you a connection to a hiring manager or somebody at a company that puts you ahead of other applicants, says Matthew Grant of Aquent, a marketing staffing firm. With so many job seekers competing for the same position, you have an edge if you are referred by a friend or colleague of the hiring manager.

Do I know something about the companies I'm applying to?

"Tell me what you know about the company" or "Why would you fit in well here?" have become staple interview questions, so don't be caught off guard. Shrugging your shoulders and saying, "I don't know" isn't going to score you points. Look at the company's Web site and read press releases and newspaper articles to see what's going on with your prospective future boss. In addition to preparing for the interview, you'll also learn whether or not the company and its culture are a right fit for you.

Am I targeting my job search?

Sending out several applications is key to finding a job, but you also need to be selective about the jobs to which you're applying.

"We see job seekers apply for every job posted – a real red flag that they do not know what it is they are good at," says Eliot Burdett of Peak Sales Recruiting. While you don't need to possess every single skill listed on a posting, you should at least be qualified for the position and prove that you have transferrable skills. Your targeted résumé will help prove you're a serious candidate if you have some qualifications for the position.

If you're spending time applying for jobs you're not qualified for, you're wasting valuable time you could be devoting to a position that's a better fit. If you recognize where your strengths lie and what transferrable skills you possess, you'll see better results than if you apply to any posting you come across.

Has someone else looked over my résumé and interview technique?

Feedback is critical to job hunting. Ask someone else to read your résumé and provide feedback, suggests Kevin Donlin of TheSimpleJobSearch.com. "Ask them three questions: Does this résumé clearly tell you what I can do? Does it prove I can do it? Does it make you want to call to find out more?" Friends or colleagues can provide objective points of view that help you revise your résumé.

Your interview skills need the same attention. Are your answers succinct or too short? Thorough or rambling? What you think you're saying isn't necessarily what others hear, so find this out now rather than in the interview. If you don't think that a colleague or friend can offer constructive feedback, make an appointment with an interview coach.

How am I presenting myself?

Employers are assessing your presentation before you even show up for an interview. The e-mail address you put on your résumé and other correspondences should be professional, not descriptive. So avoid addresses like BingeDrinker@beerguzzlers.net. Opt for something as simple as your name.

Your e-mails and phone conversations with hiring managers or recruiters should also send a professional message. Don't send e-mails written in all capital letters and/or using three exclamation points – it's bad netiquette in personal correspondence, but it's even worse in business.

Put the same thought into your outgoing voicemail message. Don't try to be funny by playing thirty seconds of your favorite song or talking with a mouthful of food. Hiring managers might hang up instead of asking you to call them back. Give a normal, casual greeting, or use one of the pre-programmed options that come with most accounts.

If a recruiter calls you, don't try to hold a conversation with your TV blaring in the background or your child screaming on your lap. If you're asked whether it's a good time to talk, you can be honest and say you're in the middle of something. Then ask if he or she can call you back in 15 minutes or find another day that's convenient for both of you. You'll be prepared to answer all the recruiter's questions and won't be distracted. ( msn.com )

READ MORE -

Does No Degree Mean No Job?

Does No Degree Mean No Job?.Often, while perusing the job postings, you'll see listed under the requirements section wording such as "Bachelor's degree or equivalent."

Does this mean that those without a degree need not apply?

Not necessarily.

Although many corporate cultures require that their employees have a degree regardless of their position or length of experience, others will allow the degree to be trumped by industry experience. This is especially true for those job postings that have a degree "or equivalent" tagged to them. As such, you may have a chance when you lack the degree. Generally speaking, a degree will usually be mandatory for those younger candidates lacking solid, relevant job experience. The operative word here is "equivalent" and how that is defined.

Sell results instead

While these employers may have different requirements for equivalent experience, a good rule of thumb is to demonstrate performance and results in your previous work. To accomplish this, your goal is to show how you either made money or saved money for your employer. From your work experience, develop as many specific examples as possible of when you actually have done so. If you can attach a dollar value to several of those, so much the better. Put these in your résumé.

Here are some actual examples:

• "Responsible for generating 13 new accounts by creating database and mailing piece."
  


• "Booked $150,000 in new business for 2007 by contracting with 2 major groups for the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2007."
  


• "Increased revenue by 38 percent from new social market bookings."


• "Chaired meetings and headed the negotiation discussion that resulted in the settlement of a long protracted contractual and legal issue with the subcontractor and client."
  


• "Improved cash collection and debt aging from average 100 days to a more manageable 30 days and realized savings of about $276,000."
  


• "Reduced turnover by 45 percent over previous management within 15 months through my training program and development plans."


• "Won the Leadership and Excellence award in 2007 for outstanding achievements during my project management role."


• "Increased our customer satisfaction survey scores by 32 percent on average by training my team on the proper way to provide a great customer experience."


• "Reduced non-beneficial spending costs by 40 percent by effectively researching and analyzing accounts payable data."

You should also have a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) near the top of your résumé. Also called a "Personal Branding Statement," this is a short, one-sentence "pitch" that describes who you are in about 15 seconds. Your USP should state the single greatest strength you offer and the biggest benefit that you bring to an employer.

Example:

"Hospitality business development professional with a strength in creative sales and marketing techniques that generated $500,000 in new revenue for my employer in 12 months."

You can outweigh the formal education by showing exactly how your specific work has benefited your previous employer. The bottom line is that employers today, more than ever, want to have problem solvers on board. Though you may have no degree, you can prove yourself a resource that fits into their larger profit and loss picture. If you can demonstrate that, you can get hired.

Summary

You can overcome the "degree or equivalent" obstacle if you can (a) show proven benefits to hiring you, and (b) they are open-minded or flexible enough to get past the degree hang-up. There will always be some inflexible companies when it comes to having a degree. But, you'll also find those companies who are more impressed with real-world results. ( msn.com )

READ MORE - Does No Degree Mean No Job?

How Job Seekers Can Get Their Foot in the Door

How Job Seekers Can Get Their Foot in the Door. As economy slows, just sending a résumé doesn't cut it anymore. Landing an interview is becoming as rare these days as a night without a presidential debate.

Take Mike Mayer, a former marketing manager who lives in Cleveland. He's sent out hundreds of résumés but it's been six months since anyone has called him to set up an interview. "I'm looking for a sales or marketing job, and I have extensive international experience, but maybe that's working against me," he surmises.

And A.J., an accounts receivable associate for a property management company, is finding his efforts to leave his firm and embark on a new career in human resources have hit a job-search dead end. In the past three months of sending résumés out, he says, "I have not received a single call."

Welcome to the growing résumé abyss. More and more job seekers are finding they're lost in it, unable to even get a call back from a prospective employer acknowledging they exist despite their credentials or experience.

"It used to be that job seekers were able to take a shotgun approach and hit something," says Kurt Weyerhauser, a recruiting expert with search firm Kensington Stone. But in this economy, he adds, "you have to get beyond the résumé."

There's a host of reasons for the problem, aside from just not being right for the job: a souring economy that's gotten companies to cut back or suspend hiring; résumé overload by recruiters who are inundated by electronic résumés; and a growing desire on the part of hiring managers to hire someone they know, or at least hire someone who's recommended by someone they know.

"If you go back a year ago, people were talking about the war for talent; you don't hear that anymore," says Steve Gross, global leader for consulting firm Mercer. The company recently surveyed 126 U.S. employers and found that 33 percent of them were considering a hiring freeze or cutting back on staff because of the economy. That translates, he says, into a slowdown of the hiring process in general.

While you can't disregard the importance of a well-crafted résumé that's targeted to the individual jobs, unfortunately, it's probably not a sharp enough spear for today's job hunt.

Seriously, folks, you could be the perfect candidate for a job and never get beyond an electronic "thank you" reply for sending your résumé.

Dan Enthoven, founder of job search firm Trovix, conducted a study where he sent out fictitious résumés to companies that he knew were desperate to hire software engineers in Silicon Valley. The résumés included all the right credentials and background needed for each specific job posted on company sites, including degrees from none other than top engineering schools such as Stanford and MIT, just to make the candidates even more appealing.

Out of 35 of these perfect résumés sent, only seven received e-mails saying, "We'd like to talk to you," Enthoven says. "That was shocking."

If the perfect candidates out there have only a one in five chance to get called back, it's not good news for someone who may not be a perfect match or someone trying to break into a new career.

What's happened to the hiring world, Enthoven surmises, is recruiters just assume there is no one good to be found among the avalanche of résumés they receive with every job posting.

I know, this sounds unfair, but I suppose we're dealing with human nature here. No one really believes you can find a needle in the haystack, and who has time to search for a needle anyway?

So what we get is a so-called "trust" economy, Weyerhauser says.

"We give an advantage to those candidates who are being referred by people we already know and respect," he explains. "For instance, a candidate who is referred by a well-regarded current employee is much more likely to be invited to an interview than a candidate we know nothing about who blindly sent in a résumé."

The hard part is getting an employee to recommend you. One way to do this is throw a party.

I'm not kidding. Weyerhauser figures you probably know someone right now who knows someone at a company you might be right for.

Invite 30 people and have them invite some people, and before you know it you'll have a sea of connections. Ask your guests, do they know anybody? Provide them with some food and libations, of course, so it doesn't totally seem as if you're only trolling only for a job -- and have fun for goodness sake. Nothing's worse than a cranky job seeker. You need positive vibes to kick your networking into overdrive.

Now, just asking friends if they know someone at a particular company or industry may not always be enough. Check out your friends' LinkedIn or Facebook connections, for example, and see for yourself if there might be a networking fit. Typically, Weyerhauser notes, people don't realize how their connections might work for your job search. Take the initiative here.

Another strategy is to make yourself well-known in an industry by writing an article for trade publications or authoring a blog.

Weyerhauser offered a great example of a guy who wrote a well-read marketing blog.When he called a company he was interested in working for, the manager who answered the phone knew exactly who he was because he was an avid reader of his blog. He ended up getting a plum job at the firm, he adds.

Calling a company or stopping by to introduce yourself is always a great idea. Don't make yourself a pest, but try to connect with the hiring manager so your résumé doesn't get lost on the desk of someone in human resources.

At the very least, go to LinkedIn, or one of the other networking sites out there, and try to find managers or employees, or even former staffers, at a particular company you're interested in and send them an e-mail.

And let's not totally disregard résumés and cover letters.

Abhay Padgaonkar, a management consultant, says sending out 200 résumés at once is what he calls the "spray and pray" approach. So he advises job seekers focus, focus, focus their résumés.

"It's one thing to think that you are right for the job, it's entirely another to be able to understand the requirements of the job and have your résumé and qualifications demonstrate unequivocally that you are, in fact, right for the job," he adds.

Look at each job individually, he says, look at what's required and read between the lines.

For example, have you done negotiations before? If so, explain what you did and how successful you were in your résumé and in the cover letter.

And, Padgaonkar stresses that you have to sing your own praises. "Many times we are blind to our own accomplishments, so get someone to help you point those out," he says.

"Hiring managers spend less than a minute looking at a résumé. If you don't stand out, you end up in the circular file," he concludes. ( msn.com )

READ MORE - How Job Seekers Can Get Their Foot in the Door

Bin Laden was 'within our grasp'

Bin Laden was 'within our grasp' – Osama bin Laden was unquestionably within reach of U.S. troops in the mountains of Tora Bora when American military leaders made the crucial and costly decision not to pursue the terrorist leader with massive force, a Senate report says.

The report asserts that the failure to kill or capture bin Laden at his most vulnerable in December 2001 has had lasting consequences beyond the fate of one man. Bin Laden's escape laid the foundation for today's reinvigorated Afghan insurgency and inflamed the internal strife now endangering Pakistan, it says.

Staff members for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Democratic majority prepared the report at the request of the chairman, Sen. John Kerry, as President Barack Obama prepares to boost U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The Massachusetts senator and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate has long argued the Bush administration missed a chance to get the al-Qaida leader and top deputies when they were holed up in the forbidding mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan only three months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Although limited to a review of military operations eight years old, the report could also be read as a cautionary note for those resisting an increased troop presence there now.

More pointedly, it seeks to affix a measure of blame for the state of the war today on military leaders under former president George W. Bush, specifically Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary and his top military commander, Tommy Franks.

"Removing the al-Qaida leader from the battlefield eight years ago would not have eliminated the worldwide extremist threat," the report says. "But the decisions that opened the door for his escape to Pakistan allowed bin Laden to emerge as a potent symbolic figure who continues to attract a steady flow of money and inspire fanatics worldwide. The failure to finish the job represents a lost opportunity that forever altered the course of the conflict in Afghanistan and the future of international terrorism."

The report states categorically that bin Laden was hiding in Tora Bora when the U.S. had the means to mount a rapid assault with several thousand troops at least. It says that a review of existing literature, unclassified government records and interviews with central participants "removes any lingering doubts and makes it clear that Osama bin Laden was within our grasp at Tora Bora."

On or about Dec. 16, 2001, bin Laden and bodyguards "walked unmolested out of Tora Bora and disappeared into Pakistan's unregulated tribal area," where he is still believed to be based, the report says.

Instead of a massive attack, fewer than 100 U.S. commandos, working with Afghan militias, tried to capitalize on air strikes and track down their prey.

"The vast array of American military power, from sniper teams to the most mobile divisions of the Marine Corps and the Army, was kept on the sidelines," the report said.

At the time, Rumsfeld expressed concern that a large U.S. troop presence might fuel a backlash and he and some others said the evidence was not conclusive about bin Laden's location. ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Bin Laden was 'within our grasp'

J-Lo falls flat at the AMAs

J-Lo falls flat at the AMAs. J-Lo provided one of the unintentional highlights of the American Music Awards when she fell over on stage in the middle of her dance routine.

The star otherwise known as Jennifer Lopez landed on her famous behind mid-way through her performance of Louboutins.

J-Lo performs a daring dance move at the AMA's. Photo: Getty Images

She had climbed on to the back of a male dancer and jumped off, only to slip as she landed. Ever the professional, she quickly recovered her composure but was later filmed looking furious as she exited the auditorium.

It had all started so well, with the singer entering the arena dressed as a prizefighter for a boxing-inspired performance.

Afterwards, her spokesman reassured fans that Lopez had not been injured in the fall. "She's fine, totally fine," he said.

Lopez was not the only star to take a tumble at the ceremony. Adam Lambert, the former American Idol star, also slipped mid-way through his routine. However, that was the least noteworthy element of his performance, which was so risque that it provoked furious complaints from viewers who felt it was too graphic for a primetime audience.

Other performers at the ceremony included Rihanna, Lady GaGa and Whitney Houston.

Michael Jackson won four posthumous awards, which were accepted by his brother, Jermaine, wearing a glittery white glove in tribute to the late star.

The biggest winner of the night was Taylor Swift, who won five trophies including Artist of the Year. ( © Telegraph.co.uk )

READ MORE - J-Lo falls flat at the AMAs