Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar dead at age 86

Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, who wrote more than 30 books on living a balanced life, has died in Texas. He was 86.

Ziglar, who had been suffering from pneumonia, died Wednesday at a hospital in the Dallas suburb of Plano, said his personal assistant, Jay Hellwig.

With an aim at helping people achieve success in their careers and personal lives, in addition to a focus on Christianity, Ziglar was a prolific speaker who appeared at events alongside world leaders including several U.S. presidents and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

"Mr. Ziglar was the same guy behind the closed doors as he was preparing for his presentations to thousands of people that he was when we were sitting at the kitchen table and he was reading the newspaper," Hellwig said.

Ziglar started his fulltime career in motivational speaking when he was in his 40s. His first book, "See You at the Top," was published in 1975, when he was 49.

"He got saved at the age of 42, which means that he accepted Jesus Christ as his savior," Hellwig said. "Ever since that day is what he said was the turning point of his life. The last 41 years of his life he lived fully with that as his mission."

"He also had the uncanny ability to make everyone he ran into feel like they were his friend," Hellwig said.

Ziglar was a World War II veteran who grew up in Yazoo City, Miss., and then went to work in sales for a series of companies, where his interest in motivational speaking grew, according to his Plano-based company's website. Hellwig said Ziglar moved to Dallas in the late 1960s.

Ziglar's company, which features more than a dozen speakers advocating the "Ziglar Way," offers motivation and performance training.

His book, "Confessions of a Grieving Christian," was written after the 1995 death of his oldest daughter, Suzan, at the age of 46.

After a 2007 fall down a flight of stairs left him with a brain injury, Ziglar, along with another daughter, Julie Ziglar Norman, wrote "Embrace the Struggle," a book that described how his life changed after the injury.

In addition to his daughter, Ziglar is survived by his wife Jean, with whom he celebrated 66 years of marriage on Monday; his son, Tom Ziglar; and daughter Cindy Oates.

Zig Ziglar, upbeat motivational speaker and author, dies at 86

Harry Naltchayan/The Washington Post - Zig Ziglar speaks during one of his "Success Rallies" in the nation’s capital in June 1978.
In Zig Ziglar’s world, the morning alarm rang on the “opportunity clock.” And “if you aren’t on fire” when you get to work, “then your wood is wet.” And you have to remember that “money’s not the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen.” And there will be setbacks, but “failure is an event, not a person.”
Mr. Ziglar, a motivational speaker whose “Success Rallies,” “Born to Win” seminars, more than 25 self-help books and countless audiotapes attracted millions of devoted followers with homespun advice on career advancement and moral uplift, died Nov. 28 at a hospital in the Dallas suburb of Plano. He was 86.

He had pneumonia, said his executive assistant, Laurie Magers.
Rising by one’s bootstraps through the “power of positive thinking” has long been a compelling narrative in American lore. Few messengers of prosperity have been able to sustain a relentlessly upbeat and lucrative career for as long as Zig Ziglar.
Zig Ziglar! A human exclamation point! The world’s most popular motivational speaker, as he was often described, was always excited because “you never judge a day by the weather!”
He was a presence at corporate retreats and conferences for firms such as IBM and J.C. Penney. For the general public, some people paid $49 to hear him live or $1,595 to buy his complete written and audio package. He won over crowds with his faith-filled proverbs and earnest metaphors about setting goals and facing down adversity.
“If you’re going to have to swallow a frog,” he said in his Southern drawl, “you don’t want to have to look at that sucker too long!”
Or: “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want!”
Or: “Have you ever noticed that people who are the problem never realize it? They’re in denial. They think denial is a river in Egypt!”
Or: “The more you gripe about your problems, the more problems you have to gripe about!”
What his words lacked in depth, they made up for in conviction.
“I’ve asked myself many times how Zig can say the same things people have been hearing all their lives, and instead of getting yawns he gets a tremendous response,” his friend Fred Smith, the former FedEx chief executive, told Texas Monthly in 1999.
“I think he’s a little like Billy Graham, who has never really departed from the same sermon he was giving back in his 20s yet who’s never lost any effectiveness,” Smith said. “After all these years, Zig still devotes every day to living this life he talks about, to applying some eternal truths about character, commitment, hard work and self-determination.”
For his most fervent admirers, Mr. Ziglar was an inspiring leader who every morning leapt out of bed to the opportunity clock, bussed his wife (“Hey, Sugar Baby”), and willed himself into a positive mindset by seldom lingering on crime stories and celebrity gossip while scanning his morning newspaper.
Texas Monthly described Mr. Ziglar’s love of comic strips, stories about sports teams that win and human interest tales that touched on the miraculous. He clipped them out and stored them in a file cabinet brimming with anecdotes about people who overcame disabilities and poverty and made it to state championships and the executive suite.

"Breaking Dawn - Part 2" reviews: is this the best "Twilight" ever?

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" hits theaters Friday, and reviewers are weighing in about whether the vampire finale is bloody good or a lifeless mess.

Regardless of the critical consensus, Twi-hards are almost certain to show up, but based on the early notices "Part 2" is more likely to be shortlisted for Razzies than Oscars come awards time. The film scored a lackluster 52 percent "rotten" rating on critics aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with many reviewers breaking out the garlic and stakes to condemn the film's sluggish pacing and wooden performances.


"Part 2" focuses on Bella (Kristen Stewart) as she adjusts to life as a mother and a vampire. Robert Pattinson returns as the brooding bloodsucker Edward Cullen and Taylor Lautner is back as the oft-shirtless, part werewolf Jacob.

On TheWrap, critic Alonso Duralde was largely positive, praising director Bill Condon for bringing some bite to the franchise. Where the film falls short, he argued, is in its source material - the series of novels by Stephenie Meyer that started a phenomenon but were derided for their tortured prose.

"Credit Condon with putting these cardboard characters and their loony dilemmas into a rich atmosphere; whether we're running through the woods with those ridiculous wolves or following Bella through a lit-for-Christmas Seattle, the director and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro ('Pan's Labyrinth') give the wintry settings a palpable sense of chilly foreboding," Duralde wrote.

The best thing that Peter Travers could say about "Breaking Dawn" deux was that it signaled the series was finally over. TheRolling Stone critic acknowledged that it was better than other films in the franchise but struggled to find much else to praise.

"You're going to hear a lot about 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' being the best of the Twilight movies. That's like saying a simple head cold is preferable to swine flu," he wrote. "They'll all make you sick."

Also left filled with bile was Dana Stevens. The Slate critic said the film ends on a suitably shocking climax, but getting there takes way too long.

"Splitting the last book in Stephenie Meyer's teen-vampire series into two separate movies may have been a wise business decision - with guaranteed throngs of adoring Twi-hards willing to go back for multiple viewings, why not eke out an extra sequel? - but it leaves the last film in the series with no place to go," Stevens wrote.

The movie is so dull, complained San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle, that audiences might contemplate doing bodily harm to themselves an hour into the latest visit to Forks, Wash.

"One final question: If they've been alive for 800 years, why does every female vampire sound like a Valley Girl? Are they endlessly adaptive, or did they all really stand out in Victorian England?," LaSalle wrote. It wasn't all pans. A few critics, such as the New York Times' Manohla Dargis found herself on Team Breaking Dawn. Though she griped about its languid pace, Dargis said Condon and his supple stars evoke the glamor of classic Hollywood screen couples. In the process she becomes probably the first critic to compare "Twilight" to the films of George Stevens.

"From the first extreme close-up of Bella fluttering open her dark, feathery eyelashes, Mr. Condon makes this 'Twilight' an intensely tactile and intimate experience," Dargis wrote. "Taking his cues from the Golden Age of Hollywood -- the close-ups of Bella and Edward bring to mind those of Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in "A Place in the Sun." He bathes his stars in a gleaming light that gives their pale faces a luxurious alabaster sheen. This is one movie that should have been shot in 3D if only to allow the fans to caress the air."

Owen Gleiberman was similarly enraptured by Bella, Edward and their toothsome friends. The Entertainment Weekly critic said that the series benefits from a showstopper of a twist ending.

"It made me realize that, as narratively lumpy as they can be, I like the Twilight films because they're really about the eternal movie romance of vampires at play," Gleiberman wrote.

Cramer: Stayin' Alive With the New High List

What is working? What is making money for people? We don’t ask that enough around here. For the past four years we have been so fixated on tech that we forget the other sectors that have been putting points on the board.

As a reality check about where to spend my time, I always find the New High list to be the most refreshing gauge there is. In a brutal market like this, you tend to forget that there is money being made every day on the long side.

The New High list is where that money is being made. Take the list from this weekend. It is chock-full of decidedly unmixed messages about what is making you money in this market.

The Picks Immediately, a whole group of stocks just jumps out at you: restaurant stocks. Darden is there. So is Wendy’s, Landry’s and Jack in the Box.

If one or two were on the list, you could say, hmm, coincidence. But this kind of pattern is just downright noisy. It is saying, “Mid-priced restaurants work.”

Interestingly, this group correlates quite well with a decline in wage inflation. I think the restaurant move might be signaling a shift in marginal costs in favor of restaurants. These companies have had to pay far more than the minimum wage to staff their stores in the past few years. Maybe that’s about to end. Maybe costs are coming down.

What will I do with this? I will redouble my efforts to find something I like about McDonald’s because it fits. I will look at others in the cohort. And I will wait for some of these to come down, so I can pounce.

Still Talking about the Election Coors, Brown-Forman and Anheuser-Busch also make the list. These are recession stocks, as are the plethora of tobacco stocks that find there way on the list. I had thought that the tobacco stocks were going up because of a potential Bush victory, but now I think they are going up because they hold up well when the economy slows.

I feel that way because I don’t sense that Gore is any more or less positive for alcohol than Bush. When both these groups go up simultaneously, that is a sign that people think that we could be headed into a recession. Wouldn’t shock me considering the anemic profit figures we have been seeing lately. I will buy more Philip Morris today, but then again, I always buy more Philip Morris.

Defense stocks keep going higher. That’s a Bush victory play, plain and simple. These stocks, if you believe that Bush’s rhetoric will develop into increased military spending, can still be bought because they have been down for years. General Dynamics and Raytheon would make the most sense, the former being a well-run company that can go up over time, the latter being a poorly run company that could benefit from a change in government. Anything remotely connected with aerospace seems to be working, too.

Defensive stocks, not defense stocks, pretty much make up the rest of the list. International Game’s there because people gamble in a recession. The utilities are there in spades because people still use them in a recession.

The Disappointment The one group that seems to be less in abundance than I would expect is health care. Cardinal is there and so is Bergen Brunswig and Abbott Labs, but I bet there should be more medical-related equities on the list. I am going to hunt for some likely ones today.

Amanda Holden says she'd love to 'Fix It' for a new generation

Although she admitted that the timing might not be right to bring the show back, following claims of child sex abuse made against the late presenter Jimmy Savile, she revealed that hosting a series like that would be her ideal job.

The Britain’s Got Talent judge said: “If I had a dream show, I probably shouldn't even mention it in this climate, but it would be like a kind of Fix It show.

“A show where little children can write in. That's the kind of show.

“I like making dreams come true, which is kind of what we do on Britain's Got Talent, but I'd like to do it so people can blow up chimneys and things like they used to.”

Oh no, she won't go ... Amanda with her fellow BGT judges David Walliams, Alesha Dixon and Simon Cowell

Amanda also revealed she has no intentions of quitting the BGT panel, joking: “They'll have to sack me and I'm quite difficult to sack, so good luck with that.”

I'm A Celeb's Helen Flanagan takes to the jungle shower in bikini number 2

HELEN Flanagan flashes her cleavage in yet another skimpy bikini.

The 22-year-old has only been in the jungle for two days, but has already flaunted her enviable assets in two tiny bikini tops.

The former Corrie star, who played ditzy Rosie Webster in the soap, showed off her stunning figure after peeling off to wash in the I'm A Celebrity shower yesterday.

Steamy ... Helen Flanagan takes to the jungle shower

Rex

Before entering the show, Helen said that she would happily "do a Myleene" and shower in her swimwear.

She exclaimed: "I’m quite confident so probably! It wouldn’t bother me."

And the blonde has been quick to do just that, enjoying steamy showers in not one, but two little bikinis.

Bikini No1 ... Helen Flanagan showers in blue swimwear

Rex

Helen told how she did yoga to perfect her bikini body before joining the ITV1 show.

She said: "I have been doing Bikram yoga with a trainer because I know millions of people are going to see me in a bikini."

And Helen also revealed that she would be flashing the flesh in three different bikinis in the jungle.

'Doing a Myleene' ... Helen Flanagan follows a Klass act

Rex

She said: "I’ve packed three [bikinis]. I went shopping in London before I flew out!"

Last night Helen was shown screaming I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here just TEN SECONDSinto her first Bushtucker Trial.

But she joked that she’d use her figure to her advantage, vowing to “make up for my patheticness with my boobs”.

Public vote ... Helen Flanagan will take on her second Bushtucker Trial

And viewers amused by Helen's fear of everything were quick to vote her in again to take part in the next task, which will be shown on tonight's show.

Former Hear'Say star Myleene Klass famously wowed viewers when she stripped off to a tiny white bikini to shower on the show in 2006.

But she has claimed she had no idea her swimwear would have such an impact.

'I'll make up for my patheticness with my boobs' ... Helen Flanagan

Rex

She said: “In all honesty I never realised the producers were making such a big deal of the showers.

“After all, I wasn’t showering any more than the next person! I was much more proud of my DIY achievements like building the camp a table and a broomstick. But nobody made a fuss of those.”

Last week Sun readers voted Myleene the ultimate I’m A Celebrity bikini babe.

Ultimate I'm A Celebrity bikini babe ... Myleene Klass

Valeria Lukyanova V Magazine; Living Barbie Doll Photo Shoot, Interview

Earlier this year, the world was introduced to real-life living Barbie doll Valeria Lukyanova. The Ukrainian girl rose to international fame and recognition when pictures of her unrealistic body features surface. The 21-year-old "human Barbie" doll will be featured in the latest issue of V magazine, which is slated to hit newsstands on November 15.

Many had speculated whether Lukyanova was actually real, with many claiming her to be an internet hoax. However, V magazine wrote in its "Living Doll" feature, "The truth is that Valeria is very much real."

V magazine wrote: "We brought this viral phenom to New York City, entranced by her unnaturally thin waist, dramatic curves, and trendy, new age sense of style, which often includes pastel spaghetti-strap crop tops, navel piercings, and bindis."

When asked about whether Lukyanova had plastic surgery to achieve her doll-like looks, she told V: "Many people say bad things about people who want to perfect themselves." She also went on to say, "Many people say bad things about people who want to perfect themselves. It's hard work, but they dismiss it as something done by surgeons or computer artists. [...] But I don't take them seriously. I'm even flattered! It's what success is like. I'm happy I seem unreal to them, it means I'm doing a good job."

Since pictures of Lukyanova surfaced, many people have followed in her footsteps to imitate the Barbie look. She told V: "Indeed, I've noticed a trend. Every good-looking woman with fine features and a slim figure looks like a doll. I won't deny that I play along with people's perceptions. I'm amused by the reactions. I don't take it seriously."

Before Valeria Lukyanova became an internet sensation by achieving the first human barbie doll look, pictures of her before her extensive plastic surgery and procedures had also emerged.

In the photos, she appears to look healthy and normal. Although she reportedly denies the claim that she had any surgical procedures carried out, the photos on this site show that she looked like a healthy normal girl.

According to Dr. Anthony LaBruna, a Plastic Surgeon Director of Manhattan Plastic Surgery, "A women needs to get breast enhancements to be a 38DD and cut some ribs out to get an 18" waist, make the hips wider and change her face. Of course, the woman would have to go blonde like Barbie." LaBruna appeared on "Good Morning America" earlier this week and said he reckons the cost of surgery would be somewhere in the $100,000s.

Ashley Greene hopes Kristen Stewart's cheating scandal won't 'taint' 'Twilight'

Fans might be excited for the final "The Twilight Saga" film to be hitting theaters this Friday, but has that enthusiasm been slightly fizzled by Kristen Stewart's cheating scandal earlier this year? Ashley Greene certainly hopes it hasn't been.

"Hopefully, it won't taint it and people will still be able to enjoy the movie," the 25-year-old who's become better known as Alice Cullen tells Seventeen. "I think a lot of people see us as our characters. I really want them to still be able to do that."

Considering Stewart and Robert Pattinson definitely seem to be on-again, fans can again see Robsten as their real-life Bella and Edward. But the world will have to wait until the box office results come in for "Breaking Dawn -- Part 2" to see whether Stewart's indiscretion has any lasting effect on the series. At least the nickname "trampire" seems to have faded away somewhat, thank goodness.

Real-life Barbie Valeria Lukyanova poses for V Magazine

She's a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world. She definitely looks plastic, and it's, uh ... fantastic? Valeria Lukyanova says she's the "most famous woman of the Russian-speaking Internet," and it's easy to see why.

Known online as the "real-life Barbie," Lukyanova boasts a shockingly tiny waist coupled with Barbie's famous -- and realistically disproportionate -- curves. Interestingly, V Magazine decided to photograph and interview Lukyanova for their "Girl Power" issue, which features a wet, toplessScarlett Johansson on its cover, and a nude S&M photo spread with Rihanna and Kate Moss.

In the interview, Lukyanova responds -- sort of -- to detractors who criticize her overly artificial appearance. "Many people say bad things about people who want to perfect themselves," says Valeria. "It's hard work, but they dismiss it as something done by surgeons or computer artists. This is how they justify not wanting to strive for self-improvement."

The living Barbie doll claims she's not obsessed with appearance. "People don't understand that it has nothing to do with looks," says Lukyanova. "There are many good-looking young women, but why are they completely unknown? Because looks are just a bonus."'

But, aren't Valeria's looks exactly how she became well known enough for V Magazine to fly her to New York for the photo shoot?

Well, now that we know she's not obsessed with her appearance, just what does Lukyanova do all day, besides post photos of herself online? "In the morning I work on my face and I get a massage, then I spend some time on the Internet. I meditate and travel in my astral body, and after that I work out at the gym." See? Meditiation and astral body travel -- it's not all about looks.

Valeria purports to be an out-of-body traveler, who teaches others spiritual travel techniques. In her spare time, she's also a "professional mountain climber." OK, then.

Jennifer Hudson on getting used to her new body: ‘I keep thinking that I probably need an extra-large’

By now you already know that Jennifer Hudson has lost a lot of weight and looks pretty amazing. And on the cover of the latest issue of Redbookshe shows off her trim figure yet again. And while she may look as confident as ever, she admits she's still not completely comfortable in her own skin … now that it's on such a slim body.

"I'm getting used to my new self more than anything else. I got used to being plus-sized and knowing how to be that," Hudson says in the December issue, "whereas this is like, 'Okay, who am I?' I keep thinking that I probably need an extra-large or a large and the stylist is like, 'No, you need a medium or a small.'"

The "American Idol" champ, who became a spokesperson for Weight Watchers in 2010, has credited the diet plan, along with exercising four days a week, with helping her drop (and keep off) 80 pounds. Hudson has previously said she was inspired to lose the weight in order to set a better, more healthful for example for her son, 3-year-old son David Jr., her child with fiancé David Otunga.

Ruven Afanador/Redbook

Ruven Afanador/Redbook

But it's not always easy, and the 31-year-old tells tells Redbook that she still struggles with certain food temptations, especially around the holidays. "My biggest thing is banana pudding, but it's the devil! So no one is allowed to bring it into my house. Because I can't control myself. So why put it in my domain."

This year, unfortunately, the singer-actress has had much bigger challenges to deal with than tempting desserts. Earlier this year, Hudson took the stand during the emotional and highly publicized trial of the man who was accused of murdering her mother, brother, and 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, in 2008. William Balfour, Hudson's former brother-in-law, was found guilty of all three murders in May. While the verdict was clearly what Hudson and her family had hoped for, it can never make up for what her family lost.

"I mean, you can never fully get complete closure — whatever that means," the 31-year-old admits. "Is there ever really a point of closure? Do I feel healed? No."

To honor her nephew, Hudson created the Chicago-based Julian D. King Gift Foundation Dinner & Toy Drive, which grants Christmas wishes to kids who are progressing well in school.

"With everything that happened with our family, it's hard to get through the holidays. So I was wondering, 'How can we turn a negative around make it a positive thing?' And so we came up with giving back."

Zoe Kazan on playing her real-life boyfriend Paul Dano’s dream girl in ‘Ruby Sparks’

Mixing business with pleasure is usually not advised … particularly when it comes to relationships. But when Zoe Kazan was working on the screenplay for "Ruby Sparks," she subconsciously wrote herself and her boyfriend of five years, Paul Dano, into the lead roles. The rom-com drama is about a struggling novelist named Calvin (played by Dano) who begins to fall in love with one of his characters, his dream girl Ruby Sparks, who suddenly appears one day as the real-life version (portrayed by Kazan). And if that wasn't already too good to be true, whatever he puts down on paper, she becomes: fluent in French, miserable without him, filled with constant joy.

The idea for the story was, in part, inspired by Kazan's romance with Dano. "I had been thinking a lot about relationships and the way we define each other in relationships, and how hard it is to hold onto your identity as people become 'co-dependent' or how much we can feel defined by our partners," she tells omg!. "I was also thinking about the Pygmalion myth [a sculptor who fell in love with his own creation] and somehow I think those things all met in my head, and I came up with this. So it's sort of a metaphorical door to a very real subject."

As she began writing it in summer 2009, Kazan, who has also starred in "It's Complicated" and on HBO's "Bored to Death," didn't exactly have herself in mind to play the title role. "I was just so excited to have an idea that felt like a movie, and I could picture what that movie would be," says the 29-year-old Yale grad. "I think it's pretty rare to get an idea that lights you up, so I was just excited to have something that I was eager to write." Then, she showed the first few pages to her boyfriend, "and he asked if I was writing it for the two of us, and I guess a sort of light bulb went off in my head, like, 'Ah, indeed, that is indeed what I'm doing.'"

Dano and Kazan as Calvin and Ruby in Ruby Sparks. (Merrick Morton)The filming of "Ruby Sparks," which is currently out on DVD and Blu-Ray, was less stressful on the relationship than one would think, considering all the long hours spent on the set — only to go home and spend even more time together. "I think we're used to bouncing ideas off of each other to help with work, even when we're not working together, so it didn't seem like such a stretch at first, but then it started to," explains Kazan. "It can be hard when you're both incredibly focused on your work, and when you're working on the same thing there's this illusion that you're spending lots and lots of time together when it in fact you're spending lots and lots of time sort of next to each other. So I think when it was all over we kind of had to take stock of our relationship." And no, they didn't need to take a break from each other. "Rather [we took] a week together as Zoe and Paul, not Calvin and Ruby."

Her relationship with Dano, 28, is also serving as inspiration for her next screenplay, for which Kazan just finished the first draft. "It's a love story of some kind," she says, then, realizing her pattern, adds, "I guess it's on my brain!"

Hollywood is certainly in Kazan's blood. The daughter of screenwriters Nicholas Kazan ("Reversal of Fortune") and Robin Swicord ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), and the granddaughter of three-time Oscar-winning director Elia Kazan ("On the Waterfront"), she never considered taking a stage name to pre-empt the suggestion of nepotism. "In this age of pervasive knowledge, it would be very hard to truly achieve anonymity," she admits. "To me, my last name never seemed that famous growing up. You have to understand, I went to elementary school with children whose parents had won Oscars for being movie stars. My parents, even my grandpa, they seemed like regular people compared to that. I really didn't consider it. I also think it would look like I was ashamed of my roots, which I'm not."

As independent as she is, that's not to say Kazan doesn't run ideas by her parents every now and then. "They're very helpful when I ask them to be," she says. "I'm probably childishly stubborn about this, but I try to keep as much distance between what they do and what I do as possible just because it's sticky enough feeling like you're in the same business as your parents. But they're really smart and if I hit a roadblock, it's really great to have parents who can emotionally emphasize if not directly help."

Official Identifies 2nd Woman in Petraeus Affair

A senior U.S. military official says the author who had an affair with David Petraeus sent harassing emails to a woman who was a "social liaison" to military bases in Tampa, Fla.

The official says 37-year-old Jill Kelley in Tampa, Fla., received the emails from Petraeus biographerPaula Broadwell that triggered an FBI investigation.

The official was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Another person who knows Kelley and Petraeus confirmed their friendship.

Petraeus quit as CIA director last week after acknowledging an extramarital relationship with a woman — later identified as Broadwell.

The FBI probe began several months ago with a complaint against Broadwell. That investigation led to Broadwell's email account, which uncovered the relationship with Petraeus.

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez call it quits

A source confirms to The Associated Press that Justin Bieber is no longer Selena Gomez's "Boyfriend."

The source is not authorized to discuss the split with the press and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The breakup apparently happened last week, and distance and their busy schedules were cited as factors.

The 18-year-old "Boyfriend" singer is touring to promote his latest album, while 20-year-old Gomez is filming a "Wizards of Waverly Place" reunion for the Disney Channel.

The pair first stepped up publicly in February 2011.

E! News was the first to report the split.

Bieber seems to be doing OK, at least publicly. On the red carpet of Wednesday's Victoria's Secret fashion show he said, "I'd rather be here than anywhere in the world."

'Modern Family' actress' mom denies abuse claims

The mother of "Modern Family" actressAriel Winter has denied accusations she was physically and emotionally abusive to her 14-year-old daughter and is asking a judge to reject an attempt to strip her of custody.

Chrisoula Workman filed an objection to guardianship proceedingsfor the actress on Thursday and states she would be willing to undergo joint counseling with her daughter if it helped resolve the case.

Winter, who plays Alex Dunphy on the hit ABC series, has been living with her older sister, Shanelle Gray, since early October, when a judge temporarily stripped Workman of custody and ordered her to have no contact with her daughter. The ruling came after attorneys for Gray stated in court filings that Winter has been the subject of ongoing physical and emotional abuse, enduring slaps and insults from her mother.

"I have never slapped or hit Ariel," Workman writes in a court declaration. "I love Ariel very much and will do whatever is in her best interest."

She calls recent family turmoil the result of "a teenager's rebellion." Her filing was accompanied by medical records and declarations from stylists and other acquaintances who state they have not seen any signs of abuse by Workman.

"The court granted a temporary guardianship and I think any rational person will realize that the court simply doesn't see the sky falling but has some basis for granting a temporary guardianship," said attorney Michael Kretzmer, who represents Gray. "The matter hasn't been fully adjudicated and everybody will have their chance."

Workman, who is estranged from Gray, claims that her older daughter is seeking a guardianship to advance her own career. Gray is also an actress who has appeared in the soap operas "One Life to Live" and "Bold and the Beautiful," as well as other small roles in TV series.

A judge has not permitted Gray any access to Winter's money, some of which must be set aside in a special account under a law meant to protect child actors.

"There's no truth whatsoever to Shanelle obtaining this guardianship for purposes of advancing her career or for some other personal gain," Kretzmer said. "Shanelle is successful and has done very well in her own rights. This is a tragedy for her, too."

"It's very unfortunate that any of this came out has come the press," he said. "Ariel is a very wonderful 14-year-old who is fortunate to be in the process of building quite an acting career for herself. But she's still a 14-year-old lady. Whether she's the 14-year-old star of 'Modern Family,' or she's just a 14-year-old in an everyday modern family, she doesn't deserve to have this family circumstance played out in the press."

A hearing on the guardianship is scheduled for Nov. 20. The court has appointed an independent attorney to represent Winter's interests.

Winter has been acting since age 7, appearing several TV series, including "ER" and "Phineas and Ferb," and movies such as "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," ''Ice Age: The Meltdown" and "ParaNorman."

Chandigarh teen's doodle on Google Nov 14

More than 100 million people across India will take a dekko at an Indian emblem, a winning Google doodle, on the search engine's homepage Children's Day Nov 14, the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister.

The doodle, "A Prism of Multiplicity" showing a soccer player, a kathakali dancer, gold jewellery, a peacock, a farmer and flowers, was created by Arun Kumar Yadav, a teenager and a student from Chandigarh. 

Yadav was declared winner of the Doodle4Google contest, which received 200,000 submissions from 60 Indian cities.

The winning entries were announced at a small picnic-cum-felicitation ceremony at the Rail Museum in the capital. 

Three teenaged students, Vasudevan Deepak from Kozhikode, Shravya Manjunath from Bangalore and S. Preetham Paul from Visakhapatnam, were the winners. Their doodles will be uploaded on a site called Classmate, and accessible for viewing on the search engine. 

The competition was judged by a two-member jury comprising cartoonist Ajit Ninan and actor Boman Irani.

"The theme for this year's competition was 'Unity in Diversity'.

Political cartoonist Ajit Ninan, an avid "Googler", said his professional life was woven into Google. 

"My day as a cartoonist starts with this Bible, Google. There is no time for reference or visual dictionaries in the 'sabzi mandi (vegetable market)' of Indian politics. All the information is available at the click of the mouse," Ajit Ninan said.

The Doodle4Google competition was instituted four years ago to encourage children to take up creative work, Rajan Anandan, vice-president and managing director, Google India, said.

"We are also promoting art awareness through Google. The search engine has tied up with 41 countries under the Google Art Project to bring the best world art to more than two billion Internet users. Art is the least accessible of all other genres," Anandan said.

"You can visit the best museums in London and Paris with your computer -- without moving out of your home," Anandan said.

Bond soars with record $87.8M 'Skyfall' debut

James Bond's "Skyfall" has extended its worldwide box-office rule to North America, hauling in a franchise-record $87.8 million in its first weekend at U.S. theaters.

Adding in $2.2 million from Thursday night previews at IMAX and other large-format theaters, "Skyfall" has taken in $90 million domestically, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That lifts the worldwide total for "Skyfall" to $518.6 million since it began rolling out overseas in late October. Internationally, the 23rd Bond flick added $89 million this weekend to raise its overseas revenue to $428.6 million.

The third installment starring Daniel Craig as British super-spy Bond, "Skyfall" outdid the $67.5 million U.S. debut of 2008's "Quantum of Solace," the franchise's previous best opening. "Skyfall" more than doubled the $40.8 million debut of Craig's first Bond film, 2006's "Casino Royale."

"Skyfall" already has passed the $407.7 million overseas total for "Quantum of Solace" and by Monday, it will top the $432.2 million international haul for "Casino Royale."

The Craig era has reinvigorated one of Hollywood's most-enduring franchises, whose first big-screenBond adventure, "Dr. No," debuted 50 years ago.

"It's quite a testament to Bond, considering it's the 50th anniversary. What a great anniversary present," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony, which produces the Bond films along with MGM.

"Skyfall" was the weekend's only new wide release, but Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" had a huge start in a handful of theaters. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th president, "Lincoln" took in $900,000 in 11 theaters for a whopping average of $81,818 a cinema. By comparison, "Skyfall" averaged $25,050 in 3,505 theaters.

"Lincoln" centers on the months leading up to the president's assassination in April 1865, as he maneuvers to pass the 13th amendment abolishing slavery and end the Civil War. Distributor Disney will expand "Lincoln" into nationwide release of about 1,600 theaters Friday and may widen the film further over Thanksgiving week.

The film has strong Academy Awards prospects for two-time directing winner Spielberg, two-time acting recipient Day-Lewis and the rest of the cast, which includes Oscar winners Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones.

"The performances are some of the greatest of recent time," said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney. "I don't know if you're ever going to think about it again without seeing our actor as Lincoln. Daniel is extraordinary in the role."

"Skyfall" took over the top spot at the weekend box office from Disney's animated comedy "Wreck-It Ralph," which fell to No. 2 with $33.1 million, raising its domestic total to $93.7 million.

While "Skyfall" marked a new high for Bond's opening-weekend revenue, the film has a long way to go to match the biggest audiences 007 has ever drawn. Adjusted for inflation, Sean Connery's 1965 Bond adventure "Thunderball" would have taken in an estimated $508 million domestically in today's dollars, with its 1964 predecessor "Goldfinger" not far behind at $444 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The Bond films over the last two decades have come in around the $200 million range domestically in inflation-adjusted dollars.

Still, Craig's Bond is setting a new critical standard for the franchise. While "Quantum of Solace" had a so-so critical reception, "Skyfall" and "Casino Royale" are among the best-reviewed Bond films, with critics and fans enjoying the darker edge Craig has imprinted on 007.

"'Skyfall' is to the Bond franchise what 'The Dark Knight' was to the Batman franchise," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "By taking it to a whole other level, this is a different kind of Bond that can be taken really seriously."

Directed by Sam Mendes, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker behind "American Beauty" and Craig's director on "Road to Perdition," ''Skyfall" continues the current franchise's exploration into the emotional traumas that have shaped Bond's cool, aloof manner.

The film reveals secrets out of the past of Bond's boss, British spymaster M (Judi Dench), and pits 007 against a brilliant but unstable former agent (Javier Bardem) who's out for revenge.

Hollywood remains on a brisk pace this fall as the busy holiday season approaches. Overall domestic revenues totaled $172 million, up 26 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Immortals" led with $32.2 million.

For the year, domestic revenues are at $9.1 billion, up 4.3 percent from 2011's, according to Hollywood.com.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Skyfall," $87.8 million.

2. "Wreck-It Ralph," $33.1 million.

3. "Flight," $15.1 million.

4. "Argo," $6.7 million.

5. "Taken 2," $4 million.

6. "Here Comes the Boom," $2.6 million

7. "Cloud Atlas," $2.53 million.

8. "Pitch Perfect," $2.5 million.

9. "The Man with the Iron Fists," $2.49 million.

10. "Hotel Transylvania," $2.4 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Skyfall," $89 million.

2. "Argo," $12 million.

3. "Wreck-It Ralph," $11.2 million.

4. "Hotel Transylvania," $11.1 million.

5. "A Werewolf Boy," $10.5 million.

6. "Cloud Atlas," $8.7 million.

7. "Paranormal Activity 4," $6 million.

8 (tie). "Asterlix and Obelix: God Save Britannia," $4.4 million.

8 (tie). "Confession of Murder," $4.4 million.

10. "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," $4.1 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

China to become largest robot consumer by 2014

With the demand for industrial robots being anticipated to hit 32,000 units by 2014, China could become the world's largest robotics consumer.

According to the International Federation of Robotics, the sector's technology and production have gained momentum amid higher labour costs and China's efforts to restructure its economic growth pattern and improve energy efficiency, Xinhua reported.

At the China International Industry Fair, which concluded Saturday, China's robot manufacturers exhibited their models in direct competition with their foreign counterparts.

The fair attracted over 800 participants during the five-day exhibition.

At the event, a company named SIASUN Robot & Automation Co. demonstrated its new models, which were integrated with numerical control machines that could accomplish multi-procedure processes.

The company's self-designed products have been exported to overseas markets including India, the US, Canada, and Russia.

Despite the growing sector, people from the industry also warned that a lack of core technology may stall the development of robot manufacturing in the country.

On this occasion, Gu Chunyuan, vice president at manufacturer ABB (China) Limited, said: "Despite the substantive demand, Chinese manufacturers still have to rely on some overseas suppliers for many key components, which may hinder the independent growth of China's robot sector."

Britney Spears - Gasoline (FULL NEW SONG 2011)

Britney Spears has released a full-length commercial spot as a follow-up to the two-faced print ad for her fragrance duo, Fantasy Twist.

The spot shows Britney as Cleopatra, voguing a la Madonna -- stay with us here -- as she spins down a hotel hallway, inspiring eager voyeurs to watch feverishly through their peep holes.

The "X Factor" judge then morphs into a silent film style flapper, a disco diva, and a glammed up goth, as she seduces the camera and the aforementioned hotel guests.

A rendition of Spears' 2011 single, "Set Me On Fire" sets the mood, as we are forced to imagine what each of Britney's various incarnations must smell like.

Alexa Vega: 'Machete Kills' photo is way too sexy for a 'Spy Kid'

Alexa Vega is all grown up -- like, all the way grown up. The actress, best known for her pre-pubescent turn in the "Spy Kids" film series has reunited with director Robert Rodriguez for a more grown up role.

Vega stars in "Machete Kills," the sequel to Rodriguez' 2010 action exploitation film, "Machete." This time, instead of the young daughter of espionage agents, Rodriguez cast Alexa as KillJoy, "bodyguard of a whore house."

Alexa tells THR she's kept in touch with Rodriguez since the first "Spy Kids" film. "One day he told me, 'I have a role for you, but I don't know if you're ready to do this,'" she says.

Maybe what Rodriguez should have been thinking about is whether the world is ready for Alexa Vega's clevage. The actress posted a photo to Twitter of an official film still, printed by Rolling Stone. In the photo, Alexa wears an ensemble worthy of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show -- an embellished push-up bra, barely there bikini bottoms, and studded leather chaps -- as she holds a gun at her side.

"I've never done anything like this," Vega says. "I'd never felt comfortable enough, and I never thought this would be the project where I'd take a step forward."

TV: Tilted Kilt president is an ‘Undercover Boss’

It’s a nice surprise when the Inland area can get a little love on television, even if it’s a small connection.

“Undercover Boss” 8 p.m. CBS

The Tilted Kilt sports bar, with a location in Temecula, will be the subject of tonight’s “Undercover Boss.” The show will feature Tilted Kilt CEO Ron Lynch pretending to be a new employee and seeing how his business works on a daily basis.

The Tilted Kilt is known for it’s scantily clad servers (see the photo above) and that seems to come into play during tonight’s episode. Lynch will try out different jobs in the company like bartender, security, server and cook.

The Temecula location will not appear on the show, but the Mission Valley location will.

I used to love “Undercover Boss” when it first started, but it really is the same show each and every week. Boss changes their look (in a way that makes Clark Kent look like a master of disguise), meets employees with a sad story and then at the end makes everything right and everyone cries.

“Real Time with Bill Maher” 10 p.m. HBO

I’m not into politics or even like talking about them, but I’ll make an exception tonight. The reason? Nick Fury himself Samuel L. Jackson will be a guest tonight! Jackson makes everything he’s in better.

Ask me a question in the player below! Questions asked are not answered live. I usually answer questions the next morning, when it’s quiet. It’s a busy, loud newsroom the rest of the day.

Paula Broadwell, writer tied to CIA director's resignation

Journalist Paula Broadwell with Gen. David Petraeus. Petraeus resigned his post as CIA director on Nov. 9, 2012, admitting to an extramarital affair. Several U.S. officials with knowledge of the situation said that Petraeus carried on the affair with his biographer Broadwell, a reserve Army officer who wrote the 2012 book "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus."

Woman Linked to Petraeus Is a West Point Graduate and Lifelong High Achiever

Paula Broadwell, whose affair with the nation’s C.I.A. director led to his resignation on Friday, was the valedictorian of her high school class and homecoming queen, a fitness champion at West Point with a graduate degree from Harvard, and a model for a machine gun manufacturer.

It may have been those qualities — and a string of achievements that began in her native North Dakota, where she was state student council president, an all-state basketball player and orchestra concertmistress — that drew the attention of David H. Petraeus, the nation’s top spy and a four-star general, as the two spent hours together for a biography of Mr. Petraeus that Ms. Broadwell co-wrote.

Ms. Broadwell’s name burst into public view on Friday evening after Mr. Petraeus resigned abruptly amid an F.B.I. investigation that uncovered evidence of their relationship.

But Ms. Broadwell was hardly shy about her interactions with Mr. Petraeus as she promoted her book, “All In: The Education of General David Petraeus,” in media appearances earlier this year. She had unusual access, she noted in promotional appearances, taping many of her interviews for her book while running six-minute miles with Mr. Petraeus in the thin mountain air of the Afghan capital.

Ms. Broadwell said in an interview in February that Mr. Petraeus was enjoying his new civilian life at the C.I.A., where he became director in September 2011. “It was a huge growth period for him, because he realized he didn’t have to hide behind the shield of all those medals and stripes on his arm,” she said. Ms. Broadwell was 39 at the time.

Her biography on the Penguin Speakers Bureau Web site says that she is a research associate at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. She received a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

A self-described “soccer mom” and an ironman triathlete, Ms. Broadwell became a fixture on the Washington media scene after the publication of her book about Mr. Petraeus, who is 60. In a Twitter message this summer, she bragged about appearing on a panel at theAspen Institute, a policy group for deep thinkers.

“Heading 2 @AspenInstitute 4 the Security Forum tomorrow! Panel (media & terrorism) followed by a 1v1 run with Lance Armstrong,” she wrote. “Fired up!”

On her Twitter account, she often commented on the qualities of leadership. “Reason and calm judgment, the qualities specially belonging to a leader. Tacitus,” she wrote. In another message, she said: “A leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don’t want to do and like it. Truman.”

She also used her Twitter account to denounce speculation in the Drudge Report that Mr. Petraeus would be picked as a running mate by Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate for president.

Married with two children, she was described in a biography on the Web site of Inspired Women Magazine as a high achiever since high school.

The biography says that Ms. Broadwell received a degree in political geography and systems engineering from West Point, where she was ranked No. 1 over all in fitness in her class. She benefited from a different ranking scale for women, she told a reporter this year. But “I was still in the top 5 percent if I’d been ranked as a male,” she said.

The official Web site for Ms. Broadwell’s book was taken down Friday, but comments from her echoed across the Internet.

“I was driven when I was younger,” she was quoted as saying on the Web site, noting her induction into her high school’s hall of fame. “Driven at West Point where it was much more competitive in that women were competing with men on many levels, and I was driven in the military and at Harvard, both competitive environments.”

“But now,” she is quoted as saying, “as a working mother of two, I realize it is more difficult to compete in certain areas. I think it is important for working moms to recognize that family is the most important.”

On “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart summed up Ms. Broadwell’s book by saying: “I would say the real controversy here is, is he awesome or incredibly awesome?”A short time later, Ms. Broadwell challenged Mr. Stewart to a push-up contest, which she won handily. Mr. Stewart had to pay $1,000 to a veterans’ support group for each push-up she did beyond his total. Ms. Broadwell said that he wrote a check for $20,000 on the spot.

On Friday evening, her house in the Dilworth neighborhood of Charlotte, N.C., was dark when a reporter rang the doorbell. Two cars were in the home’s carport and an American flag was flying out front.

Bram Stoker Books Get Google Doodle Treatment

Google today is celebrating the 165th birthday of author Bram Stoker with a homepage doodle that pays homage to his literary contributions.

But the doodle also serves as a way for Google to show off an August update to its Knowledge Graph feature, which includes images in a scrollable format atop search results.

Clicking on the Stoker doodle will bring you to a search results page for "Bram Stoker books," which includes a carousel of Stoker's works on top of the normal search results. Click a book and the search results below the carousel will switch to that book ("dracula book," for example). A quick summary of each search term is featured in the Knowledge Graph box on the top right.

Stoker, of course, is best known for Dracula, but has a number of works under his belt. He was born in Ireland in 1847 and, according to aVictorianWeb.org biography, his interest in the supernatural and the occult trace back to a childhood illness that left him bed-ridden until age seven. He busied himself with Irish folklore, much of which included stories of scary characters that later popped up in his writing.

His first horror story, The Chain of Destiny, was published in 1875, while his first novel, The Snake's Pass came out in 1890. But it was not until 1897's Dracula that he really had a hit on his hands. The character of Dracula is as well known today as it was 100 years ago, and has inspired numerous films, TV shows, and other novels.

Some of Stoker's works are available for free on the Web via the Gutenberg Project, includingDracula, The Jewel of Seven Stars, The Lady of the Shroud, Lair of the White Worm, andThe Man. A number of selections are also available for free via Apple's iBooks and Amazon's Kindle Store. Stoker died in 1906 in London.

For more of Google's doodles, see the slideshow below. Recently, the company has honoredthe cast of Star Trek, Amelia Earhart, jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé and Robert Moog, considered by many to be a pioneer in the electronic music space, as well as artist Keith Haring, zipper pioneer Gideon Sundback, and even commemorated its own 14th birthdaywith a birthday cake doodle.

Bram Stoker books: The 5 best movie adaptations of 'Dracula'

1. 'Dracula'
The 1931 version of the story, which was directed by Tod Browning and stars horror actorBela Lugosi as the Count, is still a beloved adaptation and was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry. Lugosi was forever associated with the role and had played Dracula before on Broadway in the play on which the movie is based. The actor, who was Hungarian, used his normal way of speaking while playing the count.

Because of a lack of special effects available at the time, Lugosi as Dracula always “transformed” into a bat off-camera.

The movie did well at the box office and was reissued in 1936, but by then, the Hays Code, which advocated morality in films, was being enforced. One scene in which actor Edward Van Sloan acted as a sort of narrator and told the audience that “there really are such things as vampires" was taken out because it was believed it would offend religious groups.

A remark by Dracula that would be echoed in many other adaptations appeared first in this film. The vampire’s famous line, “I never drink… wine,” complete with dramatic pause, originated in the 1931 film and would later appear in the 1977 stage version starring Frank Langella, which would later be adapted into a movie.

“It is Lugosi's performance, and the cinematography of Karl Freund, that make Tod Browning's film such an influential Hollywood picture,” film critic Roger Ebert wrote of the movie in 1999.

The film removed the characters of Arthur Holmwood and Quincy Morris, two men who help hunt the vampire. Mina’s friend Lucy, a character whose defining characteristic in the novel is that she has many suitors, is not involved in any romances in the film and instead dies quickly. Dr. Seward, who is in charge of the asylum, is also Mina’s father in the film, though they are not related in the book, and Dracula meets his end in London rather than in his home country of Transylvania.

Las Vegas CEO Reportedly Fired 22 Workers Because Of Obama's Reelection

One Las Vegas CEO reportedly had an extreme reaction to President Obama's reelection.

“David,” whose full name and company have yet to be disclosed, told radio host Kevin Wall on 100.5 KXNT that he fired 22 of his 114 employees as a direct result of Obama’s win, arguing that “elections have consequences” and that he needs “to survive.” “David” refused to identify himself for “obvious reasons,” according to the radio station.

“I had to lay off 22 people today to make sure that my business is gonna thrive and I’m gonna be around for years to come,” the CEO said. “I have to build up that nest egg now for the taxes and regulations that are coming my way.”

The radio station has reached out to "David" in an aim to get him to disclose his full identity and business, Wall told The Huffington Post in an email statement.

If the story proves true, "David" would be among the first CEOs, if not the first outright, to fire workers as a direct result of Obama's reelection, a threat made many times before the presidential election. The new political push by employers was the result of both the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which made such declarations legal, and a June conference call in which Mitt Romney urged employers to tell their workers how they voted.

The company head, who described his workers as “mostly Hispanic,” said that he warned them about a month ago that if Obama won reelection, provisions like Obamacare and extra payroll taxes would force him to make certain considerations in order to keep his business running. Instead of firing workers, other companies, like Papa John's, said they would pass on the costs of Obamacare to consumers.


“David” is one of many CEOs that warned employees of consequences if Obama won reelection. Billionaire and Westgate Resort head David Siegel emailed a memo to his employees in the lead up to the election warning them to vote for Romney or else. But in the wake of Obama’s win, Siegel is saying that he gave all of his employees raises.

Some companies, like Wynn resorts, went even further by giving their employees voter guides. Peter Bos, CEO of real estate developer Legendary Inc., attached his filled-out election ballot, which included a vote for Romney, to his employees

Stock Market Collapse: Obama Reelection Not To Blame

Well, we hope you are happy with yourself, America: You reelected President Obama and destroyed the stock market.

That's what a bunch of angry Wall Streeters, who unsuccessfully sunk millions into defeating Obama, would like you to believe, anyway. The truth is a bit more complicated.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Wednesday down 312.95 points, or nearly 2.4 percent, its worst selloff of the year. It closed below 13,000 for the first time in three months. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index also tumbled 2.4 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell nearly 2.5 percent.

Throughout the election, Wall Street types took to CNBC to sound the dour warningsthat a second Obama term would immediately cause all of your money to catch on fire, because of how much Obama hates business or something. Wednesday's bloodbath would seem to be their most apocalyptic warnings come to life.

There are just a few problems with their theory.

For one thing, Obama was the perpetual favorite throughout the election, with hisodds on the prediction market Intrade never dropping below 50 percent all year. He consistently led in the polls of key swing states like Ohio and was very seldom behind in measures of the national popular vote. Meanwhile, his challenger, Mitt Romney, spent much of the election shooting himself in the foot. Despite all of these signs of Obama's impending re-election, stocks managed to rally throughout the year, with the Dow up 6 percent since the end of 2012, even with Wednesday's loss.

What's more, the Dow posted a huge, 1 percent gain, on election day, when Obama's Intrade odds were at 70 percent or better and number-crunchers such as Nate Silver and Mark Blumenthal were calling Obama a 90-percent lock for re-election.

Nate Silver gets it right; Gallup Poll gets it wrong

Silver, 34, a University of Chicago graduate and the computer expert who gave Obama a 90 percent chance of winning re-election, predicted on his blog, FiveThirtyEight (for the number of votes in the Electoral College), that the president would get 51 percent of the popular vote as he predicted each of the 50 states, including all nine battlegrounds.

"Nate Silver, right," said Bill Burton, who moved from the White House to the pro-Obama super political action committee Priorities USA Action.

Gallup's daily national tracking poll put Republican nominee Mitt Romney ahead by 5 percentage points until it was suspended because of superstorm Sandy, and a final national survey released Monday gave the Republican a 1-point advantage.

"These polls are designed only to measure what is happening at the time of that poll in terms of the national popular vote" and are not "designed to be predictive," Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport said.

With the count in Florida still to be finished, Obama was leading Romney nationwide by 2 percentage points, 50 percent to 48 percent, and won a decisive Electoral College victory.

Two university-based pollsters joined Silver in correctly predicting Obama's win, and one of them will be dead-on about the electoral vote tally.

Drew Linzer, an assistant professor of political science at Emory University in Atlanta and a former pollster based in California, predicted Tuesday morning on votamatic.org that Obama would end the race with 332 electoral votes and Romney 206.

Sam Wang, a Princeton University professor of neuroscience, posted his final prediction — that Obama would likely get 303 electoral votes to Romney's 235 — on the school's election blog at 2 p.m. Tuesday. He revised Obama's total downward from 332 based on late polls Tuesday.

Florida, with its 29 electoral votes, hasn't been called by The Associated Press. Its outcome will determine which of those professors' final forecasts was accurate.